"Praise the Lord"

Intro:

This passage today that we are going to look at is extremely helpful for those of you who have lost your joy or thankfulness for what God has done. Maybe today you find yourself dealing with jealousy or envious of what others have. If this is you, than let’s remember just how important it is to get our eyes off of others and focus them on the Lord. We so often need to be reminded of the great things God has done for us.

So many times throughout God’s Word we find exactly the answers we are looking for, the encouragement we need, and the direction we have lacked. And this is why we are running to the book of Psalm. It is filled with wonderful blessings to help us be encouraged.

Just like the verses that are found in Psalm 103. It has been called the Mount Everest of psalms.

Charles Spurgeon said, “It is as the apple tree among the trees of the wood, and its golden fruit has a flavor such as no fruit ever bears unless it has been ripened in the full sunshine of mercy.”

We are told it is a psalm of David, and we see here that David has a love for his creator from the beginning of this Psalm all the way to end. Scholars believe it was written at the end of Davids life, maybe after he had passed through a great crisis or as he struggled with illness toward the end of his life. Clearly, David is remembering, encouraging his own heart to look back on his life and recall the countless times that God had proven Himself to be his most faithful friend, deliverer and protector. As a young man and later as the king of Israel, David faced danger, treachery and death countless times and God never failed him. Recognizing his absolute dependence on the Lord, God filled his heart with gratitude and he sang of the God to whom he entrusted his entire being.

One of the things that I want to quickly point out before we get going this morning is that most of our English versions begin and end with the word “Bless.” Bless the Lord. However, there is a better translation of this word, and the term here actually carries the sense of declaring God to be the source of blessing, and so it should be translated as praise or even worship. That is why I have titled this message “Praise the Lord.” In Church we here this phrase used many times but why should we praise the Lord?

Why Should we Praise God??? Let’s take a look.

Psalm 103 ESV

Of David. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For 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. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word! Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will! Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!

1. Because we can easily forget His wonderful benefits.

In today’s world, many of us are up to date on the “benefits” we have at our jobs. We know what sort of insurance we have, time off, our retirement package or 401K and other perks as well. But how often do we really think about the “benefits” of our loving Father?

What I see happen in people’s lives is that sin, pain, or sorrow can blind us to God’s present working and His past provisions. But even more importantly than that is that when we run to God’s Word and dive into it we see God’s work in redemptive history is amazing!!! David helps us by reminding himself (and us) of God’s incredible work for his people in history:

The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, and his acts to the people of Israel.

Here in Psalm 103 David takes us (and himself) back to the most important event he can think of. And it's not when he faced the big old giant named Goliath. In fact, it's not even an event from his lifetime.

Instead, David brings us back to Sinai (Exodus 6:6–9). He brings us back to when the Lord worked powerfully and victoriously and decisively to redeem his people out of Egyptian bondage.

We follow David’s example of praising God for his amazing work in redemptive history. Because of God’s wonderful work we can take our eyes of ourselves and our own circumstances and fix our hearts and minds on the Lord’s acts of provision and deliverance in the past. We can tell ourselves what God has done — in history, and for us. But you may be here and say what exactly is it that God has done? What are the benefits?

Specific Benefits:

-God’s Forgiveness. God forgives our sins.

-God’s Healing. God heals us of sickness.

-God’s Redemption. God redeems us. Purchases us.

-God crowns us. God shows us his love and mercy.

-God is satisfying.

-God works righteous and justice.

2. Because there is power in forgiveness.

In verse 3 David remembers something so important! God forgives all your iniquity. How important do you think this reminder was to David? His life was filled with mistakes, from the insignificant to the monster sin of killing Bathsheba’s husband after he had an affair with her. What we see here is that David reminded himself that no sin was beyond real repentance and real forgiveness. We see the same message when we come to the New Testament.

1 John 1:9 ESV

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

What an incredible thought…that the God of all Righteousness can take our dirty sin, our dirty hearts and minds and wash them whiter than snow! And it is only because of who He is that that forgiveness is ours. But there is more. Listen to verses 8-13.

Psalm 103:8–13 ESV

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For 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. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

David says, He doesn’t deal with us as we deserve. God does not punish us according to our sins. But, what He does do is He removes our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west. In other words God erases our sins never to be seen again. That is the power of God’s forgiveness.

The Hebrew word used for forgiveness in Psalm 103 comes from a root that means to take lightly, or to toss aside. It means to remove or to pardon.

To pardon means to propitiate or make peace with, to expiate or atone for, to cancel, to erase. I want to help us understand this today because some of you think that there are things you have done that can’t be forgiven. Maybe you have never forgiven yourself and you need to be reminded today that God has forgiven you. “We’ve been set free!” And with that freedom comes remarkable power. Today we can take a stand against sin, we can walk in righteousness, because God is merciful and He has forgiven us.

3. Because we have been given a Redeemer.

The third thing David remembers here is the countless times that God had redeemed his life from destruction or in some translations, the pit. Think about the time David faced Goliath or the many times that Saul tried to kill David. There were even times where David’s own son tried to take His life. Here the psalmist uses the verb ga’al which means to redeem, deliver or avenge, acting as a kinsman. The go’el, or

“The kinsman-redeemer was responsible for preserving the integrity, life, property and family name of his close relative or for executing justice upon his murderer. So this was a tradition still widely practiced during David’s lifetime.”

There is disagreement among some Christian commentators as to whether David was talking of actual physical death in verse four, or if he was referring to spiritual death, i.e. the pit of hell. Most Jewish commentators believe that the verse was actually written to indicate both.

The main point here that I want us to understand is that God is our kinsman-redeemer, David says, redeeming our lives from destruction and crowning us with steadfast love and mercy. Throughout David’s life, he had repeatedly faced destruction on a physical level, but he was also no stranger to the fear of spiritual death as he cried out to God, “Do not take your Holy Spirit from me!” (Ps. 51:11). In every instance, his kinsman-redeemer proved faithful.

Church, how amazing is it to know that the God of the Universe is our Redeemer. He redeems the lives of those who are His. In other words He buys back us as His children from the enemy and sets us free to live for Him.

4. Because there is power in praising God.

Psalm 103 begins with this exciting praise coming from the mouth of David. Every part of his being is shouting, “Praise the Lord.” It is no coincidence that this excitement comes because David is remembering all that God has done for him, the miracles, the deliverance, the prayers that God answered. Gratitude fills his heart and he responds with nothing but pure and passionate praise. When it comes right down to it church, gratitude is what praise is all about.

Over 200 times in the book of Psalms, the voices of God’s people are raised in praise to Him, and the Bible is filled with examples of the power that such praise brings. In the book of Acts, Paul and Silas are chained together in a dark and ugly Philippian prison. But as they joined their voices in praise, the prison was shaken, their cell door thrown open and their shackles unlocked. In Nehemiah the people rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and in chapter 12 the have a dedication. The people are so excited that they can’t help but praise God and the Joy of Jerusalem was heard far away. Who can forget the amazing power witnessed by the citizens of Jericho as their impenetrable city walls crashed to the ground in response to the praises of the Israelites.

Church, my point is that God cherishes our praises and through them, we have been given power. We can bring all of our weaknesses and problems to the one who made us and find victory in Him. We can refocus our attention from our problems to the One who is worthy of our praises; and He alone can refresh us when we are tired and strengthen us when we are weak. Psalm 22 tells us that God inhabits the praises of His people. The power of praise is the power of His presence. If God’s presence was with David as it was on many occasions then it is with us when we need it most.

So today, as we remember all that God has done for us, we are remembering who He is, the Holy One of Israel, God of mercy and grace. As gratitude overwhelms us, we we remember and bring our hearts and minds and lips to shout, “Bless the Lord O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name!”

(Close and lead into Communion)