Praise the Lord, O my soul

Psalm 103:1-22

key Verse:103:2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—

Happy Thanksgiving Day! About 55 million people in U.S.A travel to visit their home or relatives during thanksgiving holiday according to AAA newsroom. Thanksgiving holiday is one of biggest holiday. Where did the origin of Thanksgiving Day in this nation come from?

The origin of the Thanksgiving Day is from the Puritans who came to America. 102 Puritans of the Mayflower—including three pregnant women and more than a dozen children, sailed across the North Atlantic Ocean on Sept.6. 1620. They chose a long deadly journey for the freedom of religion. There were 2 numbers of senators, the number of Representatives, many doctors, professors and generals who were high level in society of England. They arrived to here on Nov.11 after 66 days of voyage. Only 58 survived and 44 died during the voyage.

When they saw this land, they wrote a letter together and signed together on the boat. The letter stated that “ We will live in the name of God, by the grace of God, for the glory of God and in the presence of God.” When they safely arrived the Plymouth, they shared 7 thanksgiving topics.

Firstly, Thank God for allowing us to find a small ship to be able to have the safe voyage even though it was just 180 tons’ small size ship!

Secondly, Thank God for allowing us safe voyage even though average speed was 2 miles a day!

(Thirdly, Thank God for a birth of a baby even though two died!

Fourthly, Thank God that the ship was not completely destroyed even though the sail was broken.

Fifthly, Thank God that we safely rescued women from the waves even though they were tossed into waves during the voyage.

Sixthly, Thank God for allowing us to meet native Americans who had favoring heart even though many other native Americans hindered not to arrive the land and wondered for about a month.

Seventhly, Thank God that nobody told retuning to England back even though their incredible suffering voyage of three months.)

When the winter began, some people ,who arrived safely in the land, died due to sickness, poverty, and coldness. The Puritans spread seeds in the spring and harvested in the fall and they gave thanks to God by offering Him their first fruits. When the pastor, Poseidon gave their first thanks giving worship service, he read Psalm 126:5 “5 Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy” and prayed “ May the dead among 102 numbers be the great seeds for this nation! Give us the heart of thank even though all of us die!” This spirit of the thankfulness of the Puritans was the foundation of this nation. I believe God richly blessed this nation through their thankful spirit.

Thankfulness to God doesn’t come from our good circumstances but come from our inner resolution. Someone states that “Thanks is the practice of having a happy life but complaining is the practice of having an unhappy life. Thanks is to please God, complaining is to please Satan.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 clearly commands us to “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

There are so many reasons to give thanks and praise God for believers. However, we are so stingy to thank and praise God due to small matters. Let’s learn why we should give thanks to God and learn about the benefit through Psalm 103! May God open each of our spiritual ears and eyes to today’s passage so that we may humbly come to Christ and give thanks to God!

*Do not forget all his benefits (1-5)

Let’s read verse one together.

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,

The word "bless," here means to praise, implying always a strong affection for him as well as a sense of gratitude. David stirred up himself to praise God and his own soul to praise God with his whole being. Even though we thank to God with lip, our thinking and heart are thinking others and cold. “Praise God with whole being” is not easy. It requires our willing resolution.

Why we should thank and praise God is not actually for his benefit but because we thank and praise Him as our creator, good heavenly Father and sovereign ruler.

If you positively don’t give thanks to God, the opposite power of complaining spirit grip over us and control us and lead us to an unhappy life.

Psalm 103 was written at his old age. Psalmist’s praise comes from his personal experience.

David was a youngest son of Jesse who was ignored by his family. He was an ordinary shepherd. When he took care of his sheep, a lion or a bear attacked his flocks, he struck them and rescued the sheep as a young boy by depending on the almighty God. Through God, He defeated Goliath, who defiled God’s holy name. when king Saul had chased him to kill him with 3000 chosen agents for about 12 year, God had protected him at every moment. He personally knew who God is through his experiences.

God originally created each of us with His glorious image to proclaim God’s glory and splendor through us. Psalm 19:1 clearly declare the purpose why God created the universe. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Man as the God’s masterpiece represents the peak of God’s glory and majesty. After God created man, His impression was “It was very good.” He even admired man’s creation as the most impressive one. Think about how much he cared for our joy and happiness when he created the Garden of Eden! He made a perfect environment of the Garden of Eden for man and woman. To give thanks to God and praise Him is very our purpose of being existed.

What is the benefit for us to thanks to God and to praise Him?

Firstly, to give thanks to God is to please Him as well as to glorify Him. Luke 17:11-19 describes the healings of ten lepers. Even though 10 lepers were healed, only one came back to Jesus and bowed down to give thanks to him. This person was a Samaritan who was despised by Jews. Even Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?” He was sad to the nine people who didn’t express thanks. I believe the nine must have thankful heart but didn’t express it to Jesus because they had many reasons. So Jesus blessed the one Samaritan who expressed thanks to Him. “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”(Luke 17:19) Our expression of thank to God is the confession of our thanks to what he has done for us through our lives. No thanks is the root of sin. Romans 1:21 tells us. “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” We can see why Adam and Eve sinned in Genesis 3. They lost their thankful heart in the best circumstances. When their thankful heart became weak, Satan attacked them. They finally betrayed God’s astonishing love and grace so they lost everything. Unthankful heart toward God usually comes from our proud and unbelieving heart.

Secondly, to give thanks to God brings God’s favor. Psalm 50:23 teaches us. “23 Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me, and to the blameless I will show my salvation.”

I heard the story of Ann Vosecamp who wrote the book of “one thousand gifts”. She is a farmer’s wife. She is the mother of six children. When she was child, she saw her sister’s death at a car accident. Her mother was in a mental hospital due to a mental illness when she was 20 years old. She got lost all joy and happiness due to her dark and painful experiences. She doubted that God was love. She suffered under depression, skepticism and meaninglessness of life. One of her friends recommended her to write a list of thousand things that she was thankful for. As she was writing thousand thankful topics since 2004, she experienced God’s miraculous healing as well as so many of God’s amazing grace and blessings. Her thanks were not big but just insignificant things such as the shadow of the morning sun, the smell of flies which are alive, the wind which make his hairs fly, mails which were delivered in the mail box, spiders webs which was made in the morning, birds which were singing songs in the early morning, the white snows and so on. But when she gave thanks for little things more and more, she experienced gradual healing. Being thankful to little things brings the seeds of miracles.

We sometimes encounter troubles and hardships which are beyond our control. Many people are suffering from depression, worry, stress and anxiety. Some of them give up their faith during hard situations. But Philippians 4:6-7 tells us. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

To give thanks and praise to God is our confession of God’s absolute goodness and sovereignty at any horrible situation. When we give thanks to God at any situation, His amazing comfort and miracle touch upon you and guard your heart.

Look at verse 2.

Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—

Remembrance of God’s grace is critical for our lives. It even teaches us from the history in the Old Testament. God let Moses write the book of Deuteronomy for Israel to remember what He had done and do not forget them in the Promised Land, Canaan”.

However, after Israel entered into the Promised Land, they forgot God’s protection and provision from the dry and cold circumstances in the desert, and from their enemies during wilderness for 40 years. As a result, they forgot the LORD, God. So they began to compare themselves with the Canaan people and became fearful of them. They abandoned God’s instruction and finally worshiped the idols of Canaan people. So, God couldn’t be with them. They became slaves of the gentile people. Deuteronomy 8:11 admonish us.“11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God. “

What are God’s benefits given by Him? Let’s read verse3-5.

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.

Psalmist mentions forgiveness of sin at the first priority.

It is the most precious and fundamental benefit among all benefits.

After David committed adulatory with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife, and he had to lie and murder his faithful solider, Uriah, to hide his sin. When he kept silent about his sin, he horribly suffered under the sinful conviction like his bones were dry bones even though nobody recognized it. Even though He was a king, a great musician, psalmist, rich and had many wives and children, nothing gave him joy and happiness. After prophet Nathan rebuked his sin of adultery and David repented his sin, he could receive the forgiveness of sin and find true joy and peace. He confess who true blessed one is in Psalm 32. “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, who sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity.” True blessed one is the one who receive forgiveness of our sins.

Sin is serious. It is deviation from God. Sin breaks our relationship with God as well as each other. It makes us as slaves to the power of darkness. The eternal God’s wrath comes upon those who are not forgiven of their sins.

The reality is that all of us were dead in our transgressions and iniquity since Adam sinned. We cannot be free from the power of sin by our own efforts. However, God ,who is full of compassion, sent his one and only Son, Jesus as a human form in this world. He died on the Cross taking full penalty of our sin to rescue us from the power of sin and rose from the dead. 1Peter 2:24 testify us.

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Though Jesus’ blood, we can be forgiven. We can be reconciled with God through his blood. God regards us as righteousness because of Jesus’ atonement.

God is also a healer. It includes spiritual sickness as well as physical sickness. Many live under suffering of all kinds of sickness such as depression, and all kinds of diseases. Some experience their healing by God’s favor. God is able to heal us. He is a true healer.

God is the deliverer from our pits which are unable to set free by our ability.

There are many pits such as bankruptcy of our business, our spiritual lives, losing job, car accidents, drug addiction and so on. Many are trapped in these traps. He is our savior from their pits. He is deliverer and protector from these pits.

God crowns his people with love and compassion as our father does. He crowns them with good things. He lifts his people up with the source of blessing at his time. He wants to satisfy his own people with the best things so that we may be renewed like the eagle’s.

Part two- The LORD is compassionate.

Look at verse 6-14.

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.

God is righteous and just, but he is compassionate, gracious and slow to anger. He, himself is love. He deeply understands how weak we are in Verse 14, 15,16. We are like dust or grass. If he deals our sins according to his justice, no one will be survived. One day, one arm or one eye is disappeared according to our sins. everyone will have cut all over one’s body due to the consequence of each sin.

However, He is compassionate as father has compassion on his children. He understand our weakness and take care of it. No matter how sinful and horrible we are, if we truly repent of our sins and return to him, he remove all our sins and embrace us as his darling children, just like the Father who embraced the prodigal son when he came back to him. Look at 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,

His unchanging love is eternal. His steadfast love holds those who fear him & love him. How great comfort it is! We are so easily up and down. Human love is changeable according to situation. However, God’s love is steadfast love.

Part three- Great God’s love come upon those who fear him

Verse 11,13, 17, repeat “those who fear him”

But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children—

His love comes to those who fear him with even their children’s children. He wants to bless thousand of generations upon those who fear him.

What does “ those who fear him” mean?

Proverbs 9:10 tell us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

Fearing God means that we acknowledge God as my creator, sovereign ruler as King of Kings.He is powerful and holy so that they will reverently come to him. They come to him with a trembling heart. When his people astray from the right path, they humbly come to him with broken and contrite heart. They honor him more than anything else.

They keep God’s covenant and obey His words with trembling and reverence.

Provers 14: 26-27 also teaches us to keep from the snares of death.

26 Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge.

27 The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death.

the psalmist concludes this song for his angels, heavenly hosts, and all his servants to praise the LORD in verse 29-22.

20 Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding,

who obey his word.

21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.

22 Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

In conclusion,

Let’s look back what God has done for each of us during this thanksgiving week!

Praising God and giving thanks to him is a key to our vital spiritual life. He is compassionate and gracious. Fearing God keeps us from our sinful nature. I pray that the spirit of thanks may be revived to us so that we may grow as a man or a woman of God! Let’s read key verse 1-4.