Psalm 103 Part 2 Series

Getting our Hearts in Tune

Psalm 103:6-22 (Part 2)

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

Chenoa Baptist Church

8-25-2024

Intro

Earlier this year, I took Maxine to the symphony in Peoria. It was a wonderful night that brought back memories for Maxine, who played in orchestras growing up.

The conductor stood up and held one finger up to the instrumentalists and the oboe played an A note. The oboe is a very stable instrument and hard to adjust. Each instrument tunes its A to the oboe, ensuring the orchestra is in tune.

[YouTube Video of the orchestra tuning]

If we want our hearts to be in tune with God, we can’t go to the world because they are permanently out of tune. We have to go to the source.

So let’s do that. Please turn with me to Psalm 103.

Don’t Forget

“Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.”

Last week, we began to study Psalm 103.

One writer has called it David’s “Hallelujah Chorus.”

G. Campbell Morgan wrote:

“It is perhaps the most perfect song of pure praise to God in the Bible. Throughout the centuries, it has been sung by glad hearts and today is as fresh and full of beauty as ever.”

Charles Spurgeon wrote that Psalm 103 was a “Bible within itself” and it contains “too much for a thousand pens to write.”

Most commentators believe that David wrote the Psalm in his old age. As we grow older, we have a deeper gratitude toward God for our forgiveness and the fleeting nature of our lives.

David listed six benefits that we should never forget to praise the Lord for:

He heals all our sins

He heals all our diseases

He redeems our lives from the pit

He crowns us with love and compassion

He satisfies our desires with good things

He renews us like eagles.

If you weren’t here last week, I would encourage you to go to Facebook or YouTube and listen to the sermon.

Please turn in your copy of God’s Word to Psalm 103.

Prayer

Who is God?

After highlighting all the benefits that evoke praise, David then turns to the praise of God’s attributes.

A.W Tozer wrote:

“What comes into your mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you.”

We can only know God because He has revealed Himself through creation and His Word.

If you were given only a few words to describe God, what would you use?

David uses six words to describe the God worthy of our praise.

It’s the same six words that God used Himself when passing by Moses in Exodus 34. God is described this way over twenty times in the Bible!

The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, and His deeds to the people of Israel: The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

Righteous

God is righteous. He is the standard of truthfulness, faithfulness, and what is right. Every action is consistent with His character.

David wrote in Psalm 145:

“The LORD is righteous in all His ways and faithful in all He does.” – Psalm 145:17 (NIV).

We live in a culture that wants to update God’s standards to justify their sins. But God’s standards do not change. They are a reflection of His righteousness.

We have no righteousness of our own but through Christ, we can be made right with God. Paul makes it clear multiple times:

“ But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. “ (Rom 3:21-22)

 “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” (Rom 5:17)

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5:17)

Thank God that He is righteous and can make us righteous through Christ!

* Just

David, and the other Biblical writers, describe God as “just.” God rules the universe by a righteous standard and holds people accountable for their actions.

David writes about this in multiple Psalms:

The Lord reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment. He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity.  The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed and a stronghold in times of trouble. (Psalm 9:7-9)