Psalm 103:1-5

Bless the LORD; We May Not Forget to Bless God

I. We May Not Forget To Bless God

“to bless,” indicates the action of pronouncing good things upon the recipient.

When the Lord ‘blesses’ us, he reviews our needs and responds to them; when we ‘bless’ the Lord, we review his excellencies and respond to them.

Blessing is usually translated as benefits, and we bless God, it means responding or giving back to God what is deserved.

Blessing comes from God

God blesses Adam, Noah, Abram

Genesis 12:2–3 NASB95

2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

Isaac

Genesis 25:11 NASB95

11 It came about after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac lived by Beer-lahai-roi.

Job

Job 42:12 NASB95

12 The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels and 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys.

At the heart of God’s blessings is God’s presence

Numbers 6:24–26 NASB95

24 The Lord bless you, and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; 26 The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’

Blessing God is Worship

As God blesses humanity, we also bless God in worship.

Exodus 18:10 NASB95

10 So Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord who delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and who delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.

Principles and Examples of How David Blesses God

A. In order to bless God, the whole being must be surrendered to God (vv. 1-2)

Psalm 103:1–2 NASB95

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits;

David did not say Bless me oh Lord, but Bless the Lord, oh my Soul.

David stirs his whole heart and soul to bless the Lord.

(“All within me / my soul / not partial)

The greatest commandment in the Bible is this:

Deuteronomy 6:5 NASB95

5 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

David treasured and remembered this command in his heart - not partial but all.

The whole being surrendered to God

Matthew 6:9–10 NASB95

9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.

Have you tried observing yourself coming to God in prayer rushing....???

have you tried observing yourself, your need and desire is the focus of your prayer?

Have you tried observing yourself, you will try to bargain with God in your prayer?

Have you tried observing yourself, not praying at all?

B. In order to bless God, there must be a grateful remembrance of the mercies of God (vv. 2-5)

Psalm 103:2–5 NASB95

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; 3 Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; 4 Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; 5 Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

We have the tendency to forget - we are forgetful people, and it’s when we forget that we fail to bless God.

That is why, the Israelites were warned by God not to forget!

Deuteronomy 8:11 NASB95

11 “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today;

The Benefits / Mercies of God that we should not forget:

a. Pardon or forgiveness of sins (v.3)

Psalm 103:3 NASB95

3 Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases;

Isaiah 43:25 NASB95

25 “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.

How did David personally confirmed the pardon or forgiveness of God?

Psalm 51:1–2 NASB95

1 Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin.

Can you still recall the day when you felt the forgiveness of God?

I have…The day I surrendered my life to Jesus, I felt renewed, the guilt and condemnation was gone, I felt Joy and assurance!

Let us forget not the blessing of forgiveness.

b. Healing of diseases (v.3)

Psalm 103:3 NASB95

3 Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases;

Diseases could mean either physical or spiritual.

God can bring physical healing when He wants to because He is a powerful God. Jesus, the Son of God healed various diseases of people. Although, we have to remember that we cannot command God to heal, we just ask and pray.

How did David personally confirmed God’s spiritual and emotional healing?

Psalm 51:8 NASB95

8 Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.

Psalm 51:12 NASB95

12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.

Let us forget not the blessing of healing.

c. Redemption from death (v.4)

Psalm 103:4 NASB95

4 Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;

Redeem - to ransom, to reclaim

Pit - Sheol / place of the dead.

God’s rescued David a lot of times from the hands of King Saul.

But remember this, God’s ultimate plan of redemption is not to make us live until 100 or 120 years old...

God’s ultimate plan of redemption is to save mankind from eternal damnation in Hell and to give mankind eternal life to spend with God.

Let us forget not the blessing of eternal life that we’ve received when we surrender our lives to Jesus.

d. The blessing of loyal love and compassion (v.4)

Psalm 103:4 NASB95

4 Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;

David failed God a lot of times;

Adultery with Bathsheba

Murder of Uriah

David’s disobedience and pride in his armies

2 Samuel 24:1 NASB95

1 Now again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and it incited David against them to say, “Go, number Israel and Judah.”

Despite of Davids failures, God remained loving and Compassionate to David, restored Him when he ask for God’s forgiveness.

1 John 1:9 NASB95

9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Let us forget not the blessing of God’s enduring love and compassion.

e. Satisfaction in living and Renewal of Strength. (v.5)

Psalm 103:5 NASB95

5 Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

Those who leaves in full dependence on God will surely experience satisfaction and renewal of strength.

God is the power source that will not run out

When you have God, you have everything.

How can a human being satisfied?

It is when take hold of Jesus in our hearts, and we rest in His love.

Apart from Jesus, there is no satisfaction.

John 4:13–14 NASB95

13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

Let us forget not the blessing of contentment and renewal of strength.

C. In order to bless God, there must be a grateful remembrance of the character of God (vv. 2-5)

a. Forgiving

b. Caring

c. Loving

d. Compassionate

As followers of Jesus, we are called to imitate his character.

Are we a good imitator of Christ?

Or a good imitator of the world?

Bless the Lord by remembering and imitating his character.

Have you been forgiving to those who wronged you?

Have you been caring to your family? Have you been caring to the family of God, the church?

Have you been loving? Loving to the Lost? Jesus did not just love those who followed him but the lost as well.

Have you been compassionate?

Application:

Repent for the times you have forgotten to bless the Lord.

(there is no surrendering, no remembering, no imitating…)

Rejoice for the privilege to bless the Lord again and again.

Recommit your life to God, that your life will bless the Lord and the people around you.

Illustration:

Bless the Lord!