Love and Worship God

Study Scripture: Psalm 103:1 – 17, 21 – 22

Background Scripture:  Psalm 103

Key Verse

Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.

Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.

Psalm 103:21-22

INTRODUCTION

Our Study Scripture is a Psalm regarded by some as the Mount Everest of the praise Psalms. Others  regard it as the most perfect song of pure praise to be found in the Bible. It is the first of a group of Psalms of praise which includes Psalms 103 to 107.

It is regarded as a Psalm of David but we do not know with absolute certainty who the author is but the Psalm is virtually the same as the Psalm sung by David at the very end of his life and recorded in 2 Samuel 22. Therefore this Psalm is attributed by scholars to the later years of the life of this shepherd- King’s who has been through many great crises in his life and from which God had delivered him.

In his long tumultuous life David had come to know and love God’s great past deliverances and so in many Psalms he praised God for deliverance sometimes using a word for love which means impulsive and emotional love which meant that he loved God deeply, dearly, and entirely, from the very root of his heart.

David has always considered the LORD to be

-His rock and fortress and deliverer.

-He considered God to be his strength and the one in whom he would trust.

-God was also his shield and the horn of his salvation, and

-His stronghold or his high tower of refuge.

Scripture tells us that he experienced and knew the grace and deliverance of God many times and since there is no reason to question his authorship of Psalms 103 we see why David erupted in praise for God in a majestic fashion.

He reminded himself of God’s blessings so that he would always be grateful for what God had done for him. As one writer explains:

“He is cataloguing the goodness of God, enumerating his blessings lest in a moment of depression or backsliding, he should forget the source of his prosperity and take God’s grace for granted”.

This Psalm has therefore led to many hymns of praise such as for example Henry Lyte’s hymn  written in 1834:

“Praise, my soul, the King of heaven,

To his feet your tribute bring:

Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,

Who, like me, he praise should sing?

Praise him, praise him, praise him, praise him,

Praise the everlasting King.

This is the original sentiment of a talented author. Another great hymn based on this Psalm reads in part:

“Count your blessings; name them one by one,

and it will surprise you what the Lord has done”.

Charles Spurgeon tells us why this Psalm is most important for senior saints:

“We should attribute it to his later years when he had a higher sense of the preciousness of pardon, because of a keener sense of sin, than in his younger days. His clear sense of the frailty of life indicates his weaker years, as also does the very fullness of his praiseful gratitude”.

As we study therefore we should ask ourselves whether or not we take God’s grace for granted.

Do we murmur against God?

Do we complain about God like how some in the day of David complained and while some do today?

Or do we pile up the words of gratitude for what God has done for us so that we can properly express our gratitude to our God of grace?

Do we consider how a person should praise God? How does David answer this question?

Do we consider why a person should praise God?

Do we think deeply about what God is like and connect our understanding of His attributes, His virtues, or His nature so that we know that we should praise Him?

Do we consider seriously who should praise God?

And have you really considered whether you have a share in these blessings of God that David declares in his rapturous fashion?

What about God’s mercy, His loyal love? What does it mean to you?

As we look therefore at what one writer describes as God’s divine benefit package let us look at ourselves and consider the great universe wide difference between the dutiful expression of David’s love and affection for God and the skeptical and dismal outlook of those living in our present age.

There are many who are quite prosperous and some quite wealthy but who live lives away from others, unhelpful, uncaring about those less fortunate than themselves, and even doing nothing instead of using what talents, skills, experience, and abilities they have to build the work of God and lay up treasures in heaven.

This Psalm of grace calls for deep self-examination and a turning around to see what God has done for us and to say with David as he said:

“Bless the Lord O My soul”.

THE TEXT

Verse 1. The psalmist calls upon his soul to arise to praiseful gratitude for God’s justifying, redeeming, and renewing grace.  This is the only part that can truly exercise any type of praise to Him who is Spirit, and as such must be worshipped in spirit and in truth.  

The soul we possess comes from God and will return to Him, and is the portion of us that can relate in any way to God.  When the psalmist calls upon his soul to “bless” the Lord, he is not invoking or conferring a blessing on Him in the same sense that God blesses.  This is impossible, as God stands in no need of it, and being God, He is all sufficient, and blessed for evermore.

When we are blessing God, the sense is not that the greater being is bestowing a blessing on a lesser being for men know that God is infinitely greater than man. But when we say we bless God we are proclaiming and congratulating His blessedness, and giving Him praise, honor, and thanks for all mercies, spiritual and temporal.  We are told that God delights when we praise Him for who He is and praise and thank Him appropriately. This is the purpose of David’s psalm, to stir himself up to the duty of praise.

The soul of man is often prone to forget to render thanks that are due, and more especially thanks that are due to God.  It therefore needs to be expressly aroused in order that it may not leave the blessing with which God blesses it unacknowledged. The soul must not forget all His acts performed on it, which are purely deeds of loving kindness, which is the primal condition and the foundation of all others. Including is sin pardoning mercy.

Verse 2. As stated in Verse 1, it is a requirement of man to praise and exalt the Almighty Holy God with his entire being.  In order for our praises to return to God, it must be done within the grateful remembrance of the mercies we have received from Him.  We must continually give thanks for them, lest we forget them. Forgetting is truthfully unjust as well as unkind, since in all God’s favours there is so much that is memorable.  

Even good men are apt to forget what God has done for them, like the Israelites of old, who sung the praises of the Lord, and soon forgot His works.  However, once again we are reminded that the Lord is merciful and wise, in giving us great prophets and finally a Messiah who came and brought the Gospel dispensation that includes the provision to encourage our remembrance of the great things God has done for us through the power of the Holy Spirit. We can now always be in a state of mind and soul to show gratitude and thankfulness to Him and for the encouragement of our faith and hope in Him.

Verse 3. David apparently feels that he has not been praising God enough. It is not simply that true worship was something inwardly felt by the soul but it should also show in other forms of expression. All that is within him, the totality of being called heart, soul, will, mind, and strength must he says remember the many benefits God has brought with Him.

He speaks of the five marvelous benefits that God has brought to invigorate our souls, and he lists them in order:

-forgives

-heals

-redeems

-Crowns

-satisfies.

David mentions first and foremost, that God has pardoned his sins as well as our sins that have kept good things from us, and by His pardon we are thus restored to the favour of God, which bestows good things on us.  

We are to consider our provocations, but at the end it was iniquity, and yet they are pardoned, and not just one, but all.  God has forgiven our trespasses. Even better than just forgiving our past sins, it is a continuing action, as He is still forgiving, as we still sin and repent.  God has the power to cleanse all unrighteousness and will do so if we do not commit the sin onto death which involves rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit, attributing the work of the Holy Spirit who sanctifies men to the work of the Devil.

The corruption of nature is the sickness of the soul. It is a disorder, and threatens its death.  This is cured in sanctification, when the soul is mortified; the disease is healed, no matter the disease.  

Our crimes were capital crimes, but God saves our lives by pardoning them.  Our diseases were mortal, that is deadly, but God saves our lives by healing them.  These two go together, for, as for God, His work is perfect and not done by halves. If God take away the guilt of sin by pardoning mercy, He will break the power of it by renewing grace. Where Christ is made righteousness to any soul He is made sanctification.

There are many ways for a man’s life to be in peril, God covers all and accounts for all through His grace.  From crimes, or diseases, or by the power of his enemies, man can experience the divine goodness of the Redeemer by always being in remembrance of what Christ has done.

We should always remember but God cares for our bodies and that he will bring healing through natural, scientific ways as well as by very miraculous ways. Our diseases are not simply spiritual even though there are many spiritual diseases such as pride, lust, laziness, and other spiritual maladies

But many can testify that God has healed their bodies on many occasions as well as their souls and recognize that good health has been given us surely as a gift from God. One writer clarifies however:

“This passage is not intended to suggest that God’s child can expect perpetual healing from every illness, so that he will never die. Physical death is a punishment which results from humanity’s involvement in sin (Genesis 2:17; Romans 5:12). It is a divine appointment (Hebrews 9: 27).

Second, the passage is not a promise but Christians throughout history were able to tap into the divine power of miraculous healing, as such existed in the era of Jesus’ personal ministry and in the apostolic period just beyond that time. This supernatural phenomena of those days were temporary by design (1 Corinthians 13:8).

What the passage thus address is this: The God who created the human body (Genesis 2:7; Psalm 139: 14) is able, consistent with his own purposes, to mend his own creation. None of us would survive infancy were it not for the amazing providential healing process that has been divinely designed and incorporated into the fabric of the human system. The immune system, the phenomenon of antibodies, the mending process, etc. are all remarkable beyond our ability to express….

Beyond this however, is the ultimate promise of our glorified state”.

After the body is deposited back into the bowels of the Earth, to return to its dusty origin (Genesis 3:19; Eccl. 12:7) it awaits the day of resurrection (John 5:28-29); Acts 24 : 15;1 Corinthians 15 ). When it emerges from the grave, it would enter a new state where pain and that exists “no more”. (Revelation 21:4), and where the “leaves” of the “tree of life” provide abiding “healing”, that is, everlasting association with God (Revelation 22:2).”

Verse 4. Christ has redeemed our life from destruction, from the destroyer, from hell, and the second death.  The redemption of the soul is precious and we cannot compass it, and therefore are even more indebted to divine grace that has worked it out, to Him who has obtained eternal redemption for us.

Christ’s work as our kinsman Redeemer with the right to buy us back, has put us with and bestowed us with true honour and great honour, no less than a crown.  God has advanced our poor souls into the light with love and favour. We have been adopted into the family of God; this is the honour that has been given to all saints.  

All saints are blessed through Christ.  This spiritual blessing given by the grace of God to man includes mercy. It is also by Him and extends throughout time.  

Any and all other blessings flow from the loving kindness and tender mercy of God. Included in these blessings are all the blessings of the everlasting covenant, the sure mercies of David.  All the spiritual blessings are with which the saints are blessed in Christ, the grace given them in Him, and by mercy kept with Him for evermore. To clarify, all things pertaining to life and godliness come out of the regeneration we have in Christ. We therefore not only have sparing from sin, disease, and trouble, but God is so great that He gives us a crowning with His great love and mercy.

Verse 5. It is only the favour and grace of God that can give satisfaction to a soul, only He can meet the needs of the soul, fill it and answer to its desires. Nothing but divine wisdom can undertake to fill its treasures (Prov. 8:21); other things are excess, but will not satiate, Eccl. 6:7; Isa. 55:2.

He has given us the prospect and pledge of long life.  The eagle is long-lived, and, as naturalists say, when she is nearly 100 years old, casts all her feathers (as indeed she changes them in a great measure every year at moulting time), and fresh ones come, so that she becomes young again. When God, by the graces and comforts of His Spirit, recovers His people from their decays, and fills them with new life and joy, which is to them an earnest of eternal life and joy, then they may be said to return to the days of their youth, Job 33:25.

Verse 6. David in the next few verses looks at his own experiences and gleans inspiration for praise.  He also draws on his relationship to others as God has blessed him and them, through their interactions.

God is just and good to all.  He executes righteousness and judgment, not only for His own people, but for all that are oppressed; for even in common providence He is the patron of wronged innocency, and, one way or other, will plead the cause of those that are injured against their oppressors. It is His honour to humble the proud and help the helpless.

Verse 7. By mentioning Moses, David inspires us to rise to the example that was set.  Moses was not perfect, but we can see the good things that he did and see how God responded to him.  The psalmist’ intention in this verse and the following, extends to the consideration of the good things God did for others, with the purpose of keeping a warm sense of divine goodness upon his heart, and also to ours. In another sense, God ‘s special relationship to Israel serves as a general lesson to all His people, that if you possess that clean and upright heart, God will look to you with favour.

God has revealed Himself and His grace to us. He made known His ways unto Moses, and by him His acts to the children of Israel, not only by His rod to those who then lived, but by His pen to succeeding ages.

Divine revelation is one of the first and greatest of divine favours with which the congregation of God and the church is blessed; for God restores us to Himself by revealing Himself to us, and gives us all good by giving us knowledge. He has made known His acts and His ways (that is, His nature, and the methods of His dealing with the children of men), that they may know both what to conceive of Him and what to expect from Him. Thus in all His actions, God deals fairly with His people and all man.

For all oppressed ones in common, the poor, the widow, and the fatherless, who are often oppressed by the rich and mighty, the Lord judges their cause, and does them right, and frees them from their oppression.  So that all good men who are oppressed by tyrannical princes and cruel persecutors, and those such whom the man of the earth, the man of sin, antichrist, oppresses and all those who are oppressed by the devil, and bore down with his temptations; for all those the Lord rebukes him the oppressor in His own time, and delivers His people out of his hands; which is a matter of praise and thankfulness.

Verse 8. This is perhaps the most reassuring verse to repentant sinners and even to sinners in general.

God has never been rigorous and severe with us, but always tender, full of compassion, and ready to forgive.  Just and merciful is our God, not rewarding us for our iniquity, but looking for ways to bring us back into His fold. His anger only comes at a very slow pace. The world benefits from his sparing mercy.

It is in His nature to be so. The Lord is merciful and gracious; this was His way which He has made known unto Moses at Mount Horeb, when He thus proclaimed His name (Ex. 34:6, 7), in answer to Moses’s request (ch. 33:13). It is my way, says God, to pardon sin.

He is not soon angry, as mentioned, He is slow to anger, not extreme to mark what we do amiss nor ready to take advantage against us. He bears long with those that are very provoking, defers punishing, that He may give space to repent, and does not speedily execute the sentence of His law; and He could not be thus slow to anger if He were not plenteous in mercy, the very Father of mercies. The famous Prince of preachers Spurgeon tells us:

“All the world taste of his sparing mercy, those who hear the gospel partake of his inviting mercy, the Saints live by his saving mercy, are preserved by his upholding mercy, are cheered by his consoling mercy, and will enter heaven through his infinite and everlasting mercy”.

Verse 9. God does not hold His disapproval for long towards those that sin. Though we always offend and deserve chiding, though He lets us know His displeasure against us for our sins by the rebukes of Providence, and the reproaches of our own consciences, and thus cause grief, yet He will have compassion, and will not always keep us in pain and terror, no, not for our sins, but, after the spirit of bondage, will give the spirit of adoption.

How unlike are those to God who always chide(as applied to God, to scold, with man most times it tends toward, to nag), who take every occasion to chide, and never know when to cease! What would become of us if God should deal so with us? He will not keep His anger for ever against His own people, but will gather them with everlasting mercies, Isa. 54:8; 57:16.

Do not forget however that God has not dealt with us after our sins because the Father has dealt with another after our sins for another took our sins upon Him.

Verse 10. All of man must acknowledge, must own this truth, namely, that God has not dealt with us after our sins. The Scripture says a great deal of the mercy of God, and we may all set to our seal that it is true, that we have experienced it. If He had not been a God of patience, we should have been in hell long ago; but God has not rewarded us after our iniquities; so those will say who know what sin deserves. He has not inflicted the judgments which we have merited, nor deprived us of the comforts which we have forfeited, which should make us think the worse, and not the better, of sin; for God’s patience should lead us to repentance, Rom. 2:4.

Verses 11 & 12. The next two verses complete the thought about the mercy God extends to all people. He has pardoned our sins, not only my iniquity, but our transgressions. It is a great benefit to us that we have been the recipients of the pardoning mercy of God. We are to take comfort in this, as well as taking comfort from the benefit others have from the pardoning mercy and thus we must give Him the glory.

As the heaven is high above the earth (so high that the earth is but a point to the vast expanse), so God’s mercy is extended more than human beings can imagine. It exceeds the merits of those that fear Him most, so much above and beyond them that there is no proportion at all between them; the greatest performances of man’s duty cannot demand the least tokens of God’s favour as a debt, and therefore all the seed of Jacob will join with him in owning themselves less than the least of all God’s mercies, Gen. 32:10.

God’s mercy is thus great towards those that fear Him, not towards those that trifle with Him. We must fear the Lord and His goodness.

The fullness of His pardons is but evidence of the riches of His mercy towards His creation, and even more so to those who are counted as His elect.

As far as the east is from the west (which two quarters of the world are of greatest extent, because all known and inhabited, and therefore geographers that way reckon their longitudes) so far has He removed our transgressions from us, so that they shall never be laid to our charge, nor rise up in judgment against us. The sins of believers shall be remembered no more, shall not be mentioned unto them; they shall be sought for, and not found. If we thoroughly forsake them, God will thoroughly forgive them.

Verses 13 & 14. Whom does he He pity-those that fear him, that is, all good people, who in this world may become objects of pity on account of the grievances to which they are not only born, but born again. Or it may be understood of those who have not yet received the spirit of adoption, but are yet trembling at His word; those he pities, Jer. 31:18, 20.

How He pities: As a father pities his children, and does them good as there is occasion. God is a Father to those that fear Him and owns them for His children, and He is tender of them as a father. The father pities his children that are weak in knowledge and instructs them, pities them when they are froward and bears with them, pities them when they are sick and comforts them (Isa. 66:13), pities them when they have fallen and helps them up again, pities them when they have offended, and, upon their submission, forgives them, pities them when they are wronged and gives them redress; thus the Lord pities those that fear Him.

So as Spurgeon relates God pities our childish ignorance, our childish weakness, our childish foolishness, our childish naughtiness, our childlike stumbling and falling, our childlike pain, and he pities the child when another has wronged them. So as he states:

“Though he knows your trials will work for your good, yet he pities you. Though he knows that there is sin in you, which, perhaps, may require this rough discipline ere you be sanctified, yet he pities you. Though he can hear the music of heaven, the songs and glees that will ultimately come of your present sighs and griefs, yet still he pities those groans and wails of yours”.  

We in our lives, once as children ourselves, and perhaps having children should understand this point.  God is our ultimate example of what a parent should be, and of course, part of it is to show that how children should strive to be good children to their parents.

Why He pities: For He knows our frame. He has reason to know our frame, for He framed us; and, having Himself made man of the dust, He remembers that he is dust, not only by constitution, but by sentence. Dust thou art. He considers the frailty of our bodies and the folly of our souls, how little we can do, and expects accordingly from us, how little we can bear, and lays accordingly upon us, in all which appears the tenderness of His compassion.  God knows us better than we know ourselves. He understands the nature of sin and how it will affect us, but still knows we can be more though Him, and gives us every opportunity to be better.

Verses 15 to 18. God has perpetuated His covenant-mercy and thereby provided relief for our frailty.

Man’s life is short and of uncertain continuance. The lives even of great men and good men are so, and neither their greatness nor their goodness can alter the property belonging to their frail existence.

As for man, his days are as grass, which grows out of the earth, rises but a little way above it, and soon withers and returns to it again. This speaks to the lack of control we have in our life, and that the only sure thing man can reach for, is the Almighty and Holy God. Isa. 40:6, 7.

Man, in his best estate, seems somewhat more than grass; he flourishes and looks happy, and filled, full of splendor, yet then he is but like a flower of the field, which, though distinguished a little from the grass, will wither with it. The flower of the garden is commonly more choice and valuable, and, though in its own nature withering, will last the longer for its being sheltered by the garden wall and the gardener’s care; but the flower of the field (to which life is here compared) is not only withering in itself, but exposed to the cold blasts, and liable to be cropped and trodden on by the beasts of the field. Man’s life is not only wasting of itself, but its period may be anticipated by a thousand accidents. When the flower is in its perfection a blasting wind, unseen, unlooked for, passes over it, and it is gone; it hangs the head, drops the leaves, dwindles into the ground again, and the place thereof, which was proud of it, now knows it no more. Such a thing is man: God considers this, and pities him; let him consider it himself, and be humble, dead to this world and thoughtful of another.

God’s mercy is to His people and it is long and lasting. It will continue longer than their lives, as it started before their earthly life and birth begun, and will survive their present state.

This is the description of those to whom this mercy belongs. They are such as fear God, such as are truly religious, from principle.

First, they live a life of faith; for they keep God’s covenant; having taken hold of it, they keep hold of it, fast hold, and will not let it go. They keep it as a treasure, keep it as their portion, and would not for all the world part with it, for it is their life.

Secondly, they live a life of obedience; they remember His commandments to do them, else they do not keep His covenant. Those only shall have the benefit of God’s promises that make conscience of His precepts. See who those are that have a good memory, as well as a good understanding (Ps. 111:10), those that remember God’s commandments, not to talk of them, but to do them, and to be ruled by them.

The continuance of the mercy which belongs to such as these; it will last for their benefit longer than their lives on earth, and therefore they need not be troubled though their lives be short, since death itself will be no abridgment, no infringement, of their bliss. God’s mercy is better than life, for it will out-live it.

First, To their souls, which are immortal; to them the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. The councils of God have been from everlasting. The people of God have been known by God before the world was and God knows of their glorification when this world shall be no more; for they are predestinated to the inheritance (Eph. 1:11) and look for the mercy of the Lord, the Lord Jesus, unto eternal life. God has called all men by His Spirit for He is not willing that any should perish. His mercy is over all and men are responsible for going to the light instead of preferring darkness to light.

Secondly, To their seed, which shall be kept up to the end of time (Ps. 102:28): His righteousness, the truth of His promise, shall be unto children’s children; provided they tread in the steps of their predecessors’ piety, and keep His covenant, as their fathers and mothers did, for then shall mercy be preserved to them, even to a thousand generations.

Verses 19-21. God is contrasted with man for man is for a moment while God is permanent. Accordingly God’s mercy is from everlasting to everlasting. God’s reign is secure from heaven and His throne is beyond the troubles and corruptions of the Earth. He rules over all.

Verse 21. God is to be contrasted between Himself and His angels. All the hosts of heaven and earth are given over to blessing and praising the Lord. They excel in strength, are extremely and unimaginably powerful, but they are obedient and give God praise and glory. So David extends his call to these mighty messengers of God to give God the honor and praise due to Him.

All creation serving God can give praise and move under the banner of one, the Almighty God.  Under Christ, the Captain of our salvation the angels battle against the forces of evil, fight against sin, Satan, and the world. They have a great deal of reason to bless and praise the Lord, for all the great and good things He has done to them, and for them. They will remain God’s holy Angels, perfected in righteousness and holiness.

The angels are sometimes styled the heavenly host and may be so called from their numbers, there being legions of them; and for their military employment, in guarding and protecting the saints, in encamping about them, and fighting for them.

The angels are ministers of God that do His pleasure; they do the will of God do what is acceptable to Him, and well pleasing in His sight, Hebrews 1:7.

But rather, as distinct from them, some believe that David speaks of the ministers of the Gospel; it is a name which the preachers of the word of God bear, both in the Old and in the New Testament, Isaiah 61:4, They are ministers of Christ’s appointing, calling, qualifying, and sending; and who are employed in His service, in preaching Him, His Gospel, and the truths of it; and who do His pleasure. They are Grateful to Him. They speak His word faithfully, declare His whole counsel, and keep back nothing that is profitable: and these have reason to bless the Lord for the gifts bestowed upon them, and for their success and usefulness; and indeed they bear a leading part in giving praise and glory to God, Revelation 4:9.

Verse 22. All of His creatures, animate or inanimate, rational or irrational, throughout the whole world, which are all created by God and are under His government, which they are, Let all of them, objectively, bless and praise the Lord, Psalm 148:7.

CONCLUSION

Regenerate persons, His sons and daughters, the work of His hand, in each of the parts of the world where they live, are here called upon to bless the Lord, who, of His abundant mercy, hath begotten them again to a glorious inheritance: these are His workmanship in Christ; formed for Himself, His service, and glory; and are under the highest obligations to show forth His praise.

These are the children of God.  Knowing the Great God, how can you withhold the praise from Him and not declare it to others.

But note the clear statements about who should praise God. It is not only those that are redeemed and forgiven, all those rescued from the pit. Without any doubt they are to lead praises to God. But he knows that God is so great that all should praise the Lord, all creatures, all men, all animals, all Angels, and all of creation. Maybe you think that there are things in creation, plant, fish, amoeba, viruses or other kinds of life that cannot praise God, but David is saying that they can and they should. There might be more to this world than we are dreaming about or can even imagine.

So ask yourself if you want to share in the blessings of God. Is there any real praise in your heart? If you’re not sure you should go to the cross of Jesus Christ and see what happened there.

Remember that you should not abuse the love of God. He stands ready however to welcome back prodigal sons and daughters. David wants people to respond in awe, thankfulness, and obedience. All this must be done with sincerity.

Bless the Lord, O my soul: thus the psalmist ends the psalm as he begun it; not to excusing himself by what he had done, nor by calling upon others to this service; knowing that this is constant employment for time and eternity; a work in which he delighted, and was desirous of being concerned in, now and for ever.

CONCLUSION