The following is a lesson I taught on Psalm 103 at Wears Valley Ranch in 2009.
How great is God’s love for His people? As Christians, we should be overwhelmed with the goodness of God’s love toward us. The great story of the Bible, the great news it reveals to us is that while we are dead in our sins God has forgiven us in Christ.
While we were dead in our sin, while we were dwelling in darkness, while we were lost in the ignorance of our sinful hearts—God called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. God has established His throne over all things, and He works in us. Psalm 103 will tell us that although we are nothing more than the dust we have been made from, God remembers His people and showers us with His love.
Does God not deserve our praise for this great love? If He has given us the free gift of salvation, shouldn’t our entire lives be a response of praise to Him? If we really believed that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, which He has for all who are in Christ, would we grumble and complain about trivial problems of life? If we truly believed that God has taken our sins from us as far as the east is from the west, would we really sing His praise with empty words as we so often do?
David knew well the heart of man. He knew how quickly a person could turn from know God’s love and praising Him for it to ignoring the worship of God and even ignoring God Himself! David knows that we desperately need reminded in our hearts and in our minds that God is worthy of all praise. God has loved us infinitely more than we ever deserve, and we should reflect that love in our worship of Him.
Though I would want to tell you that I love God with my whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, I know how quickly I am distracted from that love. I could ask you, as people who know me: do my words continually reflect the glory of the God who has given me life? Do I ever grumble in ungratefulness instead of praising the God who loves me and forgives my sin? When I do speak or sing God’s praises, am I speaking from the depth of my soul or do I simply say the words I know a Christian should say?
Perhaps I could ask the same questions of you. Do you more quickly speak about how things aren’t going your way or are you more likely to speak of how God has loved you from eternity and will love you forever more? Perhaps complaining isn’t the problem. Perhaps you simply ignore our glorious God to talk about the things of this world. Does your heart dwell more on your newest video game, a cute girl, your future plans, or the hottest new hip-hop song instead of the glorious grace of our God and Savior Jesus Christ?
I know my answer. My heart constantly needs refreshed with the knowledge of the love of God. I need constant reminders of what God has done and is doing for me. I need to be told again and again to “Bless the Lord.” I need told over and over that God’s love is better than life and for that reason he deserves my praise.
In my own life, the hundred and third Psalm has often provided that necessary reminder. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, David writes to himself (and to us) to praise the Lord for all He has done. David humbles us as we realize our depravity while lifting us with the marvelous love of God—love that should make us fall on our knees in worship and praise. Listen as I read Psalm 103. May we all learn to praise our God more diligently!
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,3who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,4who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,5who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.7He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.8The 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.10He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.11For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;12as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.13As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.14For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
15As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field;16for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.17But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children,18to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.19The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.
20Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word!21Bless 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!
I want to cover as much of this psalm as we can, but, to warn you, I’m going to be jumping in it around a lot. David’s poetic language doesn’t invite us to follow a narrative or argument as many passages of Scripture do. And as you see, this Psalm contains more than we address in the next thirty minutes.
Let’s first read verses one and two again: “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.” David speaks to his own heart, “Bless God! Bless God! Bless God!” His repetition is not in vain. By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, David knows that our hearts need reminded again and again to worship God so we will offer Him nothing less that our utmost praise.
The translation I read from, the English Standard Version, tells us to “bless God.” The NIV, which many of you have, says to “praise God.” What does this mean? What does it mean for us to bless God or even to praise God? John Piper suggests that to bless God is to speak well of His greatness and goodness. God is indeed very great and very good. To bless God is to recognize that goodness and to speak it and to sing it!
However, David tells us it is not enough to simply speak of the goodness and greatness of God. Our words must be grounded in our soul—in all our being. My heart, my mind, my affections must agree with my words. When I sing of God’s great love, it must not simply be words coming out of my mouth. God’s love is real, and I must really believe that and be affected by it as I sing.
Notice also that this blessing of God might not always be out loud. Often we need to bless God within our own hearts and minds to focus ourselves on Him. I encourage you to memorize this Psalm so that you might speak to yourself again and again the truth of God’s love for you.
Indeed, that is what David goes on to tell us: “Forget not all his benefits.” Forget them not! The benefits that Christians have from being in Christ are infinite, yet we easily forget them. Speak to yourself Christian! Remember the promises and mercy of God! Forget not all His benefits!
The Psalm goes on from here to give more specific benefits to remember about the love of God. God has loved us in very specific ways, and we would do well to remember those things, as David has done.
To begin, to truly understand God’s love for us, we must reflect on our own depravity. Augustine wrote in the fifth century, “…the rewards of the Lord cannot be before your eyes unless your sins are before your eyes. Let not delight in past sin be before your eyes, but let the condemnation of sin be before your eyes: condemnation from you, forgiveness from God.” We cannot understand the magnificence of our salvation unless we rightly understand the magnitude of what we have been saved from. Augustine, in accord with Scripture, tells us to that we should recognize our sin so that we might see the condemnation that it brings.
In verses 15 and 16, David speaks of how our sin has affected us. “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.” Because we have all sinned in Adam, we live but we die. In the big picture, we can add nothing to the world on our own. Everything that exists now is being held for final destruction by God!
But as we see our sin, as we see the effect of sin and death, we must recognize that the very fact we are alive and moving today is wholly the mercy of God! From birth, each of us has sinned again and again against a righteous God, and again and again, God has shown mercy on us by granting us another second to live. Your sin deserves the judgment of God. My sin deserves the judgment of God.
If you hear me speak today, and you have not trusted in Christ, I beg you to listen closely to His word today. Today, if you hear God’s voice, do not harden your heart against Him but repent of your sin and trust in His mercy. Do not toy with the patience of God. The very fact that each of us woke up this morning attests to God’s mercy. God does promise the same gift tomorrow. Hear of God’s great love and confess your sin. Turn to Christ and receive the love and forgiveness that He promises to those that trust in Him.
And the love God has towards His people is certainly great! Read on to verse seventeen: “As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children.” The love that God has for His children is from everlasting to everlasting.
On your own, you are nothing more than grass which today is alive and tomorrow is throwing into the fire. On your own, you are dead in your sin. On your own you are earning nothing in this world except the wrath of God for your sin.
But! But! Charles Spurgeon says of that word, “Blessed but!” But God shares His love with His people. If you are in Christ, if you have trusted Him as your savior, then this verse tells you that God loved you before the world began! Even from eternity, God chose you to be His child. God chose you to receive His love. The great I AM, God who has always been and will be forever loves you! God who made all things, who is the just judge over all things love you, a sinner.
How great is God’s love for His people? Verse eleven tells us, “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him.” As high as the heavens are above the earth! God’s promise is that His love for His people is as great as the sky is high! The Bible uses “heaven” in different ways; it might refer to the area where the clouds are or the stars or heaven where God dwells. No matter which meaning David was speaking of, God’s love for you, if you are in Christ, is greater than you have ever imagined.
Next time you look at the stars on a dark night, remember that the stars are trillions of miles away! God’s love for His people is as great as those stars are far. This, friends, is a great love!
See how David describes God’s love in verse eight: “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love.” The Old Testament writers use this again and again to describe God. In fact, God was the first one to describe Himself in this way. When Moses was on Mount Sinai in Exodus 34, God passes before him and declares, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness….”
God calls Himself gracious and merciful. Do you realize that for God to be gracious towards us means the love and patience He shows us is completely undeserved? God loves us with a love we do not deserve. Because of our sin, we deserve God’s anger and wrath, yet He instead showers us with promises of steadfast love and faithfulness.
He “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.”
Because of God’s love and compassion for His people, he promised to redeem His people from hell. But we have a special knowledge that David did not have. God has redeemed all His people from the hell. Christ has come as a sacrifice for all the sins of His people for all time. If you are in Christ, and if you have trusted Him for your salvation, you are truly saved. If you are not in Christ, if you have not trusted Him for the forgiveness of your sins, today is that day. God offers this salvation to all men. Turn to Christ.
You see, God, in His great love for His people, has done the very thing we need yet cannot accomplish on our own. God promises in verses nine and ten: “He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.”
God has every reason to be angry toward all of mankind. We have all fallen short of His glory in our great iniquity. We all deserve to be condemned to death for our sin. But God! But God promises that He will have mercy on His people. He promises that for all who are in Christ, He will not repay us as we deserve. He will not treat us in the way we have earned.
While you, while I deserve nothing but God’s wrath and judgment, God is full of mercy for His people. But I must say again, this promises is for those who fear God alone. God’s promise of punishment for sinners still stands for all who refuse to turn to Him. Friends, this love God promises is sweeter and greater than anything the world could ever offer.
In fact, David describes the magnitude of God’s forgiveness. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
Charles Spurgeon offers excellent commentary on this verse, and I would like to read a passage from his writing on this
O Glorious verse, no word even upon the inspired page can excel it! Sin is removed from us by a miracle of love! What a load to move, and yet is it removed so far that the distance is incalculable. Fly as far as the wing of imagination can bear you, and if you journey through space eastward, you are futher from the west at every beat of your wing. If sin be removed so far, then we may be sure that the scent, the trace, the very memory of it must be entirely gone. If this be the distance of its removal, there is no shade of fear of its ever being brought back again; even Satan himself could not achieve such a task. Our sins are gone, Jesus has born them away. Far as the place of sunrise is removed from yonder west, where this sun sinks when his day’s journey is done, so far were our sins carried by our scapegoat nineteen centuries ago, and now if they be sought for, they shall not be found, yea, they shall not be, saith the Lord. Come, my soul, awaken thyself thoroughly and glorify the Lord for this richest of blessings. Hallelujah. The Lord alone could remove sin at all, and he has done it in a godlike fashion, making a final sweep of all our transgressions.
Do you understand, Christian? If you are in Christ, you have no need to fear the punishment you deserve for your sin! As far as the east is from the west, so far have your sins been removed from you! Christ died for your sins. He offered the final sacrifice for the sins of all of God’s people. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! He is your hope and your salvation.
Do you not then understand what this doctrine leads David to? How does he finish this Psalm?
20Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word!21Bless 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!
If we truly understand the greatness of what God has done for us, can we do anything but praise Him for His mercy and love? The angels are praising God. All of creation is praising God. Will you bless His name? Will you speak well of God’s goodness and greatness to others? Will you speak to yourself of how good God has been to you? Will you sing God’s praises with your whole being from the depths of your soul?
God loves us with a love that is better than life; indeed, His love brings eternal life to all who cling to Him. Students—put your hope in Christ alone. Staff—put your hope in Christ alone. Then, praise Him for what he has done. Praise His holy name with your whole being.
“Let the sound of our voices bless Him at intervals,” wrote Augustine.
…alternately, let the voice of our hearts be perpetual. When you come to church to recite a hymn, your voice sounds forth the praises of God: you have sung as far as you could, you have left the church; let your soul sound the praises of God. You are engaged in thy daily work: let thy soul praise God. You are taking food; see what the Apostle says: “Whether ye eat or drink, do all to the glory of God.” I venture to say, when you sleep, let thy soul praise the Lord.
Bless the Lord, O my soul. All that is within me bless His holy name!