Every Day is a Gift Part 2 - A Psalm for the New Year - Psalm 103 (Psalms 103)

1:21Bless the Lord while you are opening and going through each day, because we can do so because we know. From who it comes. We know the person from whom it comes. So, just as those are going out, you can look up here the general overview, and this is shown on the paper, the chaastic structure. Psalms, with the Hebrew poetry, sometimes the and oftentimes the emphasis is in the middle of the psalm, as it is with this one. So, the psalmist opens up: Bless the Lord, O my soul. He's speaking to himself, Bless the Lord, all that is within me, bless the Lord. And then in verse 6, he speaks about the Lord performs righteous deeds and judgments for all who are oppressed. In other words, he does righteousness, he does everything right and good. All his deeds are righteous and just upon all.

2:29And then, in the center point of the psalm, you get the emphasis: for as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him. Thank you guys. For those who fear him. So, right at the center of the psalm is this emphasis upon fearing him. And then verse 17, parallel with verse 6, but the loving kindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who. Who fear him.

3:02So it's verse 6: the Lord performs righteous deeds and judgments on all who are oppressed. But verse 17, the loving kindness of the Lord is upon those who fear him. And who is the one who fears him, but the ones who keep his covenant and remember his precepts to do them. And then again, the psalmist goes back to speaking to himself, Bless the Lord, O my soul. So that's the pattern we were working our way through. Last time we looked at the first one. If I looked at the first five verses and had one word that jumps out as to how do you go through each day blessing the Lord while you're living it, or to use the analogy, how do you bless the Lord while opening the gift that he has given you? Well, you bless him by remembering, verse 2: Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of his benefits. So remember his benefits. And what does he do? Well, he pardons, he heals, he redeems, he crowns, and he satisfies. Be remembering that. Because as you go through each day, this is what he gives. This is who he is, and this is what he does. Now, all this in the ultimate sense, yes, he heals all your diseases. Yes, I believe he heals all of our diseases. Maybe not in this life. Obviously, not. But in an ultimate sense, there will come a day when we all gather in glory. And our testimony: he pardoned all, he healed all, he redeemed, he crowned, he satisfied. All of that is true, and everything that he does is an expression of that.

4:51And working towards an ultimate end. So now I want to shift gears and look at the second part, really is the major heart, which actually starts around verse 6 and goes all the way to verse 18, 19. In fact, just looking at this, the one word that really jumps out is the word fear. Verse 11: For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him. Verse 13: just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. There's this emphasis upon fear in verse 17, but the loving kindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him. Fear him. So, if there's one word, if you're thinking about how do you bless the Lord by going through each day, well, Certainly, remember his benefits, remember who he is, but also fear him. Fear him. And that's a word we really don't like to use. In fact, we like to maybe use the word revere him.

6:17The more I think about it, I think fear is appropriate. I think fear, and the Bible speaks a lot about this. And for some reason, we I remember talking about this principle to somebody who didn't fear God at all, or hardly at all, didn't you know, evidence in his life. And we were talking about it. I said, it's important to fear. He goes, no, it's important to love. He thought he had hit a profound note. You know, love. Yes, it is obviously love.

6:46But love is built upon a real, healthy fear of who God is because he is someone to be respected. And that's how we kind of think about it. But let's just talk about this word of fear. And even people say, well, I think fear is a very good concept here. Think about be afraid. Well, we're not so afraid that we run, but actually, we are. We should be afraid because he's so holy that we run from him. But then, on the other hand, I should be too afraid to run from him, right? I should fear running from him, even though he's someone to be feared, yet because he's someone to be feared, I should be too afraid to run away. I should be paying attention. Do you see that there's a healthiness, and it's the beginning of wisdom, the beginning of knowledge. And it's something that we really don't really like to stress. We try to soften it a little in our language, but let's just talk about the concept of fear for a moment. What's an animal that is something that you're likely to be afraid of? Snakes.

8:16Snakes. Now, what would happen if I put you in a room, if you had to be, not me, somebody else did this? Let's suppose you had to spend some time with a snake in a room. How would you treat that snake? Tell me a little bit about your time in that room. Okay, you can't kill it, okay? But okay, if you want to kill it, how are you going to kill it? You're going to be pretty careful, right?

8:52Okay, let's just suppose I put you in the room with a lion, okay? Okay, and lions over there in the corner, and you. How are you going to handle yourself in a room with no way out with a lion? What's your demeanor going to be? No sudden move. You are going to be paying attention. You're going to be, there's going to be a real fear there, right? There's going to be a fear, but that really is the idea: like, oh, very mindful of every move. It's going to change the way you respond. Well, let me show you a picture of just fear. Do you see? This is on an Africa trip. There's Anna petting, you know what that is? A lion.

9:46And you see the nice smile on her face? Do you see a little bit of respect in that smile? Like, okay, go ahead and take the picture now. But you see, there's a healthy, a healthy fear, a respect, and so that's the idea that when you work through this psalm, think about fearing him. That is what the psalm, when the psalmist is, when David is speaking to us, like, look, soul of mine, bless the Lord. Look up on the Lord. Put him in a state of blessing in your life.

10:30Respond accordingly to who he is. That's what bless means, right? When we ask the Lord to bless us, we say, Lord, look upon our situation and act and act accordingly. Likewise, when we bless the Lord, we turn that around, we look upon him, we survey, understand him, and we respond appropriately to him. That's the idea of bless. And so here's David saying, soul, put, bless the Lord, put him into the place of honor, put him, remember his benefits and fear him. Fear him. That's how you bless. And as you're going through your day, remembering him and fearing him. Fearing him. And so I want to just walk through several things we are to fear him for that I believe the psalmist is bringing out and speaking to his soul and drawing out of this and building up to this exhortation to his own soul. Fear the Lord. Respect the Lord. Live your life in careful surveillance of him and all his ways. So first of all, fear him for his actions. The Lord performs righteous deeds, verse 6, and judgments for all who are oppressed. So here's the psalmist.

12:01The Lord performs righteous deeds. This is what he does. This is what he is about. This is what he, he doesn't do anything less. He never compromises, never lowers any of it. They are perfectly righteous, completely through and through. And that's always, this is what he does. This is what he does. Deeds that are right. Remember that. His judgments are for all, and judgments for all who are oppressed. He does rightly, no matter what the situation is, across, he always does rightly. And there are just who he is.

12:58Verse 7, he made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the son of Israel. You think back at that time going through, Israel was oppressed, weren't they? They were oppressed. And Egypt saw his acts as well as Israel saw his acts. Two totally different perspectives. And his acts are terrifying. Israel. Was oppressed. Now, Egypt, Egypt was cruel with Israel. And so, for that reason alone, God's dealing with Egypt was right and good. Verse 9, 8. I'm sorry. So, fear him because of his actions. They are right. They are thorough. They are just, good, and this is the way he acts.

14:09Verse 8, the Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness. So fear him because of his anger. Fear him, for he can be angered. He's slow to anger and abounding in, and I am thankful that he is. He isn't a hothead. He doesn't fly off the handle. He is slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness. This is who he is. Overflows with faithfulness, with goodness, with mercy. He will not always strive with us. He will not always contend with us, nor does he keep his anger forever.

15:03He doesn't keep his anger forever. He doesn't hold the grudge. He doesn't repay beyond. But we should be afraid. We should fear angering him. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and be fearful of him in this sense. Fear him. So fear him for his actions. Fear him for his anger, even though he's slow to it, but fear him. This is where Psalmist gets deeply into this. Fear him for the magnitude of his mercy and kindness. Fear him for the magnitude of his mercy and kindness.

16:13He has not dealt with us according to our sins. He has not. He has not rewarded us according to our iniquities. He has not repaid us according to our iniquities. Interesting. When you look at the word for sin, sin is that it really comes from this whole image of these sling throwers and judges. They were left-handed and they were able to throw the sling, they were able to not miss the target. And the idea of sin is one of missing the target, failure, failure to meet God's standard, failure to meet His moral standard, whether intentional or not, but a failure, missing the mark.

17:24Nor has He rewarded us according to our iniquities. Now, the iniquity speaks of the crookedness or the distortion or the perversity of our moral character. He does not record us, does not deal with us or does not reward us or pay us back according to our own crookedness. And he's speaking about deeds here, really, our own perverse deeds. Now, that's incredible when he is this one who does everything righteously. Fear him for that because he does everything right, and yet he has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our perverse deeds. In fact, as you go through Leviticus and you start looking at some of these deeds and you come to Leviticus 16 and the perversities that you see, this picture of the scapegoat and the hands going on the scapegoat and the sins being transferred, and the scapegoat leaving the congregation and taking those sins out.

18:41And after reading some of the list of the sins, I mean, and of the iniquity, the perverse deeds, surprised that these perverse deeds can be forgiven, and yet that is who he is. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him. And here he makes this magnitude. There's a great magnitude of distance. He's making a comparison here. For as high as the heavens are above the earth.

19:29Now, I don't think David had a telescope, but he knew something of a distance, something of a magnitude. How can I describe something so great? In fact, the word for great is spoken of the flood waters that in Genesis that came upon the earth, all these great flood. And David is saying, I don't know how to compare this, but as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great, likewise, so great is his loving kindness towards those who fear him, or those who approach him or afraid to run away from him, and yet approach him with great reverence, great awe, great respect.

20:32That's, I mean, this is a great amount of loving kindness. Can you see the comparison? I mean, I just looking through one of the Hubble telescopes images that came back with images light years and light years away, and galaxies light years away. And you're thinking, wow, what a comparison. How great is his loving kindness? I don't know about you, but being loved, being pardoned, being loved on that kind of level is a little bit scary in a good way, but a little bit awe-inspiring that God would describe his faithfulness to us, to those who fear him, to those who fear him with such superlative words.

21:42Let's sink into the comparison that God Himself is saying. But God is the comparison he makes, it's hard, we can't even conceive of it, and yet using the most straining the limits of language itself, He uses an illustration that expresses His loving kindness to His people. As far as the East is from the West, so far he has removed. Our transgressions from us, and this is a consequence of his loving kindness, his compassion. And it's already been spoken of in verse 4: he crowns you with loving kindness and with compassion, and the outworking of that, where his loving kindness and his compassion come together and express itself in the way he has removed our transgressions from us.

22:56And here he uses another word to describe our fallenness. He uses the word, he'd already used the word sin, kind of missing the moral mark. He uses the word perversity or iniquities, the crooked nature that we have. Here he talks about transgressions, and transgressions is that word that speaks about our spiritual rebellion. That willful God, I do know, I know what you want, but I am going to do what I want anyway. He uses these different words, sins, iniquities, and transgressions, they're all nuancing different aspects of our fallen nature. So far, he has removed our high-handed rebellion from us.

23:57And that's. Think about he's perfectly righteous, perfectly good. He is intensely just and a cause for fear. And then somehow he removed our transgression. The sin-hating God wanted something removed from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. Fear him. The magnitude of this is huge. You know, often we think one of the things I'm often struck by is the sacrifice that has been made for our freedom, for us to live in this country. The sacrifices that have been made. And sometimes it really hits me when I'm visited a museum or an aircraft carrier or something, and just the realization of.

25:30People that have given their lives for us to have a freedom. There's a little bit of a fear as I see these long lists of names of people that have given their lives for me to enjoy my freedoms and for me to enjoy the benefits of this country and to raise my children. It's there is a respect that's due, but I feel like I need to be a good steward of the freedom that I've been given because it came at such a high price. I mean, some teenagers on these ships gone in an instant.

26:25You could go through the losses and it should. We should remember. We should remember, but we remember not just maybe one day of the year on a Memorial Day or 4th of July, but we should remember the sacrifices. Every day we use our freedom. That's the. And when you think about the magnitude of his mercy, And the magnitude of his kindness spoken of with this kind of language, a settled awe, reverence, fear, and desire of good stewardship should take root.

27:28But the psalmist also brings to mind that we should fear him because of his eternality. He is eternal, we are not. Verse 14: For he himself knows our frame, he is mindful that we are but dust. I mean, he has compassion. Verse 13, as the father has compassion, so the Lord has compassion. For he himself knows our frame. And I would put this in parallel with verse 19: he will not always strive with us, he will not always contend with us, nor keep his anger forever. Verse 14, he himself knows our frame, he is mindful that we are but dust.

28:14As for the Lord, he is forever eternal. As for man, his days are like grass. As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. And when the wind has passed over it, it is no more. And his place acknowledges it no longer. So, what a description of us, right? Like a flower of the field, so we are like grass here today, gone. After you get this one of these winds from the eastern Mediterranean, if you've been there at all, you know that grass is rare and hot air is plentiful. And so, like grass, he could wither very quickly. As for man, his days are like grass, short.

29:14As a flower of the field, so he flourishes, he shines, he blooms, and then gone, and his place acknowledges it no longer. So, just like this flower that comes up, grass that comes up, flowers, and then is gone after the passing of a wind doesn't even remember. It's a good picture of brevity of life. But the loving kindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him. Now, think about, okay, so bless the Lord, O my soul.

30:00Remember his benefits, fear him. The loving kindness lasts forever on those who fear him. So, guess what has to happen on those who fear him? If his loving kindness is forever, guess what the byproduct is on those who fear them? Fear him. They're forever, right? Man passes away no longer, but the loving kindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him. This is why when Moses, or when the Lord appeared to Moses, you know what he said? He said, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I am, because they still are.

30:58They exist. They are. They haven't passed. He remembers them. So bless the Lord, O my soul. Fear him. Fear him. Fear him. As you open each day, take each event with respect and awe, remembering the one who gave it and fear him. And who are those who fear him? To those who keep his covenant and remember his precepts to do them. So, as you go through each day, be keeping, be remembering his precepts, his teachings, his instructions for life. He gives instructions for life.

31:59And all of his instructions, and remember, he is the one who pardons, he is the one who heals, he is the one who redeems, he is the one who crowns, and he is the one who satisfies. And all his precepts are aimed in that direction. They cannot lead anywhere else because of who he is. So fear him. Fear him for his actions. Fear him for his anger. Fear him for the magnitude of his compassion and his mercy and his loving kindness.

32:36Fear him for his eternality. And fear him because of his sovereignty. Verse 19, the Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his sovereignty rules over all. That's the reality. And he doesn't. Change it. He doesn't ever set aside his sovereignty at all for one moment, anytime. He rules over all. And so, because of this, bless him. So, this is where the psalmist brings it back. Bless the Lord because he's sovereignty rules over all. Bless the Lord, you, his angels, mighty in strength, bless him who perform his word, obeying the voice of his word. So, how do you bless? Coming back to this is how the mighty angels bless, and he's speaking to his soul. Keep in mind, David's speaking to his soul: Bless the Lord by performing his word, that is, obeying the voice of his word.

33:50That is how you bless by obeying his word. Bless the Lord, all you his hosts, you who serve him, doing his will. Bless the Lord as you go through the day, remembering his benefits, remembering he's the one who pardons, who heals, who redeems, who crowns, who satisfies. He is the one who has separated your sins, your transgressions, removed them from you as far as the east is from the west. Fear him by keeping his covenant, by remembering his precepts. Bless the Lord by obeying the voice of his word, by doing his will. Bless the Lord, all you works of his, in all places of his dominion. And I love how this parallels verse 22 goes back to verse 1. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Here he is in verse 22, speaking of, so here's David in the first verse speaking about in every aspect of my being, all that is within me, every aspect of who I am, every fiber, bless the Lord. And here he is in verse 22, bless the Lord, all you works of his, in all places of his dominion. So all places, everywhere, to the most infinitesimal degree, to the most infinite degree, bless the Lord.

35:32Bless the Lord, O my soul. And David returns to back to his soul where he began. Put him in a state of blessing. Every day is a gift. Every day is a gift. So bless the Lord while you're opening it. Anyone want to add any thoughts?