Psalm 103:6-12

Bless the LORD; We May Not Forget The Righteous Deeds of the Lord

“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.

Bless the LORD; We May Not Forget The Righteous Deeds of the Lord

David was called by God a man after his own heart.

We asked why? Why did God called David, a man after God’s own heart?

Looking and studying Psalm 103, one of many Songs that David composed, we can get a glimpse of David’s heart for God.

David desires to Bless God in his life!

How did David blesses God in his life?

A. Remember God’s righteous deeds in the past

The Bible records for us the past, the history, and in these records we learn who God is, we learn the workings of God.

God’s Righteous Deeds for the Israelites

Psalm 103:6–7 NASB95

6 The Lord performs righteous deeds And judgments for all who are oppressed. 7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel.

YHWH performs!

They have experienced being Rescued from the slavery in Egypt, for God hates oppression.

Exodus 6:6–8 NASB95

6 “Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 ‘Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 ‘I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession; I am the Lord.’ ”

God wants them to remember - God commanded to put into remembrance through feast - Passover

Deuteronomy 16:1–3 NASB95

1 “Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 “You shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where the Lord chooses to establish His name. 3 “You shall not eat leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), so that you may remember all the days of your life the day when you came out of the land of Egypt.

Though David was not yet born when God gave this command, yet because the faithful followers of God recorded and kept the celebration alive, teaching them to their children and the children after them, David knew about God and the will of God.

Lesson:

Always keep a remembrance for when you experienced the righteous deeds of God in your life.

celebrate God’s goodness in the church- such as church anniversaries - it will encourage the new generation to continue and to give importance to it.

B. Remember God’s righteous deeds in the present

In our time today, we have cellphones with cameras, we can easily remember the events and the things we do by just taking pictures, and facebooks also helps you remember what you did a year ago, or 5 years ago.

Do you know why facebook does that?

It’s because remembering those events in the past brings emotions and stirs our hearts into action -

if the pictures reminds you of a good feeling - you want to do it again!

if the pictures reminds you of a bad or bitter feeling - you don’t want to do it again.

In the same way,

When we are reminded of God’s righteous deeds in our lives, we would want to bless him all the more!

Psalm 103:8–9 NASB95

8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. 9 He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.

God is compassionate by nature - His compassion is part of who He is.

Bless the LORD in your life because...

- The Lord is graciously patient

- The Lord is a not fault-finder God.

- The Lord’s compassion did not and will not change.

- The Lord’a anger last only a moment- He is ready to forgive you when come to him with humility and repentance.

Psalm 30:5 NASB95

5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.

Isaiah 57:16 NASB95

16 “For I will not contend forever, Nor will I always be angry; For the spirit would grow faint before Me, And the breath of those whom I have made.

The Lord’s grace is greater than our sins. (v.10)

Psalm 103:10 NASB95

10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

In the present, we are not Israelites and we are not commanded to celebrate the Passover, but

God wants us to remember and put into remembrance through feast - The Lord’s Supper

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NASB95

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

Do this in remembrance of me (he said it twice)

Remembering the new covenant of the Lord Jesus Christ, gives us encouragement and renewed strength to continue living for Jesus.

C. Look forward to God’s righteous deeds in the future

Christians has a bright future! As bright as the sky in the noon day!

You know why? Well, let’s read verses 11-12.

Psalm 103:11–12 NASB95

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

David describes for us the extent of the Lord’s enduring love - it’s incomprehensible and immeasurable.

The distance between the earth and sky will always remain high.

The distance between the east and the west will always remain far and wide.

In the same way, the greatness of the love of God for His people (who fear him) will always remain, it will last forever.

As long as their is breath in us, the Lord’s lovingkindness will remain high, far, and wide, it will not end…God’s love is as constant as time.

Once the LORD forgives your sin, your sin no longer exists.

Bless the LORD because the Believers future is secure in Christ - the believers will persevere because He holds us in his hands.

Hebrews 12:1–2 NASB95

1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus , the author and source of our faith, will be the one to perfect our faith, so we too, like Jesus will endure until the end.

There is no reason why we will not bless the name of the LORD.