Please take your Bible this morning and turn with me to Psalm 103. Psalm 103 in your Bible as you're turning there. Just an announcement to share with you I just received. are planning to come on Saturday to the worship time, please let Sheila know a favorite worship song. If you have one that you'd like us to sing, let her know by tomorrow, and then they'll try to include that in that time. So that'd be great. I hope you can come to that. I think that'll be really good for us. Really good time of informal worship together. I want you to be a part of that if you can. Psalm 103 in your Bibles this morning, and I'd like to read just the first five verses to start. Lord willing, work through the entirety of the psalm, but first five verses this morning as we begin. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with goods so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. Last Lord's Day morning, we considered from 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verses 16 through 18, that gratitude is God's will for believers. Paul instructs the believers in Thessalonica and the Holy Spirit through Paul to us that they were to rejoice always. They were to pray without ceasing and then they were to give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God and Christ Jesus for you. There's many Christians that ponder what the will of God is, and often the will of God is a lot more straightforward than the mystical thing that we make it out to be. God's will for Christians includes that they be joyful and prayerful and thankful people. But that is not acquired by us simply trying harder to rejoice more or to pray more or to just find gratitude more often. but it is found by walking in the spirit, and thus not fulfilling the desires of our own flesh, which would be to complain, and to not pray, and to not be thankful people. Well, this morning we asked the question then, okay, we understand that gratitude is God's will for believers, foundational, but to whom are we to be thankful to? Seems like an obvious question. It is the Lord. And I think Psalm 103 helps us to answer that question that seems obvious but is actually far deeper. And our gratitude is to be directed toward God. It is to be God-focused. And so I've titled the message this morning, Gratitude Must Be God-Focused. It Must Be God-Word. Look at the text in verse 2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Why does David say forget not all his benefits? Well, are you a forgetful person? I know myself to be a forgetful person, and those of you who've gotten to know me well know how forgetful I can be. I forget my keys more times than anything. I don't know how many of you are like that. Forget where you put your shoes. Well, if you just put them away the first time, you'd know where they were. Well, we forget, and somehow, you know, I forget to pick up socks that are laying around. You know, the sock monsters must have moved them over there. You know, we forget things all the time, and some of those things are really trivial, right? They're not that important in the grand scheme of things, but other times they are important. And according to the text, we have a proneness to forget God, don't we? And so what David is calling us to, and what he's teaching us here, is that this Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, is intent on helping us remember the One who Himself is most important. And in his great kindness, he lays before us this feast of truth. And I say feast intentionally, because as we look forward to Thanksgiving, if you're honest, most of us are looking forward to the food. At some point on Thanksgiving Day, you know the situation. You're sitting around the table, and everybody takes a turn saying what they're thankful for. And someone's going on and on. And there's a sense where you're like, OK, wonderful. All right, the turkey's getting cold, so let's get to the feast. But there's this feast of truth. And gloriously, course after course of this feast is being laid before us by the Holy Spirit, who desires us to see that God is the one to whom our thankfulness should be given, because it's Him who actually satisfies our souls. He is the one who satisfies us with the true food from Him. that we so quickly occupy the space with other things, but God doesn't desire to merely fill us to occupy the space, but the Holy Spirit fills us with a knowledge of God, who He is and what He's done, so that there's just no other response from our hearts but to be thankful and praising of God. And so we come to this Feast of God's Word, and before we do, let's pray and ask the Lord for His help. Our Father in heaven, thank you for this truth, for these words that are before us in this psalm. We ask that you would help us now to understand your word and that by your spirit we would then apply them to our lives. And we thank you for it in Jesus' name. Amen. Psalm 103 is known as a lyrical gem. It's a fitting text to help us see the magnitude of God's mercies and respond in praise and gratitude. The text also helps us fight against the schemes of the devil. See, Satan wants to devour you. Satan would like nothing more than to make you an ungrateful person. And so we come this morning to this text where David is... I don't think it's on. It's not on down here? I'm sorry. I turned it off, you guys heard me singing? Oh no. Now it's on, all right. Well, the devil is intent on keeping us away from being thankful people. He'd rather fill our hearts with anxiousness and doubt and unbelief concerning God's love. But as one author puts it, this psalm in a magnificent way pushes out the dark clouds with the beams of the Father's boundless affection for his people. In other words, it is God's love for his people that makes us thankful. so that we respond in praise to Him. And what the psalmist David reminds us of about the Lord are several things, but I've tried to summarize them underneath three headings, the first of which is that the Lord redeems. The Lord redeems, that's number one. Look at verses one and two. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. You know, David wrote a lot in the Psalter. Almost half the psalms are written by him, and sometimes we get the historical circumstance for which a psalm was written, but we don't get that here. However, with this one, David begins with a striking command, a repeated command to himself. That's kind of interesting, isn't it? That he's not commanding us necessarily, not necessarily, but the Holy Spirit is, by extension, but David, in a personal way, is commanding his own soul. The psalm begins with what word? What's the first word there? In verse one, talk to me. Bless. Bless. What is that? It just sounds like a really good word, bless, but what does that actually mean? When David is calling upon himself to bless the Lord, what is that? Well, a blessing is a kind of praising, but it's a specific kind. And this is what we need to take note of. A blessing is a benefit received. And when we bless the Lord, we are acknowledging that He is the giver of that benefit. So when we turn around and we use that same word, to bless, to benefit the benefactor, right? The one who benefits us. Or, what was that? Benefactor, benefit, okay. It is a blessing that God has given us. Okay, so when we are blessing God, God has blessed us, and so in return we are blessing the Lord. And it is a blessing to be able to be gathered here on the Lord's Day, isn't it? Right? To be able to worship the Lord, to sing songs to Him, to read His Word, to preach His Word, to hear His Word. Oh, that's a blessing! When you think of it in light of all the other possibilities, this, for example, is a special favor of God. And when we use the word for his favor, his blessing, and we turn it around and bless him, we are blessing the one who is the source of all benefits. So bless the Lord is praise the Lord. His focus is on God. Bless the Lord. That's the direction. We're kind of starting slow for a reason. The top of the outline is kind of heavy here, and then we'll move faster. Bless the Lord, the source of all the benefits. Bless the Lord, O my soul. That's the next part, right? Bless the Lord, direction. O my soul. What is he saying? What is a soul? Well, the soul is the part of us that we can't take a picture of, right? If you go to the doctor and you have an x-ray, they can take a picture of your physical heart, but they can't take a picture of your soul, the inner parts of you, and all of how they work together. This line is revelatory because in the Psalms it indicates that there is a spiritual anatomy to you just as there is a physical anatomy to you. You have a physical body, you have hands and feet and a head and all of that, right? But there is a spiritual anatomy that is deeper to you as well. Our inner being, and what composes our inner being? Think about this deeply here, it starts with our mind, right? Our mind, our mind has various capabilities. First of those is comprehension. We're working hard to get a comprehension of this psalm, and it requires the use of our mind. Then there is the faculty of reasoning within our minds, so that we can imagine with our minds, and we can remember with our minds. And what David is calling upon is our inner man. We make use of everything in it, starting with our minds. And then there is, of course, our affections. So we have our mind that composes our soul, our mind. We also have affections, or we might say feelings or emotions. And then there is a part of us that is capable of making decisions. We refer to that as what? Our volition, right? Or our will. And so the psalmist begins with this admonishment, speaking to himself, to his inner being, every part of his inner being, by saying, O my soul. And he says, all that is within me, as if soul wasn't deep enough, and all that is within me. He's calling upon every part of him. every part of him to give praise to God for all of his benefits. All that is within me. He is summoning himself to praise the Lord. That's foundational. But here are two important questions that serve as sub-points under this main point. Letter A, we need to ask this question. Why is David commanding his soul? Why is David, oop, I was already there. Why is David commanding his soul? Well, it is, if you will, as though David is grabbing himself by the lapels and pulling himself up, repeating the same phrase. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul. He's grabbing himself. I want you to notice the intensity of David's language here. He is calling upon every part of his being, and he's doing it with such intensity that every part of him cannot help but praise the Lord. David is doing often what lots of psalmists, the other psalmists do, and that is he is talking to himself. He is telling himself something. And what he's telling himself is to praise the Lord. How many of you talk to yourself? Anybody brave enough to admit you talk to yourself? I hope everybody. Maybe I'm the weird one that just talks to myself sometimes in the car or whatever it is, right? And what's weird is when someone catches you talking to yourself and then they think you're crazy and all of that. But this is not the kind of talking to yourself that we're talking about here. David is talking to himself in a way that helps him to think through what he is to do. And he is calling upon his lethargic, apathetic soul to do something. And to cross-reference that, I want to see this famously in Psalm 42. Hold your place here and go to Psalm 42. Psalm 42, this is in the form of a question and an answer, where this same kind of commanding or talking to yourself in this way is being illustrated. Psalm 42. And the psalmist asks himself, in verse 1, Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you in turmoil within me? Or why are you disquieted within me? And then he answers himself. What does he say? Hope in God. Right? Hope in God. He says, he's asking himself, why are you going through this turmoil? Hope in God. So he is talking to himself, giving himself the hope that he knows that he has in God. Hope in God. He says, hope in God for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, a famous preacher that you should acquaint yourself with if you don't know him, taking 10 years to preach on Romans and almost 10 or something to preach on Ephesians, maybe 20, I can't remember. I'm not saying that's a good model, but he is a great preacher, right? And he was a doctor at the same time, and so he used his medical side and his pastoral side to say this. In his book Spiritual Depression, he perceptively says, The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, and you have to preach to yourself and question yourself. So listen to that again, you have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, you have to preach to yourself, and you have to question yourself. So what he's talking about, what Jones is talking about, is this kind of questioning that David is doing here. He is talking to himself about what needs to happen in his life. So go back to Psalm 103, and that's exactly what you see David doing here. Bless the Lord. He's commanding himself, he's talking to himself, calling him to do this heart work that's necessary so that he might worship rightly and live rightly. And I would argue that David is full of intensity. And the reason he's full of intensity is to shake off the apathy in his heart. That's the main reason why he's talking to himself. How many of us struggle with apathy in our spiritual lives at times? How many of us struggle to have the will to open our Bible and to read it and to meditate on it? How many of us struggle to pray? How many of us struggle with all kinds of spiritual disciplines? How many of us struggle to evangelize? How many of us struggle to come to church on Sunday morning? It stuck out to me that I had heard Alistair Begg, right? If you know me, you know I like Alistair Begg. And one of the things he had said was, sometimes he has felt as though if he wasn't the preacher that morning, he wouldn't have wanted to go to church. And I think he's saying that from a heart that feels what we all feel at times, that we all have struggle with the things that we're called to do as Christians. But it's not an excuse. It is a reason why we feel the way we do, but we have to talk to ourselves. We have to take ourselves by the hand We have to preach to ourselves, we have to talk to ourselves with the truth of scripture, that my feelings can't rule, my emotions can't rule, but what is true, what is objective, that is the thing that must command my soul. So here is David moving from his worldly cares to call upon himself to bless the Lord. And he's doing this so that his worship of God would be authentic. We use the word authentic quite a bit, don't we? We want authentic things, we want authentic food, we want authentic worship. And our worship becomes authentic when we have done the hard heart work of taking ourselves by the hand and talking to ourselves. So when we don't feel very much in the mood to be praising God, we're taking ourselves by the hand and preaching the truth to ourselves and commanding, in a sense, ourselves to do what Scripture calls us to do. We are rousing our hearts to engage. We need to pour gas, if you will, on our flickering flames so that our spiritual fires are set ablaze. Set my heart, O dear Father, on Thee and Thee only. There's a song, A Passion for Thee, that I learned as a teenager, that was calling God to set a fire in my soul. We want God to rouse the fire within us, because at times, the fire that's deep within our souls, it starts to diminish, it starts to dim, it starts to go down. And you know how if you go camping or whatever and you've got a fire, you've got to continue to feed the fire, otherwise that fire will eventually die. And the fire within our souls, it's not that we lose our salvation or something, I'm not saying that, but the spiritual health of our souls is diminished when we're not feeding it with the truth of God's Word, and instead living by our feelings. And what David is doing is he's desiring to worship God in this way that's not lip service, but that is true, authentic worship. Because Jesus also has warned against worship, like the religious leaders, the Pharisees, who he said, your lips honor me, but your hearts are far away. David is wanting a heart that's all in. Do you want a heart that's all in? Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name." See, God's name is holy. What does that mean? It means it's separate, it's set apart, it is unlike any other name. We just sang that in that song, Forever Rain, did we not? Jesus, that's our song, that's our hope. May he be the one that's reigning. He's holy, he's set apart. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is full of his glory, Isaiah says. So David is calling upon his heart, making no allowance for half-heartedness, for vain and cold and distant affections. but he is rather calling upon all of his being to praise the Lord. Which brings us to the second question, letter B. What is so compelling about the Lord? Well, we just said that he's holy, but why would David summon himself to praise and bless the Lord? What is so compelling about the Lord that it's only fitting, that the only proper response is to praise or to bless him? Let's first stop and consider His name, the LORD. If you look in your Bible, if you're reading a new translation and stuff as well, you'll see that the translators indicate His name by all capital letters, right? L-O-R-D, the LORD. And what the translators are trying to indicate is that that is His covenant name. That is His special name, Yahweh, Jehovah, right? And so, they are trying to tell us that this title, Lord, is, He is the Master. God is the Master. He is the Lord. And this is the same name when God reveals Himself to Moses, this is the name that He gives to Him. Exodus chapter 3. Hold on, I'm going to ask you to hold your place and go to Exodus 3. Perhaps it's not as a familiar passage to some of you, I'm not sure. So let's go to Exodus chapter 3, please. Because in Exodus chapter 3, God reveals himself to Moses in the burning bush. That may be familiar to you, but there may be other parts of this that are not. So Moses sees the bush that is burning, he's out there tending the sheep and all of that for many years. And the bush is burning, that's not significant in and of itself, but it's burning, but the bush is not going away, and God is speaking to him. And God tells Moses, take off your sandals for you're standing on holy ground. Why is the ground holy? Well, because the God of heaven and earth has come down and presented himself to Moses. And so God calls on Moses with a plan to deliver Israel from their captivity and bondage in Egypt. Moses is grappling and wrestling with this. Exodus 3 verse 13 to 15. Then Moses said to God, if I come to the people of Israel and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you and they ask me, what is his name? What shall I say to them? God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, say this to the people of Israel. I am has sent me to you. God also said to Moses, say this to the people of Israel. The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever. And thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. I am the Lord, I am Yahweh. It is a name that's a deep mind of eternal and valuable truth. It is a name that speaks to his self-existence. I am who I am. This is a name that speaks of God's sovereignty. No one has created God. No one ever changes him. No one ever rules him. David will go on in the psalm we're looking at to express in verse 19 that he rules over all. There's no one like our God. That's the bottom line. There's no one like Him. Who has not known the mind of the Lord and who should be His counselor? And we are moved in our beings by many things, but the Lord is steadfast. This is good news, right? Because God is a steady anchor to our wandering and lost souls. We, like David, are easily thrown about by different things, but David is doing what now we need to do. Okay? We need to grab ourselves and command ourselves to do what's necessary, and that is to praise the God of the universe. The God of the universe is worthy of our praise, but what is it specifically that David is keeping in mind? He says, forget not. What is he calling upon to remember? Go back to Psalm 103 and look at verse 2. Back to Psalm 103, to our text. And verse 2, his name is one thing that he needs to remember, but also his benefits. He says, and forget not all his benefits. What is the command there? Don't forget. Don't forget. Instead, to put it positively, remember his benefits. What benefits? What benefits has the Lord given to David and given to his people that we should not forget and that gives us every reason to praise? Well, look at this in verse 3. He says, "...who forgives all your iniquity." So David is not going to be comprehensive here. It's not going to be as though he's listing every single benefit. But he begins to list some of these essential ones. Who forgives all your iniquity. Not some of my iniquity. What is iniquity? It is sin. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him, Jesus, the Messiah, the iniquity of us all. And so when it says here that He forgives all of our iniquity, all of your iniquity, it's not just part of it. It's not just a few things. It's not just a couple of mistakes. But it is that at the heart level, all the filth has been cleansed. Have you ever really just meditated on that? Like, every sin, every stain, every Blemish has been taken away. Every single one. That the guilt that you once had has been removed. That it has no more hold on you. That you finally are free. free of the guilt, free of the sin, because Jesus continues to be faithful and just, continues to be the Savior. This is a staggering truth. All of my spiritual rot in my soul, the deepest crevices of my soul, have been healed by His grace. And that's what He says there. How is this possible? Well, because of the deep love of Jesus for his people. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shouldn't perish, but have eternal life. We sing the song, how deep the Father's love for us. It is too deep to measure. The benefits continue in verse four, who redeems your life from the pit. Who redeems your life from the pit. What is that talking about? Well, redeem is a word that speaks of a great cost. He's saying that there's a price that's been paid, a rescue mission that's been accomplished, where everything that was necessary for freedom has been accomplished by God. Well, what exactly is the deliverance? Is it the pit of trouble? Well, David's been in plenty of those. Or is it something else? What is the pit? Well, in Psalm 49, verses 7 and 9, it uses similar language. We won't turn there for the sake of time. But the point in that text is a pit of destruction. It's a pit of the grave, a pit of the sting of death, and the horrors of those who await the wicked. those who've never repented and believed. That is a pit from which we can never save ourselves. You and I cannot do anything to save ourselves from that pit of destruction. David, though, doesn't explain how this happened, but simply expresses that there is a redemption from the pit, from corruption, from the curse of death. Psalm 49, verse 15, tells us that while death will shepherd the wicked, I'd note this reference and look at it later, Psalm 49, 15. While death will shepherd the wicked. Powerful imagery. While death will lead the wicked to death, but God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol. Death is leading dead people to death. But there is a ransom by God. So is death your shepherd this morning? Are you on your way to this pit? Naturally, yes you are. So I'm calling you to come out of that pit, to return from your sins, to repent of your sin and believe the gospel. Do you have this Redeemer that David is speaking of? The question is, how can David have this kind of confidence? I think David is looking toward an eternal king that was promised him in the Davidic covenant. He recognizes that there is no eternal king with redemption who's still in the grave. Psalm 16, verse 10, where we read that the Holy One, the great Davidic king to come, will not see corruption. He will not abandon his soul to Sheol. He will not see the pit. This is a glorious benefit, that those who are ransomed by God The price has been paid. We are no longer guilty. You might ask, how is it possible that David could have such redemption and forgiveness? Don't you know what kind of sin that David was involved in? Don't you know the kind of past that David had? Maybe we wouldn't ask that question because if we took a look at ourselves, we'd ask the same thing about ourselves. How is it that I could be redeemed and forgiven? I mean, the sins that I've done, that I've committed, the guilt that I've had, there's no hope for me. In me, there's no hope. Absolutely none. I love that hymn by Samuel Crossman, where he says, Who am I that for my sake my Lord should take frail flesh and die? Who am I and who are you but sinners saved by grace? But the blessings keep coming, don't they, in verse 4, second phrase, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy. And I realize that we forget, I forgot a phrase over here, who heals all my diseases. He is the one who heals all my diseases. And I think this is not physical, this is spiritual. Sin is a disease that has corrupted every part of us. And it's in that context where he's now talking about forgiveness of sin, and so I think he's talking about a spiritual disease. That God is the one who redeems us, who heals that disease. By His stripes, by His wounds, we are healed. In verse 4 here, when it says, He crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, Think about this. Think about who's writing this. David, right? King David. King David wears a crown, but I think when David says this here, he's echoing the language of Psalm 8. So you might want to put in your margin, Psalm 8, and consider that later as well. He's speaking of Adam before the fall. Remember the language of Psalm 8. You have made him a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor." So Adam, as the crown jewel of creation, created in the image of God, fell into sin and that fellowship was broken and he sunk us all in ruin. Romans chapter 5 verse 12. Yet God determined to overthrow that ruin and to crown his people, those who look to the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. God would not allow the curse that currently clings to us to dominate us, but instead would crown us with His steadfast love and mercy. He would place that on His people. And the fact is, beloved, that God has continued to give us mercy. So what should your response be to that this morning? Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord. He's done all this work within me. And there's simply no other response than to bless the Lord, oh my soul. And as if that were not enough in verse five, God is the one who it says satisfies you with good. God satisfies his people with all the good that we receive. For what purpose? Look at the text. So that your youth may be renewed like the eagles. What does that mean? It means that God's abundant benefits give us strength and vigor. I don't know, I'm getting kind of old. I don't feel the strength and vigor that I used to. We may grow older on the outside, but this speaks to our inner man that is continuing to be renewed day by day. God's grace and God's mercy is the one that brings about this kind of strength. So that even when you're physically weak, you still may be spiritually strong. How are these benefits possible? How are these benefits possible? One reason, and one reason alone. And take this to the bank, take this home with you. The Lord loves you. The Lord loves His people. And it's an astounding love, it's a deep love. And this love is so wonderful and so glorious to David that it causes him to explode with praise. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Question for you. Is this the state of your heart this morning? Are you in the same place that David is right there, where you're pulling yourself up by the lapels, if you will, calling yourself to praise God because these benefits are good, or have you just grown cold to God's benefits? Are the benefits of redemption and forgiveness just not enough to sustain you today? Well, if you have grown cold, they're still there for you. It's come to them. He's given them to you. How deep is the Father's love for us? Bless the Lord. What does this all have to do with gratitude? It has everything to do with gratitude. The reason we don't often praise God is that we're just not thankful to God. Because thankful people are people who praise God. People who are thankful to God for His benefits respond in praise to Him. It ought to be our focus. I have two more main points, and I'm not sure we'll get to all of this. But let's work as far as we can. Number two this morning, the Lord is right. Not only does David remind us that the Lord redeems, but number two, the Lord is always right. And he has a history of doing right, and he demonstrates that history here to us. And what the Lord through David is calling us to is to exercise our memory of God's past dealings. Verse 6 begins a transition in the psalm where David is still pondering about the many benefits or blessings of the Lord, but he starts thinking about a particular time. If you look at verse 6, he says, "...the Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed." In other words, God has a pattern of putting things right for those who are oppressed. And what better account of oppression than that of the exodus itself? We were already there earlier, so I'll just call to mind. Exodus chapter 3 verse 9, we read there that the Lord saw the oppression with which the Egyptians oppressed His people. He heard their cry and remembered His covenant. The covenant that God made with His people, He remembered that. He was true to it, He was faithful to His covenant to be their God and they would be His people. Well David is looking back, verse 7, he made known his ways to Moses his acts to the people of Israel. So the Lord is not obligated to reveal anything to Moses or the oppressed people. But God graciously and patiently reveals more to Moses than even he wanted to know. And over and over the Lord displayed his just and righteous acts to his people. Think about the wilderness wanderings, how God fed them, manna in the wilderness. How God provided all of their needs. And what did they do in response to that? They grumbled. Exodus 14. They grumbled. Constantly. Do we have hearts that are full of grumbling? Do we have hearts that are full of complaining? Do we have hearts that are just full of selfish desires that are so consumed with ourselves that we lose sight of the reality of God. Yes, every single one of us, either from time to time or a lot more than we'd like to admit, struggle with these issues. And yet God continues to be faithful to His people, both in the Old Testament and now. God had brought them out, provided for them, take them across the Red Sea. Those who had sung praises to God on the one hand, because of His letting them cross the Red Sea, are the same people who complained to Him. We know that, don't we? One second we're praising God, and the next second we're complaining. We're worshiping God, singing songs in here, but then, this is stupid, but we go to lunch somewhere, and they're out of the thing that we want, and we complain about it. What is wrong with us? so much, and yet we're the very ones who God has set His steadfast love on. It never changes. Should this not be the motivator then to return to the Lord in gratitude? To confess our ingratitude and turn from it? Certainly. Bless the Lord. In verse 8, we read these words, another allusion to Exodus, when Moses and the Lord, when you remember Exodus 33 and 34, Moses asked to see the Lord, you can't see my face and live, but the Lord passed before Moses and chose him of his character, and these words are reminiscent of that. Look at verses 8 to 10. I'm trying to work faster for the sake of time, but look at these verses. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. David knows that one way to fight in gratitude and forgetfulness in your heart is to quote scripture to yourself. Let's go back to talking to yourself. David's also the one who in Psalm 119 verse 11 says that your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. What if we replaced our complaining and our ingratitude with scripture? What if we replaced our negative thoughts with that that helps us think about God? Scripture is imperative. We must meditate on Scripture. We must memorize Scripture. We must read the Scripture. So many times, the issues that we face, if we would simply rehearse the truths of the Scripture, it would help us respond differently in arguments in our marriages. It would help us respond differently to our children. It would help us respond in resolving conflict with others in the church or outside the church. It would help us work at work with difficult people. If we would call to mind the Scriptures. If we would remember what He has said. And that's more or less an aside, but Ephesians 4 verse 29 says that we are to speak the truth in love. The Bible tells us four times, according to my memory, four times, that we are to encourage each other, or sayings similar to that. Wouldn't that be more helpful if we're counseling or talking to someone that's struggling? Wouldn't scripture be more helpful than saying things like, well, it'll all work out in the end? Or, you know, when God closes one door, he opens another. Thanks. What if we just use the Word of God, not as a weapon, but as a source of encouragement to help fight the ingratitude in our hearts and in the hearts of those that we're called to minister to? We ought to use the Word. Why? Because the Scripture gives us hope. Look at the text. It says that God is merciful. He is merciful. He gives to us what we don't deserve, and He doesn't give what we do deserve. It says that He will not always chide. What does that mean? Well, it means that while God is angry with sin, He graciously forgives those who confess it, acknowledge it, and forsake it. Right? He who confesses and forsakes his sin will have what? Mercy. So, we've got to confess our sin, and then we need to turn from it. That's how we receive mercy. And God is gracious to deal with us in mercy, and not how we deserve. What do you deserve for your sin? Separation from God? Destruction? Hell? Eternal hopelessness? But God is long-suffering and patient, and the question that we should be asking is, how is it that the Lord can deal with us not how we deserve and still be just? How does that work? Because in Exodus 34, God says to Moses that the guilty will not go unpunished. Well, that stinks because I'm guilty. So, am I going to get punished then? Well, David doesn't explain it here, but the Old Testament sacrificial system is how sin and guilt were taken away. But they're pointing forward to a great substitute, a great sacrifice for sin that not only satisfies God's justice, but is a demonstration of grace. What am I talking about? I'm talking about the Lord Jesus Christ! He came, he lived, he died, he rose again. He's the great mediator. He's the great intercessor. He's the savior. He's the sacrifice and the substitute to bring us to God. And that is how God does not deal with us how our sins deserve, but is gracious to us. He is long-suffering. to us, his love is unchanging toward us. Verse 11, for as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. What does it mean to live in the fear of the Lord? It means to live in the constant awareness of the presence of God, who he is and what he's done, his character and his work. So is that us? Well, positionally, yes. But we are to continue to fear the Lord. That is to be the pattern of our lives. Knowledge of God should shape our hearts in such a way that we actually grow in spiritual maturity. Ungrateful people are spiritually immature. Ungrateful people have traces of immaturity. So we're all immature. And we need to continue to mature. And the way we mature is not by trying harder again to be thankful, but it is by yielding and walking with the Spirit who helps us to see who God is and makes us thankful people. But our sins are gone. He shows compassion to us. Look at the text, as a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. David is picturing a father and a son, and a good father is motivated to care for his child by compassion, welling up from within his heart that he deals with the sin. Verse 14, for he knows our frame. Speaking of the Lord, for he knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust. God is the one that formed us. He knows our weakness and our feebleness. He knows that our strength is failing. He knows when you're an emotional wreck. He knows when the trials and difficulties of your life seem all-consuming. He knows when you're experiencing loss. He knows all of that. He remembers that we are dust, and He pities us. He remembers our frame. David describes man's weakness in verses 15 and 16. As for man, His days are like grass. He flourishes like a flower of the field, for the wind passes over it and it is gone, and its place knows it no more." Moses expressed the same thing in Psalm 90 when he talked about that if a man can live 70 years or if even by reason of strength 80 years, but he's passing away, he speaks to the brevity of life, and he speaks to the Lord, O Lord, you've been our dwelling place in all generations, Psalm 90 verse 1. This speaks of James, who will tell us that our life is like a vapor who appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Life is fleeting, man is weak. The Christian life is a growing in understanding how weak you are, and how much you need God. Spiritual people are those who know they are weak. Religious people that are not truly godly people are those who think they have it all put together. While our lives are fleeting, I want you to understand that the Lord is faithful, and this is why he's always right. Verses 17 and 18. In contrast to us, that's the word but. But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who what? What's the two words there? Fear Him. Those words again, I'm calling you to talk out loud because this is what you have to do to yourself. Are you one who fears God? I hope so. Fear Him. Steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him. Are you one who says, I want to fear God more? You're on the right track. Lord, help me to reverence you, to honor you as you deserve. It says, and his righteousness to children's children and those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. There's a responsibility there. His love remains on those who have been placed in his family and those who continue to walk in him. If you're here this morning and you're not a Christian, the knowledge of God, it can be frightening. You can't hide from him and he will bring you to an end. What is he saying to you as a believer? That the knowledge of God is a supreme comfort, and therefore worthy of a heart that's full of gratitude and praise to God. This is amazing, that the Lord knows the depth of my struggles, knows the depth of my pain, knows all of that, and loves me still. Here is love vast as the ocean, loving kindness like a flood. The prince of life, our ransom, shed for us his precious blood. That's love. Not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the perpetuation for our sins. That's love. And he continues to love his people. And David is reminding himself and the Holy Spirit reminding us that the Lord redeems, that the Lord's right. Third, the Lord reigns, verse 19. The Lord has established His throne in the heavens and His kingdom rules over all. God's throne is an everlasting one. Psalm 2, why do the people rage and the people plot in vain? There's a lot of people who plot in vain, folks. According to Psalm 2, kiss the son lest he be angry with you. He's the one who rules and reigns. He is the Lord of the universe. And so what ought a response to be to this king who redeems, who rules, who reigns? Number four, let's consider the necessary response. Verse 20, bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word. The angels, bless the Lord, because they are his angels, endowed with might from him, called to obedience of his word, bless the Lord. David continues, verse 21, bless the Lord all his hosts, all his ministers who do his will. This could refer also to angels, but to a particular group of his servants. But then even inanimate creation are called to bless the Lord. In verse 22, bless the Lord all his works and all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul. All created things bless the Lord. The heavens, Psalm 19 verse 1, the heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. It's all the Lord's and all of it will praise Him. The trees of the field will do what? They will clap their hands. They will praise The Lord. We sung it as our first hymn this morning. All creatures of our God and King, lift up your voice and with us sing. Alleluia. Oh, praise Him. Oh, praise Him. Alleluia. Alleluia. How do we evidence that we are thankful people? A couple of things. Number one, we praise Him. Seems obvious from the text. We are to bless the Lord. We are to praise Him. We are to be those who worship Him. We are to praise Him with all of our being. So are you praising God with all of your being this morning? Or is there a bit of hypocrisy that you need to turn away from? Were you walking here this morning ready to sing, ready to worship, but in your heart it was actually far away from the Lord and you had no intention of turning it away? Worshiping God with a pure heart is what the text is calling us to. Praise the Lord. Number two, we're to fear Him. Number two, we are to... Did I mess it up? I don't know, just don't listen to that. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm off script at this point. We are to fear Him. Or to believe Him, too. And I called you earlier in the message to repent of your sins and believe on Him. He's worthy of you following Him with your life. He's worthy of you turning from your sin and trusting in His finished work on the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ. But for all those who do believe Him, we as Christians are to fear Him. We are to love Him. We are to praise Him. These seem simple. How do we do these things? It starts with quiet meditation on Him. It starts at home. It starts in the heart. using the means of grace that God has provided. How many of us neglect those simple realities of simple prayer, simple Bible reading and meditation? Read your Bible. I don't know the Bible as well as so-and-so. So what? Read your Bible and may the Lord help you to grow in your understanding of it. A way to love Him. I've asked this before, if I was to ask each of you, any of you, do you love the Lord? Likely, you'd say yes. Yes, I do love the Lord. How is that evidenced in your life? Where is the fruit of your love for Him? Well, it's there, but it's not as much fruit as I'd like. Pray. Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call ye upon Him while He is near. Draw close to Him. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. God is a God of grace and mercy and He restores those who need His help, who recognize that. We are to submit to Him. We are to obey Him. We are to honor Him. We are to live our lives in the fear of the Lord. Again, what does this all have to do with gratitude? It has everything to do with gratitude because it gives us direction. We're supposed to praise God. Obvious. Okay, how do we do that? This psalm is a good template for that. Every part of our being, for all of our lives, is to praise the Lord. Thankful people are those who have lives, hearts, words, actions, that are focused on the Lord. Those who are often ungrateful people are those who, A, don't know the Lord, or B, are Christians that have simply stopped walking with the Lord as closely as they ought to walk. So let us walk, as the Old King James says, let us walk circumspectly. Let us walk closely with the Lord. As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in. And if that's still not making sense and you need help with that, come talk with me. I'd love to talk with you about that and try to help point you in the direction of some things that might help you. Let's pray. Ask the Lord for his help with this. Lord, we know our own hearts so often to be ungrateful. We know so often our hearts to be focused on every other thing but on you. And so we ask that you would incline our hearts to you, that you would Create within us a clean heart and renew a clean spirit within us. Help us to know you and love you and submit to your ways. Help us to remember. We're so prone to forget, and we need your help to remember. Help us not to forget your benefits. You've forgiven us, you've healed us, you've known us. This is a knowledge that is so wonderful. Help us to grasp it. Lord, I pray for those that don't know you this morning. Would you please, by your grace, save those that are lost and those who do know you. Would you encourage us, rebuke us where it's necessary, but encourage us and help us to walk closer with you for the sake of your own glory and name and also for our joy in the gospel. We thank you for this, and we pray all of it in Jesus' name. Amen.