Psalm 103--Bless the LORD, O My Soul

Psalm 103
English Standard Version

Bless the LORD, O My Soul
Of David.
103 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,
3 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.

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.
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15 As for man, his days are like grass;
    he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
    and its place knows it no more.
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,
18 to those who keep his covenant
    and remember to do his commandments.
19 The LORD has established his throne in the heavens,
    and his kingdom rules over all.

20 Bless the LORD, O you his angels,
    you mighty ones who do his word,
    obeying the voice of his word!
21 Bless the LORD, all his hosts,
    his ministers, who do his will!
22 Bless the LORD, all his works,
    in all places of his dominion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!

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We don't always feel like worshiping and adoring the LORD, especially in difficult times, but, like David here, we must command our souls to do it because God is worthy of all glory and honor and praise.  As we come to Him and worship Him in truth because of telling of what it is that He has done to and for us (especially telling of our salvation), then our eyes will get off of ourselves and our present circumstances, our gaze will fix upon Him high and lifted up, seated on His throne in heaven, and our soul will desire to worship Him.  We also join David in saying, "Blessed is the man whose sins have been forgiven" by God.  That is the only way we can enter the LORD's presence and worship Him.  Otherwise, our sin would separate us from Him, and we would not be able to draw near to Him.

The LORD is the one who gives us every good and perfect gift from above--life, salvation, healing, peace, joy, grace, mercy, and His steadfast love that endures forever.  He gives us strength when we are weak and lifts us up when we fall.  However, the LORD is not just worthy to be praised because of what He has given to us, He is worthy to be praised for who He is.  Even if He never created man who receives His blessings, He would still be good, just and righteous because that is His nature and character.  That is reason enough to praise Him.  However, that goodness, justice, and righteousness did cause Him to act in His steadfast love that rescues and saves His people from oppression and bondage.  Not only salvation from physical enemies, but from our spiritual enemies of sin, the flesh, death, and the devil.

God graciously gave us special revelation of His Word that He revealed to people like Moses and the Prophets.  He also gave us His Law and He made covenants with His people so that they would know what it means to be His people called by His name.  The purpose of the Law was always to point them to their need for Jesus and the substitutionary atonement that one day He would make for them.  He was the fulfillment of all the Law and the Prophets.  He was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World, Our Passover Lamb, and Our Great High Priest.  He was the Prophet who was to be the better Moses, and His name in Hebrew is the same as Joshua, meaning "The LORD saves" or "The LORD is Our Salvation."  While the LORD provided victory over the peoples that lived in the Land during the time of Joshua and Caleb, it was through Jesus, the better Joshua that our greater enemies were defeated, and we now have hope for a better Promised Land--the New Heavens and the New Earth that Jesus is preparing for us.

The LORD did not immediately deal with us according to our sins where He had every right to kill Adam and Eve immediately when they sinned for, He told them, "In the day you eat of it, you will surely die."  They expected to die that day in that moment.  That is why they hid from him, and that is why many of us are afraid of God and try to hide from Him (even though we should know there is no place we can hide from Him).  Instead, the LORD is rich in mercy and put into action a plan which He knew was Plan A all along.  The Son of God would be born of a virgin to live a sinless life and die a substitutionary death so that we might be saved.  We would receive His perfection and innocence, and He would take our imperfections and guilt upon Himself.  This "Great Exchange" is at the heart of the gospel.  "He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21).  If that doesn't make you want to praise the LORD, even though you may be baffled by the mystery of it all, I don't know what will move your heart to worship Him.  He no longer covers over our sins but forgives them and removes them as far as the east is from the west because Christ has paid the penalty for our sins by His death on the cross.  For this reason, we can now be adopted into the family of God and once again be called his sons and daughters.  The Father can turn His face towards us because on that day that Jesus died the Father turned His face away from His only begotten Son.  Because Jesus lived life as a human, He sympathizes with our weaknesses and sorrows and intercedes for us as our High Priest.  Even today He is standing before the Father praying for us and making intercession for us.

​Our time in this reality is fleeting.  We are here today and gone tomorrow.  We are like the flowers or the grass that are only there for a season, but the love of the LORD is everlasting--from eternity past to eternity future.  We know this world is not our final destination and we have a better home to look forward to.  Let's quickly look at some of the final verses in the entire Bible that tell us that God's plan all along was to make it so that He could once again dwell with His people, just like He did with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden before they sinned.  

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4)

I think David realizes this reality is coming, and, like us, is praising the LORD in advance for the place that He is preparing for us.  David longs for the day when all the enemies of the LORD will be defeated and things will be "very good" as they were in Genesis 1 and 2, and those who are in Christ will live with Him and worship Him and serve Him as His priests forever and ever.  But what about everyone else?  They are also eternal creatures with souls, so what happens to them?  The following verses in Revelation 21 tell us about their fate, and this victory over wickedness is something else to worship the LORD for.

5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:5-8)

You see, we have a choice about which destination we choose for ourselves.  We can't make the choice for anyone else, but we can choose today to admit that we have sinned, tell God that we know we are guilty and deserve the things described in verse 8 quoted above, but accept by faith that Jesus took that wrath and punishment for us so that we might have the blessings described in verses 3-7.  The contrast couldn't be made any more real--the Tree of Life and River of Life for those who are in Christ or the Lake of Fire, which is the Second Death for those that are outside of Christ.  You choose which kingdom you want to be a citizen of and if you want acknowledge God as Sovreign over you, or if you want to rebel against Him and His will and commands.  There is no salvation apart from total surrender to Him and becoming His humble servant.  You cannot have "fire insurance" and still live your life like you did before your so-called "salvation experience" (which was no salvation at all).  

David then calls upon all the creatures of heaven that we call angels to obey His Word and do His will.  We too should listen to His voice and do what He says as part of our worship.  Then David calls upon all creation to join in and worship the LORD with us.  Can the angels, stars, rocks, and tress celebrate and worship the LORD in the same way we can?  Of course not, for they have not experienced salvation like us.  Yet, everything gives glory to the LORD in its own way and in that way worships Him See Psalm 19 as an example of how creation points us to the Creator.  Romans 1:20 also speaks of this indirectly.

Choose today to worship the LORD if you are His, no matter your circumstances, for He is Lord over those circumstances.  We do not worship Him only when we have "mountain top experiences" but also when we are "in the valley of the shadow of death."  "The LORD giveth, and the LORD taketh away.  Blessed be the name of the LORD."  Choose today to worship Him first in your surrender to Him and by accepting the gospel, then living lives obedient to Him as His servants, and then join the praise team and show creation and the angels of heaven what true worship really is.  Tell the world of His great love and mercy that you know about because He has saved you.  Tell them of the hope that you have for eternal, abundant life with Him forever, and tell them of peace that surpasses all understanding because nothing can separate you from God or His love for those that are in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (See Romans 8:31-39)