Bless the Lord and Forget Not His Benefits (Part 2)

[0:00] Well, as I mentioned earlier, we will be back in Psalm 103 this morning. So the title of my sermon will be no surprise to you. I'm not very creative.

[0:11] So the title of the sermon, Bless the Lord and Forget Not His Benefits, Part 2. Part 1 was last week. We didn't know it was going to be just Part 1.

[0:22] Part 2 is today. And so for those of you who were not here last week, basically I split my sermon time into two parts. So the first part is I took the church through just sort of a small overview of the book of Psalms, right?

[0:38] Anytime you study and go to a selected part of Scripture, right, it's always good to sort of step back and understand the context and the background. And so we spent several minutes having an overview of Psalms.

[0:51] What is the composition of Psalms, those 150 Psalms that we see in the Old Testament? We talked about how there are various categories of Old Testament poetry, right?

[1:03] And you're familiar, if you've been in Psalms, right, there's Psalms of praise, there's Psalms of thanksgiving, of adoration. There's wisdom songs, didactic, you know, more instructional type Psalms.

[1:14] There's many Psalms of lament, and we do see much into the inner parts of David in many of his lament Psalms.

[1:26] And so we just sort of went through that, again, just to helping you have a better grasp. When you do go and read Psalms in your own personal study or when you perhaps join a Bible study that's going through selected Psalms, it's good, it's helpful, it'll help you to interpret and understand properly God's Word, sort of having that functional understanding of knowledge of Psalms.

[1:50] Now, I will not, I'm not going to go over that. That was captured on the sermon recording last week, so you have that for your reference if you so choose. The second part of my sermon last week is when we did dive into Psalm 103.

[2:07] We only got through verse 3. My goal was to get through verse 5. And so today, that's why this is part 2. We're going to unpack verses 4 and 5.

[2:17] But I do want to do just a brief review of verses 1, 2, and 3. So by way of introduction and a brief recap of last week's introduction into Psalm 103, you know, we did learn that Psalm 103 is a psalm of pure praise, right?

[2:39] When you read Psalm 103, and we will read that in just a moment, you're not going to find any petition to the Lord, any supplication, right, going to the Lord for requests. You're not going to find complaints.

[2:52] You're not going to find laments. Psalm 103 stands out as a psalm of pure praise. And to drive this point home, so in my studies this past week preparing for today, I found in this commentary, this is a, this commentary is called the Parallel Classic Commentary on the Psalms.

[3:14] And it's parallel because if you were to open this commentary, you're going to see four columns in parallel. The first column, you're going to see the actual scripture from the selected piece of Psalms.

[3:27] In the second column, you're going to see commentary from Charles Spurgeon. The third column, you're going to see commentary from John Calvin. And the fourth column, as you turn the pages, you're going to see commentary from Matthew Henry.

[3:39] And so I did read Charles Spurgeon's introduction to Psalm 103 this week. I had not read it last week. And I wanted to share an excerpt from it with you just to sort of impress and drive home the fact of how great and awesome and just so focused on praising God is Psalm 103.

[4:02] I hope Psalm 103, after we're finished today and from last week, is one that you've underlined and highlighted and asterisked and made lots of notes. It's a great psalm, not just for a one-time reading, but as you praise God in your personal devotions, you can use Psalm 103 as an outline for days, for weeks, for the whole year, if you would like.

[4:24] And so, now I do have some sermon slides today to help you see some of these quotes that I'll be sharing today. So this is an excerpt, again, from Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 103.

[4:38] So I'll read it. I'll just read it from the slide here. So Spurgeon says, and it's a very flowery, old English talk, okay? So bear, got to adjust your hearing a little bit.

[4:51] So Spurgeon writes, This 103rd Psalm has ever seemed to us to be the Mont Rosa, which is the highest peak in the Swiss Alps, the highest, of the divine chain of mountains of praise, glowing with a ruddery light than any of the rest.

[5:22] It is as the apple tree among the trees of the wood, and its golden fruit has a flavor such as no fruit ever bears, unless it has been ripened in the full sunshine of mercy.

[5:37] Spurgeon continues, It is man's reply to the benedictions of his God, referring to Psalm 103. It's his song on the mount, answering to his Redeemer's sermon on the mount.

[5:51] Nebuchadnezzar adored his idol with flute and harp and psaltery and dulcimer and all kinds of music. And David, in far nobler style, awakens all the melodies of heaven and earth in honor of the one, only, living and true God.

[6:09] Our attempt, and this is where I sort of identified a lot with what Spurgeon was saying, Our attempt at exposition is commenced under an impressive sense of the utter impossibility of doing justice to so sublime a composition.

[6:27] We call upon our soul and all that is within us to aid in the pleasurable task, But alas, our soul is finite, and all our mental faculty far too little for the enterprise.

[6:41] There is too much in the psalm for a thousand pens to write. It is one of those all-comprehending scriptures, which is a Bible in itself, And it might alone almost suffice for the hymn book of the church.

[6:58] That's how, I don't know, great, how awesome, how in awe we should be when we look at what Psalm 103 has to offer.

[7:08] And so, again, I appreciate and affirm very much the seemingly impossibility to exposit Psalm 103.

[7:19] But we're going to jump in and do our best anyhow. So, if you haven't already, please turn to Psalm 103. Again, we're going to review verses 1, 2, and 3. We'll unpack 4 and 5 today.

[7:31] But I'm going to read the whole psalm for us this morning. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless His holy name.

[7:43] 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 good, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.

[8:07] The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the people of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

[8:23] 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. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him.

[8:42] As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him.

[8:55] For He knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass. He flourishes like a flower of the field.

[9:06] For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children, to those who keep His covenant and remember to do His commandments.

[9:28] The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all. Verse 20. Bless the Lord, O you His angels, you mighty ones who do His word, obeying the voice of His word.

[9:42] Bless the Lord, all His hosts, His ministers who do His will. Bless the Lord, all His works, in all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul.

[10:00] So as we go back and look at verse 1 this morning, again, by way of review, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless His holy name.

[10:10] So we see, and this psalm is of David, right? You see that superscription at the beginning of Psalm 103. So David, our psalmist, is stirring himself up to have gratitude for the Lord, right?

[10:24] Now, I didn't think about this last week, but if you think for a minute, in Scripture, how is David referred to? What's a common way that God refers to David, right?

[10:35] A man after my own God's, after God's own heart. So as we read this, as we see just immediately in verse 1, if we see that David, a man after God's own heart, has to work and stir himself up, stir his soul up, right, to worship him, to praise God, how much more do we need to do this, right?

[11:00] How much more should we be intentional, right, be exacting, be focused, be ever on our mind to stir ourselves up for worship and praise?

[11:10] And David, right, we talked about this last week. He says, bless the Lord. Also, you can interpret that, praise the Lord. In this context, bless, you can replace that word with praise, right?

[11:22] This is praising the Lord. Oh, my soul, right? So when David writes, my soul, clearly, right, he's referring to all of him, right? You know, his soul, the seed of one's understanding and affection.

[11:35] But David goes further in verse 1, right? He says, bless the Lord, oh, my soul, and all that is within me. And last week, we talked about how this all that is within me, right, that's referring to one's, all of his or her faculties, right?

[11:53] One's inmost being. For those of you who use the NIV translation, the NIV translates this, praise the Lord, my soul, all my inmost being.

[12:03] And so that's a good phrase there that gets to the heart of what David is doing. He wants to be all in when it comes to worshiping his Lord, as he, again, stirs himself up for this.

[12:16] And last week, we looked at Mark 12, 30, right? This whole thought of being all in, of having all of your being, all of your faculties worshiping the Lord, that echoes, again, what Jesus answered to the scribe in Mark 12, 20, right?

[12:35] The scribe, in trying to trick Jesus, said, teacher, what is the greatest commandment, right? And this is a familiar verse, Mark 12, 30. Do you remember what Jesus' answer was? Jesus answered, you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, and with all of your strength.

[12:55] And that answer is just beautiful. It does portray what David is getting at here. We are to worship our Lord with everything. Oh, my soul and all that is within me.

[13:07] No half-hearted, lukewarm praise, right? It has no place in a Christian's life. Full praise for the one who is worthy of that praise.

[13:19] And so that was sort of the review of verse one. That's what we talked about last week. Verse two, David continues, bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not his benefits.

[13:30] And so this verse sets up the remainder of the chapter where we read, and we just read that, that David rehearses God's benefits, right? That's what verses three through 22 are.

[13:42] It's David's rehearsing of God's goodness, of his benefits to us. And that last part of verse two, and forget not all his benefits. We looked back at Deuteronomy 8, and I do want to, just because this is so sobering and so important, I do want us to do, just like we did last week, to turn back to Deuteronomy 8, and read the account where God has given Moses the law and the word to give to the second generation of Israel who has wandered the wilderness, but Deuteronomy, the second telling of the law.

[14:16] And in Deuteronomy, we see Moses basically preparing the people to enter the promised land and to remember the law. And in Deuteronomy 8, let's turn there, and I do want to read the part about, where we get some insight into God about what he thinks about being forgetful.

[14:39] Deuteronomy chapter 8, I'll start reading in verse 11. It says, Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply and your silver and your gold are multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock.

[15:31] Verse 16, Who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know that he might humble you and test you to do you good in the end?

[15:43] Verse 17, Beware lest you say in your heart, Now focus on this, church. Beware lest you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.

[15:57] You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers as it is this day. And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish.

[16:19] Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.

[16:29] And so we read in these sobering verses God's perspective, His command not to forget, and His warning about what happens when His people forget.

[16:43] We were also reminded last week that forgetting, as we read here, forgetting is less about being absent-minded, and I'm very absent-minded, but forgetting is less about being absent-minded and more about one's own pride.

[16:57] Right? We see this, right? Lest your heart be lifted up and you forget the Lord your God. May it not be said of us, of this church, that we lift our hearts up because of what we see as our power and our abilities, and therefore forget the Lord our God.

[17:17] We have issues of our own ingratitude, of our own inconstancy, inconsistency, of not being regular with remembering all of God's benefits.

[17:29] We may be listless. We may be drowsy in expressing gratitude. Kind of goes back to verse 1 as far as doing this with all that is within us.

[17:40] Church, God is not deficient in furnishing us with abundant matter for praising Him. If you have a brother or sister in Christ that comes up to you and says, hey, what's the Lord done in your life this week?

[17:53] If you have to pause and you have to think about it, and I'm guilty of this, if you have to pause and think about it, that should be a red flag because you are not in touch. You're not in tune. You're not aware and cognizant of the many, many, many, many, many blessings of His bountiful blessings and graces and mercies in your life.

[18:13] We are to live lives with a constant cataloging and recitation of the Lord's benefits. That's basically what we see in Psalm 103, verse 2.

[18:26] Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not His benefits. David is exhorting himself. Soul, don't forget God's benefits.

[18:37] And so if we move on to verse 3, David continues, and again, this is by way of review, who forgives all your iniquity and who heals all your diseases.

[18:48] Now, this makes sense, right? If we start to catalog God's blessings, right, His benefits to us, where better to start than with forgiveness, with a pardon from our sin?

[19:02] And forgiveness is indeed first. Reconciliation with God is the fountain from which all other blessings flow. That makes sense, right? Since we're not reconciled with God, how can we possibly receive the fountain, the overflow of blessings?

[19:19] We can't, right? There is common grace where God blesses His whole creation, and believers and non-believers, unbelievers alike, do receive His common grace.

[19:30] But when it comes to His multiple blessings, His fountain of grace and mercy, we receive that after forgiveness. This statement is truly stunning, right?

[19:42] Who forgives all your iniquity. Did you think about that? We talked about that last week. Just park there for just a minute, right? Sometimes we read through the Psalms, and sometimes we just miss some of the obvious, like understated ways in which God loves us and shows His love to us.

[20:00] And He saved us, right? He forgives not some of our iniquity, but all of our iniquity. John MacArthur, and I have a quote up here on the screen, so John MacArthur says this regarding God's forgiveness and pardoning of our sin.

[20:16] He says, This is the first of God's gifts to the penitent sinner who has become a true worshiper. This is salvation. This is the door to all the treasure house of divine grace and mercy.

[20:32] This is where our praise begins. I'm forgiven. Praise the Lord. The last few verses, or last few words in verse 3 says He also heals all of our diseases.

[20:47] So MacArthur continues in reference to that phrase. He says, The consequence of free forgiveness is that God governs us by His Spirit, mortifies the lust of our flesh, cleanses us from our corruptions, and restores us to the healthy condition of a godly and upright life.

[21:08] That's God's mercies on us and His healing of our diseases. We spent some time last week unpacking that reference to diseases. It's not a physical disease, right?

[21:19] We are all in the process of decaying physically and dying. This is referring to soul healing, of spiritual healing. Again, when we are reconciled with God, we transition from death to life.

[21:33] And He heals us in that regard. And so that was verses 1, 2, and 3 from last week. And let's just move right on into verse 4a and unpack that and spend a little bit of time on that this morning.

[21:47] So again, David continues to recount all of his benefits, as it says in verse 2, forgetting all of his benefits. So verse 4, who redeems your life from the pit.

[22:03] Who redeems your life from the pit. Well, that reference to the pit clearly states our condition previous to God's healing our diseases, right?

[22:18] We are dead and we're adjudged to the grave or to the pit, as David says here. Now, can I ask you a question? I want to make sure that we, again, just don't gloss over that.

[22:31] Are you persuaded? Are you convinced, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you were spiritually dead before you were saved? I think back on conversations that I have with others and more conversations where we're sort of debating doctrine and theology.

[22:52] And I'm just convinced, just based on my own experience, that some folks, believers, that they have a wrong starting place. And they have not a complete or an accurate doctrine of sin or the doctrine of inherited sin, as some commentators say.

[23:13] And I think it's because people don't truly think, they don't truly believe that they are dead in their sin. Now, I'm not sure why, because Scripture is pretty clear on that.

[23:26] Verses that sort of affirm that truth are, I think, pretty familiar with some of us, right? So, Romans 3.23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, right?

[23:38] So, that's a familiar verse as maybe you or I share the gospel with others. Maybe that's a starting place, right? Romans 3.23, for all have sinned, right? So, let's be clear, we are all sinners.

[23:51] Psalm 14.3, there is none who does good, not even one. There is none righteous, no, not one, right? So, the Scripture is clear, God's Word is clear, that we are sinners and we fall short of God's glory.

[24:06] But there's other verses that say, so what's the consequence of that? All right, so we're sinners. All right, I'm not perfect. Okay, yeah, yeah. I'm a sinner, right? But do you understand the consequences of you being a sinner?

[24:19] Romans 6.23, for the wages of sin is death, right? For the wages of sin is death. The consequences, the payment of you being a sinner is that you're dead.

[24:33] You're in that pit that David refers to, the psalmist refers to, that God saves us from. Colossians 2.13, another verse, Paul writes, and you who were dead in your trespasses and uncircumcision of your faith.

[24:49] In Ephesians, right? Ephesians, we've been hitting Ephesians a lot. Let's turn to Ephesians 2. Ladies, as you're studying through Ephesians on Wednesday afternoon, this is a familiar ground for you.

[25:04] But again, we're going to see again Paul affirming the doctrine of sin, that we are truly dead in our trespasses before we are saved out of that pit.

[25:18] Ephesians 2.1-6, And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

[25:46] Right? Verses 1, 2, and 3 here in Ephesians 2 is testimony of the fact that indeed, prior to salvation, we are dead in our sins.

[25:59] We can't save ourselves, right? We are dead. We need something not within us, but outside of us to save us from that condition. In verse 4 of Ephesians 2 says, But God, beautiful words, But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses.

[26:21] So Paul, again, is just, let me remind you one more time. Even when we were dead in our trespasses, hey, hey, sinner, hey, unsaved one, you didn't do this. When you were dead in your trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ.

[26:37] By grace, you have been saved and raised up, and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So when we look back at Psalm 103, verse 4, who redeems your life from the pit, we see that echoed throughout Scripture.

[26:57] God redeemed us from the pit. Now, redeem, earlier, before we sang the song, I Will Glory in My Redeemer, right, I said, pay attention to the words that you're going to sing because you were singing Psalm 103, verse 4, right?

[27:16] Redeem. So the term redeem denotes the payment of a ransom price, right? You redeem something. It's an exchange. You pay for something in exchange. And we sang this earlier. So, on the first verse, in I Will Glory in My Redeemer, there's the first verse and there's the refrain.

[27:32] And we sang this. I will glory in My Redeemer who crushed the power of sin and death. You sang that. We sang those words.

[27:43] We're affirming what David is saying in Psalm 103, verse 4. God redeemed me by crushing the power of sin and death.

[27:56] Now, this is about the time that I need to hear a hallelujah or an amen, right? Amen. He crushed the power of sin and death. And so, David, the psalmist, is, again, he's calling himself, he's exhorting himself to remember who redeems your life from the pit.

[28:19] What's the first part of verse 4? Well, the second part of verse 4 will continue. David writes, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy.

[28:30] Again, that's what the ESV says. In your translations, it could read, who, and I've got, I've got printed out here some of the different translations, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who crowns you with loving kindness and compassion, NASB, the later NASB version, the 2020 version, who crowns you with favor and compassion, the NIV, who crowns you with love and compassion.

[29:03] So, these, all these different words, steadfast love, loving kindness, compassion, favor, these all refer to God's gracious love for us.

[29:14] Again, the Hebrew word I shared earlier is chesed. Now, you know, I debate, you know, and Jeff does as well. When we preach, you know, what's really the value in sharing with you the Hebrew words, the Greek words?

[29:26] You're probably not going to remember them. This is one you want to remember. Chesed, H-E-S-E-D, Hebrew. We see this over 250 times in the Old Testament.

[29:37] We're going to visit not all of them, but we are going to visit a couple of them. We already did in Psalm 136, right? We saw it mentioned 26 times in that Psalm alone.

[29:47] His steadfast love. In my research, I read that this word, chesed, is a very difficult word to translate with a single English word, right?

[30:00] It's very comprehensive. It refers to God's encompassing love, His grace, His mercy, His goodness, His forgiveness, His truth, His compassion, His faithfulness.

[30:13] So you can see why different translations sometimes use slightly different words to reflect what chesed is meaning. One commentator said that this word can best be described as God's loyal covenant love for His people.

[30:31] I like that. His covenant committed love. The inference is that love that will not be broken. A covenant love, chesed. This same word is used in a familiar verse in Micah 6, verse 8.

[30:47] This may be familiar to you. He has told you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love, based on your translation, and to love kindness or to love mercy, to love chesed, and to walk humbly with your God.

[31:06] If you look in our chapter that we're reviewing today, there's actually four occurrences of chesed. So we're in verse 4. Have your eyes travel down to verse 8.

[31:18] The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in what? Steadfast love. Abounding in chesed. Verse 11.

[31:29] For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is what? His steadfast love. Chesed. Verse 17. But the what?

[31:40] The steadfast love of the Lord, the chesed, is from everlasting to everlasting. And I did make note, and hopefully you did too, those references right there, verses 8 and 11 and 17, do you see how they're described in a huge, in an all-encompassing way, right?

[32:01] Verse 8. Abounding in steadfast love. So great, in verse 11, so great is his steadfast love, as high as the heavens are above the earth.

[32:13] Verse 17. His steadfast love is from everlasting to everlasting. And so, the psalmist just can't help in this chapter, David, just can't help in using different ways to describe God's steadfast love, his chesed for us.

[32:30] His steadfast love is beautiful and is all-encompassing. Who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy.

[32:49] The word there, backing up from steadfast love, and in looking at verse 4, as David writes it, who crowns you.

[32:59] I want to mention this as well, because again, these are things that when you review these verses later and when you meditate and you have your devotions and perhaps use this chapter, these are just things that you don't necessarily catch these just in a normal reading, in a devotional reading.

[33:16] This takes some study. But when David writes, who crowns you with chesed, with his steadfast love. So this is Old Testament, right? This is poetry.

[33:27] So picture in your mind, and there's two ways to picture this as we reference the Hebrew word for crown, right? And so one picture is probably the more familiar one, the one that we would gravitate to.

[33:42] It's the picture of a coronation, right? Think king. You know, we are crowned, right, with a steadfast love and mercy. But that Hebrew word being crowned not only means a coronation, a crowning, but it also means to be surrounded by and to be closed in by.

[34:02] And so to get a sense of what this word, this word picture could be used to understand and describe God's all-encompassing, all-surrounding grace, I want you to turn to 1 Samuel, all right?

[34:16] So we're going to do just a little bit of study here in 1 Samuel. Turn to chapter 23. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, right?

[34:28] So you want to turn back to find 1 Samuel. Now, we're going to be, I'm going to read just a few verses in chapter 23 to illustrate this being surrounded by or being closed in by, just the concept of that.

[34:44] But to understand that, you've got to understand a little bit of context. of what's happening in this part of Scripture. So in 1 Samuel chapter 17, I think we're all familiar with the account of David and Goliath, right?

[34:57] So 1 Samuel chapter 17 is when we see David slay Goliath. And then in chapter 18, we see Saul, King Saul and David return from this battle with the Philistines and with them killing Goliath.

[35:14] And we read this in chapter, you don't have to turn there, but let me read this in chapter 18. In verse 7, as Saul and David were returning, let me pick it up here in verse 6.

[35:29] So this is chapter 18, verse 6. As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tambourines, with joys of song, and with musical instruments.

[35:46] And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, Saul has struck down his thousands. And then what's the next line? And David, his ten thousands.

[36:00] Verse 8, and Saul was very angry. That anger, right, that jealousy drove King Saul to want to slay, to want to kill David.

[36:14] And so that's what's happening in verse 17, I mean, I'm sorry, in chapters 17 and 18, and then through chapters 19 and 23, we see different accounts where Saul, he's having his army go find David.

[36:26] I want to find David and I want to slay him. Right? And so let me pick it up now. And again, this is, the intent here is to help you understand this word picture of being crowned with God's steadfast love.

[36:40] So in chapter 23, let me pick it up in verse 24. So chapter 23, verse 24. Now David and his men, and so they were fleeing, they were continuing to flee from King Saul.

[36:54] Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Ereba, to the south of Jeshamon. And Saul and his men went to seek him, went to seek David.

[37:05] And David was told, so he went down to the rock and lived in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon.

[37:17] Verse 26, Saul went on one side of the mountain and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul as Saul, yeah, and David was hurrying to get away from Saul.

[37:33] As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, and then the account continues. But I want to stop right there.

[37:44] That picture of Saul and his army going around the mountain chasing after David, and that picture of Saul and his army closing in on David.

[37:55] Now, picture Psalm 103, verse 4, right? We are crowned, right? We are crowned with steadfast love and mercy, right? This is a good being surrounded and closing in on, right?

[38:08] Beautiful picture. Being crowned, think of coronation, but also, this can also be understood, again, in this beautiful Old Testament poetry that God surrounds us, closes us in.

[38:21] There's nowhere to go. There's nowhere to hide. There's nowhere to escape, Christian. God's steadfast love. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful in Psalm 103, verse 4.

[38:36] All right, let's turn back to Psalm 103, and let's look at verse 5. Again, as we recount God's benefits to us. Verse 5.

[38:51] It just doesn't end. It keeps going, right? He forgives us all of our iniquity. He heals our diseases. He redeems our life from the pit. He crowns us. He surrounds us with steadfast love and mercy. Verse 5.

[39:02] He satisfies you with good. That word, satisfies, in Hebrew, means, get this, to be satisfied, right? So it's a good, it's a good, it's easy, it's a one-to-one translation, right?

[39:14] To be satisfied, to be filled to satisfaction, to have enough. God showers us with His heavenly blessings, good in this case, He satisfies you with good, so that we are satisfied.

[39:29] Do you know your God is one who satisfies?

[39:47] Matthew Henry, and I have a quote up here on the screen, Matthew Henry comments of this satisfying aspect of God's goodness. It is only the favor and grace of God that can give satisfaction to a soul.

[40:01] It can suit its capacities, supply its needs, and answer to its desires. Spurgeon says, No man is ever filled to satisfaction but a believer, and only God Himself can satisfy even Him.

[40:19] Many a worldling, worldling, unbeliever, many a worldling is satiated, but not one is satisfied. God satisfies the very soul of man.

[40:31] As I was thinking about this, you know, being filled, fulfilled, satisfied, you know, satiated, I couldn't help, this is maybe as an oversimplified example, and my wife will laugh at this, but maybe some of you are like me, you know, sometimes, you know, when it's dinner time or you're getting, you know, near the end of the day and you're just hungry, right?

[40:50] But you just don't know what you want to eat, right? Have you ever felt that way where you just, I don't know, do I want something light or heavy or meaty or vegetable-y or whatever? I just, I don't know.

[41:02] And my wife is like, Craig, I'll fix you whatever you want. Just, what do you want? I don't know what I want. And so, we'll try something and I'll eat, and nah, it just didn't hit the spot.

[41:13] And maybe we eat something else and I get to the point where I'm full, right? I've filled my belly, I'm full of food, but I'm not satisfied. I just, that, what I was needing and wanting from a physical hunger perspective, right?

[41:27] It just, it just didn't hit the nail on the head, right? That's sort of, I think, what Spurgeon is going toward there, right?

[41:38] And Matthew Henry. We can be filled, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we can be satisfied, right?

[41:48] Now, think spiritually for a minute, right? You see the analogy? See the parallel? Don't we fill ourselves with stuff in our lives, right? You know, I think of unbelievers, clearly, right, unbelievers who don't know the satisfaction of the Lord, they fill their life with other things, right?

[42:09] With entertainment, with food, with addictions, with whatever, whatever, right? Trying to fill that, that, if you would, that hole that's in their heart, the, the, the spirit is missing from their soul, right?

[42:25] And, only God can satisfy that. And so, as we as believers, right, we know we are, God can satisfy us, but yet we still try to fill ourselves, sometimes, with, with things of the world.

[42:41] And so, isn't it a beautiful reminder that David reminds us in, in verse five, that God satisfies us with good.

[42:53] Only God satisfies. So, here's the application for this, for this verse, right? Stop looking elsewhere to be satisfied and to be filled. Stop looking elsewhere.

[43:06] Look to the Lord. He is the one who satisfies. We sang this earlier today, I will glory in my Redeemer, right?

[43:17] Second verse, you sang this, you've already spoken this to the Lord. I will glory in my Redeemer, my life He bought, my love He owns.

[43:28] I have no longings for another. What's the last line, church? Let's say it together. I'm satisfied in Him alone. When you sang that, did you lie or did you mean it?

[43:43] Did you mean it? Maybe this morning we mean it in the comfort of a Sunday morning worship service with church, but, you know, when we get out into the world and we're accosted, we're fighting the culture of the day, you know, whatever, right?

[43:58] When our buttons are pushed, when our flesh rises up, right? Are you satisfied in Him alone? It's a great reminder as we recount God's blessings.

[44:12] And finally, the last part of verse 5. Who satisfies you good, I'm sorry, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.

[44:24] Again, beautiful imagery here. This is conveying a sense of divine providence and peace so that spiritually your youthful strength is renewed like the eagles, right?

[44:36] So when you think of an eagle, have you seen an eagle? See how it soars with power and with majesty and with strength. It's interesting, and you don't have to turn here, well, you may don't need to turn here, but the previous psalm, Psalm 102, verses 6 and 7, just in way of comparison, let me read this to you.

[44:54] So Psalm 102 is a song of lament. We don't know who the psalmist is, but this is what the psalmist says in Psalm 106. I resemble a pelican of the wilderness.

[45:05] I have become like an owl of the waste places. I lie awake. I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop. Gloom, desolation, despair, no comfort even in the light of day as the owl sits in its waste places.

[45:23] The bird, loneliness, maybe being ostracized, right? I just, I found that interesting that not a chapter earlier, we see this imagery of gloom and despair and desolation and then we compare it with what David is writing here that our youth will be renewed like the eagles.

[45:43] All right? Isaiah 40, 29 through 31 says, He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might he increases strength.

[45:55] Even youths shall faint and be weary and young men shall fall exhausted but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles.

[46:08] They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not be fainted. Right? Christian, God renews you. You may not feel it physically but in your mind and in your soul and your spirit as God satisfies you as he is as he is your ultimate satisfaction he renews your strength.

[46:32] The satisfied life is a wholesome life. It's strong and it's spiritually nourished and it flourishes. Beautiful imagery, huh? Eagle. Eagles.

[46:45] Well, that's Psalm 103 verses 4 and 5 a little more unpacked than we were able to get to last week obviously.

[46:56] So in review, so look back in your scripture, copy your scripture. In review, Psalm 103 verses 1 through 5. Right? So what are our takeaways from this as I conclude? Right? So verses 1 and 2 we see David stirring himself up to gratitude using his whole being, all of himself.

[47:13] Right? Verse 2, he calls on himself to remember God's benefits. Right? And then starting with verse 3 is a recounting of those benefits.

[47:24] He starts to recount those benefits. Verse 3 refers to God's forgiveness, his parting of all our iniquity, the healing of our soul spiritually. Verse 4 of his redeeming love, he saved us from the pit, from our deadness.

[47:39] He crowned us, he surrounds us with a steadfast love, his covenant love. What's that Hebrew word? Hesed, H-E-S-E-D. He crowns us, he surrounds us with his love and with his mercy.

[47:53] Verse 5, we find our satisfaction in God alone. He satisfies us with good. And in that satisfaction, we are continually renewed spiritually.

[48:06] So we've taken time to look at verses 3, 4, and 5, but that doesn't end there. So for you, again, my intent last week as well as this morning was for this to be a springboard for you in your meditations, in your worship, in your personal devotion to the Lord.

[48:23] Use this chapter, 103, this full psalm, and continue to recount God's goodness and his benefit to us.

[48:34] Let's pray. Father, so Father, it is my prayer this morning, Lord, that as we have looked at these verses, Father, that we would be motivated, that we would be convicted, Lord, that we would be encouraged to recount your benefits to us, Father.

[48:54] Oh, Lord, I pray that we would not be forgetful, that we would not be half-hearted, half-minded. As we give you worship, Father, you alone are the one who is worthy of true praise, of true adoration.

[49:08] So, Father, we want to worship you in spirit and in truth. We want to have hearts that are full of gratitude, that are humbled by your goodness. Father, would you overwhelm us, overwhelm us in our hearts, in our minds, in our spirit, to really grasp your full goodness to us, Lord?

[49:28] Lord, would you open our ears to hear of your goodness, open our eyes to see of your goodness, by recounting your mercies and your grace and your steadfast love to us, Father.

[49:43] Thank you for giving us this opportunity, this divine privilege of opening your word, of looking at your scripture, of seeing these words that you inspired David to write.

[49:54] Thank you that this word is preserved for us to learn from and to grow in you. Amen. Amen. Amen.