Bless the Lord, O My Soul; Psalm 103
1 Amens
Today, in the US and about 50 other countries….is Father’s Day…
- And I had planned to bring a message to you about the Fatherhood of God
This message was going to begin with the prayers of Jesus (the Model Prayer)
- …and how Christ prayed to God over and over…always calling Him by the name Father
- Every prayer that Jesus prayed, He called God “His Father”…all except one
- …that was the prayer from the cross…My God, My God…
- Every prayer that Jesus prayed, He called God “His Father”…all except one
In all things except paying our sin penalty…in all things except becoming sin for us
- …Christ prayed to God as His Father
And the Bible speaks very prolifically about the Fatherhood of God
- Psalm 68 says that God is a Father to the fatherless…
And so this message was going to explore what the Bible has to say about the Fatherhood of God…
- …and the whole point of that message was that on this day when we recognize our earthly Fathers…
- …we should…to a far greater degree…be recognizing Our Father…who art in heaven
That Father’s Day is really a Day to recognize(even moreso than normal)…our heavenly Father….
That was the message…
- …but the more I worked on that message…the more it just did not seem right for us today…
So, instead…turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 103…page 520
We will be looking at the 103rd Psalm to bring to us, this morning…
- God’s Word for us on this Father’s Day
Now, Psalm 103 is truly one of the most amazing Psalms in the Psalter
- …As I began studying this Psalm…I found no less than 34 legitimate, separate teaching points
- ….34 important, separate, distinct teaching points found in this Psalm
Now relax…we don’t have a 34 point sermon today
- …I know that I tend to go a little over 12:00…but not that bad…
But I found that I believe that no other 22 verses of Scripture contain more teaching about our salvation and the character of God than these…
- …nothing in the gospels
- …nothing in the Epistles is more tightly packed with revelation for us than this Psalm…
And so…on the backs of your bulletin inserts I have included an outline of this Psalm with all the points with all the proper verse references from this Psalm…
- …I encourage you this week to take one or two of your quiet times and explore this Psalm for yourself…
We will be looking today at this Psalm and what it has to say to us about Fatherhood
- …both our earthly Fatherhood and God’s Fatherhood…
Let me be clear…Psalm 103 is not about Fathers
- …that’s not the main point of the Psalm
- …in fact…it is only a minor point out of all of the other teaching given here…
But nonetheless…it is appropriate and valuable teaching for us
- And we will explore it further this morning…
Psalm 103
Now…very quickly…I would like for everyone to look at the backs of your bulletin inserts and your Bibles (no one is looking at me right now)
- …and very quickly, I’m going to go through how the whole Psalm is laid out
Follow with me here…
- vv 2-7 speak of God’s Benefits
- v 2; Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits
- …and then vv 2-7 list 8 Benefits that we receive from the Lord (knowing the Lord)
- V 3, He forgives
- V 3, He heals
- V 4, He redeems
- V 4, He crowns us
- v 5, He satisfies us
- v 5, He renews us
- v 6, He vindicates us
- v 7, He reveals Himself to us…He speaks to us
- …and then vv 2-7 list 8 Benefits that we receive from the Lord (knowing the Lord)
- v 2; Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits
vv 8-10 speak of God’s Character
- v 8, He is merciful
- v 8, He is gracious
- v 8, He is patient
- v 8, He is loving
- v 9, He is forgiving
- v 10, He is sympathetic
vv 11-19 speak of God’s Greatness
- v 11, His great love
- v 12, His great forgiveness
- v 13, His great compassion
- v 14, His great wisdom (knowledge)
- v 17, His great eternality (never-endingness)
- v 18, His great loyalty
- v 19, His great majesty
vv 15-16 speak (in contrast) of Our Weakness
- v 15, Our lives on earth are not everlasting, not eternal
vv 20-22 speak of His Praise
- v 20, The Angels are to praise Him…by doing His Word
- v 21, The hosts (heavenly armies) are to praise Him…by doing His will
- v 22, All creation is to praise Him…by showing His dominion
- v 22…returns to the beginning…we are to praise Him
…again…no other 22 verses of Scripture are so packed full of teaching about God
- His character
- His salvation
- His majesty…as Psalm 103
- …so in our treatment of Psalm 103 this morning…we won’t even be scratching the surface
But we want to look at what Psalm 103 teaches us about fatherhood…on this Father’s Day
- And this teaching begins in v13
- …look there with me…
v 13
As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
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.
But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children,
to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.
The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.
And so David is speaking here about the greatness of God
- …His steadfast love is as great as the distance between the heavens and the earth
- …His forgiveness is as complete as the distance between the east and the west
- …and then he comes to God’s compassion…
God’s compassion is as a father’s compassion to his children…
Now…when David makes this comparison
- …he is not saying that when God wants to learn how to be compassionate…he looks to earthly fathers
- …he is not saying that God desired to be a compassionate God…looked for a good example…and saw how fathers are compassionate to their children and thought…that’s how I will be…
Instead…what David is saying here is this;
- When we see a good father…we see a picture of God
…….
God designed fatherhood to be a portrayal of His fatherhood
- God had a Son before He created earthly fathers…
- …God had a Son before creating the earth and the things in it…
- …God had a Son in eternity past…
- …God had a Son before creating the earth and the things in it…
…and God knew what Fatherhood meant
- ...but we didn’t…
And so God created earthly Fathers in order to make it plain to us what He is
When you see a good father…you are seeing a picture of God
We learn how to be good fathers by watching God;
- Father His children
- And have compassion of His children
- And have steadfast love for His children
- And forgive His children
- And be merciful and patient and sympathetic to His children…
- …and all the other character traits that Psalm 103 shows us…
When our earthly fathers are like Psalm 103…we are learning what our heavenly father is like
- Godly fathers are placing on display a sign (in lives of children) that points them to the father…
- …and not just children…but spouses and parents and friends, and co-workers
Being a father is therefore…a tremendous calling
God created fathers in His own image…and good fathering points everyone to God…
Now, what this means for us on this Father’s Day is this;
- …we (as fathers) are designed and created to display the fatherhood of God…ESPECIALLY (but not exclusively)…
- …to our children
- …and the plan of God is that our children will largely learn about God through watching us
- …to our children
…not the mother
- I do not, in any way, want to diminish the role of motherhood
- …but clearly…the plan of God is for children to be first and foremost shown what God the Father is like through the examples of earthly fathers…
This is why the breakdown of our culture and our society all began with the breakup of the home
- …and when millions of children grow up not knowing an earthly father…they have a very difficult time knowing the heavenly father…
- …because all the signs are gone…
- ...all the pointers are gone…
- …all the direction markers are gone…
- …because all the signs are gone…
Can a single mother point her children to the fatherhood of God?
- …absolutely she can
Can she do that as efficiently, as easily, and –by design- as an earthly father?
- ……………….no
And so, the question we ask…
- …seeing that this is such a monumentally important role…
- …how do we point our children to the fatherhood of God?
Look again at our text…
v 13
As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
David says…
- ..we’re supposed to point to You, God
- ….You are the perfect Father
- …You are the one whose love is everlasting
- ….You are the perfect Father
But God knows…David says…that ours is not
- Because God knows our frame…He remembers that we are dust
v 15……The Lord’s love is everlasting…but…
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.
So, earthly fathers will not always be around
- …we will all live for eternity…
- …but our fatherly role will end the moment our heart beats its last beat…
So the question plagues us here….
- …and this is the question for all fathers to ask yourself in this moment…
How can my children benefit forever from the love of God?
How can they become the beneficiaries of God’s righteousness rather than to be condemned by it?
- …this is the question that should absolutely plague the heart of every father who loves his children
How can my children benefit forever from the love of God
Because, you know….everyone that is alive today is benefiting from the love of God
The most hardened criminal
- The most adamant atheist
- The worst child molestor
- The most radical follower of false gods…
- …Osama Bin Laden (if still alive) is benefiting from the love of God right now
But that will end one day
- And on that day…some will receive the benefit of God’s love and mercy poured out for eternity
- …and others will receive the opposite…God’s wrath poured out for eternity…
So how can the children that we father
- …the one’s whom we are given the job of pointing them to the fatherhood of God
- …how can they experience God’s love and never-ending compassion??
Not for a season
- Not for 60 or 70 or 80 years
- …but for eternity?
David gives us three requirements for our children to experience the steadfast love of God forever…
- They are simple and plain to see in the text…
v 15
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
But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him…and no one else, and his righteousness to children's children,
to those who keep his covenant..and no one else… and [to those who] remember to do his commandments….and no one else
So David says plainly…
- Those who will experience the eternal…steadfast benefit of God’s love will…
- Fear Him
- Keep His covenant
- Remember to do His commandments
…those are…again…plain and obvious to see in the text…
- Our children (, fathers)…will not experience the eternal steadfast love of the true Father unless they meet those three requirements…
- …without meeting those three requirements…the love of the Father shown to them will end when their physical life ends…
Now…let’s quickly look at these three requirements;
- …and then we will finish by looking at how it is that the Psalm tells us as fathers that we can most effectively make that happen in their lives…
So, let’s look at the second one first;
v18…the everlasting love of the Lord is shown…
to those who keep his covenant
What does it mean to keep covenant with the Lord?
- …the OT speaks a lot about “keeping covenant” with God…
…but…a lot has changed since the coming of the Messiah
- …keeping covenant with God became a completely different prospect with the substitutionary death of the Son of God
How do we know that?
- …the words of Christ tell us that…
At the Last Supper…Jesus (handing the cup to His disciples)…said;
Luke 22:20
This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
The OT spoke often about a New Covenant that was to come;
- Isaiah spoke of it
- Jeremiah spoke of it
- Ezekiel spoke of it
- Joel spoke of it…
And that New Covenant did not cover sins…
- But forgives sins….
- …the washes sins…
And now…Jesus stands before His disciples and says;
- …Here it is…
- …this is the New Covenant…My blood
If you’re going to keep covenant with Me
- …it will only be one way…through My blood
It is the sacrifice that I will make for you that will be the New Covenant
- It is the atonement that I will make for you that will be the New Covenant…
And the other part of the New Covenant is the Holy Spirit
- …the Helper that Jesus spoke about
- …the Comforter that the writer of Lamentations spoke about
- …the New Covenant that Jeremiah wrote about…
- …the New Heart that Ezekiel wrote about
- …the Pouring out of God’s Spirit that Joel wrote about…
…the filling of the Holy Spirit is the other part of the New Covenant
- The One that lives within us and;
- Leads us into truth
- Convicts us of sin
- Guides us into a relationship with the Father…
The One whose presence enables us…empowers us to live the life of obedience that is required…
- It is God, living within us…that enables us to both will and to work for His good pleasure…Philippians 2.13
And so, Christ says that the only way that you will keep covenant with Me is through this blood, and through this Spirit
- …to be born again…as He tells Nicodemus in John 3
- ...that is how covenant-keeping will be done since the coming of Messiah…
And so…from that we now back up to look at the first requirement…
v 17…the love of earthly fathers is temporary…
But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him
And so…now we ask…what does it mean to fear the Lord?
That sounds so outdated
- So…19th century
- So…oppressive
- So…old fashioned
We want a God of love…not a God of whom we must be afraid…
- What kind of an oppressive, manipulative, harsh God is this?...
- ..and why should I worship Him?
……
What does it mean when David says that those who fear God are the only ones who will experience His everlasting, steadfast love
- What does it mean to fear God?
- ….and how does this relate to covenant-keeping?
Is fearing God a separate and distinct requirement over and above keeping covenant with God
- …and addition to the cup of the New Covenant that Jesus talks about
- …in addition to the filling of the Holy Spirit?
……..
I don’t think so…
I think that fearing God means this…
I think that fearing God means that in your mind and heart
- God is so powerful, so majestic, so sovereign, so holy, so awesome…
- ….that we_would_not_dare run away from Him…
- ….but that we will only run to Him
- ….that we_would_not_dare run away from Him…
Fearing God is seeing Him as the Living God that He is
- ..and seeing in Him such great sovereignty and such great power
- …and understanding Him to be the perfectly righteous Being that He is
- …and seeing in Him the hope that He promises…and the life that He gives
- ….and fearing deeply any thought of a life lived without Him
- …and seeing in Him the hope that He promises…and the life that He gives
- …and understanding Him to be the perfectly righteous Being that He is
Fearing God is seeing in Him true life and true happiness
- …and seeing outside of God nothing but death and destruction and profound loss
- ….and seeing that so clearly that you will do nothing but run to Him
And so…as such
- ….fearing God is not another part of keeping covenant with God
- …fearing God is not another thing we must to in order to receive Jesus
- …fearing God is the way we receive Jesus
- …fearing God is not another thing we must to in order to receive Jesus
If the New Covenant is how we fly to Christ…then the fear of the Lord is the wings that lift us and carry us into His bosom…
Because we come to Christ one way;
- …We come to Him humbly
- …We come to Him without reservation
- …We come to Him on our knees
- …we come to Him with fear…
Paul says to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling
- …and Working out our own salvation with fear and trembling means trembling before God at the prospect that I would ever leave Him…
- …or that He would ever leave me…
Trembling at the thought that I would turn my back on such a God of steadfast love
- …and choose…in my carnality and my sinful flesh and my deficient wisdom
- ….choose to not run to this God for His mercy and His forgiveness and His salvation…
…that is fearing the Lord…
- …and it is only those children who fear Him that will experience His eternal love…
………
And now…the third requirement that David gives for our children to experience the eternal love of God is at the end of verse 18
v 18…the love of earthly fathers is passing away…and the eternal love of God is reserved only for those who…
remember to do his commandments
And what this means is this;
- …this is not some legalistic requirement placed on top of the New Covenant
- …this simply means this…
Your faith in the New Covenant…and your fear of God that draws you into His arms
- ……..…must_be_real
The Bible is crystal clear…that if you have experienced the New Birth of the New Covenant…
- …and you have come to Him humbly
- …and you have received His forgiveness and His redemption and His new heart
- …and you have received the Holy Spirit…God the Spirit living within you
- …the Bible is clear that it is impossible for that to not radically change your life…PERIOD
James asks in James 2
- Can some sort of faith that has no works…
- …can that kind of faith save anyone?
John tells is in 1 John 1
- He tell us exactly who receives the forgiveness of Christ
- ..those who are walking in the light with Christ…
And many other places
- The message of the Bible is clear…
- …No one is saved by works…
- …none of our children will ever experience the everlasting love of God because of something they did
- …No one is saved by works…
But……….no one will ever experience the everlasting love of Christ without a faith in His New covenant that is real…
The Bible teaches this all over the place
- You cannot make sense of the Bible without understanding that the keeping of His commandments and a life that is increasingly obedient to Him
- …is a necessary indicator that the faith is real
And so…as fathers…who are to be earthly examples;
- …earthly pictures of our heavenly Father…
We first understand
- That the reason that we are to be these earthly portraits for them is so that they will (by the grace of Christ)…
- …meet these requirement…and themselves…experience the eternal love of a heavenly Father and not the eternal wrath of a righteous God
So the other question that this Psalm makes us ask is this…
- …..How are we to do that?
How are we to be these portraits of a heavenly Father
- How are we to be these fathers who raise our children with this deep, natural, understanding of the Fatherhood of God
- ………how do we do that?
…….
Well….that’s simple…
- What is the main point of the Psalm?
We said that Fatherhood is not the main point that David is speaking in Psalm 103
- …what is?......
That, also, is plain
- …because David repeats it 7 times
v 1, v 2, v 20, v 21, v 22
Bless the Lord…
- …Bless the Lord, O my soul…and all that is within me
Our portrait of God’s Fatherhood must be characterized by our Blessing of God
What does it mean to bless the Lord?
- …that simply means to use our mouth to communicate praise and admirations to God
David says in Psalm 34
Psalm 34:1
I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
And so…blessing the Lord means opening our mouth and using our mouth and our tongue and our vocal chords to render praise to God…in the hearing of others
- …that’s how we, as fathers…can effectively point our children to the example that we are to be following…
- ….to the Father who image our fatherhoods are created in…
We praise Him….
We praise Him often, we praise Him regularly, we praise Him consistently
We praise Him creatively
- We praise Him resoursefully
- We praise Him in the hearing of children….
Our children must hear praises lifted up to our heavenly Father on a regular basis…
- …and we might say….
- I can’t do that…I’m not that type of person…I don’t even know what to praise God for…..
This Psalm alone gives at least 8 ways to praise God
- (let’s look at some of these…)
#1; We should praise God for His sovereignty, v 19
Can you say to your children in the car…
- …boy…that’s some thunderstorm…….what a God we serve who rules over the storms
- Over all weather
- Over all natural disasters
- Over all unforeseen circumstances…
Or at the dinner table…
- …this sure is a crazy world we live in….I sure am glad that God is in control…I sure am glad that He has a plan…I sure am glad that we don’t have to trust in men…
- …..can you do that?
#2; We should praise God for His Justice and Righteousness, v 6
….you know…what happened to you today at school was not fair
- …what happened to me at work wasn’t fair
- ….these job layoffs are not fair
- ….this world is not fair….
- …..but what a joy and everlasting hope that God is a God of justice who will one day set everything right
- ….this world is not fair….
- ….these job layoffs are not fair
Can you do that?
#3; We should praise God for His mercy and forgiveness, v 8
…can we, fathers…live a life before our children that far from giving them the impression that we are perfect
- …instead gives them the understanding that we treasure our forgiveness
…and treasuring our forgiveness, we follow the commands of Scripture to be forgiving of others
- …what a failure we would be as fathers as examples of the Father to not let our children see our faults…and our need for forgiveness
#4; We should praise God for His redemption, v 4
…son, daughter….have I ever told you what I was like before I knew Christ?
- …have I ever communicated to you the hopelessness I felt…
- …the futility of my life
- …and how Christ changed all of that?
- …the futility of my life
…we can say that, can’t we?....
#5; We should praise God for His rewards, v 4
#6; We should praise God for His ultimate satisfaction, v 5
#7; We should praise God for His revelation to man, v 7
…maybe, that’s the only one that’s not done with our mouth
- ….do your children see you reading God’s Word everyday?
- Do you children know that you value God’s Word in your life
And finally
#8; We should praise God for His patience, v 8
Son, daughter….you are really trying my patience…..
- I am trying to be as patient with you as God is with us….
…you see….our lips should praise the Almighty in the hearing of our children
- And it shouldn’t just be Sunday morning…as they come with us to church and hear us talk with other Christians and put on that Christian language that we all use when we’re in church….
When we are silent about our God…when we as God’s examples of Fatherhood, intended to point all people to His Fatherhood
- When we don’t bless the Lord…
- Our silence about our Heavenly Father cripples the example that we are to be to those precious eyes that are watching us to learn what it’s like to have a Father….
Let our mouths not be silent
- Let them speak praises of our Father
- …in the presence of our children
- …in the presence of our wives
- …in the presence of our friends….
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,
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