PSALM 103:1-22 TEXT: v1-2 BLESS THE LORD O MY SOUL ETC.,
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:
Talking to yourself is generally frowned upon and regarded as odd
behaviour. It is not something we recommend per se. Often it is better
to keep your thoughts to yourself and if you must make them public, do
so in a bona fide conversation with someone else of like mind. Our text
is more likely to be a rhetorical device rather than revealing an
oddity on David's part…but even if he did (say) in the
loneliness of those fields as a Shepherd boy so encourage himself to
praise God, then it is something we might overlook for the greater
good. I would rather be heard talking to myself if these words
constituted the conversation, than to talk to another and be heard but
to speak trifling words of no eternal consequence.
5 main things in our text:
1) WE ARE TO BLESS THE LORD:
(x3 text) and another x4 in the whole Psalm
A/ What does it mean to bless the Lord?
When the Lord blesses us…He prospers us and raises us up higher either than we are or even deserve
Whole Psalm seems dedicated to this thought (see later)
But when we bless God - we do not increase Him any nor be gracious/merciful until Him.
We only return to Him what He deserves to get
Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. (Psalm 29:2)
Lovely part in the WCF that states:
God hath all life, glory, goodness,
blessedness, in and of Himself; and is alone in and unto Himself
all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which He hath
made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting His own glory in, by, unto, and upon them:
He is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to
whom are all things; and hath most sovereign dominion over them, to do
by them, for them, or upon them whatsoever Himself pleaseth.
B/ Blessing/Lord is akin to seeking to manifest all His glory to others so that they might be inclined to worship Him
2) WE ARE TO BLESS THE LORD FOR WHO HE IS:
Bless His holy name
A/ We bless Him because He is God
No higher being and therefore no higher reason and indeed no other reason is needed…We bless Him because He is God
When Israel were being reminded of their tremendous privilege
i.e. being the chosen people, this great truth is to the forefront
They came into that knowledge that "The Lord…He is God" (Deuteronomy 4:35/39)
B/ We might think of all that this entails. WCF S/C (Q4)
God is a Spirit, infinite eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
Some of these attributes are listed for us in v8 (Q)
[i] Those who draw nearest to God and who are the most familiar with Him (right sense) are "lost in wonder, love and praise"
They all confessed their nothingness before Him
(Isaiah/Job/Apostle John etc.,) and then they began to linger on His attributes as listed above
On a different sphere altogether - not in a nonsensical and mystical dream, but lost in the reality of the greatest of God
[ii] By stark and naked contrast, those who have stood afar off from
Him and have not lived God glorifying lives have been filled with great
terror at the thought of being His presence: Revelation 6:15-17
In this too they are confessing their nothingness, but (unlike the
people/God) there is no wonder, love and praise because such is a
Spirit wrought response that they (in their sin) cannot bring
themselves to render to Him. Even the terror of such a situation as
having to meet Him unprepared cannot induce it
Of course, one day every last creature will confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11) because this is His due, but it is a
million miles away from the evangelical expression of faith that brings
its own dividend i.e. salvation (Romans 10:9)
C/ As we draw near/God especially in prayer…let us try and contemplate something of His greatness as God
We will truly find that even though the Bible (His word) tells us so much…the half hath not been told us
Eternity itself will be required to begin/learn these things
3) WE ARE TO BLESS THE LORD FOR WHAT HE HAS DONE:
…forget not all His benefits
A/ No mean benefits! More than we deserve
[i] We have nothing to boast off in ourselves (v14-16)
Man has absolutely nothing to boast about
We are but dust i.e. our humble origins (Genesis 2:7)
We are as children (v13) i.e. our helplessness
We are like the grass - the were wind carrying us away -
our transience
[ii] We deserve nothing but wrath (v9-10)
What if God did on both accounts?
None could fault Him
None could save us
(Another context) the wicked King/Israel said to the woman seeking his help/famine:
If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? (2 Kings 6:27)
B/ We who saved have partaken of His mercy (v11) Indeed (indicating the weight/these things) - His great mercy
Great because:
[i] Greatness of the Giver (v19) (As before: He is God)
Extent/our guilt - magnitude/multitude of sin to be pardoned
[iii] Extent/His pardon: v12 From the east to the west
[iv] Length/His grace: v17 From everlasting to everlasting
[v] Terms on which it is enjoyed (v17-18)
[vi] Extending beyond our spiritual needs to meet even our physical needs also (v3-6)
C/ If God took these things from us, while we would still be required to praise Him (as Job did when he lost his health etc.,)
Yet we should praise Him more that He hasn't.
4) WE ARE TO BLESS THE LORD WITH ALL OF OUR BEING:
Bless the Lord O my soul (x2)
A/ Very easy to bless Him with our lips and not with our soul
Big fault of the Jews (Mark 7:6)
B/ God hates it with all His heart
It is hypocrisy
C/ While we should aim for perfection and aim at nothing less in this matter, please remember that often we do attain to such.
May be many reasons for this…but if we cannot so attain, let us not pretend we have
If we must offer something small…at least let us offer it with
all our hearts. No need to be big on show if our all isn't in it
5) WE ARE APT TO FORGET THIS IMPORTANT DUTY/PRIVILEGE:
Forget not all his benefits
A/ Strong implication/text that we can and we know we often do.
[i] The COI forgot God's dealings with them: Deut 32:15-18
This was in a period of prosperity when Jeshrun waxed fat
[ii] The Apostles failed/remember: miracle of the loaves/fishes
(Matthew 16:8-9)
Many similar exhortations/Bible to take heed etc.,
B/ Many Puritans used to keep spiritual diaries so that they would not forget God's benefits towards them
Recorded their prayer requests and then their answers etc., and this stirred them up to pray/praise God for His mercies
C/ We can remember these benefits several ways:
[i] Identifying them
[ii] Appreciating them
[iii] Recording them
[iv] Talking about them one to another (Malachi 3:16)
[v] Improving upon them i.e. building upon them so that one will lead to another
[vi] Praying about/for them
But don't ask for them for wrong reasons (James 4:2) but do all to the glory/God remembering thrust/text