Text:  Psalm 103: 1-14

            It’s been kind of difficult these past weeks. Not because the US hockey teams failed to win the gold medal.  Something more.  Some weeks ago we thought about the holocaust that steals the life of so many unborn children.  After that I left you to go to a funeral in AZ for a family member who suddenly died.  Then these last few weeks we’ve heard our Lord Jesus spell out what a truly righteous life looks like. What he says is hard for us because when we look in the mirror of our lives we often see something different.  Think of our gospel lesson today. Love your enemies and pray for them.  All too often my love hasn’t even come close to that.  Not even for those I call my loved ones.  I don’t know about you but these last Sundays have weighed on me.

What a joy then to find this psalm appointed for today.  What a joy to hear these words of King David!  May they speak to your heart as they speak to mine. O Bless the Lord, my Soul.

O Bless the Lord, my Soul!! For:
I.  Forgiveness without measure
II.  The Compassion of a true father
III.  Such loving kindness

¹ Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.  King David gives us a window to his heart.  He is talking to himself here.  He wants to praise the Lord.  But he wants his praise to be something more than just shallow words that roll off his lips.  He knows that our praise ought to come from deep down, the very bottom of our hearts.  Here King David is summoning his heart and mind, his whole being to join in that praise of the Lord.

But don’t get the wrong idea.  I remember when I served a church in the inner city of Milwaukee. I ran into someone who attended a church where there was a time called:  Shout and be happy.  When I asked about it, it sounded like someone got them all stirred up to a kind of empty emotionalism.  But there’s nothing empty about the praise that King David speaks of here.   ² Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits— That’s where he takes us this morning.  And wherever we are today.  Whatever we are dealing with .  He lifts the eyes of our hearts to look at those blessings and then praise him.

How has the Lord blessed us?  We could come up with quite a list.  But notice the first blessing that David speaks of here.  The Lord…forgives all your sins.  That sure makes sense for David to mention that first.  This man after God’s own heart had fallen so terribly into the sin of adultery, even murder.  It makes so much sense for David to praise the Lord that he had forgiven him all that and more. O bless the Lord my soul.

But not just David, also you and me.  For how blessed we are as David says here.  the Lord does not treat us as our sins deserve.  (10)  For what are we reminded in Psalm 130:  If you O Lord kept a record of sin, O Lord, who could stand?  Right now the National Security Agency is keeping track of our phone calls in a big data bank somewhere out west.  We’re told its’ for our safety.  That remains to be seen.  Well just imagine the Lord kept a record of every sinful word thought or action, every sinful failure to love or obey.  Who could stand before him?  Not any of us.

But how blessed we are.  For look.  Look what the Lord has done with our guilt.  ¹² as far as the east is from the west, How far is that?  It’s beyond measure ¹² as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

And we now know how far that is. Not from a map but from God’s own word.  How far has our sin has our been removed? As far as the cross of God’s own Son.  King David looked forward to his day.  We look back.  For there we meet our Lord who took all our sins so far away.  He took them to his own body on that cross where he suffered for each of us.  There we meet the Lord who forgives all our sins.  Even those that trouble our hearts today with regret.  O bless the Lord my soul, for forgiveness beyond measure.

I once walked into a hospital room where a lady was recovering from surgery.  I was her pastor.  You ladies know how you feel about your looks in the hospital.  No make up, hair’s a mess.  You  don’t feel too presentable in a place like that.  So I said to her.  Did you know you are wearing a crown?  She gave me kind of an odd look.  Then I reminded her of these words:  Praise the Lord… who crowns you with love and compassion.  Let’s talk about that compassion. The Compassion of a true Father.

¹³As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; Please understand something here.  The word fear.  It can mean scared stiff.  But not here.  Rather think of respect and awe.  ¹³As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

I once had a lady come up to me after worship.  She wanted me to know something about her.  She said, pastor my father was a cruel man.  So when you speak of God as our loving Father, it’s hard for me to picture that.

How sad that woman did not have a true father.  For a true father has compassion on his children.  His heart goes out to them when they’re hurting or suffering in some way.  And it doesn’t mean that a father has to be all touchy feely.  But it does mean he can’t look away when his kids are having a tough time.

That’s a true father.  And that’s our Lord with the compassion of a true Father.  ¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed,  he remembers that we are dust.  A few weeks ago, Karen and I had a painful reminder of that.  We watched a casket lowered into the ground, the mortal remains of a loved one.  And it’s been the same ever since two people named Adam and Eve chose to disobey and go the way of sin. We are dust.  Short or long, our lives end in death and decay.

But how great is our Lord’s compassion.  David reminds us:  He redeems your life from the pit. That word pit means death here.  And certainly David could point to many times in his life where the Lord rescued him from death.  From Goliath, from King Saul, from the mouth of a lion.  Can you think times in your life where you were spared from death?  And what about those times we’re not even aware of.  Where deadly harm could have come to you if the Lord did not have you somewhere else.  He redeems your life from the pit.

But our Father’s compassion is even greater for us who are dust.  He would one day send someone to bless us all. King David looked forward to his coming. Jesus the One who has redeemed us from death.  So that now at the graves of all who die in the Lord, we can say, we can know, we can say even with tears in our eyes.  We commit this body to the ground ashes to ashes dust to dust, in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the dead.  For dust we are, but risen and redeemed we will be.  O bless the Lord, my soul for the Compassion of a true Father.  And bless him, praise him for such loving kindness in your life.

I see you’re still wearing that crown. You’ll leave with it today.  He crowns you with love and compassion.  David gives us a sense of the love he has for you, his people.  ¹¹For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;

So great is his love.  Here’s one facet of that jewel.  He satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.  For a long time I wasn’t sure what to make of that verse.  It’s obviously not talking about a fountain of youth.

Well try this one on for size.  One of the good things we desire and he gives is friends, companionship.  A good friend or friends are a great blessing from the Lord.  Think about it.  Maybe life is getting you down.  You feel like you’re lugging around a heavy anchor.  Then you get with your friends. You laugh.  You enjoy each other’s company. You tell those stories which get a little better every time.  You could be out on a lake fishing or just having a cup of coffee together.  It doesn’t matter.  It lifts you up.  It kind of makes you feel young again. That’s just one example.  So great is his love.

And here let’s give credit where credit is due.  We often complain when we get sick or injured.  And sadly the day will come when we won’t get better on this side of heaven.  But back up.  Think of your life till now.  How often you got sick and you got well.  Some of us have had serious problems.  I broke a hip. I imagine we could make quite a list.

Well how did we get better?  You and I are designed with an amazing immune system which fights off viruses and bacteria.  There are some marvelous people called doctors and nurses who come equipped with some amazing technology.

But again I ask, how did we get better? O bless the Lord my soul, who heals all your diseases.  Such loving kindness.  Again and again.  Again and again until we enjoy the hope that is ours in Christ.  For on that day when we see Jesus, we will experience a perfect healing.  No more walkers, no more pain medication, no more chemotherapy, no trips to the emergency room.  For then we will know what King David spoke of here.  It will be oh so clear in so many ways.  From everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him.  O bless the Lord, my soul.  Amen.