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)
And
“The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.” (Psalm 97:2)
As we look around at our world right now, it looks as if the bad guys are winning. But that’s why understanding the justice of God is so important.
Asaph wrote about this frustration in Psalm 73:
“When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! They are like a dream when one awakes; when you arise, Lord, you will despise them as fantasies.” (Psalm 73:16-20)
In the end, everything will be made right. Everyone will be held accountable. Those who trusted in Christ will be acquitted. Those who reject Christ will get what they deserve.
Sin must be punished and God doesn’t take Visa. It takes a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the justice of God. And that’s what Jesus did by dying on the cross, in our place, to pay the penalty for your sin.
The Sovereign Grace hymn “Before The Throne of Grace” second verse highlights this perfectly:
When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the Just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me
Let’s sing that together.
Worship Song: Before the Throne of Grace (KN)
Compassionate
The root word “compassion” is womb. It’s a word picture of a mother’s love for her child.
King Solomon was asked to mediate in a conflict between two women who lived in the same house. They each had a baby but one died. The women were arguing about whose baby had died when Solomon asked for a sword to be brought to him and he ordered:
“Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.” (I Kings 3:24)
In response, the woman whose son was alive
“…was deeply moved [compassion] out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!” (I Kings 3:26)
Multiple times, the New Testament writers record that Jesus was deeply moved:
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matt 9:36)
Paul writes that we should wear compassion like a garment:
"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” (Col 3:12)
Sometimes we have to be reminded of that.
In 1987, the facility housing mental disabilities in Scranton, PA was overcrowded, and the board decided to create halfway houses.
They needed the approval of the Scranton city council. Hundreds of people showed up to protest and for over an hour made it known they did not want halfway houses in their neighborhood.
The council voted against the plan unanimously. And that was that.
Until the door opened and Mother Teresa walked in. Yes, Mother Teresa. She was in town to receive an award and heard about the vote.
She walked down the center of the aisle as a hushed silence fell over the room.
She slowly got on her knees and said in a small voice, “Please, please, please, please, please in the name of Jesus make room for these children of God.”
She slowly rose and walked out without saying another word.
The council finally broke the stunned silence by asking for another vote. This time it was unanimously yes and this time no one raised their voice in opposition.
Gracious
Justice is getting what you deserve.
Mercy is not getting what you deserve.
Grace is getting what you don’t deserve.
“The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.” (Psalm 116:5)
Grace is a gift given with delight or favor.
Esther knew that approaching the king without being summoned meant certain death. She entered the king’s presence and requested “khem,” grace.
Jacob cheated his brother to the point that Esau wanted to kill him. Twenty years later, when their two tribes were about to cross paths, Jacob requested and was granted grace and forgiveness.
When God wanted to show his amazing grace to the world, He sent Jesus to demonstrate what grace looks like:
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Rom 8:32)
As the former slave trader and alcoholic, John Newton wrote:
“Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me / I once was lost but now I’m found/was blind but now I see.”
Worship Song: Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)
Slow to Anger
In Old Testament times, to be “hot-nosed” means you had a bad temper.
A lot of people who haven’t read all of the Bible might say that God is like this.
But God’s anger is always an expression of his justice and love.
God is “long of nose,” which is a way of expressing His patience.
Remember when Moses came to Pharaoh and said, “Let my people go?” God gave Pharaoh ten plagues, and ten chances to do the right thing.
The Israelites would promise to follow Him and time and again would turn to idols.
God in His love and justice, would give them into the hands of their enemies and they would cry out for help.
Peter wrote that God's patience has a purpose:
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
You may wonder why Jesus hasn’t come back yet. It may be because He’s giving you time to repent!
* Abounding in Love
He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor His anger forever; He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
God’s love is said to be abounding, overflowing, and overwhelming.
Ruth displayed this kind of love when her husband, brother-in-law, and father-in-law all died while they lived in a foreign land.
Her mother-in-law Naomi planned to return to her homeland and encouraged Ruth to stay put and find a new husband.
Ruth’s response is a beautiful example of loyal, abounding love:
“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back
from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16)
Foreigner sang, “I want to know what love is?” Tina Turner sang, “What’s love got to do with it?” The Bee Gees asked, “How Deep is your love?” And The Shirlelles asked, “Will You still love me tomorrow?
C.B. Cousar wrote:
“Love is not one virtue among the list of virtues, but the sum and the substance of what it means to be a Christian.”
In English, we use this word in so many different ways. I love my wife and I love Barry Manilow. I love my children and I love oatmeal butterscotch cookies.
In Greek, there were three primary words for love:
- Philia - this is affection, regard, friendship, usually between equals. It’s where we get the word Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love.
- Storage - love and affection, especially between parents and children
- Eros - sexual love, passion. This is where we get the word, “erotic.”
But when the New Testament writers wanted to convey the love of God, none of these worked.
They invented the word, “agape.” This is a selfless, sacrificial affection that enables us to serve one another in love.
Paul wrote in Romans 5:
“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5)
The entire Bible is a story of the outpouring of this love toward us.
This kind of love takes the initiative:
Jesus said these famous words:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
God is extravagant in His love for us:
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (I John 3:1)
This love is not about feelings but about our will and actions. Love is a choice. John MacArthur writes, “It is the permanent priority of the Christian life.”
Because we have been loved like this, we can, with the power of the Holy Spirit inside of us, love God and others:
John wrote that
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (I John 4:7-11)
What does it look like?
[Reel of Iranian Christian’s testimony]
There is no greater act of love than the cross. Jesus died, in our place, for our sins, to redeem us from the bondage of sin and rescue us from hell. It was a rescue mission driven by love:
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
What if you sense that the fruit of love isn’t growing in your life? Be honest with God. Confess your lack of love toward others. Instead of trying to be more loving, focus your eyes on Jesus and His love for you.
Karl Barth, the famous theologian, was asked, “What’s the greatest thought you’ve ever had?” His answer: “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
David uses poetic language to try to convey the depth of God’s love for those who fear Him:
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
In that culture, the heavens were divided into three sections: the blue sky, then the night sky where the stars are seen, and then heaven.
It’s a word picture of trying to imagine the highest height and that doesn’t come close to God’s love.
David wrote in Psalm 36:5:
“Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep.” (Psalm 36:5)
If you were to travel north, you would eventually reach the North Pole and then start traveling south.
But if you travel east, you will travel east forever.
One commentator wrote:
“As the east can never meet the west…but be forever separated from each other, so our sins and the deserved punishment are kept at an eternal distance by His mercy.”
Paul said that God’s love is active:
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Worship Song: The Love of God
A Father’s Love
As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
Another way that Scripture describes God is as “father.” There are those in churches today who don’t like that and change His pronouns but God is called father throughout the Bible.
In this culture, the word “father” is a loaded term. Many people have a warped view of God because of their earthly fathers.
I remember one student giving her testimony and saying, “I feel sorry for the man that marries me. Because he can never live up to the love my father has lavished on me my whole life. I am a princess.”
Most of us didn’t have that kind of father. I didn’t have that kind of father. I always pictured God arms crossed, shaking his head at me. But that wasn’t God. That was my dad.
But Jesus told a story that changed my eternal destiny and reframed what Father means.
“There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, “Father give me my share of the estate.” So he divided the property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had…
· The Son severed ties with his family
The story begins by immediately drawing all the listeners that were fathers.
There are two sons and the younger one demands his share of the estate.
You can hear the anger in his demands. It was as if he were saying, “Dad, you old fool. You are as good as dead to me. Cash it all in Pops and give me my share. I’m going to blow this one horse town and live it up!”
The Pharisees would have audibly moaned when Jesus reported that the Father honored his demand. For this insolence, the son should have been taken before the elders and stoned outside the city gate [Duet. 21:18-21]
Instead, the father calls his accountant and spends considerable time converting his estate into cash. This would have involved selling off land and livestock. The younger brother would have received one-third according to Levitical law [Duet. 21:17]. with the older brother getting two-thirds. He then “got together all he had.”
He had no plans of returning. He was done with his family and he did not look back as he walked away from the house.
* “and he set off for a distant country”
For a young Jewish male to leave his home and travel to another country would not have been uncommon due to the transient nature of the Jewish population at that time. But the original language seems to imply he went as far away as he could.
He was running away from all the restraints of home. In a distant land, he could be anonymous and could do whatever he wanted.
· “and squandered his wealth in wild living”
Unrestrained, the young man indulged himself in every kind of sensual escapade. He lived on the wild side. He lived extravagantly and recklessly. He wasted his dad’s money with no thought of the future.
Sin will take you farther than you ever wanted to go and, in the end, leave you not only financially devastated but also emotionally and spiritually bankrupt.
· The shame of the pigpen
“After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in the whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.”
Famines were fairly common during this time but this one affected the entire country. So the playboy becomes the pig boy.
The Jews considered pigs unclean animals and they were not permitted to touch them or eat them, let alone have lunch with them.
It is difficult to convey the shame this would have brought on the young man.
A common proverb states “Cursed is the man who tends swine.”
He had been eating caviar, now he just wanted to eat the carob pods left over from the pig slop.
· When he came to his senses
“When he came to his senses, he said, “ How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!”
Sitting in a pigpen hundreds of miles away from home, something began to happen inside of him. He began to realize his foolishness. A small inkling of understanding began to form in his mind of how much he must have hurt his father.
My dad called these times in our lives “significant emotional experiences.” It was a divine reality check. It was a wake-up call of cosmic proportions.
· He prepared his speech
“I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: “ Father I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.” So he got up and went to his father.”
His sincerity is obvious. He honestly admits his wrongdoing. He left on his terms but would return humbled. Hunger and humiliation led to homesickness. Though tired and weak, he starts the long road home to his father’s house, rehearsing his speech every step of the way.
· He was received as a son
“But while he was still a long way off his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. The son said “Father I have sinned against heaven and you. I am no longer worthy to be called one of your sons.”
But the father said to his servants, “Quick, get the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. For this son of mine was dead; he was lost and is found. So they begin to celebrate.
At this, the Pharisees would have torn their clothes. They expected the story to end with the young whipper-snapper sitting in the pigpen getting what he deserved. That is called justice. What they heard instead was a symphony of grace.
This father had been looking for him. He was peering up over the horizon every day and leaving a light on at night. The wise dad knew he had to honor his son’s demands because only God could flatten his foolishness.
Only God could pulverize the pride of a young arrogant heart.
Only God could make the son hungry not only for his father’s food but for the father himself.
The father ran. “Very uncouth”, the Pharisees would have whispered. Older men in the Near East still do not run. But this father did.
He interrupted his son’s speech because it was unnecessary. He showered the son with kisses of forgiveness.
He called for the best robe, which would have probably been his own. The robe represents the wealth of the family being restored.
The ring is the authority of the father.
Sandals were worn by sons, but not by slaves.
The fattened calf represents the celebration of the father’s heart. People of that culture rarely ate meat. The calf was being fattened in anticipation of a celebration. The father knew his boy would come home. The calf would have been enough to feed the whole village
The son had come home. The relationship had been restored. It was party time!
It was the picture of the father standing on tiptoes, with arms wide open, that melted my heart. It led me to say, “If that’s the kind of Father God is, I’m all in!”
Derek Redmon entered the 1992 Olympics as the favorite to win gold in the 400-meter race.
About halfway through, his Achilles tendon snapped and he was in terrible pain. You may remember what happened next.
{YouTube of Derek’s father helping him across the finish line]
God is Eternal and we Are Not
David moves on to contrast God’s eternality and our finiteness.
God is from everlasting to everlasting. He has always been and will always be.
On the other hand, He knows:
for he knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
God formed us out of dust and to dust we return.
James wrote:
“What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (James 4:14)
When I subbed, I always started homeroom with “Good Morning” from singing in the rain.
A student asked, “Who are those three people?”
I said, “Donald O’Connor, Gene Kelly, and Debbie Reynolds.”
She shrugged and said, “Never heard of them.”
At one time, they were three of the biggest stars on the planet. Now, the three of them are gone.
But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children- with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
God’s love is infinite. He can not love you more. He can not love you less. Those who fear Him, who show awe and respect for Him, that love extends to our grandchildren.
{Reel of satanist who became a Christian]
God Reigns
The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
David gives us another reason to praise Him. God is on His throne and ruling over the world.
Even when it seems the world is going crazy, God is behind the scenes working for His glory and our good.
As John Piper reminds us,
“God is always doing ten thousand things in our lives. At any given time, we may be aware of three of them.”
The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength; indeed, the world is established, firm and secure. (Psalm 93:1)
Angels We Have Heard on High
Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do His bidding, who obey his word. Praise the Lord, all His heavenly hosts, you His servants who do his will. Praise the Lord, all His works everywhere in His dominion. Praise the Lord, my soul.
Angels are created beings. They are called “ministering spirits:
“Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14)
They seem to have different assignments, such as announcing to
the shepherds that the Messiah was born in Bethlehem.
Angels and humans are two different things - apples and oranges. When we die, we do not “get our wings,” we do not become angels. Even angels would consider that an insult to humans.
There are good angels and bad angels, called demons, whose main goal is to distract, desensitize, and destroy.
Angels aren’t little fat babies with harps. They are warriors that, if we could see them, would tempt us to worship them.
David is the praise leader and now encourages the angels to join the humans in their praise to God.
In Revelation 5, we see an amazing picture of this:
“Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (Rev 5:11-12)
Worship Song: Revelation Song
Where is Jesus in Psalm 103?
David Guzik gives us three ways we see Jesus in Psalm 103.
Jesus knows what it’s like to be human. (Incarnation)
“…for he knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.”
Jesus was perfectly God but He was also perfectly human.
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
He understands what tired, lonely, frustrated, and hungry feels like.
Because He was human, He could be our representative. He lived a perfect life and obeyed the law perfectly in our place.
Jesus is the reason that God has not dealt with us according to our sin (Propitiation)
“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.”
Our sins separated us from God and we were hopeless and helpless to save ourselves. But God….
Michael Card has a song that contains these beautiful words:
“To be so completely guilty / and given over to despair / to look into your judge’s face / and see a Savior there.”
Jesus is enthroned in heaven. (Glorification)
“The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.”
Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Worship Song
King of Kings
