Reason to Praise
Psalm 103
February 16, 2003
Introduction
Alexander Whyte, the Scottish preacher, always began his prayers with an expression of gratitude. One cold, miserable day his people wondered what he would say. He prayed, "We thank Thee, O Lord, that it is not always like this."
It is said that in Africa there is a fruit called the "taste berry", because it changes a person’s taste so that everything eaten tastes sweet and pleasant. Sour fruit, even if eaten several hours after the "taste berry," becomes sweet and delicious. Gratitude is the "taste berry" of Christianity, and when our hearts are filled with gratitude, nothing that God sends us seems unpleasant to us. Keep the "taste berry" of gratitude in your hearts, and it will do for you what the "taste berry" of Africa does for the African.
We become overwhelmed by life
The fact is that life will control us if we allow it to. Life tends to move like a river and we far too often just go with the flow. We allow the situations and circumstances of life to control us. When we allow this to happen we lose much more than stability or security in life; we lose a part of ourselves.
Life can get overwhelming
There is not a person in this sanctuary that has not seen some type of difficulty in life. The problem becomes when we become so focused on our problems that we lose focus on our creator. We are all guilty of allowing our feelings of hurt, disappointment, fear, frustration or even anger to drive us through life. There are many who feel like they have been cheated by life, dealt a bad hand or blame God for their problems. When we flow into this mode of living we begin to think that there is nothing to be thankful for.
Key Question: Does your life praise God?
I. God’s glorious deeds
A. Preface of praise (1-2)
1. Total praise for God: The phrase “O my soul” means to praise God with your entire being. It means that every aspect of your life is focused on giving praise to God and nothing is held back.
2. Reminder for praise: The psalmist is calling us to focus on the fact of God’s mighty deeds as reason enough to praise God. No matter what our circumstances might be or what difficulties we might face that there is always a reason to give praise to God.
B. Benefits that God bestows (3-6)
1. Forgiveness of sin: God gives us proof of both His love and His mercy by His offering forgiveness to us. It is the forgiveness of God that allows us to have a relationship with Him. The mercy and grace of God is a free gift because He offers it with no expectations and no conditions. God’s grace can never be earned by anything we can do. If we could earn God’s grace it wouldn’t be a gift and it wouldn’t be grace.
2. Healing of diseases: God’s power is available for His people and one of the many ways that God shows His power is through divine healing. Is it so hard to believe that he who created us would not also be able to heal us as well?
3. Redemption from death: We all deserve to go to Hell, we deserve the pit of spiritual isolation from God but God’s desire is that none should perish. One definition of grace is being given what we need and not what we deserve. God wants every person to find redemption in Him.
4. Crowning with love and compassion: God extends to every believer His love and compassion because it is the fuel of His divine mercy. As a Christian we are to be filled with God’s divine love and compassion for others. We are meant to live out our lives as an example of God’s love.
5. Satisfaction of our desires: God has promised to supply our every need and He more than abundantly delivers. He supplies us richly out of His resources and provided us with good things. The fact is that God’s provision is powerful and all sufficient.
6. Awards of righteousness and justice: God gives us the ability to be righteous, to be made completely right in His sight. This is clearly something that we cannot do on our own. God also gives us real justice. This life is simply not fair and things may be unjust in our lives but God will measure out His justice in the end.
II. God’s glorious love
A. God has revealed His merciful love (7-10)
1. God has given His Law: God’s Law was never meant to legalize life but rather to give us direction I how we are meant to live our lives. God’s Law was meant to guide us in everyday decisions and to allow us to know His will for our lives.
2. God gives us compassion: God shows every person an abundant measure of mercy and grace because God’s love is one that is filled with mercy. God is not easily angered and showers us with the reality of His love and it is a love that overflows into every area of our lives. God does not see us as the sinful and rebellious people that we are but rather He sees us through the eyes of His love.
3. God gives us grace: God has treated us far better than we could ever deserve because all we deserve is His judgment and wrath. He has given us grace, what we need and not what we deserve, instead of His judgment. He does not repay us for our sin once He has granted His forgiveness.
B. God has granted His forgiving love (11-14)
1. God’s love is great in scope: This language uses a massive scope for describing the love of God. The psalmist says that God’s love for His people is as high as the heavens and reveals the grand nature, depth and vastness of God’s great love for His people.
2. God will remove our sin from us: God forgives our sin and removes it from us. God wipes away the stains of our transgressions and cleanses us from the mistakes and failures of the past. The psalmist vividly describes this act of God: “as far as east is from west”. The implications are huge because just as east and west will never meet; so we will never be faced with the consequences of forgiven sin.
3. God will treat us as His children: A loving father shows compassion for His children and gives them his complete love and grace. This is exactly the way that God loves His people because He treats us like His own children with love and compassion.
4. God knows you fully: We have been created by God, we are His because He formed us from the dust. He knows everything there is to know about you and loves you in spite of it all. He knows our human nature and still cares about us and He cares for us. There is absolutely nothing that is hidden for God and there is no need to try to hide anything from Him; He already knows.
C. God has given His everlasting love
1. Humanity is mortal: We are mortal in nature and our mortality creates a limited understanding and scope of how we view the world. In our humanity we see everything through our mortality
2. God’s love is eternal: There is no end to God’s love because He is not bound by our mortal limitations. The love of God is everlasting, meaning that it always has existed and it always will exist beyond the end of time. The promise of God is that His love will be with His people through every generation.
3. God’s authority is complete: God has rule over everything and His sovereignty is without bounds. He is above all, rules over all and everything is under His authority.
III. God’s glorious praise
A. Praise of angels: The angels are the special messengers of God, who reside in heaven and on earth. Every one of these supernatural beings with offer praise to God.
B. Praise of the heavenly host: In heaven, there are other supernatural beings than angels. The cherubim and seraphim are beings with different roles than the angels but they too will offer constant and continual praise to God
C. Praise of creation: All of creation will give praise to the one who created all things. All of God’s dominion, everything in the universe will give Him praise. Jesus himself said that the rocks wait to cry out in praise of God. With this in mind there will come a day when every creature, every plant, every stone, every star and everything that exists will give God His rightful praise
D. Post-lude of praise
1. Book ends of praise: The psalm ends just as it began with a call to give praise to God with every fiber of our being. Praise the Lord, o my soul.
2. Key question: Does your life give praise to God?
Conclusion
What if God couldn’t take the time to bless us today because we couldn’t take the time to thank Him yesterday?
What if God decided to stop leading us tomorrow because we did not follow Him today?
What if we never saw another flower bloom because we grumbled when God sent the rain?
What if God didn’t walk with us today because we failed to recognize it as His day?
What if God took away the Bible tomorrow because we would not read it today?
What if God took away His message because we failed to listen to His messenger?
What if the door of the church was closed because we did not open the door of our heart?
What if God stopped loving and caring for us because we failed to love and care for others?
What if God would not hear us today because we would not listen to Him yesterday?
What if God answered our prayers the way we answer His call for service?
What if God met our needs the way we give Him our lives?
