THANKSGIVING 2022: THANKFUL FROM THE SOUL
PSALM 103:1-22
#thanksgiving2022
INTRODUCTION
Apparently when I read Psalm 103, my heart likes it. I say I like it because as I sat down to prepare this sermon I noticed, by way of how I save my sermons, that I had already preached a sermon on Psalm 103 previously. I looked it up. I preached on Psalm 103 two years ago at Thanksgiving time just like I will this year. I can’t help it, my soul likes Psalm 103. Lets read from Psalm 103 this morning, but we are going to read it from the Message version which is the version I have been listening to recently in the Bible app. Pro-Christian Tip: the YouVersion Bible App has some versions of the Bible that have audio included that you can listen to when driving or drifting off to sleep or whenever you like.
Let’s read Psalm 103.
READ PSALM 103:1-22 (MSG)
1-2 O my soul, bless GOD. From head to toe, I’ll bless His holy name! O my soul, bless GOD, don’t forget a single blessing!3-5 He forgives your sins—every one. He heals your diseases—every one. He redeems you from hell—saves your life! He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown. He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal. He renews your youth—you’re always young in His presence. 6-18 GOD makes everything come out right; He puts victims back on their feet. He showed Moses how He went about His work, opened up His plans to all Israel. GOD is sheer mercy and grace; not easily angered, He’s rich in love. He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold, nor hold grudges forever. He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, nor pay us back in full for our wrongs. As high as heaven is over the earth, so strong is His love to those who fear Him. And as far as sunrise is from sunset, He has separated us from our sins. As parents feel for their children, GOD feels for those who fear Him. He knows us inside and out, keeps in mind that we’re made of mud. Men and women don’t live very long; like wildflowers they spring up and blossom, But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly, leaving nothing to show they were here. GOD’s love, though, is ever and always, eternally present to all who fear Him, Making everything right for them and their children as they follow His Covenant ways and remember to do whatever He said. 19-22 GOD has set His throne in heaven; He rules over us all. He’s the King! So bless GOD, you angels, ready and able to fly at His bidding, quick to hear and do what He says. Bless GOD, all you armies of angels, alert to respond to whatever He wills. Bless GOD, all creatures, wherever you are— everything and everyone made by GOD. And you, O my soul, bless GOD!
THE SOUL OF THANKFULNESS
The Psalm begins and ends talking about the “soul.” The original word in Hebrew in Psalm 103 is a word that means “the self, life, the substance of a living being, the inner being of a person.” It comes from a word that means “to take a breath.”
The word “soul” is used in two different ways in the Bible.
The first way is that the soul is the innermost part of us that animates us. For example, in 1 Kings 17, the prophet Elijah prays and a child is brought back to life after he prays that the boy’s soul would return to him. Soul is animating life that drives the heart and breathing and brain activity. That is why the same comparative word in the New Testament is translated “life” like in Mark 8:35-37 when Jesus says: “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul?” In those verses, soul and life are the same thing.
The second way is that the soul is the inner life of a person and is what makes him or her unique and I would say made in the image of God. This is the word used in Genesis 2:7 (ESV): “then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” I think the KJV on this verse is a little more clear: “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). The soul is the seat of emotions and memories and desires and love and thoughts.
Psalm 103 uses “soul” in the second manner. I mention this because the thankfulness that Psalm 103 describes is not flippant. Sometimes a ‘thank you’ can be flippant or almost automatic. That is not the kind of thankfulness that is described in the 22 verses of Psalm 103. The thankfulness of the psalm comes from the innermost being and spills out all over life soaking everything in gratitude. It is an eruption of thanks that comes from the deepest part of a person. I don’t know how else to explain that the thankfulness of Psalm 103 is deep and serious and comes from the soul.
ILLUSTRATION… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpGkLzGl1CI [4:47]
I am pretty sure this video clip that I would like to share with you illustrates the deep thankfulness that this passage describes.
[SHOW CLIP]
When thankfulness comes from our soul, it never seems like enough.
TRANSITION
The thankfulness of Psalm 103 comes from the soul. The entire passage is thankful towards One particular thing. It is almost as though there is tunnel vision and all the thankfulness is directed there. What is the object of the thankfulness?
THE OBJECT OF THANKFULNESS
God is mentioned 40 times in the 22 verses of Psalm 103. God is the object of all the thankfulness expressed in this passage. Psalm 103 has tunnel vision when it comes to the object of thankfulness.
ILLUSTRATION… latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-tom-amberry-20170323-story.html
Kelly and I had the opportunity to go to an IU basketball game this past week. One of the most difficult shots one can make in basketball is probably a free throw. Do any of you know who the best free throw shooter of all time in the world was?
According to Sports Illustrated, the LA Times, and the Guinness Book of World Records it was Tom Amberly, a retired podiatrist and he set the record back in 1994. In 1994, Tom Amberly set the world record by making 2,750 free throws in a row. Can you imagine that 2,750 free throws in a row?! He did it when he was 71. He retired and took up the hobby of free throw shooting. For 12 hours in a small rec center gym in California, he rhythmically lobbed in shot after shot, stopping only when a janitor said it was time to turn off the lights and lock up. 2750 with no misses. He could have made more.
At the time, there was a volleyball team running around the gym while he was doing this. How did Tom Amberly set the world free throw record? How did he later teach athletes at UNLV how to shoot? He said: “Focus, Focus, Focus. I just stay in my routine of three bounces and focus.” Tom had tunnel vision. A singular focus. He died in 2017 at the age of 94 and still shot baskets every single day. That is focus!
The only focus of Psalm 103 is God. God is thought of in three primary ways in this passage that instruct us and benefit our souls.
God is first thought of in terms of His characteristics which are expressed in these verses as sheer mercy and grace. God is also described in these verses as having strong love. Mercy, grace, and love are the qualities of the God we worship and is the One to Whom we give our thanks. Not that He needs to be worthy of our thankfulness, but God is a worthy object of our thanks.
Understanding God’s characteristics as love, mercy, grace, goodness, kindness, patience, justice, holiness, and righteousness is proper and good. We must believe right things about God. Believing wrong things about God leads us away from Him and most of the time spiraling town the drain of self-absorption. Having right beliefs about God is essential for healthy faith.
I also noticed that in Psalm 103 (secondly) that God is thought of as our Heavenly Father. Most of the time we think about God being described as ‘Father’ in the New Testament, but this passage talks about God as a active interested Father Who loves His children, wants to provide for them, and has a good solid relationship with them.
The Old Testament is full of passages that describe God as our Father:
READ Deuteronomy 32:6 (ESV)
“Do you thus repay the LORD, you foolish and senseless people? Is not He your father, Who
created you, who made you and established you?”
READ Isaiah 54:8 (ESV)
“But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our potter; we are all the work of Your hand.”
READ Jeremiah 3:19 (ESV)
“I said, How I would set you among My sons, and give you a pleasant land, a heritage most beautiful of all nations. And I thought you would call Me, my Father, and would not turn from following Me.”
Understanding God as the Ultimate Heavenly Father who creates us and establishes us and watches over us and molds us is essential for healthy faith.
Thirdly, in Psalm 103, God is seen as the Mighty King of the Universe Who sits on His throne ruling sovereign over all Creation. This thought is connected to the last thought. Our God Who reigns over everything is good and merciful and gracious. All angels are under Him. All governments are under Him. All people are under Him. There is nothing that has been made or even imagined that does not come under the sovereignty of God. That is a deep important thought about God. He’s the king!
Understanding God as our king is, in my mind, the one of the most important parts of Psalm 103. ‘God is King’ is my default understanding of God which is probably why it resonates with me so much. I do not mind serving the God of the Universe Who is gracious and holy and righteous and powerful and always good and wrathful. He is perfect in all of His ways and that’s fine with my soul.
All of Psalm 103 is directed towards God.
All of the soul thankfulness of Psalm 103 is tunnel-visioned directly towards God.
TRANSITION
We have talked about the soul of thankfulness and the object of the thanks in Psalm 103, but now let’s look at the actual thankfulness that is described. What is Psalm 103 expressing thanks about? The content of the psalm shows us what we can be thankful for when it comes to God and when it comes to the deep thankfulness of our souls.
THE CONTENT OF THANKFULNESS
What does Psalm 103 share with us to be thankful for when it comes to God?
I looked over Psalm 103 and I found 19 different things that are mentioned and some of them are mentioned twice in just these few verses:
#1 God forgives sins (twice)
READ 1 John 1:9 (ESV)
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
We should be so thankful for the forgiveness of God. What would life be like if God held grudges? Do we even want to think about such a thing?! The Eternal God of the Universe chooses to give mercy and grace and forgive and we are indebted to Him
Thank you God that You know we will sin and You forgive us by the blood of Jesus!
#2 God heals disease
#3 God redeems from Hell
We should be so thankful that when God redeems us, He redeems us from being eternally separated from Him. Hell is not a place you want to visit or stay or be for any amount of time. I don’t know what a lake of fire is like and I don’t want to know.
Thank you God that You redeem us and want us to be with You forever!
#4 Gifts from God of love and mercy
#5 The goodness of God
#6 The afterlife is good and healing
#7 God works all things for good for those who love Him (twice)
READ Romans 8:28 (ESV)
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”
Romans says God works for our good and this Psalm says it twice. So much of life is not good and yet we have God Who works His will and ways for our blessing.
Thank you God for always working for our good!
#8 God helps victims
#9 God is open and knowable and shares Himself with us
#10 Mercy (twice)
#11 Grace (twice)
When I think about truths like this I think of Joel 2:13.
READ Joel 2:13 (ESV)
“And rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster.”
#12 God’s patience and longsuffering with us (twice)
#13 Love (twice)
#14 God separates us from our sins
#15 God treats us as His children
READ Romans 8:16 (ESV)
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God”
READ Ephesians 5:1 (ESV)
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children”
READ 1 John 3:1a (ESV)
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”
We should be so thankful that God treats us as children. He does not treat us as bugs under His divine shoe or ignore us, but rather is our Father in Heaven Who loves us and provides and protects and wants the best for us.
Thank you God for being our Father in Heaven and rightly loving Your children!
#16 God understands we are not perfect and expects we will sin
#17 God wants to know us
#18 God is present among those who fear Him
#19 God rules over all
The absolute fact about all 19 of these truths is that God doesn’t HAVE to do or be any of these and I am so thankful for His action and His character. He does not have to forgive us because we sin and cause issues, but in spite of this He provides the way for forgiveness and salvation to happen. He loves us while we are unlovable. He doesn’t have to, but He wants to know us and be personable with us. He understands we are sinful and loves us and in His wisdom and grace doesn’t let is sit in our sinfulness, but provides a way out. He is patient with us when He doesn’t have to be… all of these truths pointed out are wonderful reasons we should be thankful to God. He chooses to be this way and we should be completely thankful.
ILLUSTRATION… ministry127.com/resources/illustration/thanksgiving-proclamations
Being completely thankful to God is how the holiday of Thanksgiving started in 1623. Listen to Governor William Bradford’s words:
“Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, beans, squashes, and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as he has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience.
“Now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday, November 29th, of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty-three and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings.”
And so I say to us:
APPLICATION
* The challenge for us today is to make sure when we thank God for our blessings that it is not flippant, but thankfulness that comes from our very soul.
* The challenge for us today is to make sure we direct all our thankfulness to God Who should receive all our thankfulness.
* The challenge for us today is to list and reflect on all the blessings and goodness that God willfully and chooses to place in our lives.
That is the challenge of this passage.
CLOSING
As we close this morning, I would like to read the Psalm again. Let’s read Psalm 103.
READ PSALM 103:1-22 (MSG)
1-2 O my soul, bless GOD. From head to toe, I’ll bless His holy name! O my soul, bless GOD, don’t forget a single blessing!3-5 He forgives your sins—every one. He heals your diseases—every one. He redeems you from hell—saves your life! He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown. He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal. He renews your youth—you’re always young in His presence. 6-18 GOD makes everything come out right; He puts victims back on their feet. He showed Moses how He went about His work, opened up His plans to all Israel. GOD is sheer mercy and grace; not easily angered, He’s rich in love. He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold, nor hold grudges forever. He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, nor pay us back in full for our wrongs. As high as heaven is over the earth, so strong is His love to those who fear Him. And as far as sunrise is from sunset, He has separated us from our sins. As parents feel for their children, GOD feels for those who fear Him. He knows us inside and out, keeps in mind that we’re made of mud. Men and women don’t live very long; like wildflowers they spring up and blossom, But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly, leaving nothing to show they were here. GOD’s love, though, is ever and always, eternally present to all who fear Him, Making everything right for them and their children as they follow His Covenant ways and remember to do whatever He said. 19-22 GOD has set His throne in heaven; He rules over us all. He’s the King! So bless GOD, you angels, ready and able to fly at His bidding, quick to hear and do what He says. Bless GOD, all you armies of angels, alert to respond to whatever He wills. Bless GOD, all creatures, wherever you are— everything and everyone made by GOD. And you, O my soul, bless GOD!
INVITATION
One of the precious truths in Psalm 103 that came true in Jesus Christ is that God separates us from our sins. That happens fully in Jesus Christ. That happens only in Jesus Christ. It could be that you and your sin are still joined at the hip or the guilt of your sin still weighs your heart, please understand that Jesus Christ came to seek and save the lost and by believing in Him we have eternal life in His Name.
Please come chat if you have a decision you need to make today.
Please come up front and pray a prayer of thankfulness if you would like.
PRAYER
