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Psalms 103:1-5 NKJV 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 iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Once again, this past Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving Day. You hear all the time, and it’s certainly true, that you don’t need a turkey, dressing, greens, pumpkin and sweet potato pies to celebrate Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving for people of faith represents more than an annual holiday, it serves as a reminder that giving thanks is part of who we are as believers because we demonstrate faith when we are grateful. All you need is a reason, and God has given us plenty of reasons to be grateful.
Start with what you see—the clothes you’re wearing, the food in the fridge, the beauty of a fall day although this Thanksgiving the weather was kind of dreary. Think about the people you love and how they’ve touched your life. Next, think about the things God has given you that can’t be held in your hands—things like hope, forgiveness, freedom, salvation, and your future home in heaven. Stopping to say thanks will remind you of how big God is and how good your life is, no matter what’s going on.
You can’t separate gratitude and faith. Giving thanks=gratitude… Giving God thanks (or gratitude) is an expression of your faith in His Sovereignty.
Maybe this Thanksgiving you were overflowing with gratitude for life. Or maybe this has been one of those years, and you just can’t drum up much gratitude.
I can hear some negative person saying, ”Now Pastor, I know it’s Thanksgiving time and all… but I don’t have any reason to give thanks. My life is a disaster waiting to happen”, or like the Gray family we just lost our loved one, or like my granddaughter, who “I was in the hospital”.
King David, who wrote many of the Psalms, understood the ebbs and flows of life. When you read through the Psalms, you find some overflowing with praise and thanksgiving and some expressing sorrow about life and health and disloyal friends.
But no matter the circumstance, most of David’s Psalms end with encouraging thoughts about God. And truly, no matter what you and I face today or find ourselves carrying into this holiday season, we can be encouraged as we consider David’s words about the kind of God we have. I call some of David's Psalms Soul Music because many of them like Psalm 103, which we read at the beginning, come from deep within the soul.
This kind of Soul Music has nothing to do with the color of your skin… it has everything to do with the condition of your soul.
This kind of Soul Music comes from the saved soul! And the saved soul is the soul that’s been saved by the blood of the Lamb!
Once you have a saved soul… you can sing this Soul Music of Thanksgiving every day! Even during those times of disaster and difficulty. It's then that you can really sing the Soul Music of Thanksgiving to get you through those times of disaster and difficulty.
Paul says in 1 Thess 5.18, ”In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Paul is also a good example for us. Do you remember Paul and Silas when they were in prison? The Bible says that around midnight that they were praying and singing hymns to God.
Acts 16:25-26 NKJV But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.
That night when the jail-house rocked… God was responding to their prayer and praise! I don’t know what is holding you prisoner and what has you in chains… but I do know that prison doors shake open and chains are loosed where there is prayer and praise.
(1) The Call to Thanksgiving.
Psalms 103:1-2a NKJV Bless the Lord , O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord , O my soul
So… what does David mean here when he says, ”Bless the LORD?” Well… to ”bless the LORD” is to praise the LORD! That’s what this word ”bless” means.
It is the picture of somebody who knells down and offers praise to God! To ”bless the LORD” is to praise the LORD.
The Soul Music of Thanksgiving calls us to give thanks to God. I said earlier, the only people who can sing this Soul Music are those whose souls have been saved by the blood of the Lamb!
Psalm 103 has the call to Thanksgiving, "Bless the Lord , O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord , O my soul" It also has
(2) The Reasons For Thanksgiving.
That reason begins in the middle of verse 2, of Psalm 103 which says ”And forget not all His benefits.”
In other words… if you are having a hard time these days in singing some soul music… then stop and consider His benefits.
You may not be able to remember all of His benefits… but don’t forget all of His benefits… don’t forget all the things He’s done in your life!
Starting in verse 3… David lists 6 benefits… 6 works… 6 things God did in not only His life… but in the life of every child of God. Think of them as links of a chain that make up God’s chain of grace!
Look at the first link in verse 3, ”Who forgives all your iniquities…” Link number one is that…
1. -He forgives us.
The word ”forgives” means to pardon… to spare!
God forgives all your iniquities, your sins… your guilt… your misery. Not some but all. He pardons all of them! He spares us from all of them!
Colossians 2:13-14 NKJV And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Now continue reading in verse 3, ”Who heals all your diseases…” He not only forgives us…
2.He also heals us.
Now to be sure… God heals diseases. But there is a greater disease than physical disease? Worse than physical disease is spiritual disease. Diseases of the soul!
Like hate… jealousy… greed… resentment and unforgiveness. The worst disease is the sin disease. There is no healing for a sick soul until sin has been forgiven.
Isaiah 53:5 NKJV But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
Healed of what? Healed of our transgressions and sins. The cross became an altar where God took away our sins.
As verse 12 says,
Psalms 103:12 NKJV As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
First… He forgives us. Second… He heals us. And then we read in verse 4 that…
3.-He saves us.
Psalms 103:4 NKJV Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
To redeem… it means to ransom… to release… to deliver… to buy something back. Remembering that God has redeemed us and delivered us… and saved us from the penalty of sin ought to put some soul music in your heart.
Romans 6:23 NKJV For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
”Since I have been redeemed, I will glory in His name, since I have been redeemed, I will glory in my Savior's name.”
Psalms 107:2 NKJV Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,
He forgives us, he heals us, he saves us,
Psalms 103:4 NKJV Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
The word ”crowns” means literally ”to surround something. We are surrounded with the loving kindness and tender mercies of God!
Psalms 5:12 NKJV For You, O Lord , will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield.
5. He satisfies us.
Psalms 103:5 NKJV Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
James 1:17 NKJV Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
Knowing that God satisfies us with good things will give us some soul music of thanksgiving.
Yes… He forgives us… heals us… saves us… crowns us… satisfies us…and finally
6. -He strengthens us.
Psalms 103:5 NKJV Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Those God saves… He strengthens. Those He saves… He renews! As you reflect on this Thanksgiving week… don’t forget His benefits!
Psalms 103:2 NKJV Bless the Lord , O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
We have so much to be grateful for in this life. Each and every day. But the reality is that sometimes constant life demands, struggles, and worries give more room to defeat than to a heart of thanks. Or we forget, in the midst of busyness and pressures, just to pause and give thanks, for all that God has done, and continues to do in our lives.
Sometimes it really is a sacrifice to offer praise and thanks. We may not feel like it. We’re struggling. We're weary. Or maybe, we feel like He let us down. We think God seems distant, like he's far away, or doesn't really care about what's troubling us. Painful life blows and losses might have recently sent us spiraling.
But here’s what can make a lasting difference. We have a choice, every day, to give him thanks. And with a heart of thanksgiving, we realize that no matter what we face, God doesn’t just work to change our situations and help us through our problems. He does more. He changes our hearts. We're strengthened by His peace, and refueled by His joy.
It is impossible to understand and receive all that Christ did for us on the cross and not be grateful. For those of us who have been given so much, it is important that we continually express our genuine appreciation to our Heavenly Father both in words and by the way we live our lives. For the Christian, every day should be a day of thanksgiving…
We can sing the Soul Music of Thanksgiving
Psalms 103:1-2 NKJV 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:
Dear God,
Thank you for your amazing power and work in our lives, thank you for your goodness and for your blessings over us. Thank you that you are Able to bring hope through even the toughest of times, strengthening us for your purposes. Thank you for your great love and care. Thank you for your mercy and grace. Thank you that you are always with us and will never leave us. Thank you for your incredible sacrifice so that we might have freedom and life. Forgive us for when we don't thank you enough, for who you are, for all that you do, for all that you've given. Help us to set our eyes and our hearts on you afresh. Renew our spirits, fill us with your peace and joy. We love you and we need you, this day and every day. We give you praise and thanks, for You alone are worthy! In Jesus' Name, Amen.