to cleanse us from all our sin. Come now, let us reason together. Saith the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. What can wash away my sin? What can make me whole again? For my pardon this I see, For my cleansing this my plea. O precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow. There's no other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Nothing can for sin atone, not of good that I have done. This is all my hope and peace. This is all my righteousness, all precious is the flow. that makes me white as snow. There's no other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow That makes me white as snow There's no other fount I know Nothing but the blood, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Amen, all right, we'll just dismiss the little ones to go to their class and praise God for the blood. Thank you, Jesus, for shedding your blood on the cross for our sins. Psalm 103 is where we're at. Psalm 103. And I don't know about you, and today's not a really good day to speak about this, but I've been encouraged recently by the daylight hours. It's cloudy today, but praise God, the sun is shining there on the other side of the clouds. It's light now past 5 p.m. You know, you get out, and it's a little bit later. You still have those daylight hours, and that's great. And what has really encouraged me is the fact that the sun is actually getting higher in the sky. You notice in the wintertime, it just barely kind of gets up. It goes over. It's nice to see the higher sunshine and the shorter shadows, as it were. And when that sunlight brings heat, we'll get really excited. If that happens, right? It's kind of that elusive thing here in Scotland sometimes, but that gets even better. Psalm 103, our text this morning, is, I hope, refreshing to us today in similar ways to the fact of the sunshine that we get. There's a lot of light in this psalm. You might have noticed as we read it. It's a very, very encouraging psalm. God is lifted up on high, all right? He is up on high and our souls are refreshed. And there's a warming of our souls. As the sun of God's righteousness shines on us, as it were, that refreshes us as nothing else can do. And when you look at Psalm 103, you see David walking in that spiritual sunshine, that soul refreshment, and he's focused on two things. And they're in the first two verses. here of our text. And that is the Lord's person and the Lord's work. Those are the two headings, as it were, of what he's gonna reflect on in this psalm. And so he encouraged his soul to bless God for who he is. Look at verse one. Psalm of David, bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Okay, we don't use this kind of terminology, I don't think, it's not a very familiar way that I use this term. Bless the Lord, bless is an act of adoration, it's to praise, it's to salute, it's to thank. There's a new housing scheme that is actually been in the works for the last five years. They're at the top of the bray in Ockendenny across from our house. And it's been happening this past week. And if you can't beat them, join them. I mean, we love the farm fields and everything there and the tradition and the history of that community. It's gonna drastically change all that, but you might as well get excited about it because there's nothing you can do about it. I've been blessing that work this past week as I have looked at it. I've been speaking about the praise of the powerful machinery. It's amazing. If you saw it, and Tommy, did you see part of it? I think you did. And so, but it's amazing. They've only worked out there like four or five days, but they have taken out 40 year old trees all around this huge cut of land. I would guess they've taken out probably 700, 800 trees. And if I said to you, how many people do you think it would take to do that? It's two, right? Incredible machinery and two people. And I've been praising, blessing that machinery. It's incredibly powerful. Watch it come in there, clamp on the base of a tree, take it up, and then come back later, get the roots out. Just amazing. You know, it's kind of cool to have an unrestricted view. Right now, until they put the houses in, you can see further. I've been praising that and blessing that. We've got an exciting place to live when this work takes place. If you like construction at all, and again, if you can't beat them, join them. You get to watch and see everything as it comes down and takes place. You know, David, as we look at this, David is sitting down to gaze with amazement at God. He's not a casual observer as he is watching this. His heart and his soul is being stirred. He says to himself, my soul, all that is within me. Bless the Lord, bless his holy name. You know what would be good for us today? And I wanna encourage us to do that. Let's ask ourselves, come on, let's get there and let's say, my soul and all that is within me. Let's get this idea of praising God. And so he praises God for who he is. Yes, but then secondly, he encourages soul to bless God for what he has done. It says in verse two, bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits. And it's very sad today to think that we could be ungrateful, that we could take for granted the things that we have, or we could even complain when we should rather praise God for what is going on. We can complain about the weather being cold or cloudy or windy, but then, you know, like Jonah, when God withered his gourd, the hot days come, if they come, you know, we get into those hot days and we're complaining about the heat. And rather we ought to be thanking God for the weather that he's given. We complain about little aches and pains, you know? But then there could be a real health trial or something very significant that takes place. It kind of puts that, what was before, in perspective. We can complain about poverty. There's a lot of that. People complaining about what they have or don't have, but in 2015, Britain was listed as the fifth richest country in the world. We have more than most people in the world have. We'd be considered rich in most places in the world and the amounts that most people have in our communities. I'm not saying there's not some that have less and maybe less than they need, but a majority of people could look at that and say, thank God for what God has given to me. And so we ought rather to reflect on God's goodness. and to praise him. Johnson Oatman Jr. wrote the hymn, and this is a familiar hymn I think probably to you, Count Your Many Blessings. And it says, when upon life's billows your tempest tossed, when you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, count your many blessings, name them one by one. and it will surprise you what the Lord has done. I think it is surprising, isn't it? When we stop and actually examine it and say, you know, what is God doing? What has God done? There's a lot that we can look at and say, well, praise God. Thank God for that. Are you ever burdened with the load of care? Does the cross seem heavy? You are called to bear. Count your many blessings. Every doubt will fly and you will keep singing as the days go by. When you look at others with their lands in gold, think that Christ has promised you his wealth untold. Count your many blessings. Money cannot buy your reward in heaven, nor your home on high. We understand today, money is not it. Praise God, I got a mansion just over the hilltop, as the song says. In my father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you. We are excited about that. This world is not our home. And it goes on to say, so amid the conflict, whether great or small, do not be discouraged. God is over all. Count your many blessings. Angels will attend. Help and comfort give you to your journeys end. And so it's good for us to stop and think, you know, what should I thank God for today? How can I praise God today? Spiritually, again, this exercise of David's in Psalm 103 will help us to walk in the sunlight. A lot of times we could get, I mean, it's the winter time, it's dark outside and it's kind of a tough time. There's things going on. We understand the many pressures that are on us in this day in which we live, but praise God. We can focus our minds on the right thing and let the sun shine in our soul when we remember who God is and what he has done. And so let me ask you today, do you find yourself regularly blessing God, regularly praising God, regularly giving thanks to God for who he is and what he's done? If we'll do that, we'll be walking in the sunshine, soul sunshine that we find David here in our text. All right, let's pray. Ask the spirit of God to help us as we come to the word of God. Father, we thank you for Psalm 103. It's a lengthy psalm, and we're going to just highlight truth as we go through it. But Father, I pray that as we do this exercise that David was doing, that Father, we might have a bit of darkness in our soul, a little bit of discouragement, a little bit of battle that we're facing. But Father, I trust that as we focus our minds where they ought to be focused, that we'll all be able to walk in the sunshine and praise you for who you are and what you've done. And Father, we thank you for the kids and their class this morning. We pray, Spirit of God, that you bless that class, that it would be effective and good in ministering the word of God to their hearts and opening up the door of grace, your grace to them, and that they'd be encouraged. And Father, for us in this time, as we reflect upon this text, I pray, Father, that the Spirit of God would give us ears to hear. Father, help us to be in tune with your Word. And Father, I can't preach without your enablement. I pray that the Spirit of God would guide me as I speak forth the truth of the Word of God this morning. Father, I pray for liberty to express your truth. I pray, Father, for tender heart, love for each one of us, and Father, that you'd graciously administer the truth of your word like a balm to our hearts, like a healer to our hearts, like a strength giver to our hearts, even some of the things that we're gonna consider today. And so, God, would you be pleased to glorify your name in this time and that it would be exactly as you intend it to be. It's in Christ's name I pray, amen. All right, and so Psalm 103, the sun shines in your soul when you remember who God is and what he has done. All right, so we're gonna start out in kind of reverse order. David introduces it in the order I just gave it, but then he turns and he starts out with bless the Lord for what he has done, okay, what he does. And so if you are blessing God today, you might be in the minority. There's not a lot of people today that I think walk outside their door and begin to praise God or begin to thank God for what they see God doing in their life. Jesus, in Luke 17, verse 11, did a wonderful miracle in some men's life. The Bible says, it came to pass as he went to Jerusalem that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him 10 men that were lepers, which stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass that as they went, they were cleansed. That's amazing. I mean, leprosy had set them apart where they could not fellowship with anybody. They were unclean. They were dying of this disease that had radically hindered them. But as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back. And with a loud voice, he glorified God. He blessed God. And he fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, were there not 10 cleansed, but where are the nine? There are not found that return to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, arise, go thy way. Thy faith had made thee whole. All 10 should have been back there saying to Jesus, thank God for your goodness. Thank God for the healing that we have received. But only one guy out of the 10 turned around and actually blessed God for what God had done. Let's be like that Samaritan, right? Let's be like that guy that'll look at it and say, I want to praise God for what he's done. So what does God do this morning? Well, God forgives us. He forgives us. It says in verse three. who forgiveth all thine iniquities. Okay, the word iniquities means perversities, false and evil. It is sin, it is breaking God's law. Forgiveth there, it means to pardon or to spare. We have sinned against God and God in his mercy, he forgives us. As a teenager on a very cold night after church, I walked on the squeaky snow. The snow squeaks in the United States, it gets so cold that you step on it, it actually makes a little squeaky noise. And I went to get my car out of the garage. I just had my license maybe a few months and some friends of mine and I were going to somebody's house after church and we're gonna have a little bit of a youth activity there. And so the guys get in the car with me, we're in the garage and I'm reversing it out and I'm hearing the squeaky snow. as I'm backing out. And then I looked over and I saw that a friend of ours had parked his car in the driveway and the bumper on my car had put a scratch, as I found out, all along the length of his vehicle. I felt horrible. I went to the youth activity. I was miserable. I get back home. I was miserable. They were at our house having a good time inside. It was dark outside. They couldn't see the scratch that I put on their new vehicle, by the way, that they had just gotten. And I had sinned against Jim. And Jim's a good friend, by the way. He's my brother's father-in-law now, but he wasn't back then. And very close friends of the family. And I called my dad out in the garage and told him, and then we had to call Jim out. You know, I'm so thankful that Jim forgave me. I had sinned against Jim, I had hurt his vehicle, and it was a precious thing for him to give me his forgiveness. You know, Psalm 51 verse 14, Now that's David. David had sinned greatly against Uriah the Hittite. He had sinned greatly with Bathsheba, Uriah's wife. And yet David, as David dealt with that sin, David said, against thee and thee only have I sinned. Why? Because our sin is primarily against God. It is breaking God's law. Remember when Joseph didn't want to sin with Potiphar's wife and she was tempting him to sin? He said in Genesis 39, nine, there's none greater in this house than I. Neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee because thou art his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? And our sin is a transgression of God's law and we have broken that and it's punishable. The Bible says by death, we know this from Genesis even. Genesis chapter two, God said to Eve, if you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. We know in Romans 6, 23, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord, because why? God is a forgiving God. If there was no forgiveness today, sin is death and hell. And so praise God today for his forgiveness. 2 Corinthians 5 21 says, for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. For that forgiveness to take place, Jesus Christ had to go to the cross. He had to be crucified. And I was thinking about this this week. It's not enough for an unsaved person to say to God, God, I'm really sorry of my sin. Will you please forgive me of my sin? Because God cannot forgive that person any more than a judge could forgive somebody that stands before the judge. And they say to the judge, judge, I'm really sorry for my transgression. Will you forgive me? And the judge says, I understand what you're saying. but you have to be punished because you have transgressed. And so for a sinner just to say to God, God forgive me, I get it, it's wrong, I shouldn't have done that, God forgive me, that is not enough unless they trust in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. They have to put their faith in what Christ did on the cross. Why? Because when Jesus Christ died, he paid the price for our sin. And because of that, God can pardon us. 1 John 1.9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. All right, we ought to go to God every day and say, God, I'm so thankful that you're forgiving God. I'm thankful for that work of forgiveness that you do in my life. I bless you for that. Secondly, he heals us. It says, who healeth all thy diseases. Okay, God has power over everything when it comes to physical health or sickness. Jesus showed that in his earthly ministry. He was the great physician that would heal the blind, the lame, the paralytics, the lepers, the deaf, the dumb, dead were raised to life again. And so he has the power to heal every disease. But let me ask you a question. Does he heal every disease? And the truth is that God has the power, but there's times where God in his providence doesn't see fit to heal somebody. Even the Apostle Paul, the great man of God, human author of the majority of the New Testament, as he cried out to God three times, Lord, remove this thorn in my flesh, perhaps something that he incurred in his life because of seeing Jesus Christ and that blinding and everything that took place. And yet, as he besought the Lord about that, the Lord just said, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness." And then Paul said, most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. He wasn't healed. I mean, God had the power to heal him, but God said, no, that's gonna remain in your life. Remember Paul recommended medicine for Timothy, his preacher boy. And I'm sure he prayed as well for God to heal Timothy of his ailments, but he recommended medicine. And 1 Timothy 5.23, as he said, drink no longer water, but use a little wine, a little grape juice for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities. Epaphroditus, another man of God that went to Paul, and he was there, and Paul had some concern that he was gonna die, but God, in his mercy, raised him up. Philippians 2.27, for indeed he was sick, nigh unto death, very close to death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. And as he says that, what's he acknowledging? He's saying Epaphroditus could have died. God didn't have to heal him, but God did. And so there's gonna be times where maybe God heals, God doesn't heal, but God has the power to heal. And let me say this, ultimate healing is death for a believer. We just had a dear friend pass away. We've been praying for this past year, asking God to raise her up, Terry Gleason. But you know, I praise God, and I'm sure John, her husband, praises God. She's not in pain anymore. She's been completely healed, ultimately healed by the power of God. Revelation 21 verse four, it says, And so God may ultimately heal. He's got the power to heal. He may ultimately heal in glory. But let me say this about healing. Does a believer have comfort that an unbeliever does not have at times of physical ailment? And the answer is yes. Because there's confidence that God has this, God is watching over me, God has the power to heal me. And if not, ultimately God will heal me. Psalm 91 verse three says, Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flyeth by day, nor for the pestilence, the sickness that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. You've probably heard the term panacdemic being coined in this day, and it's true. There's a lot of anxiety about that, a lot of publicizing again and again and emphasizing to this world this illness. And I'm not saying we shouldn't be cautious and that we shouldn't take careful precautions. And yet, as a believer, we can look at that and say, even if I get COVID, God's got it. God's got it. and rejoice as we have as a church. And there's many times that we can rejoice like this and say, praise God for the healing. Praise God, God brought us through that. There's people I'm praying for right now that have COVID and I can rejoice that. You know, God is the healer, he heals us. And then thirdly, he protects us. Verse four, it says, You know, God especially watches over his own. He especially takes caution and protection over his children. My wife, back when we were dating, so she wasn't my wife yet, we were engaged, and she was gonna go on a mission trip to New York City. Well, that was kind of scary for me, to see her go on that trip, and I was kind of a little anxious about it, and I started claiming a verse. And the verse is Psalm 34, verse seven. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. I couldn't watch over her on that trip, but I knew somebody who could. God was gonna be there watching over her, and I prayed for her, and I asked God, the God that delivers and protects, to watch over her in all of that. You know, there's many times that in life, you're gonna look at your life and go, wow, God kept me safe. Katie and I, when we were in Michigan, I was an assistant pastor and church got out and we're leaving, we get on a highway there by the church and I got on that highway, I just turned onto it, I got up to speed 55 miles an hour and I had a car pull out in front of me into my lane. All I could do, I didn't have time to hit the brakes. I mean, it was that close. I was right there. They pulled out in front of me. All I could do was accelerate on the verge, pass them on the shoulder of the road with two tires off the road, two tires on the gravel on the side of the road, and go around them. And my wife was kind of like this, but I said to her, my heart rate didn't even pick up. And I just know it was God. God kept us safe. There's been times I've been pulling a 35 foot travel trailer in the States that weighed about 12,000, 13,000 pounds. I had a big sport utility vehicle and all our family in there traveling at 75 miles an hour and traffic stops. And I hit the brakes as hard as I can without squealing the tires. And you feel the back of the trailer kind of go like that. And if it gets loose, it's really bad, but just enough time to stop. I've had a tire blow on that same trailer in Indianapolis, major roads all around us. And yet again, God kept us safe. It was a great time as a believer just to bow your head and say, God, thank you. Thanks for that. To be mindful that God is watching over us, that God is the one that is protecting us. You know, God doesn't just give us what we need, so often he gives us what we want. because he's so loving in the way that he cares for us. My freshman year at Bob Jones, I had a roommate that was very much in love. He was a senior, he was engaged, and at night, they would run between the dorms and deliver some presents and things, you know, or cards and whatnot, and every night, there he was with his little mirrors and his little pipe cleaners, colored pipe cleaners, just making a work of art for his loved one. You know, you look at that and you go, that's kind of goofy. But on the other hand, what is it? He's in love. So what's he trying to do? He's trying to show affection. I'm sure they laughed about it too. But it was a show of affection. Valentine's Day is tomorrow. I anticipate that there's gonna be some people that are showing affection, and rightly so. We look at that and say, why? Because they love that person. They demonstrate. You know, my parents gave me, or my grandparents gave me a verse to put on the wall. It's wall art. It's Psalm 37, verse four. It says, You know, God, again, if a human being knows to show affection and to do something for that person that they love, doesn't our God today know that he can let us know that he loves us? in ways that maybe only he and us understand what that means. I love the outdoors and that was just part of, again, my upbringing. I love deer and my dad and I would get in the car and often go out and just drive around looking for deer. That was something that we did. And so I've always loved seeing deer. And when we moved over here, you know, and there'd be different times I'd be out walking and praying and have my prayer time and a deer would show up, roe deer down here in the Southern part of Scotland. And every time I'd see that, I just say to God, God, thank you. Thank you. You know, I love that. I love that. And I don't, you know, and I'm not saying God was necessarily popping deer up, you know, all the time, but there are some very specific times I look at it and I say, yeah, God did that. God did that just to encourage me, because he knows that I enjoy that. Song of Solomon, chapter two, verse four. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Romans 8, 32. He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Do you find yourself often saying, God, you know I love that. Thank you. It didn't have to be that way. But God, you did that. And again, we might have to pray with David sometimes. God, show me a token for good that they, you know, that my enemies will see it and they'll understand that you love me, that you're caring for me. But if we start looking around, we'll start saying, you know what? God, you knew I enjoyed that. Thank you. Who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies. He blesses us. And then he renews us. He renews us. Verse five, it says, who satisfies thy mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. God puts that thing that we like to eat in our mouth that delights us and it restores us, it strengthens us from the inside out. Isaiah 40 verse 29 says, he giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might he increases strength. Even the youth shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. In both these texts, notice it's like the eagle, renewed like the eagle, mount up with wings as an eagle. And I don't know if you've seen eagles before. The bald eagle has made a pretty big comeback in the United States. And where I live, the eagles would migrate through that area. There'd be some open water in the frozen river and I've seen eagles sitting on that ice that's there and just eating a fish or something like that. I've seen them in a, I don't know what to call it, it's not a flock, but a group of them up in the air flying around. I've seen them grab talons and tumble together and then break apart. It's just an incredibly powerful bird. You watch it effortlessly go skyward. I mean, just the power that it possesses. And God said, God's word tells us that God does that for us from the inside out. See, I love the fact in the word of God that God has the ability, not just to work on the outside, but God has the ability to get in where we can't do anything about it. We might feel cast down, wired to cast down on my soul, as David was saying, and we're burdened and it's heavy, but God has the ability to go inside there. and to strengthen us even as an eagle. You might feel like, I can't do this. There's times in life that are like that. We look at it, I just, I can't do this anymore. I probably have shared before, but when we were on deputation, I said, God called me to Scotland, but God didn't call me to deputation. Deputation was a big, Step of faith, you got to call the pastors and try to get meetings. And you talk to a lot of secretaries, talk to a lot of answer machines. People that you don't know, you're trying to get a hold of and try to schedule a meeting to come in and share your heart and how God's directed you. And it could be disheartening. And I got to a point where I said to God, God, I can't do it anymore. I just can't. And God in his mercy, the next day just somehow changed my heart. I can't explain it. I wanted to do it. I enjoyed doing it. But God got in there somehow and God is able to do that in our life. We might look at it and think, I can't do this, I can't. But God is the one that works from the inside out so that that youth is renewed like the eagles. And so he renews us, he defends us, he defends us. It says in verse six, the Lord executed righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. Everybody that is the little guy is somebody that God is the one that is watching over them. Deuteronomy 10 verse 17 says, God's an unbiased God. He's not somebody that can be bribed. He is a God that is absolutely fair, and he's aware of the disadvantage that somebody might find themselves in and think, you know, this isn't fair, this life circumstance that is taking place. But God is the one that watches over that. Verse 18, Deuteronomy 10, he doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow. and loveth the stranger, and giving him food and raiment. Proverbs has a warning in chapter 23, verse 10, it says, don't remove the landmarks that are in the fields of the fatherless, for their redeemer is mighty, and he shall plead their cause with thee. It's just saying that God is on the side of the weak and God is over that. And we might feel like injustice or difficulty, it's greater than I am. And I am oppressed by this and yet God is a God that's able to get in and work even there. There was a situation back in 1986, 1987, where my dad was pastoring a church in California. And the neighbors decided to kind of band against the church and demand that the church do a lot of investments into the property, to change the property. And the leader of those people was a man by the name of Mr. Flipovich. And Mr. Flipovich, I still remember his name, I was only 10 or 11, but it stuck with me. When a playground ball would come over that fence into his garden, he would take that ball, he would take a knife, Rip that ball and pitch it back over the fence. And as it came down to the town council meeting, we're all gonna, the students are gonna be there. They're telling us, be on your best behavior as we go in. And sure enough, we come in and there's a lot of us from that Christian school that are sitting there as this town council meeting is taking place. Very big city across from San Francisco. And we're kind of watching everything take place. And I don't remember everything about that meeting, but one thing I remember is Mr. Flipovich standing up and he said this. He goes, I don't think they need all these things that we've said they need. I think if they'll do these little things, and they were very small, that that would be good enough. And we looked at that and thought, what in the world? It's an amazing thing that this man that had been so opposed to us, somehow his heart changed. Why? Because God worked for those that were oppressed. And it may not be always like that where we see it right now, but we can have confidence today if we're oppressed and feel like somebody is greater than us or something is greater than us, it's okay. It's okay because God watches over us. And again, bless him for that. He defends us. And then he enlightens us. It says in verse seven, You know, we can't know God today unless God reveals himself to us. It's an amazing thing to think that God has opened up our lives to know about God, especially those that are in this room. Especially those that have come to faith in Jesus Christ and received Jesus Christ as their Savior. God somehow brought his truth to us. He made known His ways. He gave His revelation. He showed His acts. In my life, I grew up in a Baptist minister's home. Why was that my privilege? To have the opportunity to hear the gospel from a very young age and to be taught the truth of the Word of God. But everybody in here would have a story that would be similar to say, why did God show me His truth? And so again, as we think about things to praise God for, we ought to stop and say, you know, praise God. Bless His holy name for revealing to us who He is. And so David's been focusing on, bless the Lord for what He has done. He forgives us, He heals us, He protects us, He blesses us, He renews us, He defends us, He enlightens us. Okay, so that's what he's done. Now secondly, and we're gonna hit the fast forward button a little bit here, bless the Lord for who he is. The strength of what God has done is dependent upon who he is. And so who is the Lord this morning? Well, the Lord is merciful. He's merciful. He's long-suffering. Verse eight, it says, the Lord is merciful and gracious. slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. You know, if it wasn't for that, what would have happened when Adam and Eve sinned? God would have just said, hey, that's it. You and I, if something that we're working on a project or something, it doesn't turn out just right, we might just say, well, forget that, I'm just gonna start over. We just set it aside, but praise God, God is not like the men that would blaspheme God and mock God and curse God. If God treated those men as they treat God, God would just say, that's it. But praise God this morning that God is a merciful God. So he is a God that is long-suffering. We can sin greatly against God and yet God in his mercy is still willing to forgive us. And then he's restorative. It says in verse nine, he will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger forever. God will discipline, but God is not a God that is gonna hold our sin before us and say, you failed and that's it, and I'm just gonna keep punishing you. He's a God that is gonna extend mercy to us and give us grace to be restored to him. Psalm 30 verse five says, for his anger endureth but a moment, and his favor is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. All of us know what it's like to disappoint a parent, to maybe have some punishment associated with that, and it was hard, and our relationship was hurt by that, but it's a blessed thing when that parent, after the discipline, comes and says, come on, let's get right, and you hug, and you embrace, and you're restored. Praise God that God is a God that's like that today, that is willing to take somebody that's failed, somebody like Peter, and just bring him back, get him back in a place where God can use him. Lamentations 3 verse 33, for he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men. And so the Lord is merciful, he's long-suffering, he's restorative, and then as we've already looked at, but look at just a little bit more here, he is forgiving, he's forgiving. He has not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. And again, we've already looked at this, but the truth is this, never say to God, God, I want what I deserve, right? Because if I got what I deserve today, it would be banished to hell for all eternity. And praise God, God has not dealt with us after our sins, but he is compassionately forgiving. Look at verse 11. It says, for as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. You know, if anybody today thinks, you know, God, would you be merciful to me? You know, I've sinned greatly against you. Just walk outside, look up at the stars, and as high as you can see, say God's mercy is that high. As high as the heavens, so great is God's mercy to them that fear him. Duncan Campbell preaching on the Isle of Lewis was preaching next to a dance that was taking place. And I think some people went into that dance and confronted the teenagers. And because of that, the dance ended, they came over to the church. And Duncan Campbell preaching tells the story about a young girl coming in and it was a crowded assembly and she makes her way up to the platform. It's kind of the only area there. And she falls at the platform and she cries out, is there mercy for me? Is there mercy for me? You know, praise God again today. Again, I'm sorry if I can't preach this as well as I ought to preach it this morning, but we ought to jump up and say hallelujah, praise God, there's mercy. God is ready to, if somebody fear God, God is ready to deal with them and help them come to saving faith in Jesus Christ because his mercy is so high. He's completely forgiving. Verse 12. It says, as far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. I'm so thankful it didn't say as far as the north is from the south. Why? Because if you go to the north pole, what's the next direction you're going to go? South. And if you're at the south pole, what's the direction you're going to go from the south pole? North, because South and North touch. But if you go East, you go East. If you go West, you go West. And you keep going East and West, and they never, ever touch. And the Bible says, as far as the East is from the West, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. You know, Satan wants to come and say, yeah, you still got your sin. You can't serve God because look at what you've done in your life, but that's not true. If it's under the blood, it's under the blood, and God has totally removed that from us as far as the east is from the west, and that is polar opposite directions. They're just going as far away as far away can go. It's like the song says, gone, gone, gone, gone, yes, my sins are gone. Now my soul is free, and in my heart's a song. Praise God. Why? Because God is merciful. He's completely forgiving, compassionately forgiving. And then secondly, the Lord is caring. He's caring. Just like the verse says, 1 Peter 5, 7, casting all your care upon him. for he careth for you. Praise God today, God is caring. He is our Heavenly Father. It says in verse 13, like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. If you asked me today, do you care about your children, you know what my answer would be? Absolutely. I care deeply about my kids. If they're ill, I'm anxious. I don't like the fact that we've got some that have illness today. I'd much rather that they be here. If they're worried, I wanna console them. I don't want them to be anxious in their life. If they're bullied, I wanna take care of the bully, right? I wanna get in there and take care of that. I don't want them to be pushed beyond their means. I want them to stretch themselves, but I want it to be something they can do. I want them to be balanced in their life, emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually. I don't want them to face injustice. I want their needs to be met. There's a list of things we could come up with and say, I'm an earthly father, this is how I care for my kids. And the Bible says that's how God cares for us. God looks at us and with affection, he cares about us. You know, a child that rightly or wrongly thinks mom and dad don't care, they're burdened. And today, if we don't understand God cares, that God thinks about us and he's aware, then our heart is like, man, it's heavy. But if we understand God's got it, God cares, what a comfort that is to us. We ought to bless God for that. He's our sympathetic creator. Sympathetic creator. Verse 14, for he knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass. As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it and it is gone. And the place thereof shall know it no more. You know, Jesus hasn't forgotten the building materials that he used as he built man in the garden. Genesis 2, 7, the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. If I asked today, do you feel weak today? And maybe today you feel strong, but there's certainly times where all of us could raise our hand and say, I feel weak. Well, listen, all we are is what? Dust. We're just dust. Does God understand that today? And the truth is, yes, he's our sympathetic creator. He understands exactly that all we are is dust. If we have any strength, it's strength that he gives. God hasn't forgotten that. He's not gonna put more on us than we can bear. And so the Lord is merciful. The Lord is caring. And then the Lord is covenant keeping. He's covenant keeping. There's a lot of covenants in life. I don't know, agreements that we make with men, and we've got a marriage covenant. The man and wife before God say we're entering into this covenant agreement. A mortgage is a covenant agreement that we have. We sign the dotted line saying we're gonna be faithful to pay these fees on our mortgage. A contract, maybe between a boss and employee, again, that's a covenant. But all of those things have term limitations. My mortgage, I think it says you can't have it after you're 65. It's got term limitations. Even a good marriage has term limitations. They die and that covenant is ended by death. But the Bible says about God's covenant that God's covenant is an eternal covenant. It's a covenant that will last forever. Verse 17, it says, but the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. upon them that fear Him and His righteousness unto children's children, to such as keep His covenant, those that enter into that and obey that covenant, and to those that remember His commandments to do them. Somebody that'll come to a position of fear with God and accept the terms as God gives them, salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone, and they'll put their faith in Jesus, God is gonna enter into a covenant that is an eternal covenant with them. If they'll cry out in fear, like the Philippian jailer, as he cried out, sirs, what must I do to be saved? They said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. And so the Lord is covenant keeping. Praise God, can we thank God for that today? God, thank you. Thank you, it can't be broken. Eternal security. Saved, always saved, by the grace of God. And then lastly, The Lord is sovereign. He's sovereign. God is over all. Verse 19, it says, The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all. Bless the Lord, ye his angels that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye hosts, ye ministers of his. that do His pleasure. Bless the Lord all His works in all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul. You know, Kaylee, when she flew back, I think when we collected her, I said to her, sorry, the sun's not shining. Kind of a gloomy day, I think, when she got there. And she said it was shining up above, right? When she flew there, she flew over the clouds, and guess what? The sun is always shining. We could look out today and say it's a cloudy day. The sun isn't shining, but guess what? The sun is shining, but we're under the clouds. To see the sunshine, we could get on a plane, we could go up, rise above the clouds, and then we could see it, and we could bask in that warm sunshine. There's a lot of things in life that make me feel like the sun's not shining. It could be bills, health needs. relationship problems, sin issues, aches and pains, right? It could be the war, possibly in Ukraine, the pandemic, the economy, so many things that we look at and say, ah, the sun is not shining, but listen, we just need to rise above it. His dominion, his kingdom, his overall. And so God today, where God is the sun, praise God, the sun is shining. And I can bless God for that. I can look at my circumstance and say, God, you're greater than the financial markets. God, you're greater than medical needs. God, you're greater than relationship problems. God, you're greater. And so I bless your name. Again, I'm not sure what David was facing as he came to this reflection. But he encourages himself, he says, bless the Lord, O my soul. And again, I encourage us today to say to ourselves, all that is within me, bless his name, and begin to do the exercise that David did and say, I'm gonna focus on who God is and what God's done. And start to look at those things that David names here in this text. God forgives us, God heals us, God protects us, God blesses us, God renews us, God defends us, God enlightens us. And you know what I can say? Bless God. God, I'm so thankful. And then to look at it and say, God, you're merciful. You know what that means? God will forgive you. God is caring. A lot of people feel like God doesn't care. God is caring. And so today he loves me. God is covenant keeping. He can't fail his promises. He's sovereign, meaning he's over all and he can't fail us. And so again, we can look at it and say, man, I just feel like the sun isn't shining in my soul. But when we look at who God is and what God's done, we can begin to rejoice in that. That'll bring us out into that soul sunshine as we see what God has done. So may God help us with that. Encourage us with that today. And let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, I praise you for the grace that you give. And I don't know what others are facing, but I know this, we're going through the wintertime in the midst of the remainder of a pandemic, that there's economic concerns with gas supplies from Russia impacting Europe. Father, there's a lot of things, and I don't wanna overwhelm us by naming the negatives today, but I know this, there's a lot of people that are very discouraged. And Father, our soul needs the sunshine. And I really believe that this exercise that David did is very appropriate and very needful. And Father, we could either be like the nine that take for granted everything that we have, or we could begin like that one to get on our knees and say, God, I just want to say thank you. The many things that we looked at, and I know this was a lengthy psalm, and Father, that we moved quickly through it. But Father, may we reflect upon it. It'd be a good one in our prayer time this next week to open up and to go through it and to begin to praise you for the things that David lists. And Father, the fact is today, maybe we'd have to say, I'm sorry, God, I forgot about all the benefits I have in Christ. Father, it could be there's somebody that doesn't have a relationship with you by faith in Jesus. And Father, they haven't begun to understand all that they could have in Christ. I pray that they would find Jesus today. And Father, would you just strengthen our faith, and I pray that we dwell in soul sunshine. It's in Christ's name I pray, amen. Let's stand and we'll sing, please, a hymn of invitation. I want us to sing that hymn, Count Your Many Blessings, 495, all right? 495 as we conclude our service.