THANKFUL TO GOD FOR ALL HIS BENEFITS
PSALM 103:1-22
#Thanksgiving2019
INTRODUCTION… Warning Labels (p)
[Images of Funny Warning Labels 1-11]
Some of these warning labels are funnier than others. Others of them make you think as to why the label had to be created… probably because someone legitimately asked a question about dangerous use or misused a product.
You might find it strange, but I would like to offer a little bit of a warning label on our passage today. Psalm 103 is a passage all about the goodness of God and His blessings. It is the perfect passage as we are in this season of #Thanksgiving2019. Verse 1 at the very beginning says, “Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name.” Then, verse 2 says, “Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits” and the entire Psalm recites the countless bountiful blessings of God. Verse 22 at the end says, “Praise the LORD, O my soul.”
Here are my two warning labels at the onset of thinking and praying through Psalm 103:
Warning Label 1:
The reason for having a relationship with God is for the care of our souls and not so that we can “get stuff” from God. God does bless us, but God is not a vending machine where I go to church and God gives me stuff I want because I did what He said. Christianity is about connecting our soul to God the Father through faith in Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and is not about if I’m obedient then God gives me blessings.
Warning Label 2:
Jesus is more than a “get out of Hell free” card in Cosmic Monopoly. It is a spiritually dangerous place to be in to say that we have faith in Jesus Christ and we maintain that faith simply because want Jesus to be our ticket out of Hell. That is religion. That is a self-centered religion rather than a Christ-centered relationship. Christianity is about a soul relationship with Jesus Christ.
GOSPEL MESSAGE
Please understand that God loves you deeply and sent His one and only Son to pay the penalty for sin. Accepting Jesus means we receive Him as our Lord and Savior. Jesus is more than a way out of Hell or access to God’s stuff. Saving faith in Christ means we submit to Jesus’ way of life over and above all other ways of life. Saving faith in Christ means we desire to have a relationship with Him and not just what he can do for us.
Jesus is not a ticket; He is a heavenly treasure.
Jesus is not a way of life; He is life.
At the end of the service, if you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I would like to invite you to come forward and talk with me. Let’s talk about what obstacles you feel are in the way of not accepting Jesus. I want to pray with you and for you and answer any questions that I possibly can.
PSALM 103:1-22
All that being said, there are countless bountiful blessings from God that we should be mindful of this #Thanksgiving2019 season so that our souls are in the right place in worshipping Him. Psalm 103 has much to say to us about being thankful to God. What I would like to do this morning is talk about some verses and then give us an opportunity to praise God for these things and offer Him our thanks and our elders will pray for us as well. What does Psalm 103 say?
VERSES 1-5: GOD IS GOOD
Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. 2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits-- 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4 Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5 Who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
As I read the beginning of this Psalm, I notice “forgives,” “heals,” “redeems,” “crowns”, “satisfies,” and “renewed.” Those are all very good benefits from God our savior. Good. Our God is good. The Lord of the Universe and Creator and Sustainer of our lives is at His very core good and has no hint of evil. Everything He does is good. His judgements are good. His wrath is good. His Word is good. His discipline is good. His will is good. His blessings that satisfy are good. Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.”
[I am going to pray and then we will have a time of silent prayer as you offer your own prayers. After a few minutes of prayer, an elder will conclude with prayer.]
PRAYER FOR THANKFULNESS FOR GOD’S GOODNESS
TIME OF SILENT PRAYER
PRAYER FROM ELDER OF THE CHURCH
VERSE 6: GOD IS RIGHTEOUS AND JUST
6 The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
I love that God is not only good and is good all the time, but He is also right in everything that He does and He is the author of justice. If God does it, it is right. If God says it, then it is just. His will is just. His ways are just. There is neither any flaw in God nor anything that is evil. We serve God who is righteous and just and His works are amazing and He has an eye towards people who are oppressed and down-and-out. Psalm 34:18 says, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
[I am going to pray and then we will have a time of silent prayer as you offer your own prayers. After a few minutes of prayer, an elder will conclude with prayer.]
PRAYER
TIME OF SILENT PRAYER
PRAYER FROM ELDER OF THE CHURCH
VERSE 7: GOD IS A PERSONAL GOD
7 He made known his ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel:
We could have a God who created the world and left everything to chance and does not intervene. There is a name for that… it is called ‘deism.’ Christians are not deists. We are ‘theists.’ Theism is the belief that God the Creator of the Universe intervenes in the world and sustains a personal relationship with His creation. God wants us to know Him and He does intervene. Even from the very beginning, we find Him walking and talking with Adam and Eve in the Garden (Genesis 3:8). God chose Abraham in order to make a nation for Himself to be His witnesses on earth (Genesis 12). God certainly intervened with Moses and Israel as the Psalm recounts (Book of Exodus). God certainly intervened when He sent Jesus His Son. Jesus was a grand way for us to get to know God in a personal way. In John 14:7 Jesus says, “If you really knew Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him." The Bible is God being personal. Answered prayer is God being personal. The gift of the Holy Spirit is God being personal.
[I am going to pray and then we will have a time of silent prayer as you offer your own prayers. After a few minutes of prayer, an elder will conclude with prayer.]
PRAYER
TIME OF SILENT PRAYER
PRAYER FROM ELDER OF THE CHURCH
VERSE 8: GOD IS LOVE
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
God is compassionate… that is love.
God is gracious… that is love.
God is slow to anger… that is love.
Deuteronomy 7:9, “God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations”
1 Kings 8:23, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below-- you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.”
Joel 2:13, “God [, for he] is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity.”
Zephaniah 3:17, “The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."
Romans 5:5, “God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, Whom He has given us.”
Ephesians 2:4-5, “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions”
1 John 4:8b, “God is love”
[I am going to pray and then we will have a time of silent prayer as you offer your own prayers. After a few minutes of prayer, an elder will conclude with prayer.]
PRAYER
TIME OF SILENT PRAYER
PRAYER FROM ELDER OF THE CHURCH
VERSES 9-12: GOD FORGIVES
9 He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His anger forever; 10 He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
This small section of verses points out the forgiving nature of our God. We are sinners and yet God does not continually accuse us and is not always mad at us. We are sinners and yet the verses tell us very clearly that God does not treat us how we deserve when it comes to our sin. We are sinners and yet God lavishes us with love even though we sin. We are sinners and yet God removes our sin completely from us when He forgives us.
Souls who confess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord are forgiven of all our sins.
Souls who confess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord have the stain of sin removed from our souls.
Souls who confess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord have grace in our hearts instead of guilt.
Souls who confess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord are never outside the bounds of God’s forgiveness.
[I am going to pray and then we will have a time of silent prayer as you offer your own prayers. After a few minutes of prayer, an elder will conclude with prayer.]
PRAYER
TIME OF SILENT PRAYER
PRAYER FROM ELDER OF THE CHURCH
VERSES 13-18: GOD IS FAITHFUL TO HIMSELF AND TO US
13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him; 14 for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust. 15 As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; 16 the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. 17 But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children's children-- 18 with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.
God is faithful to Himself in that God is always God. God does not change. God was the Almighty Creator of the Universe in ages past and will continue to be all-powerful and all-knowing in ages to come. God does not deal with some of His creation in one way and others of His creation in another way, but is consistent in His character. He remembers that all of us are dust and temporary and finite and He loves us all with everlasting compassion. God does not change in that He loves all of us continually and He has always been that way. God is faithful to Himself.
God is also faithful to us. Verses 17-18 point out that God pours out compassion on us and then also treats our children and grandchildren in the same way. He is compassionate to us and them. He wants us to love Him and obey Him and wants the same from them. He is our God and He is their God as well.
[I am going to pray and then we will have a time of silent prayer as you offer your own prayers. After a few minutes of prayer, an elder will conclude with prayer.]
PRAYER
TIME OF SILENT PRAYER
PRAYER FROM ELDER OF THE CHURCH
VERSES 19-22: GOD IS KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS
19 The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. 20 Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. 21 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. 22 Praise the LORD, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the LORD, O my soul.
We serve a God who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. God rules the Universe from His throne in Heaven and there is no being imagined or real who is like God. God rules over everything. Every single being in the whole universe owes its existence to God and every single being in the whole universe owes Him undying allegiance.
Our God is sovereign.
ILLUSTRATION…christianity.com/theology/what-does-the-phrase-god-is-sovereign-really-mean-11555729.html
God is above all things and before all things. He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. He is immortal, and He is present everywhere so that everyone can know Him (Revelation 21:6).
God created all things and holds all things together, both in heaven and on earth, both visible and invisible (Colossians 1:16).
God knows all things past, present, and future. There is no limit to His knowledge, for God knows everything completely before it even happens (Romans 11:33).
God can do all things and accomplish all things. Nothing is too difficult for Him, and He orchestrates and determines everything that is going to happen in your life, in my life, in America, and throughout the world. Whatever He wants to do in the universe, He does, for nothing is impossible with Him (Jeremiah 32:17).
God is in control of all things and rules over all things. He has power and authority over nature, earthly kings, history, angels, and demons. Even Satan himself has to ask God’s permission before he can act (Psalm 103:19).
That’s what being sovereign means. It means being the ultimate source of all power, authority, and everything that exists.
We obey His word.
We follow His will and His way.
We praise God for the way He works in our lives and the way He runs the universe.
[I am going to pray and then we will have a time of silent prayer as you offer your own prayers. After a few minutes of prayer, an elder will conclude with prayer.]
PRAYER
TIME OF SILENT PRAYER
PRAYER FROM ELDER OF THE CHURCH
SUMMARY
This #Thanksgiving2019 season may you and I praise God in our inmost souls with all of our might and strength. When we sing, may our voices be raised in praise. May we not lift our hands to another in praise, but the God of the Universe who loves our souls.
God You are good!
God You are righteous and just!
God You are personal and we can know You!
God You are love!
God You are forgiving!
God You are faithful!
God You are King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
INVITATION AND CLOSING PRAYER
HALF-SHEET HANDOUT FOR ELDERS/LEADERS/PRAYER VOLUNTEERS:
INTRODUCTION
GOSPEL MESSAGE
VERSES 1-5: GOD IS GOOD
[I am going to pray and then we will have a time of silent prayer as you offer your own prayers. After a few minutes of prayer, an elder will conclude with prayer.]
PRAYER BY TROY
TIME OF SILENT PRAYER FOR CONGREGATION
PRAYER FROM ELDER OF THE CHURCH ABOUT THIS TOPIC
(this pattern ? is repeated for the rest of the sermon ?)
VERSE 6: GOD IS RIGHTEOUS AND JUST
VERSE 7: GOD IS A PERSONAL GOD
VERSE 8: GOD IS LOVE
VERSES 9-12: GOD FORGIVES
VERSES 13-18: GOD IS FAITHFUL TO HIMSELF AND TO US
VERSES 19-22: GOD IS KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS
SUMMARY
INVITATION AND CLOSING PRAYER
