14 Feb Summer Psalms – Psalm 103: Prayer for the forgetful

Psalm 103:1-22

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! ² Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, ³ who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, ⁴ who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, ⁵ who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶ The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. ⁷ He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. ⁸ The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. ⁹ He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. ¹⁰ He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. ¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; ¹² as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. ¹³ As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

¹⁴ For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. ¹⁵ As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; ¹⁶ for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. ¹⁷ But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, ¹⁸ to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. ¹⁹ The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.

²⁰ Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word! ²¹ Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will! ²² Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!

How many of you love meme? I am not a fan of meme, but I recently came across a meme that tells the story of my life. Check it out. (Meme of a boy who forgets what he is doing). How many of you can relate to this meme? I am a forgetful person. I have a really bad short-term memory. I forget things easily. Especially names. I am horrible with remembering names. Back in 2014, our church had a musical drama called Arkadia. It was an annual big event to celebrate ROCK Sydney’s anniversary. The musical drama was based on the story of Nehemiah. Some of you played part in the drama. And when the musical drama ended, it was my turn to preach. I had 25 minutes to preach the gospel and I gave my all. Back then, I was a lot more energetic when I preached. And after the service, a young girl walked up to me and began to talk to me. She told me, “It is one of the best sermons I’ve ever heard,” and she went on and on. And I smiled and listened to her attentively. Obviously, from the way she talked to me, this girl knew me. The problem was I did not remember who she was. So, while I listened to her, I tried my best to remember but I could not. On my defence, my brain usually went on shut down mode after I preached. I tried to be as responsive as I could in our conversation without mentioning her name. Then she suddenly stopped talking. She looked at me and asked this dreadful question. “You don’t remember my name, do you?” And I replied, “I am so sorry. I do not remember your name. My mind went blank every time after I preach. Your face looks familiar though.” But the truth is, I did not even remember her face. So, she gave me 5 seconds to figure out who she was. And I was still clueless. I said, “Can you at least give me a hint?” And she said, “Youth.” And I replied, “Oh you came to our youth service. When? 5 years ago? Before we became RYI? Or while I was in Dallas? It must have been a while back.” She looked at me and said, “No, I was there two weeks ago. Jonathan Appel was preaching.” Apparently, she came to RYI every now and then, but I did not remember her. And to my recollection, she never came to RYI anymore after that day. Or, she did but I do not remember.

Today we are starting a new series on the book of Psalms that we titled Summer Psalms. For the next 6 Sundays, we are going to look at 6 different psalms and apply it into our lives. Now if you know me, then you know that I have a special affection for the book of Psalm. I love Psalm because this book is so real. In Psalm, we find people crying out to God and singing and praying their hearts out to God. And what they say is real. It’s not as if they are trying to sugar coat their feelings and try to sound spiritual. That’s something that we do. But not Psalm. In Psalm we find people crying out to God in desperation. “How long O Lord? Will you forget me forever? Lord, where are you? Why do the wicked prosper? Lord, I don’t understand, and I’m confused.” The book of Psalm gives us the space to be honest with God and express our disappointment and hurts to him. It tells us that is okay to be not okay. But it does not stop there. It is okay to be not okay, but it is not okay to stay there. Eventually, we must shift from talking to God about our situation to talking to ourselves on who God is and what he has done. The book of Psalm teaches us to preach to our own souls.

For those who are forgetful like me, Psalm 103 is written for us. This Psalm is written by David. This Psalm is David’s personal song that eventually becomes a hymn. In this Psalm, David is speaking to himself. Why? Because David experiences something that we experience all the time. David knows the Lord. David is familiar with the Lord. But at the same time, David has lost sight of the wonder of the Lord. David understands that it is possible for us to know the Lord and not feel the wonder of the Lord. And in this Psalm, David is speaking to himself to remember what the Lord has done and bless him for it. David argues that the main thing we need to do in order to stay in awe of the Lord is to not forget; Do not forget what the Lord has done. Why is it important for us to not forget? Because our main problem in life is that we forget. We forget what we should remember, and we remember what we should forget. And Psalm 103 gives us the most fundamental concept to deal with all situations and questions of life. It tells us that what we need the most to handle all problems of life is to remember the gospel. Or let me put it another way. The main problem we have in life is that we have gospel amnesia; we forget what the Lord has done. Psalm 103 reminds us to remember the gospel. It is the most gospel-rich Psalm.

I separate this Psalm into four sections. Remember; Remember the benefits; Remember the relationship; Remember the gospel.

Remember

Psalm 103:1-2 – Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! ² Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

Do you know that the Bible not only speaks of the reality that the Lord blesses us but also for us to bless him? And this is counter-intuitive. Because to bless someone usually assumes that we are in a superior position over the person we bless. The greater blesses the lesser. Which leads to the question, are we greater than the Lord? Why would the Lord need our blessing? I don’t know if you ever heard it before, but there is a popular teaching that says, “There is one thing that the Lord cannot do. He cannot worship himself. Therefore, we are created to worship him.” My ears tickled whenever I hear this. There is one big problem with this teaching. It assumes that there is a lack in the Lord. That the Lord is somehow not perfect. That the Lord has a need to be worshipped and we are the one that can meet that need and that is how we can bless the Lord. Let me make it clear. That is a heresy. The Lord is perfect. He has no need whatsoever. He is happy in himself. He is not lacking in any way. He was happy in the eternal past; he is happy today; and he will be happy in the eternal future. There is nothing we can give to the Lord that will make him more complete. The Lord is perfect.

So why do we bless the Lord? Listen carefully. We do not bless the Lord to give him something that he does not have but we bless the Lord because he has given us everything that we have. The Lord does not need us to bless him for him to feel good about himself. The Lord is not in the heaven saying to the angel, “Gabriel, did you check out RSI new gospel liturgy? Did you hear what they sing about me? I did not realize I am that amazing. Dang, I feel good about myself.” The Lord always feel good about himself whether we acknowledge him or not. The reason we bless the Lord is because are declaring to ourselves and everyone around us all the goods that he has done for us. To bless the Lord is more than just saying nice things about him. To bless the Lord is to be filled with awe and wonder of who he is and declare it verbally. And here David is telling himself to bless the Lord with all that is within him. With another word, don’t just bless the Lord with our mouth but we bless the Lord with all our entire being. We bless the Lord with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strengths.

So, how do we bless the Lord with all that is within us? David says that the first thing we must do is to forget not. With another word, the first thing we must do to bless the Lord is to remember. Here is something that we must understand. All of us have a problem remembering. You might argue that this does not apply to you. You might have an excellent memory. Maybe some of you have a photographic memory. All you have to do to study for an exam is to read over the material once and you remember everything. It is a gift that you have. Jesus loves you, but we hate you. But the kind of remembering that the Bible speaks about is different from the way we understand it. When we use the word remember, we are trying to communicate the idea of being aware of some facts that we might forget. So, husbands, when your wife tells you to remember to buy groceries on your way home from work, she wants you to be aware of the fact that she expects you to come home with groceries. Otherwise, there would be no dinner for you. But the Bible’s understanding of the word remember is a lot stronger than that. When the Bible tells us to remember, it does not simply mean to be aware of some facts but to take hold of those facts and see everything else through the lenses of those facts. It’s like putting on sunglasses. When we put on sunglasses, whatever we see is affected by the lenses in front of us. To remember is to have something so central to who we are that it controls everything we do.

This is very crucial. Do you know what Christians number one problem is? The easy answer is sin. But do you know why Christians sin against God? Let me give you one case study from the Bible. Isaiah 51:12-13 – ¹² “I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, ¹³ and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy? And where is the wrath of the oppressor?” Pay attention to what the Lord is saying to Israel. The Lord is asking the people of Israel, “Israel, why do you fear men? Why are you afraid of them? Let me tell you why. Because you have forgotten me, the Lord, your Maker. You have forgotten how great I am.”

Do you see that? Israel should have known that the Lord is far greater than men, but they forgot. And because of it, they sinned against God. That was their problem and that is our problem as well. We forget easily. Let me prove it. Have you ever made a promise to God not to do something again, only to repeat it for the hundredth times? At the time when it happened, we told ourselves, “I will never do it again.” Because at that moment it was obvious how wrong and destructive it was. But within weeks, sometimes within days, we were at it again. What happened? I mean, we remembered how destructive the sin was. We remembered our promise. But that thought no longer controlled us. It no longer gripped us. We remembered but we did not remember. We have forgotten the Lord. Do you realize that there is something about our hearts that easily forget the good but remember the bad? That’s what sin does to us. Sin makes us forget the things that we should remember and remember the things that we should forget.

Let me give you a personal example. As a preacher, I often received compliments from people. They would tell me how God used my sermons to speak to them and transformed them. And I am always grateful for those compliments. But let me tell you. I might receive hundreds of compliments, but it only takes one criticism to outweigh all those compliments. It is as if the hundreds of compliments come in black and white while the one criticism is as clear as 4K high definition. Why does somebody have to tell us that we are great a hundred times before we believe it, but only once do they have to tell us that we suck before we immediately believe it? Our hearts are corrupted with sin that it resists the good and put a spotlight on the bad. Because of sin, our hearts operate opposite from how it should. Most of the things we should remember, we do not remember. And most of the things we should not remember, we remember. David understands our problem. That is why he begins by telling himself to remember. Do not forget. But what is it that we need to remember? Forget not all his benefits.

Remember the benefits

Psalm 103:3-5 – ³ who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, ⁴ who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, ⁵ who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

There are five benefits that David mentions in these verses. And all these benefits are in the present tense. Which mean that the Lord is constantly pouring out these benefits to his people. First benefit, forgiveness. The Lord forgives us of all our sins. This is the most important benefit. This is the greatest gift and one that we must have above all. Because what good is all other benefits if we are not forgiven by the Lord? And the Lord not only forgives some of our sins. The Lord forgives all our sins. Remember who writes this psalm. I know David is a man after God’s own heart. But he is also a wretched sinner. He slept with his friend’s wife, impregnated her, and killed her husband to cover it up. And David has the audacity to say that the Lord forgives all his sins. I do not know what sort of sins in your life that weigh you down today but there is no sin that the Lord cannot forgive. The Lord forgives all our iniquities.

Second benefit, healing. The Lord heals all our sicknesses. Some commentaries that I read argue that by diseases, David is not referring to sickness but rather adversities or setbacks. That’s cute but I think they are wrong. The Lord does heal all our sicknesses. He either heals it now or he has paid the price for our perfect healing that we will fully receive in the eternal life. I don’t have the time to talk a lot about it, but the point is that the Lord heals all our diseases. Whether it is flu, sore throat, back pain, covid19, blind eye, deaf ear, mute mouth, cancer, tumour, aids, mental illness, etc. The Lord heals all our diseases.

Third benefit, redemption. The Lord redeems our lives from the pit. It means that the Lord has paid the price of our freedom. Whatever used to bind us in the past, we are no longer bound to it. Whatever sins and addictions that used to enslave us, the Lord redeems us from it. Sin no longer our master. We have been set free. Therefore, today we can say no to our sinful desires. We can say no to our addictions. The Lord redeems our lives from the pit.

Fourth benefit, adoption. The Lord crowns us with steadfast love and mercy. He not only redeems us from our old lives, but he also gives us new lives. There is a royal celebration. We are crowned with the Lord’s steadfast love and mercy, which means we are adopted into his royal family. The Lord lifts us up out of the pit and showers us with his affection. The Lord crowns us with steadfast love and mercy.

Fifth benefit, satisfaction. The Lord satisfies us with good. I love the word satisfy. David does not say that the Lord gratify us with good. Gratification only lasts for a short while. That’s what sin offers us. Sin offers to satisfy us, but it can only gratify us. Sin gives us a drop of pleasure and a waterfall of regret. Sin can only offer empty promises of satisfaction. But the Lord satisfies us with good. The fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. That is what the Lord has in store for us. The Lord satisfies us with good.

And the purpose of all these benefits is so that our youth is renewed like the eagles. That we may have the strength to run hard after the Lord. There is a chain of grace in these benefits. The Lord forgives our sins. The Lord heals our diseases which means he defeats the power of sin. The Lord redeems our life which means he pays the penalty of sin. The Lord crowns us which means he adopts us as his children. And the Lord satisfies us with good. And all these benefits are not something that we earn but something that he gives to us. The Lord is the active agent and we are the passive recipients. When we remember the benefits we receive, our hearts’ response is to bless the Lord.

Remember the relationship

Psalm 103:6-13 – ⁶ The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. ⁷ He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. ⁸ The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. ⁹ He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. ¹⁰ He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. ¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; ¹² as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. ¹³ As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

David reminds himself not only of the benefits he receives from the Lord but also the relationship he has with the Lord. David says that our relationship with the Lord is like our relationship with our fathers. The Lord is not only our Lord, but he is also our good Father. Whenever we see a good father, we are seeing a reflection of the Lord. Just like a good father, there are times when the Lord has to discipline his children. I grew up in a very strict family. Both my dad and mom love the Lord and they understand the need to discipline their children to raise them well. And as you can see in front of you, I think they did a very good job. I thank the Lord for my parents. When I was young, whenever I disobeyed my parents, my dad would discipline me with his belt. In those days, we did not have “time out.” I was never told to stand at the corner of the room to reflect on what I did. It was always, “You did what? Kappooo.” That’s how we rolled in Yusuf’s family. But let’s put it out there. My dad disciplined me for my good. He did it out of love and concern for my welfare. But it doesn’t matter how well-intended he was, his disciplines were imperfect. There were times that he disciplined me out of frustration. Maybe he was frustrated with works or other things and I happened to push his button that day. It doesn’t matter how much he loves me, his disciplines were imperfect because he is imperfect. It is a mixed bag.

But not so with the Lord. The Lord never disciplines us out of frustration. He knew exactly what he is getting when he chose us before the foundation of the world. He knew exactly how we are going to react and behave. He knew what we did yesterday and what we will do tomorrow. We cannot surprise him, and he is never frustrated. So, when the Lord disciplines us, he does so perfectly. There is not a single hint of frustration in the Lord’s discipline. He allows exactly what we need for our good. Not one spank too many nor one spank too little. Not one millimetre more nor one millimetre less. The Lord’s discipline is exactly what we need for our good. How comforting is that?

But David does not stop there. Yes, there are times that the Lord expresses his anger toward us for our good. But listen. The Lord is merciful and gracious. He is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. And when he is angry with us, he does not keep his anger forever. Think about it. We sinned against the Lord. The Lord is righteous and just. Which mean, that our sins incurred his righteous anger. And Lord’s anger toward sin is great. But David says that although the Lord’s anger toward sin is great, his mercy toward us is far greater. Psalm 103:10-12 – ¹⁰ He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. ¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; ¹² as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Did you hear what David says? Get this. Because the Lord is our Father, he does not deal with us according to our sins, but he showers us with his great steadfast love. As far as the east is from the west, he removes our sins from us. One commentary puts it this way. You can only look toward east or west. You can’t look at both directions at the same time. So, when the Lord removes our sins from us as far as the east is from the west, he either looks at us or our sins. The good news is that the Lord is a compassionate Father to those who fear him. If we are his children, he does not deal with us according to our sins. He does not deal with us according to our performances. The relationship between a father and his children is not based on performance but based on love. And it gives us the confidence to come to him.

Tim Keller gives a good example. Think of a president of a country. What does it take to meet with a president in his office? You have to be important. You have to have accomplishments. You have to have power. Or you will never meet him in his office. You cannot go in and out of his office as you wish. There are appointments you have to make and strings to pull. Unless you are his children. His children have the freedom to enter a presidential office and run to him, saying, “Daddy.” Is the president no longer a president because he is a father? No, he is still the president of his country. But to his children, he is also their daddy. But if we try to run toward the president, well, we will see Jesus face to face. Children have special privileges. Isn’t that true, dad? In fact, your children are the only one who can wake you up at 3 in the morning and say, “Daddy, can I have a glass of water?” and you actually get up from your bed. If your wife tries to do the same, you will pretend you do not hear her. Am I right? To have the Lord as our Father means that we have a special relationship with him. Remember the relationship.

Remember the gospel

Psalm 103:14-19 – ¹⁴ For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. ¹⁵ As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; ¹⁶ for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. ¹⁷ But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, ¹⁸ to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. ¹⁹ The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.

This is massive. Pay attention to the beginning of verse 14. There is a three letters word that is crucial – “for.” The word “for” connects what David has just said in the previous verses to these verses. David has just told us that we have a relationship with the Lord that is not based on our performances but on love. The Lord is not only our God, but he is also our Father who loves us with his steadfast love. The Lord is a gracious compassionate Father who removes our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. And now David tells us why the Lord does it. And it is very different from what we might think. When we give reasons on why we love someone, we usually speak of their good attributes. Because they are good looking, kind, nice, cute, etc. But not so with the Lord. The Lord loves us because he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. He knows that our days are like grass and flowers which is here today and gone tomorrow. With another word, David is saying that the Lord does not loves us because we are great. It is the other way around. The Lord knows everything about us. We are dusty. We are small. We are insignificant. But get this. The knowledge of our smallness does not repel the Lord, but it is precisely because we are weak that the Lord loves us; It is because he knows that we are dust that he chose to love us.

This is very counter-intuitive. Let me put it this way. Did anyone watch the Truman show? It is a fascinating film. If you haven’t, let me give you a quick summary. Truman’s life from the moment he was born is being watched by many people. Everything he does and everything he says is recorded through hidden cameras and CCTVs. And there is no blind spot. Truman is under surveillance 24/7. People watch him when he sleeps, when he uses the restroom, when he goes out on a date, even when he picks his nose. There is nothing hidden about his life. Except for one. His mind. No one knows what is in his mind. But the Lord is different. The Lord not only knows everything that we do and say, but he also knows everything hidden about us. He knows our thoughts, our motives, our impulses. There is absolutely nothing hidden from him. And let me tell you, I can easily fool you to think that I am a great pastor by what I say and do. But if you know everything that is going on in my mind, you will not want me to be your pastor. In fact, you might not even want me to be your friend. But the Lord knows, and he chose to love me because of it. The Lord knows everything about us, and he chose to love us because of it. He is not repelled by it. And he not only loves us, but his love for us is eternal. The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. It means that before we came to be, the Lord already loved us. And when we breathe our last breath on this world, he still loves us. Our lives might fade but the love of the Lord remains forever.

However, there is a condition for the steadfast love of the Lord. Psalm 103:17-18 – ¹⁷ But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, ¹⁸ to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. This everlasting love belongs to those who fear the Lord, keep his covenant, and remember to do his commandments. Here is the problem. None of us does. You and I do not keep his covenant and we do not remember to do his commandments. What we deserve is not the steadfast love of the Lord but his wrath. Because of sin, we forget the Lord. In fact, we not only forget him, we want to forget him. We try to forget him. And the only natural consequence of wanting to forget someone is for that person to forget us. It is only right for the Lord to forget us because of our sins. But the good news of the gospel is that the Lord refuses to forget us. We should not be remembered. We are nothing but dust, and yet the Lord chose to shower us with steadfast love.

Rather than giving us what we deserved, Jesus came and paid our penalty. What happened to Jesus at the cross? At the cross, Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Why did he say that? Because at the cross, God the Father turned his face away from Jesus. Jesus, the eternal Son of God, was forsaken by his Father. At the cross, God the Father forgot Jesus because Jesus took the punishment of our sins. He became sin so that when we put our faith in him, we received what Jesus deserved. In Jesus, we have been forgiven of all our sins. Jesus has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west. It is infinitely gone. It can never come back. With another word, Jesus was forgotten so that the Lord will never forget us. And today, because of Jesus, the gospel tells us not only the Lord remembers us but the Lord cannot forget us. We are the one who needs him, yet we forget him every day. The Lord does not need us yet he never for one second forgets us. This is the gospel.

Let me end with this. Psalm 103:20-22 – ²⁰ Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word! ²¹ Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will! ²² Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul! When we remember the gospel, our natural response is to bless the Lord. It does not matter what kind of situation we are in right now, when we remember the gospel, we always have reason to bless the Lord. And we are not content to keep the gospel to ourselves. We want all creation to bless the Lord. We want all kingdoms, all governments, all nations, all animals, all plants, all molecules, all galaxies, every people from every tribe, nation and tongue to bless the Lord together with us. That is why we go and make disciples of all nations. The Lord is so great that nothing but the worship of all creation will do. And whenever we are downcast, remember. Remember that we have been remembered and remember what it cost for us to be remembered forever. Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Discussion questions:

1. Explain the difference between how the Bible uses the word “remember” and how we often use it.
2. What is “gospel-amnesia”? Give a few symptoms of gospel amnesia from your daily life.
3. Look at the five benefits that the gospel gives us. Which one do you tend to forget? Explain.
4.  How is our relationship with the Lord similar to our fathers and how is it different?
5. Why is the Lord’s steadfast love counter-intuitive to our culture?
6.  How does remembering the gospel enable us to bless the Lord in every situation we faced in life?