A Thanksgiving Word
Psalm 103
November 22, 2020
On this Thanksgiving Sunday, I want to focus on one word. If you had to pick and choose your favorite word in the Bible, what might they be? It’s like trying to say I only have 1 verse in the Bible which is my favorite. I think I have about 100 verses which are my favorites, and more are added the more I read the Bible.
I asked this question about 2 weeks ago on Facebook and I received over 90 responses. Which was really great!! There were some really interesting answers. And none were wrong, which was a good thing too! These were the top answers - -
ANSWERS
Love - 21
Grace - 19
Forgiven - 18
Peace - 7
Fear Not - 5
Rejoice - 5
Believe - 5
Salvation - 5
Those are all great answers and were really thought provoking. As I thought about Thanksgiving, you could come up with one word responses like - - turkey, ham, potatoes, casseroles, or pies!
There are a lot of 1 word answers we could give. I have a lot of words that personally come to mind - -
Power / overcomer / strength / Lord of Hosts / Encourager
are some of my words, but the 2 words I want to focus on today are - - - -
Repentance and Confession
Aren’t those strange words to think about as we consider Thanksgiving? Yet, without them, I wouldn’t have a thanksgiving celebration in Christ. If I didn’t repent and confess my sins, there would be no redemption. The blood of Christ that was shed, would have been wasted when it came to me. And many of your one word answers kind of mirrored this.
So, this Thanksgiving, I want to talk a little about repentance and confession. I want to use Psalm 103 to guide us. David wrote this psalm. While we don’t have dates for the psalms, I see this psalm as a continuation of Psalm 51, which David also wrote.
Psalm 51 is a prayer from David to God after his affair with Bathsheba. Because of the affair, he tried to cover it up. Since Bathsheba was married and now pregnant, which all led to David having her husband killed. That’s pretty low. What’s amazing is that even after this premeditated crime, God still looked at David as a man after His own heart!
One of the take aways from that to be really honest - - is that if God looks at David that way, then there’s certainly hope for me! How could God look at David this way? Well, it’s because of David’s spirit and heart. David realized how wrong he was and he repented and confessed!
In Psalm 51 David repented, confessing his sinfulness as he prayed, begged God, saying –
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me
11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
David craved a renewed relationship with God. And I really believe this is part of the reason why David is considered to be a man after God’s own heart. He was willing to confess, repent and draw closer to God.
I was going to have us read this psalm as a group. But since we’re not in one place this morning, I want you to follow along, maybe even say it out loud as you read the words on the screen. David wrote — —
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6 The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide, nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him.
14 For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children,
18 to those who keep His covenant and remember to do His commandments.
19 The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, O you His angels, you mighty ones who do His word, obeying the voice of His word!
21 Bless the Lord, all His hosts, His ministers, who do His will!
22 Bless the Lord, all His works, in all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul! - Psalm 103
WOW!! Isn’t that great?! That Psalm is so rich in power and meaning. I want to take a little bit of time and unpack this passage. It could really be a 4 week series! But I just want to touch on one aspect of what David is talking about.
Now most people don’t view repentance as a fun and happy word, because it means we’ve done something wrong. But, it’s a great word, with a great result.
The great news in repentance is that we are confessing to God and open to experiencing His grace and mercy and love as He forgives us.
Part of the meaning of repentance is to have a transformative change of heart, painful sorrow, remorseful regret. This means we not only ask for forgiveness, but we seek to change who we are. We actively seek to turn from that sin and move towards God.
Now, I’m not going to list the sins for you, I think we usually know when we’re not doing what’s right. The beauty is that as a Christ follower, God has planted His Spirit within me, and the Spirit helps me to know when I’m doing wrong.
It doesn’t matter if you look at sin as big or small, they all have the same result, we become distanced from the power available to us from God. As Paul said, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Of course, Paul gave us good news by telling us that the wages of sin is death, BUT the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Repentance is the process of telling God - - - I was wrong, I sinned against you. And I want to be right with you and I want to do right in my life, and I'm going to keep turning from my sin and keep turning to you. And every time I blow it, I’m going to come running back to your throne of grace.
That's repentance. When you repent, you receive God’s forgiveness, judgement ends and the power of the Spirit is flipped on in your life.
Okay - let’s get into Psalm 103 - -
It’s almost too simple and easy! I have to admit that, and yet, I love that about God, because in many respects, God is nicer than me and you. He’s actually more forgiving and let’s go of our sin, not bringing them up again and again. When God forgives you, He does it completely.
God doesn't forgive you just a little bit at a time, He doesn't think about it for awhile or give you the silent treatment until He’s over it. God completely forgives you -- all your sins, no matter how private — no matter how public. Look at what David said - -
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not ALL His benefits,
3 who forgives ALL your iniquity, who heals ALL your diseases,
I want to let you in on a secret that most people don’t know about Hebrew. There is a word which is used about 4500 times in the OT. It is pronounced (COLE) ????
Basically every time it’s used, it means - - the whole; all, any or every.
What I’m getting at is that the Hebrew word for ALL or EVERY means just that. David is telling us that God forgives EVERY / ALL the sins you’ve committed. The big and little ones.
Someone wrote down that word as their one favorite word! ALL
God forgives you totally and completely; and as we read in 1 John 1:9, He cleanses you from all unrighteousness. He doesn't leave a remnant behind. God doesn't miss a spot when cleansing you, so He can be reminded of how bad you are. He washes you clean -- whiter than snow.
David added this in verse 12 - -
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.
And someone also wrote down the opening words of this verse as their favorite words.
It’s an amazing thought, it’s almost too amazing. Think about what God does for you and I . . .
As big as the universe is, as far apart as are the eastern and western axis, that’s how far God has forgiven you, that’s how much He’s removed your sinfulness from you.
I know that when I’ve gone to God asking for forgiveness, I have come to trust, and it took me a long time to do that. It didn’t happen on day one for me, because I really couldn’t fathom the fact that God would really forgive me.
But I know and trust that He does. Sometimes, though, if I was to be honest, it takes me longer to forgive myself than it does for God to forgive me. You know what I mean? I hold onto what I’ve done wrong. I remember it and kick myself for it, BUT, God has already released me, and He’s waiting for me to release me.
The memory may still haunt you. But it doesn't haunt God — because when you turn from your sin and repent, God erases it. In Isaiah, God said - -
25 I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. – Isaiah 43:25
When God forgives, He forgets. Isn’t that cool! He will not remember our sins. I do! You do! But He releases us from the pain of self-condemnation.
Now look a what God does for us when we repent from our sins. David tells us ---
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide, nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
Isn’t that great news? That should be comforting to us. God is filled with mercy, grace and steadfast love. Those 3 words were the most popular words when people responded to me. He is slow to anger. He will not always chide, that means to rebuke, reprimand, blame, or berate us.
He will be angry we sinned, humanly speaking, sin angers and saddens God, but He doesn’t hold a grudge. He does not repay us according to our sinfulness . . . it’s not an eye for an eye. Instead God sent His Son to pay the price for those sins.
Can I get a virutal AMEN!?!?
Isaiah kind of echoes this in chapter 12, saying --
1 You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.
God is angry at our sin, but when we turn from our sin, God’s anger is turned away, and in its place we receive His comfort!
If you think you’ve made a mess of your life . . . if you think there’s no way God can forgive me, let me be straight up with you . . . YOU ARE WRONG! This doesn’t give you permission to sin at will.
In fact, God’s grace and mercy, His forgiveness should lead us not to have the desire to sin. It should move us further from the desire to sin, because we are so thankful and grateful for God’s love and compassion.
God's anger doesn't last forever. He forgives you. When you repent, He lets go of His anger; and we need to let go as well. God has forgiven you, that means you can forgive yourself, too.
You may feel like God is mad at you, but that all ends when you turn to Him. When we repent, it opens the door to a new and renewed relationship with God. Healing and change begins. Renewal fills us, joy comes into our hearts. We are free, released, no longer a prisoner.
Rick Warren said it well . . . When it comes to your sin, God doesn't want to rub it in, He wants to rub it out. He wants to comfort you with His mercy, so He can change you.
This is why I say that repentance is such a great word. It can be the most positive, uplifting, empowering experience you'll ever have. When you repent, all the obstacles between you and God's fullness are broken into pieces. Thrown away!
When you repent, the past is removed, erased, forgotten. Do we deserve this? Absolutely not. But it’s God's gift to all who ask.
When you repent, you will be more open to experiencing the power of God’s blessings. You will be more open experience God’s comfort and healing.
In Acts 3:19-20, Peter said - -
19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, - Acts 3:19-20
That’s the point! Repent, turn back to God, and have your sins blotted out! And instead of condemnation, you would receive refreshment from the Lord.
Finally, when Jesus told the parable of the lost coin in Luke 15, He ended that parable with these words -
10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. - Luke 15:10
Can you imagine the celebration in heaven!? Picture the angels whooping and hollering and celebrating on the day you gave your life to Christ!! I believe it’s a daily occurrence, when we repent, and turn from our wicked ways repenting and confessing!
May you experience the joy and power of the angels in heaven rejoicing over you!
Times of refreshing. That's what we all need.
Are you ready for God to restore you? Do you want to wash away the past? Do you want God to comfort you and strengthen and bless you with his goodness? Then don't let any sin — no matter how big or small it may seem — to stand in your way.
Give yourself fully to him, and let him do his work in you.
