Bless The LORD, O My Soul

Transcription

1 Message for THE LORD'S DAY EVENING, April 8, 2018 Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister Message 9 in The Greatest Chapters of The Bible Sermon Series Bless The LORD, O My Soul Psalm 103 Tonight as we continue with our series of messages on The Greatest Chapters in The Bible we are going to be looking at one of my favorite chapters in the Bible and that is Psalm 103. Before we get into tonight's study I want to share some thoughts on this 103 rd Psalm written by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon. This Psalm is a song of exuberant thanksgiving, overflowing joy, and highest praise. There is not one single request in this Psalm. As in the lofty Alps some peaks rise above all others, so among even the inspired Psalms there are heights of song which over-top the rest. This One Hundred and Third Psalm is one of those higher peaks. There is too much in this Psalm for a thousand pens to write; it is one of those all-comprehending Scriptures which is a Bible in itself, and it might alone almost suffice for the hymn-book of the Church. In this Psalm we get a glimpse of the ceaseless praise we will one day enjoy in heaven. (edited by RAB for clarity) (The Treasury of David VOL II, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, p. 275, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN,) GOD LOVES THE PRAISES OF HIS PEOPLE! He loves it when our hearts burst forth in praise and thanksgiving. And in this Psalm David teaches us how to praise GOD in the way that truly honors Him and glorifies Him.

2 First of all, David teaches us... I. We Should Bless The LORD For His BEING BEING (v.1, 6-19) 1. Someone has said, Before we can thank God for His BLESSINGS,, we must thank God for His BEING. 2. That is exactly how David begins this Psalm. He begins by praising GOD for His being. Psalm 103:1 (NKJV) Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me,bless His Holy Name. 3. Many of us begin our prayers by saying, Dear LORD bless me! But David is teaching us to begin our prayers by saying, Dear LORD bless YOU! Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name. Psalm 113:1,2 (NKJV) Praise the LORD! Praise, O servants of the LORD, Praise the Name of the LORD! Blessed be the Name of the LORD from this time forth and forevermore! Psalm 115:1a (NKJV) Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but to Your Name give glory Isn't this what our Savior taught us to do in His Model Prayer? Matthew 6:9 (NKJV) In this manner therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME. 5. The Name of the LORD embraces every attribute of His being! GOD wants us to praise Him and bless Him for WHO HE IS! He is the CREATOR...we are the created! He is THE GIVER OF ALL BLESSINGS...we are the recipients of those blessings.

3 6. As we look down through this 103 rd Psalm David praises or blesses God for several attributes of His being. Let's look at those wonderful attributes. (A) Bless the LORD for He is a RIGHTEOUS and JUST God (v. 6) v. 6 The LORD executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. When we look at all the evil and injustice in this world it seems as though the whole world is out of control. So often in this flawed and broken world... -We see bad people doing horrible things to good people. -We see rich people taking advantage of poor people. -We see godless people persecuting godly people. -We see powerful people oppressing weak people. -We see guilty people getting off scott free while innocent people are wrongfully convicted of crimes they never committed. But in this 6 th verse David is reminding us that the LORD is a righteous and just God! No matter how out of control this world may seem, GOD is the supreme ruler over all His creation, and one day, whether in this life or the life to come; God is going to execute His righteousness and justice! He is going to right every wrong. God will render His righteous judgment against the unrighteous and bring justice to the righteous. BLESS THE LORD FOR HE IS A RIGHTEOUS AND JUST GOD!

4 (B) Bless the LORD for He is a MERIFUL AND GRACIOUS God (vs. 8-12) v. 8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. v. 9 He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. v.10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. v.11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; v. 12 As far as the east is from the west so far has He removed our transgressions from us. David is telling us in these verses that God is full of mercy and grace towards sinners just like you and me. Now if that doesn't give us a reason to praise God and thank God, I don't know what will. Satan would have us to believe that God is a cruel, cold-hearted, angry God who delights in punishing us for our sins. But the GOD David is describing for us here is nothing at all like that. GOD is slow to anger and quick to forgive. Sometimes God may discipline us for our sins, not because He hates us, but because He loves us as His very own children. GOD doesn't hold grudges against us for sins you and I committed ten years ago...or five years ago...or one year ago...or even yesterday. If God treated us as our sins deserve we would all be in a heap of trouble wouldn't we? God would make our lives here on earth miserable and then send us to hell when this life is over. But because of His great mercy and grace, He offers us His forgiveness and salvation.

5 Perhaps there are times when you have failed God that you fear you have exhausted all of His mercy and forgiveness. But David is telling us in verse 11 that God's mercy is boundless. We can no more measure the end of God's mercy than we can measure the distance between earth and heaven. And if you are worried that God still holds your past sins against you, think again! Through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ God has removed every scent, every trace of your sins, for As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.! Now I want you to think about something. If God's mercy and grace is that great towards you, is it even possible to ever praise God and thank God too much? Bless the LORD for He is a MERCIFUL and GRACIOIUS God! (C) Bless the LORD for He is a COMPASSIONATE and UNDERSTANDING God (vs. 13,14) v. 13 As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him. v. 14 For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. Think of the compassion Jesus had for His disciples and you will get a better understanding of the depth of God's compassion for you and me. There were times the faith of His disciples was so weak. -When Jesus was thinking about His suffering and dying, they were thinking about which of them was going to get the highest seats of honor in heaven.

6 -On another occasion, right after Jesus had predicted His death, the disciples argued over which of them was the greatest. -Then there was that time when James and John wanted to call down fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans. -There was that time hey wanted to send the hungry crowd away to find food for themselves. -And there was that time they wanted the little children to go away and leave Jesus alone. -And remember the time Peter rebuked Jesus and tried to stop Him from going to Jerusalem. -Of course we remember how they fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemene when Jesus asked them to watch and pray. And how Peter drew a sword and cut off the ear of Malchus. -Then there was Peter's denial of Jesus after he had pledged his undying allegiance to Jesus. -And let's not forget that Thomas doubted Him following His resurrection. Time after time the disciples disappointed Jesus and yet in each and every case Jesus showed them compassion as a Father has compassion on his children.

7 As God's children, our faith is often weak. We stumble and fall and get back up only to stumble again. We have failed our Father... and disappointed our Father...and disobeyed our Father more times that we can possibly remember. And yet as a father has compassion and pity on his children, our heavenly Father has compassion and pity on us. Our heavenly Father knows that none of us are perfect. He knows that we are made of dust and not steel or iron. He knows that we are weak, and frail, and that we desperately need Him. He knows that life here on earth is difficult and that we face all kinds of trials... troubles...and temptations. Our heavenly Father understands...he truly understands. And that's why He will never give up on us or turn His back on us; but will instead always show us compassion. Bless the LORD for He is a COMPASSIONATE and UNDERSTANDING GOD! (D) Bless the LORD for He is a SOVEREIGN God (v.19) v. 19 The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all. Here David is reminding us that God is always in control, even when everything around us indicates He's not. - In times of war and times of peace God is in control! -In times of disaster...in times of catastrophe and in times of tragedy and devastation...god is still in control.

8 Whether you are having a good day or a bad day... Whether you are on top of the world or the world has come crashing down on top of you. Whether everything is going right or everything is going wrong... GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL! Nothing happens without His permission! Nothing happens without His knowledge. If God was NOT in control you and I could not live here. But because GOD is in control you and I can live with hope and confidence that God will give us the strength to face anything that may come our way. Bless the LORD for He is a SOVEREIGN GOD! Bless the LORD, O my soul, for He is a RIGHTEOUS...and JUST...and MERCIFUL...and GRACIOUS...and COMPASSIONATE...and UNDERSTANDING...and SOVEREIGN God! WE SHOULD ALWAYS BLESS GOD AND PRAISE GOD FOR HIS BEING! And secondly... II. We Should Bless The LORD For His BLESSINGS (vs. 2-5) 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, 4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercies, 5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle s.

9 1. In these verses we see three categories of blessings or benefits for which we should offer our praise and thanksgiving to God. (A) We should bless the LORD for the blessing of His PARDON (v.3) 3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Notice those two words Who forgives. He doesn't say He may forgive you years from now when you are on your death bed. Nor does he say, God forgave your past sins, but not your present or future sins. When David says, Who forgives that is an active, presenttense verb that means God forgives our daily sins...or God forgives the sins you committed yesterday...the sins you commit today...and the sins you may commit tomorrow. God's forgiveness covers our PAST SINS...our PRESENT SINS and our FUTURE SINS. I believe many Christians really struggle with this matter of God's forgiveness. Many say, Well I just don't feel forgiven. or I have failed God so many times I don't see how He could possibly love me and forgive me. Many Christians live in constant defeat fearing they have failed God so miserably that He can't possibly love them...forgive them...or save them! If you are one of those people, listen up! Our heavenly Father is a forgiving God. And His forgiveness is based on what Christ did on the cross and not on our goodness. And if God promises in His word to forgive us of all our sins, you and I can rest assured that He has forgiven us of all our sins. You see, forgiveness is not a feeling it is a matter of FAITH. It is taking GOD at His word!

10 And when David says, Who heals you of all your diseases he isn't talking about physical diseases so much as he is talking about the worst disease of all, and that is SIN. No doctor can write a prescription for a pill that will take away our sins. No surgeon can operate on us to remove the sin of pride...or sin of greed...or sin of lust... or sin of jealousy...or sin of unbelief from our heart. No hospital...no medical clinic can heal anyone of spiritual leprosy...spiritual blindness...spiritual lameness...or spiritual paralysis. BUT GOD HEALS US OF ALL OUR SIN DISEASES THROUGH THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF HIS SON JESUS CHRIST. Bless the LORD for the blessing of His PARDON! (B) We should bless the LORD for the blessing of His PRESERVATION (v.4) 4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercies, Remember in our Easter message last Lord's day morning, I told you that redemption means that Christ purchased us as slaves and set us free through the shedding of His own blood. Because Christ has redeemed us we have been preserved from hell...preserved from eternal torment and punishment...and preserved from being separated from God and our Christian loved ones forever and ever. How could we possibly not sing and shout and praise GOD for redeeming us and crowning us with His loving- kindness and tender mercies? Bless the LORD for the blessing of His PRESERVATION!

11 (C) We should bless the LORD for the blessing of His PROVISIONS (v.5) 5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle s. What are these good things God satisfies us with? Money? Material things? NO! He is talking about heavenly food...spiritual food...that constantly refreshes us and fills us and satisfies our soul. People who live for money can never be satisfied because they will never have enough; they will always want for more. People who live for material things can never be satisfied because they will always want something newer...bigger or better than what they already have. People who live for sinful pleasure can never be satisfied because the more they feed their sinful hunger the hungrier they will get for more. But for those of us who are Christians, God satisfies the hunger and thirst of our souls with His eternal riches in Christ Jesus our Lord! Bless the LORD for the blessing of His PROVISIONS! ************************************************************

12 CONCLUSION Samuel S. Scull was an old-time farmer who lived with his family in a rural community in the Arizona desert. One night a fierce desert storm struck with heavy rains, hail, and high winds. And at daybreak, Samuel Scull's greatest fears were realized. The hail had completely destroyed his crops and the high winds had blown down his barn and flattened his hen house. There were dead chickens everywhere. While Scull stood there speechless and broken-hearted wondering how his family would ever recover from their losses, Scull heard some rustling in the pile of lumber that had been his old hen house. Soon a dazed, confused old rooster emerged from underneath the debris. He was dripping wet and missing most of his feathers. Hobbling along with one broken leg, the rooster perched himself on top of a 2 x 4...flapped his gnarly looking wings a couple of times and began to crow to welcome a brand new day. My friend, if that ragged, beat-up old rooster could continue to praise the LORD with a loud cockle-doodle-doo, don't you think we can continue to praise GOD for all His goodness regardless of how difficult life may be? 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!