MPC, 31st December 2000.Psalm 103 - Thank God!
Phil Campbell MPC, 31st December 2000.
There's a pop song going round at the moment by Jon Bon Jovi. That you'll only have heard if you accidentally turned on one of those pop music shows like RAGE on TV on a Saturday morning. The sort of song with a catchy tune; and words that are full of a sort of desperate philosophy that says THERE'S NOTHING... of ANY VALUE... anywhere. A sort of a fatalism, that says THIS IS ALL THERE IS. So suck it dry. The song's called IT'S MY LIFE. And that's the sort of thing it's saying. It's MY LIFE. Butt out. It's MY LIFE. I can do what I want.
Have a listen to the chorus. It says,
It's my life -It's now or never
I ain't gonna live forever -I just want to live while I'm
alive
(It's my life) My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said "I did it my way"
I just wanna live while I'm alive - It's my life
Get that. This is all there is. It's my life, it's NOW OR NEVER. Not going to live forever, I just want to live while I'm alive. IT'S MY LIFE. I can do what I want with it. And on he goes, to sing how he's not going to be just a face in the crowd; he's going to make a STATEMENT. It's HIS LIFE. And he's going to make his own rules, do his own thing, and suck it dry. Make sure he LIVES... while he's alive.
I wonder if you noticed that the Psalm we just read had a very different philosophy. It agrees on ONE THING. And that is, THIS LIFE is going to come to an end. But there's a completely different answer to HOW THAT AFFECTS how we live now.
Pick it up in verse 15; for a good dose of PERSPECTIVE.
This is a Psalm of David, King of Israel. A song. Part of Israels HYMNBOOK. And he says this, in the midst of all the splendour of his Kingdom. He says, "As for man, his days are like grass. He flourishes like a flower of the field. The wind blows over it.... and it's gone. And its place remembers it no more."
Here today, gone tomorrow. Life rushes past like the wind. Feels like you stop paying attention for a few minutes, and another ten years has gone by. And so the Bon Jovi song's got it right. NOT GOING TO LIVE FOREVER. The BIG question is, what follows from that?
Have a look what David says. Because it's very different to what Bon Jovi says, isn't it. As you'd expect. But it's a hinge point, it's a turning point in our thinking, that makes all the difference in the world to the way you're going to live.
David says this. He says we're like grass. BUT... verse 17... BUT FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING... the LORD'S LOVE is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their Children's Children - with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
This time last year, the word ETERNITY lit up the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Celebration of the New Year. The new millennium. Which I've finally been convinced really starts tomorrow anyway. And that's what King David's pointing to. Our lives here are like the grass and the flowers in the field. Here today, gone tomorrow. But for those in AWE OF GOD, for God's people who put their trust in him, David says, the Lord's love is with them from ETERNITY PAST to ETERNITY FUTURE.
Which puts a whole different perspective on things, doesn't it. And it's not just a matter of making sure you LIVE IT UP while you're ALIVE HERE AND NOW. But of living with a view to ETERNITY.
So what's a life like that going to look like? A life lived not just for now... but with a view to eternity? A life that says, yep, this lifetime is like a flower in the field. But GOD'S LOVE HAS GOT A PLAN FOR MY ETERNITY? That's what David expands on in the rest of the Psalm. And above all, he says a life with that perspective is going to be a life of saying THANKYOU. A life of GRATITUDE to God. Which I think is the exact opposite of the life that says, life is short so grab what you can. Down at Franklins at Brookside they ran a competition, a TWO MINUTE GROCERY GRAB. Two minutes to stack your trolley with as much as you could. You put your docket in the box at the checkout, and then you daydream about which aisle you'll head to first. How much Sarah Lee Double Chocolate Icecream you can fit in a trolley in two minutes.
See, that's what you do when TIME IS SHORT. But what if there's ETERNITY. And God's given you EVERYTHING. With ETERNITY TO ENJOY IT.
That's the perspective of Psalm 103. It's a song about gratitude to God. A psalm about being thankful people in the light of eternity. A psalm that helps us to remember to "count our blessings", thats lists for us, what God has done, in his goodness for each of us.
Interesting. Because if you're like me it's very easy not to do that. And do the exact opposite. To grumble. Or to start just stuffing the trolley just in case. Or to just stop noticing God's blessings. And the first interesting thing to notice in the light of that is WHO THE PSALM'S ADDRESSED TO.
Sometimes they say talking to yourself is a sign you're cracking up. Not sure what they say about SINGING TO YOURSELF. But do you notice, here's a song NOT TO GOD, not to OTHER PEOPLE... it's a Psalm David's written to address HIMSELF.
Which isn't all that crazy, when you think about - I mean, think about the sort of songs or poems we use all the time to remind us of stuff. How you remember the days in each month. Thirty Days hath September, April, June, and November. And sports trainers, coaches, tell you that what you're saying to yourself through the game is one of the MAJOR FACTORS... in how you play.
Well, here's David's SONG TO HIMSELF... that he wants to have running round in his head as a constant reminder of what his FOCUS SHOULD BE. As a reminder of God's BLESSINGS. The blessings of LIFE. And the blessings of ETERNITY.
Verse 1. Praise the Lord O MY SOUL. All my INMOST BEING, praise his Holy Name. Praise the Lord O MY SOUL - and FORGET NOT all his benefits."
And here they are... he lists them. Here's David's SONG TO HIMSELF. Don't forget, inmost soul, he says, don't forget - we're in verse 3, that God is the God who FORGIVES ALL YOUR SINS.
Is that where your thankyou list would start? Or do you just take it for granted in your inmost soul? David says, start with that one. And he's going to come back to it in verses 10 to 12.
And the way he HEALS ME, says David. Praise the Lord O my Soul... that God heals all your diseases. That the body he gives us somehow when it's cut, heals. When you're sick, gets better. Time and time again. As he looks back at his life, David MARVELS at that. And says THANKYOU. Because every time you recover, every time something heals, every time you grow stronger... it's THE MIRACLE OF LIFE at work. Which isn't to say our bodies are going to KEEP DOING THAT FOR EVER. David knows that just as well as we do. Because we know he goes on to say THIS LIFE WITHERS LIKE THE GRASS. And yet here on his reminder list, his thankyou list, he tells his inmost soul to remember to give thanks, that God forgives; and God heals.
Verse 4, there's more. And if you know the life story of King David - you can read it in Samuel and 1 Kings - if you know the life story of David, he's a King who dug himself into some pretty deep holes. Got himself in some desperate situations. Hard to know the exact pit he's talking about in verse 4; but easy to see who he wants to thank. Whether it's the pit of a huge problem he was facing; or the pit of depression. Even the pit of God's JUDGEMENT. Praise the Lord O my soul and REMEMBER HIS BENEFITS... because verse 4, it's HE who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with LOVE and COMPASSION; it's HE who satisfies your desires with Good things, refreshes you so your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
If you've got in your mind that God is a spoilsport sort of God, that God's not the source of all pleasure and fun, if you've got that sort of ancient Greek idea in your head that GOD PREFERS PAIN TO PLEASURE, then you'll easily forget to be thankful, won't you. But David sings this to himself. He says, PRAISE THE LORD, MY INMOST BEING, for the way God has satisfied your desires with GOOD THINGS.
He says, Think of a GOOD THING. That's left you deeply satisfied. And thank God for it. Make it a habit.
The Nature of God
But there's more than that to be thankful for. Especially if you were an Israelite. It goes for us as well. And that is, at the base level, David sees he needs to THANK GOD for SHOWING US WHO HE IS. Which again, we can easily take for granted.
Imagine your boss at work was a person who never spoke to you. Someone who didn't even GRUNT hello in the morning. Someone who never told you what they liked, what they didn't like. Someone who kept the door closed; you never actually knew whether they were IN... or OUT. All you could do was GUESS.
Now imagine GOD was like that. Some people want to say that's exactly what God's like. Unknowable. All you can do is guess. But for ISRAEL in the Old Testament; and for US - that's not the picture at all.
So David says, FORGET NOT GOD'S BENEFITS. Verse 6. That he works righteousness and justice for the oppressed. That HE MADE KNOWN HIS WAYS to Moses. That he actually INTRODUCED HIMSELF. Shook hands, said HERE I AM. That he made known his DEEDS to the people of Israel, as he led them through the wilderness to the promised land. That God REVEALLED HIS NATURE to his people... his compassion and grace; that he's slow to anger and abounding in love.
How would it BE if God left us guessing? And since David wrote the Psalm there's even MORE to give thanks for - in the way God's made himself known in JESUS HIS SON.
Knowing God isn't a matter of GUESSWORK. Or my theory's as good as your theory. He's made himself KNOWN TO HIS PEOPLE. Which means instead of guessing about him, instead of rushing around trying to appease him, instead of living in fear of spirits or fickle gods, we just say THANKYOU. For the privilege.
Forgiveness Again (9-12)
I said a few minutes ago David starts and finishes at the same point. Back in verse 1 he said PRAISE THE LORD O MY SOUL, don't forget all his benefits - BENEFIT NUMBER 1, the way HE FORGIVES ALL MY SINS.
And that's a thought he wants to come back to in verses 9 to 12. Because the God we know, the God who showed Moses who he was, who showed Israel what he was like; time and time again the thing he shows is his MERCY. His forgiveness.
He will NOT ALWAYS ACCUSE, verse 9; nor will he HARBOUR HIS ANGER FOREVER.
David says, God's got a day in mind where he's going to LET HIS ANGER GO. When the accusations are going to stop. Will you notice, God's anger is a HOLY ANGER. God is PERFECTLY RIGHT to be angry with sin. I mean, we get angry, don't we; or we should; when we hear about some terrible crime; God's anger at our sin is JUST AND RIGHT. But David says, he's not going to HOLD IT AGAINST US. Verse 10; he doesn't treat US as our SINS DESERVE, or REPAY US according to our iniquities. We're treated far better than we deserve... and from our perspective we can see why; because JESUS CHRIST was treated the way our sins deserve. And Jesus Christ... was repaid... according to OUR INIQUITIES.
Because as high as the heavens are above the earth, that's how much God loves his people; and as far as the east is from the west, that's how far he's removed our transgressions from us. Which if you think about it, is a very long way.
Be THANKFUL FOR THAT. Instead of taking it for granted. Instead of doubting it. Instead of cycling back into guilt over and over again. Be grateful for that GREATEST OF ALL BENEFITS... that people like you and me are counted as being MILES AWAY from our failures and sins. That God can look at you and instead of seeing YOU surrounded by the litter and rubbish and mess of a lifetime of failure and sin and black marks against your name, just sees YOU THE FORGIVEN ONE. And the other stuff is as far away as the east is from the west.
Conclusion
On September 8, 1860. a steamer named the The Lady Elgin hit a chunk of ice in Lake Michigan and sank. It was all over in minutes. And as people screamed in the icy water, a university student whose name was Edward Spencer swam out over and over again - and rescued 17 people. He survived. But ended up with hypothermia.. He was bedridden; never really recovered. He couldn't continue his university course And within two years he died.
At his funeral, the person giving the eulogy made a point of saying that NOT ONE of those 17 people that he saved ever visited him in his two years of sickness. NOT ONE of them even turned up to his funeral. NOT ONE of them had ever bothered coming back to say THANKYOU.
I know that's often how it is with me. So if you tend to forget to be thankful, do what David does... Pull yourself firmly aside and have a serious talk to yourself. And say to yourself, "Praise the Lord, O my soul, all my inmost being...and FORGET NOT all his benefits". Life is short. But for the people of God, eternity is long. So BE THANKFUL. Give thanks to God for who he is. Give thanks to God for HIS FORGIVENESS. Give thanks to God most of all that your eternity is sure... because your sins have been PAID FOR in Jesus.