Text:\u00a0 Psalm 103: 1-14<\/b><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b>It\u2019s been kind of difficult these past weeks. Not because the US hockey teams failed to win the gold medal.\u00a0 Something more.\u00a0 Some weeks ago we thought about the holocaust that steals the life of so many unborn children.\u00a0 After that I left you to go to a funeral in AZ for a family member who suddenly died.\u00a0 Then these last few weeks we\u2019ve 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.\u00a0 Think of our gospel lesson today. Love your enemies and pray for them.\u00a0 All too often my love hasn\u2019t even come close to that.\u00a0 Not even for those I call my loved ones. \u00a0I don\u2019t know about you but these last Sundays have weighed on me.<\/p>\n
What a joy then to find this psalm appointed for today.\u00a0 What a joy to hear these words of King David!\u00a0 May they speak to your heart as they speak to mine. O Bless the Lord, my Soul.<\/p>\n
O Bless the Lord, my Soul!!<\/b> For:
\nI.\u00a0 Forgiveness without measure
\nII.\u00a0 The Compassion of a true father
\nIII.\u00a0 Such loving kindness<\/p>\n
1<\/sup> Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.<\/span>\u00a0 King David gives us a window to his heart.\u00a0 He is talking to himself here.\u00a0 He wants to praise the Lord.\u00a0 But he wants his praise to be something more than just shallow words that roll off his lips.\u00a0 He knows that our praise ought to come from deep down, the very bottom of our hearts.\u00a0 Here King David is summoning his heart and mind, his whole being to join in that praise of the Lord.<\/p>\n But don\u2019t get the wrong idea.\u00a0 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:\u00a0 Shout<\/i> and be happy.<\/i>\u00a0 When I asked about it, it sounded like someone got them all stirred up to a kind of empty emotionalism.\u00a0 But there\u2019s nothing empty about the praise that King David speaks of here.\u00a0 \u00a02<\/sup> Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits<\/span>\u2014 That\u2019s where he takes us this morning.\u00a0 And wherever we are today.\u00a0 Whatever we are dealing with .\u00a0 He lifts the eyes of our hearts to look at those blessings and then praise him.<\/p>\n How has the Lord blessed us?\u00a0 We could come up with quite a list.\u00a0 But notice the first blessing that David speaks of here.\u00a0 The Lord\u2026forgives all your sins.<\/span>\u00a0 That sure makes sense for David to mention that first.\u00a0 This man after God\u2019s own heart had fallen so terribly into the sin of adultery, even murder.\u00a0 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.<\/b><\/p>\n But not just David, also you and me.\u00a0 For how blessed we are as David says here.\u00a0 the Lord does not treat us as our sins deserve<\/span>.\u00a0 (10)\u00a0 For what are we reminded in Psalm 130: \u00a0If you O Lord kept a record of sin, O Lord, who could stand<\/span>?\u00a0 Right now the National Security Agency is keeping track of our phone calls in a big data bank somewhere out west.\u00a0 We\u2019re told its\u2019 for our safety.\u00a0 That remains to be seen.\u00a0 Well just imagine the Lord kept a record of every sinful word thought or action, every sinful failure to love or obey.\u00a0 Who could stand before him?\u00a0 Not any of us.<\/p>\n But how blessed we are.\u00a0 For look.\u00a0 Look what the Lord has done with our guilt.\u00a0 12 <\/sup>as far as the east is from the west, <\/span>How far is that?\u00a0 It\u2019s beyond measure 12 <\/sup>as far as the east is from the west,<\/span> so far has he removed our transgressions from us<\/span>.<\/p>\n And we now know how far that is. Not from a map but from God\u2019s own word.\u00a0 How far has our sin has our been removed? As far as the cross of God\u2019s own Son.\u00a0 King David looked forward to his day.\u00a0 We look back.\u00a0 For there we meet our Lord who took all our sins so far away.\u00a0 He took them to his own body on that cross where he suffered for each of us.\u00a0 There we meet the Lord who forgives all our sins.\u00a0 Even those that trouble our hearts today with regret.\u00a0 O bless the Lord my soul, for forgiveness beyond measure.<\/b><\/p>\n I once walked into a hospital room where a lady was recovering from surgery.\u00a0 I was her pastor.\u00a0 You ladies know how you feel about your looks in the hospital.\u00a0 No make up, hair\u2019s a mess.\u00a0 You \u00a0don\u2019t feel too presentable in a place like that.\u00a0 So I said to her.\u00a0 Did you know you are wearing a crown?\u00a0 She gave me kind of an odd look.\u00a0 Then I reminded her of these words:\u00a0 Praise the Lord\u2026 who crowns you with love and compassion<\/span>.\u00a0 Let\u2019s talk about that compassion. The Compassion of a true Father.<\/span><\/p>\n 13<\/sup>As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;<\/span> Please understand something here.\u00a0 The word fear.\u00a0 It can mean scared stiff.\u00a0 But not here.\u00a0 Rather think of respect and awe.\u00a0 13<\/sup>As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him<\/span>;<\/p>\n I once had a lady come up to me after worship.\u00a0 She wanted me to know something about her.\u00a0 She said, pastor my father was a cruel man<\/i>.\u00a0 So when you speak of God as our loving Father, it\u2019s hard for me to picture that.<\/p>\n How sad that woman did not have a true father.\u00a0 For a true father has compassion on his children.\u00a0 His heart goes out to them when they\u2019re hurting or suffering in some way.\u00a0 And it doesn\u2019t mean that a father has to be all touchy feely.\u00a0 But it does mean he can\u2019t look away when his kids are having a tough time.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a true father.\u00a0 And that\u2019s our Lord with the compassion of a true Father.\u00a0 14<\/sup> for he knows how we are formed,<\/span>\u00a0 he remembers that we are dust<\/span>. \u00a0A few weeks ago, Karen and I had a painful reminder of that.\u00a0 We watched a casket lowered into the ground, the mortal remains of a loved one.\u00a0 And it\u2019s been the same ever since two people named Adam and Eve chose to disobey and go the way of sin. We are dust.\u00a0 Short or long, our lives end in death and decay.<\/p>\n But how great is our Lord\u2019s compassion.\u00a0 David reminds us: \u00a0He redeems your life from the pit.<\/span> That word pit means death here.\u00a0 And certainly David could point to many times in his life where the Lord rescued him from death.\u00a0 From Goliath, from King Saul, from the mouth of a lion.\u00a0 Can you think times in your life where you were spared from death?\u00a0 And what about those times we\u2019re not even aware of.\u00a0 Where deadly harm could have come to you if the Lord did not have you somewhere else.\u00a0 He redeems your life from the pit. <\/span><\/p>\n But our Father\u2019s compassion is even greater for us who are dust.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.<\/i>\u00a0 For dust we are, but risen and redeemed we will be.\u00a0 O bless the Lord, my soul for the Compassion of a true Father<\/b>.\u00a0 And bless him, praise him for such loving kindness <\/b>in your life.<\/p>\n I see you\u2019re still wearing that crown. You\u2019ll leave with it today.\u00a0 He crowns you with love and compassion<\/span>.\u00a0 David gives us a sense of the love he has for you, his people.\u00a0 11<\/sup>For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him<\/span>;<\/p>\n So great is his love.\u00a0 Here\u2019s one facet of that jewel. \u00a0He satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.<\/span>\u00a0 For a long time I wasn\u2019t sure what to make of that verse.\u00a0 It\u2019s obviously not talking about a fountain of youth.<\/p>\n Well try this one on for size.\u00a0 One of the good things we desire and he gives is friends, companionship.\u00a0 A good friend or friends are a great blessing from the Lord.\u00a0 Think about it.\u00a0 Maybe life is getting you down.\u00a0 You feel like you\u2019re lugging around a heavy anchor.\u00a0 Then you get with your friends. You laugh.\u00a0 You enjoy each other\u2019s company. You tell those stories which get a little better every time.\u00a0 You could be out on a lake fishing or just having a cup of coffee together.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 It lifts you up.\u00a0 It kind of makes you feel young again. That\u2019s just one example.\u00a0 So great is his love.<\/p>\n And here let\u2019s give credit where credit is due.\u00a0 We often complain when we get sick or injured.\u00a0 And sadly the day will come when we won\u2019t get better on this side of heaven.\u00a0 But back up.\u00a0 Think of your life till now.\u00a0 How often you got sick and you got well.\u00a0 Some of us have had serious problems.\u00a0 I broke a hip. I imagine we could make quite a list.<\/p>\n Well how did we get better?\u00a0 You and I are designed with an amazing immune system which fights off viruses and bacteria.\u00a0 There are some marvelous people called doctors and nurses who come equipped with some amazing technology.<\/p>\n But again I ask, how did we get better? O bless the Lord my soul<\/b>, who heals all your diseases. \u00a0<\/span>Such loving kindness. \u00a0Again and again.\u00a0 Again and again until we enjoy the hope that is ours in Christ.\u00a0 For on that day when we see Jesus, we will experience a perfect healing.\u00a0 No more walkers, no more pain medication, no more chemotherapy, no trips to the emergency room.\u00a0 For then we will know what King David spoke of here.\u00a0 It will be oh so clear in so many ways.\u00a0 From everlasting to everlasting the Lord\u2019s love is with those who fear him.<\/span>\u00a0 O bless the Lord, my soul.<\/b>\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Text:\u00a0 Psalm 103: 1-14 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s been kind of difficult these past weeks. 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