God's Compassion for Sinners
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Do you ever doubt God’s love for you?
I have.
Wonder how God can continue to love me. I wonder if I could go too far. I wonder if there is something that I could do that is unforgivable.
Problem arises though when I forget all that God has done for me: it effects my worship and how I worship him.
Open your Bibles with me to Psalm 103
In Psalm 103 we will see a song of thanksgiving and praise that starts and ends with an invitation to praise God which are the bookends of the actual praise. This psalm reminds us of why why we praise him. Reminds us of God’s compassion for sinners.
It’s in this psalm that we see King David being taught to give thanks to God for the how God has been merciful to him, and then for the grace that God has given to his chosen people because he is a convenant keeping God who has adopted his people as sons and daughters. Here’s the cool thing that comes out in this psalm though, it puts a big magnifying glass on the mercy that God has as he sustains and bears with his people. And how he bears with, sustains, gives them his mercy, gives his grace, it’s not because of any merit or their worth, because they deserve severe punishment, but because of his compassion to their frailty.
Open your Bible with me.
Read Psalm 103
Pray
Transition: This is a psalm of thanksgiving with a call to praise God for all he has done.
A Call to Praise God and Remember Vs. 1-5
A Call to Praise God and Remember Vs. 1-5
The song writer calls himself to praise
Vs 1 Hear the stirring of his soul as he begins to reflect on all that God has done. Don’t be lazy to praising God. He puts his soul into it. That’s why he says “All that is within me” He doesn’t hold back.
How can he?
Vs. 2 Forget not all his benefits God hasn’t hold back on his part any reason why we should not praise him. The song writer can praise God with all that is in him because he hasn’t forgotten all that God has done.
A pastor said it this way:
Commentary on the Book of Psalms Psalm 103
How is it that we are so listless and drowsy in the performance of this the chief exercise of true religion, if it is not because our shameful and wicked forgetfulness buries in our hearts the innumerable benefits of God, which are openly manifest to heaven and earth? Did we only retain the remembrance of them, the prophet assures us that we would be sufficiently inclined to perform our duty, since the sole prohibition which he lays upon us is, not to forget them.
Let us not forget all that he has done and as we reflect on what he has done, let that bring us to praise. Because as the song writer points out, there is a lot that he has done.
Vs. 3 forgives all your iniquity Starts with his forgiveness. This is the foundations to all the praise that we are to give to him. God has freely pardoned and blotted out all of our sins and received us into his favour.
who heals all your diseases ultimately it is he who has healed us from the ultimate disease of sin and death. We have a Father who is the heavenly Physician who succours us who has made a way to heal us from death.
vs. 4 Who redeems your life from the pit What’s a pit? It’s where the prisoners and dead people are.
God has delivered his people from death and destruction, this is another reason to praise him more.
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy In His covenant with His people, God pledges to love them faithfully. He is the author of the terms of the covenant that bind Him and His people together. Not us. It is through this that we can know his great love and mercy. He has love and compassion for his people.
Vs. 5 who satisfies you with good He is the one who gives everything that is constructive and wholesome for His people. It is through his goodness that there will be a renewal within your heart.
So that your youth is renewed like the eagles The NT talks about this as endurance and perseverance which is the evidence that God is at work in a Christians life.
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Transition: Now, what has he done? There’s a reflection that he has to do.
Praise the Lord for his forgiveness Vs. 6-12
Praise the Lord for his forgiveness Vs. 6-12
These are the reason for praising God. These are the actual praises that are called for in verse 1-2.
Vs. 6 The Lord works righteousness God can’t tolerate injustice in the world. His rule is shown as righteous and will right what is wrong.
Vs. 7 - 10 David just sets back and reflects on all the ways and all the things that God had revealed to Moses.
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
made known his ways to Moses He’s also given to his people who they are to live. So often the word legalism get thrown around. I think of that line from the Princes Bride: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” -Inigo Montoya
Legalism is a doctrinal position emphasizing a system of rules and regulations for achieving both salvation and spiritual growth. Legalists believe in and demand a strict literal adherence to rules and regulations. Doctrinally, it is a position essentially opposed to grace. Those who hold a legalistic position often fail to see the real purpose for law, especially the purpose of the Old Testament law of Moses, which is to be our “schoolmaster” or “tutor” to bring us to Christ (Galatians 3:24). It’s counter to the Gospel.
Hear we see a God who is READ 7-10
GOSPEL MOVE: Do you want to know the God who is so forgiving. The Good News is you can. The Gospel tells us this:
Christ Died for Our Sins and was raised
Christ – the gospel is about the second member of the trinity, Jesus Christ. This long promised Messiah was born of the virgin Mary and lived a sinless life. This last three years of that life were spent doing good and teaching people about God. (You can read all about that in a place like the Gospel of Mark.)
Died – Jesus, both fully human and fully God, was put to death on a Roman cross. He really died. To the point that when His body was taken down from the cross it was buried in a Jewish tomb. This death of Jesus was not an accident, however.
For – Sometimes the most important words in our Bible are the smallest ones. The word, “for” means “in the place of”. The death Jesus died was substitutionary. He was dying in the place of or for someone else. This gets explained further with the next two words.
Our – When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he was writing to Christians. That is why he tells them that Jesus died for “our” sins. The death that Jesus died was for all those who repent (turn away from sin) and believe (have faith in Jesus alone to save them).
Sins – All of us were born with an inclination to sin. All of us have sinned in real time. God told the first man, Adam, that if he sinned, he would surely die. The penalty for all sin is death. The message of the gospel is that Jesus came to die in our place. He took our sins on Himself and suffered the punishment of God in our place.
“…and was raised.”
And Was Raised – God’s giant stamp of approval on what Jesus did for us was raising Him from the dead. Jesus was resurrected on the third day and appeared to many of His disciples to prove it. By being raised from the dead, God made clear that the full price for sins had been paid by His Son.
Now, the only thing left is for people like you and me to respond to this good news. For, the message of the Gospel is not information, but a call to obedience. We are supposed to do something when we hear this good news. We are to repent (agree with God that we are sinners, renounce our sins and turn our back on that old way of life) and to believe (put all our confidence in the person of Jesus as our substitute whose death was enough to rescue us from the hell we deserved).
Have you done that? You can do it now! This is what it means to be a Christian. That’s what it means to be able to know the forgiveness that this Song writer is talking about.
This is why we praise him.
Vs. 11-12 Look at the breadth of God’s forgivness. Look how it shows the greatness of his love.
18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression
for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in steadfast love.
Illustration: We just had two baptism and heard of the grace and mercy that God has poured out on the lives of these two young woman. It helps us to reflect on what God has done for us through his Son Jesus Christ. It brings us to praise God and to join into the call to praise him.
I cannot believe the emense benefits that I have, if you are in Christ, you have. How can I set back and not cry from the mountain tops the goodness of my God? How can I not go out into my neighbourhood and declare this? How can I be lazy in my praise to God who has so greatly shown me his benefits. When I understand all that he has forgiven me of. And it doesn’t even end there.
Transition: The is why we praise our God. Look at how he has forgiven us from our sins. How we can know God and have his presence with us. He has been so gracious and merciful to those who fear him. To those who have trusted in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
This isn’t all of it. Because he hasn’t just forgiven us, but shown us so much compassion.
Praise the Lord for his compassion Vs. 13-19
Praise the Lord for his compassion Vs. 13-19
God isn’t just some being who is forgiving, but shows his compassion to his people.
Vs. 13-14 towards those who fear him In Christ, this is what you have. In Christ, this is who you are. The love of God is not indiscriminate. He loves those “who fear him.” He will forgive them, have compassion for them, and treat them as his children. Though he expects godliness, he is also understanding of their frailty. All of them are but “dust.”
Father How God relates to his people.
We really need to look at our picture of who God is through how he has revealed himself through his word. We have a good father and some have bad fathers, but in Christ we have a heavenly father who is perfect who shows compassion who knows our frame.
Vs. 15-18 As for man, his days are like grass. Even though we may die. That our time on this planet will end, God’s love doesn’t for those who fear him. When we look at God’s universal rule, “man” is nothing more than human. His existence is “like grass” or “like a flower of the field.” There is a comparison between our brief life and our weakness to the greatness of God’s love for those who fear him. His “love” (GK 2876) and “righteousness” (GK 7407) last forever. Those who respond to the Lord in “fear” will enjoy the fullness of the covenant relationship, and their children will see the salvation of the Lord (cf. 102:28).
Vs. 17 But the steadfast love of the Lord God first loves his people, then they loce him in return as shown in the faifithful obedience of thier lives.
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
Vs. 18 Keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments is a parallel to “fear him” because those who fear him will keep his covenant and obey his precepts. Obedience isn’t legalism. Let us remember that. Obedience comes out of a heart that see God as his/her good father.
Transition: David praises God and tells us who are listeners to remember all of God’s benefits of love and forgiveness. God “crowns” his people “with steadfast love and mercy” (v. 4), and David just is amazed by God’s kind, patient, loving, and forgiving heart (vv. 8–10). When David is writing this, he is painting a vertical and horizontal pictures: “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us” (vv. 11–12). God’s love for his people is immeasurable, his forgiveness total.
When we look at the New Testament, we see God’s fully revealed fatherhood, but here we learn that he shows great compassion toward his children who revere him (v. 13). Our lives are fleeting. We are born and we die. But his steadfast love lasts for those who fear him is forever.
What these short verses mean for you and me is that in spite of my rebellion, of your rebellion, of our repeated disobedience, God was steadfast in his love for us. Today, if we know Christ, we can rest in God’s everlasting love, whatever our circumstances.
A Call to Praise God Vs. 20-22
A Call to Praise God Vs. 20-22
The song writer ends his song with a call to praise God. This isn’t an individual call that we see in verses 1-2, but a call for all heavenly creatures who are serving God to join together with all creation in the praise of God.
God’s people praising him isn’t enough, So david comes and he calls all the angels and all creation to join in on the praise. The proclaim “the Lord has established his thrown in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.” You and I and the angels are creatures of the same Creator and subjects of the same king, who rules above his creation but also reign within it.
What these two verses means for you and me is that we have this priceless privilege of bowing before the one whose realm is the totality of all things. “Bless the Lord, O my Soul!”
SO WHAT
SO WHAT
BI: In Christ, God shows his love and justice by forgiving sin and showing compassion toward his feeble people.
This song reflects on the faithfulness and goodness of God, who delivered Israel from Egypt under Moses (vv. 6–7). It calls people to praise God for his continued acts of merciful forgiveness and sustaining grace. The psalm’s theme is announced at the outset: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (v. 2). Indeed, these benefits are astonishing! Everything from physical healing, prosperity, and well-being, to spiritual forgiveness, peace, and hope, are grounded in the constancy of God’s covenant faithfulness to his people (vv. 3–5). Even when God disciplines his children, they can know that such punishment will give way to forgiveness and restoration. “He does not deal with us according to our sins” (v. 10) but instead casts our sins as far away as the east is from the west (vv. 11–12). After all, our heavenly Father knows our frame (v. 14) and is eager to show compassion to all who rely wholly upon his grace (v. 13).
Although our lives are frail and fleeting (vv. 15–16), God and his love are from everlasting (v. 17). God has promised to bless those who fear his name, and nothing can hinder the accomplishment of his will (vv. 18–19). In light of such magnificent mercy and such covenant faithfulness, all of creation should stand in awe and give praise to his name (vv. 20–22).
BI: In Christ, God shows his love and justice by forgiving sin and showing compassion toward his feeble people.
PRAYER: God we bless you today. We stand in awe of who you are and what you have done for use, that in Christ we can have all of these benefits. You show so much compassion for sinners like us. So God, may our worship reflect all of the benefits you have don. May we not forget what you have done. Remind us this day. And as we go, may we be a sent out people, declaring all that you have done for those who fear you. May you use our witness to call people to yourself. May people come to know you and all your great works.