Bless the Lord

Introduction

One of the great blessings about growing older is the acuteness of our long range memories, which allows us to remember vividly the past. This is especially significant now with the birth of our first great-grandchild, Eliana, since it seemed only yesterday that Donna and I brought home our daughter Stacy from the hospital, so small that she could sit in my hand, and now our daughter is a grandmother! With all these changes, our memories are stimulated through the myriad of photos both in physical albums, and our extensive digital library. But greater then the wonderful activity of remembering our children and grandchildren growing up, is the activity of rehearsing God’s faithful hand throughout these generations (now 4 for us, 5 including Donna’s parents).

This same activity is the theme of David’s Psalm 103, as he calls us to Bless the Lord together, thus celebrating the abundant goodness and love of the Lord for His people. So let’s read this Psalm and allow the Holy Spirit to unpack it for us, feeding us with His divine grace.

Text: Psalm 103

Psalm 103 ESV

Of David. 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 not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 6 The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. 7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. 8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. 14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. 15 As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; 16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. 17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, 18 to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. 19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. 20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word! 21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will! 22 Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Main Idea: We as God’s Covenant People, are called to Bless His Name as we remember His faithful works.

Verse 1, David sets the purpose of this Psalm by issuing a command to God’s covenant community by using himself as the template.

7 times we are called to Bless the LORD in this Psalm. What does it mean to Bless the Lord?

To Bless means to speak or declare aloud words of excellence about someone or something, that is fueled by rehearsing the abundant benefits that the ones doing the blessing have received.

O my soul - with my whole being…with everything that I am both material and immaterial

Also, the use of LORD (Yahweh used 11x) - focuses in on the covenant relationship aspect of God. In other words, this Psalm is one for God’s covenant people, those redeemed by Him and for Him.

This requires us to remember all His benefits (1-2), which are the...

I. Reasons for Blessing the Lord (1-5)

A. Forgiveness of Sin (3)

forgives all your iniquity…heals all your diseases: parallel statements using diseases as a metaphor for sin.

Isaiah 53:4–5 ESV

4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

Hebrews 9:22 ESV

22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

B. Redemption from Judgment (4)

Redeems your life from the pit (judgment): buys us back (through the blood sacrifice of an innocent substitute) from His judgment

crowns you with steadfast love and mercy:

crowns you - the present reality of God’s covenant people

steadfast love (hesed - used 4x: 4, 8, 11, 17) - God’s hesed was not just mercy, but loyalty to his covenant obligations (based on the very character of God), a loyalty which God’s covenant community should also show.

C. Provisions of all that is Good (5)

This goodness is a result of our redemption and a product of God’s hesed.

It is also defined by God as that which is needed in us to mature us for His glorified purpose.

Romans 8:28 ESV

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

II. Ability to Bless the Lord (6-14)

We must realize that the ability to bless the Lord is not natural, it is the product of the work He has done in us…let’s look first at...

A. God’s Righteous Works (6)

LORD works righteousness…justice for all who are oppressed: parallel statements demonstrating that God’s perfect righteousness will always be just, and His justice will always be right.

His forgiveness and healing is just because they are based on His redemption as stated in verses 3-4.

B. God’s Revelation of Himself (7-12)

He made known His ways to Moses…acts to…Israel (7) - we would not know God if He had not revealed Himself, and, that revelation was then written down for our benefit.

Here are some of those revealed attributes of Good (referencing Exodus 34:6):

merciful…gracious…slow to anger…abounding in steadfast love (hesed) (8)

not keep his anger forever (9)

not deal with us according to our sins (10)

The vastness of His steadfast love (hesed) - as high as the heavens are above the earth (11)

The permanency of His forgiveness - as far as the east is from the west…he removed our transgressions from us (12)

C. God’s Knowledge of Us (13-14)

God’s knowledge (yada - family relationship) of us is a result of His relationship with us - As a father shows compassion to his children…the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him (13)

God’s knowledge of us is a result of Him creating us - For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust (14): our frailty does not take God by surprise!

III. Permanence of Blessing the Lord (15-19)

Blessing the Lord is not just a one generation activity, we see this as something permanent, generation after generation, as we view here the contrast between finite man and eternal God.

A. Transient view of man (15-16)

man is only here for a short time, so we have to make the most of blessing the LORD and passing it on to the next generation

B. Transcendent view of God (17-19)

(17-18) the steadfast love (hesed) of the LORD…his righteousness - is eternal to all those in every generation (children’s children) who fear him...keep his covenant...do his commandments - focuses on our responsibility to teach our children how to bless the Lord

(19) Reminder that, The LORD has established his throne in the heavens…his kingdom rules over all - God is truly sovereign and each generation that comes and goes He rules over absolutely.

IV. Realm of Blessing the Lord (20-22)

These final verses focus in the the who are to Bless the LORD, describing a comprehensive composite of all things, beginning with the...

A. Realm of Heaven (20-21)

his angels…mighty ones who do his word…obeying the voice of his word - his messengers

his hosts…ministers who do his will - his armies

B. Realm of Creation (22)

his works - focus on all that has come about because of God’s activities

his dominion - focus on everywhere that God rules

So What?

How often do we reflect on all God’s benefits to us, and turn that reflection into verbal, heartfelt praise?

I know you are in pain, or life is just intolerable right now, but the main focus of the Psalm was the LORD’s hesed relationship with us which is eternal, thus our verbal, heartfelt praise goes beyond the present circumstances.

We only have one life to bless the Lord, and teach our children to do the same…how are we doing?

Our children are being taught by a myriad of voices, how are they to discern which of those voices contain truth without us teaching them diligently the truth’s of God Word?

To do nothing is to allow the world’s philosophies by default, to fill you child’s mind and heart to their own destruction.

Blessing the Lord is an activity for God’s covenant community, are you a part of that community?

Repent of your sins, and put your complete trust in God’s redemptive solution, Jesus Christ His son who died for our sins, according to scripture, and was buried and rose again the third day according to scripture. If you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved!

Whoever calls on the name of the Lord WILL be saved!