A God of Mercy — James Booker

To be back with you once again and to be able to fill in during this week. And since being asked to be here I've been praying before the Lord as to the ministry that he would have me give during this time.

Psalm 103 and the Benefits of God’s Mercy

And my thoughts have been centered around the Psalms primarily. So I want to consider a few songs in the evening. I want to begin this morning. I want to look at a lovely psalm that I'm sure all of you are well equated with.

It's a delightful psalm I trust it'll just warm and stir your hearts afresh. This morning shall we turn please to Psalm 103. Psalm 103 beginning at verse 1. Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me.

Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord O my soul. And forget not all his benefits. Who forgiveth all thine iniquity. Who healeth all thy diseases. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction. Who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercy.

Who satisfyeth thy mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. The Lord executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. He made known his ways unto Moses and his acts unto the children of Israel.

The Lord is merciful and gracious. He's slow to anger. He's plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide and neither will he keep his anger forever. He has not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

For as the heaven is high above the earth so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. And as far as the east is from the west so far he removed our transgressions from us. Just a brief word of prayer please our father.

We thank and praise before the privilege of meeting together in this simple manner we praise thee for thy word a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. We rejoice in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God and his desire to take of the things of Christ and reveal them to us.

And we pray this morning if I would just guide and direct this brief time together touch our hearts. We pray. We pray for any here this morning who perhaps at this moment have never up till this moment accepted Christ as their Savior and Lord.

May they realize the seriousness the awfulness of going into a lost eternity without Christ. We pray. In turn I will stir the hearts of Levi people to know something of thy glories and to be appraising people.

For this we ask in our Savior's precious name amen. As with many who are involved in serving the Lord it's my lot to get into the hospital frequently and into the homes of people who are not well and frequently taking a portion of scripture and meditating upon that with the one who has been laid aside and sickness all time by will say to them perhaps you have a portion that you would like us to read at this particular time.

Invariably they will mention some particular song that has been a blessing to them. And I'm sure that if we went around this little gathering this morning and asked you some of your favorite portions of scripture you no doubt end up somewhere along the line in the psalms and some of the lovely psalms that the Lord has used by his grace through the Holy Spirit of God to comfort and strengthen you during times of trial times of difficulty or maybe challenge you whatever the case might be.

And so with that in mind I just want to challenge our hearts here this morning with this particular psalm. We'll look at a little this morning and then again this evening and then we'll go on to another psalm on Tuesday night.

A God of Mercy and a Thankful People

I want to consider with you here what to me is a challenge of a God of mercy and a thankful people. A God of mercy and a thankful people rather a tragedy. Is it not that as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ so often we are murmuring.

We're complaining. We come to a meeting like this and we sing these songs of hymns of praise and our hearts are moved. We come to the Lord suffer as many of us did a short while ago and the very first hymn spoke about praise to the Lord of glory and our hearts are moved as we consider what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us.

And the murmuring doesn't seem to fit into the picture at all. But somehow when they get out in daily activities and get involved in certain situations and difficulties it's not too difficult to begin to murmur and complain.

One of the challenges I get from this particular psalm is the fact that in regardless of what the circumstances are which I'm pleased the Lord can be the center in that situation and praise and adoration can ascend forth to him.

You remember over in the book of Philippians it reminds us where that we're not to be murmuring. Do all things without murmuring and disputing. You remember in the early church we find that the wasn't too long before there arose a murmuring among the Grecians concerning the way the money was being distributed.

Israel’s Murmuring in the Wilderness

You remember the Lord challenges through the Apostle Paul and Corinthians that we do not be murmurers like those who in the Old Testament. This is interesting to notice back in the Old Testament how the Israelites again and again seem to be involved in this spirit of complaining and murmuring.

One moment they were up on the mountaintop and they were praising the Lord. The next moment they seem to be down in the valley of discouragement and they were complaining about their situation. We can just change so rapidly they can be so vibrant for the things of Christ one moment and lose that vibrant the next to see.

In fact over 20 times we read concerning the Israelites that they murmured. Just go back for a moment if you will to Exodus chapter 15. Exodus chapter 15. You notice in verse 27. Verse 24 of Exodus chapter 15 it says.

And the people murmured against Moses saying what shall we drink. Now go on to verse 2 of chapter 16. And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

Verse 7 in the morning. Then ye shall see the glory of the Lord. For that he heareth your murmurings against the Lord. Now you see they were murmuring against Moses but as far as the Lord was concerned it was murmuring against him because Moses was the Lord's instrument he was the Lord's servant.

And as they complained against the servant they were complaining against the Lord himself. And what we are that ye murmur against us. You go on to verse 8. And Moses said this shall be when the Lord shall give you the evening flesh to eat and in the morning bread to the full for the Lord heareth your murmurings.

Interesting to remember that it is not the Lord hears our murmurings not only to our friends those around us but the Lord listens in when ye murmur against him. And where and what are we. Your murmurings are not against us but against the Lord.

The latter part of verse 9 for he heareth your murmurings. Verse 12 I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel speak unto them. And then when you go over to chapter 17 again you'll notice in verse 3.

And the people thirsted there for water. And the people murmured against Moses and said wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children our cattle with thirst a murmuring people.

And yet how gracious and how loving and how kind the Lord was to those dear murmuring people. In contrast to that you recall throughout the scriptures the emphasis is placed upon the the need to be so thankful the need to praise him.

The Call to Thankfulness and Praise

We have so much to thank the Lord. For you remember the ten lepers and only one came back just to thank the Lord. I remember reading just recently a account of a man who was thinking back on his childhood days.

In his younger days he thought to himself. I think of a dear teacher that I had and what a blessing she was and to me as I was going off through school and she took time out to help me over different rough spots.

He thought to himself. I think I should write her a letter. So he wrote her a letter of thanks. Sometime later not too long he received a letter from her and she was just so ecstatic with excitement. She said I've been teaching for 50 years so I've tried to help thousands of students.

She says yours is the first letter I've received of thanks. Well applying that to the Lord how much time do we take out just to meditate upon his goodness and to find him and to praise him over in the psalms 119 the psalmist says.

Seven times a day seven times a day I will praise thee. You remember again if you go back to first chronicles chapter 16 you recall that David had been able to capture the ark again. They had lost the ark of the covenant and with great rejoicing they came back to the uh to the city with the ark and they set it up in the midst.

And if you read that account in first chronicles chapter 16 you find that there is tremendous excitement because they have as their center that ark once more. And as you know the ark was representative of the Lord's presence.

They had the Lord as their center once again eyes off themselves off their problems off their trials eyes on the Lord. And there as they centered their eyes upon him were told that the people began to thank and to praise the Lord.

And David wrote a lovely psalm of that particular time. And the psalm begins in first chronicles 16 concerning I will thank and praise the Lord let me get our eyes off him beloved that the the moanings and the groanings and the complainings began to slip in into our life.

You remember if you went over to first chronicles I think it's around verse one chapter 23 you'll find that when David set up the preparation for the worship of the tabernacle there was some four thousand four thousand Levites that were set up set upon and their goal their purpose was to stand at the door and was to praise the Lord.

Psalm 103 as a Psalm of Praise

So this psalm is a psalm of praise. It's a psalm of adoration. It tells us here at the very beginning it's a psalm of David. And you notice as you go through this particular psalm that the word blessed is used some seven times.

You'll notice. Let's just look at it briefly. If you have it before you it says bless the Lord oh my soul bless his holy name bless the Lord. Then you go farther down to the end of the psalm and in verse 20 it says bless the Lord.

In verse 21 bless ye the Lord. Verse 22 bless the Lord. And finally bless the Lord oh my soul seven times. Now this word bless is an interesting word and it's frequently in new translations translated to praise.

And it has that thought. Sometimes it's translated in the word of God to bow the knee. It's the idea of bowing the knee in reverence and giving adoration and praise to the Lord. You remember the psalms for example they begin with the word bless.

It's a different word in psalm chapter one. Blessed is the man that walketh not on the counsel of the ungodly nor stands in the way of sinners and so on is delighted in the law of the Lord. That word blessed is the thought of the happiness all the happiness the happiness of one who's delighting in the word of God.

You remember in chapter two he talks about all the happiness of the one who's threatened in the Lord. You go on. You remember in psalm 32 and we're told over there the happiness of the ones whose sins are forgiven.

Remember that the happiness of sin forgiven the happiness of trusting in him the happiness of entering into the word of God and rejoicing in what the word of God has for you. And then when you come to the end of the psalms you remember you get way on to psalm 150 and some nine times over in that little psalm you'll recall that he talks about praise the Lord.

And he gives a number of reasons why we ought to be praising him. A happy people praise him. Notice again please as we look at this particular psalm have you ever wondered the background to these psalms.

David’s Praise in the Midst of Trouble

Now apparently this particular psalm is is not one that is clear as to what the background of it is. Scholars differ in their thinking. They've looked over the psalm carefully and they've tried to analyze what part of David's life was this psalm composed.

And we can't be sure apparently. But many have the idea it happened during one of David's difficult times possibly during that time when he was off the throne and Absalom was pursuing him his own son.

Just imagine your own son turning against you fleeing for your life knowing that out there in the darkness out in the wilderness where there was your son. And there were the men out there the armed men that used to belong to you as part of your army.

And now they're out there seeking to destroy your life. And it's possible it was during that particular period of time that that David penned these words. And as he took his quill of whatever he was he used to write he begins by saying praise the Lord.

Sometimes we get the idea that praising him and and knowing the joy of praise in the Lord only comes when things are going well. But you see there is a joy and there is a peace. And there is a delight in the things of Christ in the midst of trials in the midst of difficulty in the midst of circumstances there is the joy of the Lord.

There is that joy which the Spirit of God produces in the in the lives of of his people. You remember in Acts chapter 16 for example when Paul and Silas having been preaching the gospel so faithfully came to suddenly the crowd turn against them.

They're taken they're beaten. Their clothes are taken from their backs. They're thrust into a prison down into the dungeon hands and feet on the socks. And Paul turned to Silas and said if I ever get out of this I'm handing my resignation.

I've had it here I'm out preaching the word of God. And here all these trials. No remember they began to sing and praise the Lord. There was an inner joy in spite of the circumstances. There was an inner joy and there was a consciousness of the Lord's presence.

When he wrote his letter to the Philippians you remember the theme is that of rejoicing. Paul is in prison. There's a joy there. And this is part of the delight of the Christian life beloved joy in him.

I trust that you you're experiencing that in your Christian life. Notice again as we look at this psalm the word mercy is very very prominent five times. The word mercy in various forms is used here. You notice what kind of mercies the Lord has to ward off in verse four.

Their tender mercy. Their tender mercy. You notice where the mercies come from from the Lord. In verse eight the Lord is merciful. The Lord is merciful. Notice the the quantity of his mercy. He's plenteous in mercy.

In verse eight do you notice as you go farther down in verse 11 whereas the heaven is high above the earth so great is his mercy towards them that fear him. The greatness of his mercy. You go down to verse 17 and we're told that the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting.

It's an eternal mercy. Now this word mercy is an interesting word. It's translated so many different ways in the in the scriptures. Sometimes it's translated compassion. Oh the compassion to the Lord.

There's a lovely little phrase over in the book of Daniel chapter one and there it's translated tender love tender love. It's a thought of kindness loving kindness and all the loving kindness of our God for my worries.

Individual, National, and Universal Praise

And so with that in mind i want you to just divide the psalm with me. Uh in this way i want to look at it in three different sections here from verse one down to verse five we have individual praise for the Lord or to the Lord for his mercy.

Individual praise to the Lord his mercy. When you come to verse six and you read on down to verse 18 you have national praise to the Lord for his mercy. And finally when you get down to verse 19 to the end you'll have universal praise to the Lord for his mercy.

It's really exciting to see the development in this particular song. It begins with the individual and there this individual is just so wrapped up in the Lord's mercy. He is rejoicing in those mercies.

It's not long before the whole nation seems to be involved in shouting forth the praises of the Lord for his mercy. And in the end the whole universe in heaven heaven and heaven here upon earth there is praise to God.

They just grow. It reminds you of revelation. Chapter five is enough as the saints of God seem to gather around the throne and the lamb of the center and they begin to sing that new song. Not long before all the hosts of heaven join in.

And at the end of that particular song of revelation five you recall they're all bowed before the throne praising him. There's something about being with people who rejoice who i don't mean going around just saying praise the Lord all the time i mean knowing that joy.

In one part something about being with one like that that is rather catching it or not. Just like it's catching if you're with someone who's always grumbling and complaining. It either works in one direction or the other.

While David is excited about what he has in in the Lord. Notice this individual praise if you notice how it begins in verse one bless the Lord oh my soul. And all that is within me bless his holy name.

Now compare that with verse two bless the Lord oh my soul. And forget not all his benefits. You see in psalm 103 and one he's praising the Lord for who he is bless the Lord. If you were here earlier in the meeting the part of the theme of that meeting was to do with the holiness of the Lord holy holy holy.

And as our hearts were taken up with him and holiness one cannot be drawn but be drawn out in thanksgiving and praise for who he is for his greatness for his glory. And this is where David begins. He begins with just occupation with the Lord himself.

But when you come to verse two he gets taken up with what the Lord has done for him. First of all with the Lord himself and now with the blessings of the Lord has bestowed upon him. So it's nice to be taken up with him.

And the more you're taken up with him beloved then you begin to think of what he has done for you. Forget not all his benefits. Have you noticed the little word all in this section some five times or more.

The little word all is you. All that is within me all his benefits. All thine iniquity all thy diseases. He doesn't want to miss one of the Lord's benefits. It takes time just to thank him for him. Forget not all his benefits.

Salvation’s Benefits and the Call to Trust Christ

My that's a tall order that is a tall when I think of these benefits. And coming from Ottawa I suppose I think of a government town with many many civil servants. And in talking to them I'm rather amazed at time of all the benefits.

They have all the benefits so they have their jobs. They have their salary. So then there are a lot of benefits to go along. You join up in a company and they say now this is going to be your salary. But along with your salary a lot of hidden benefits.

You'd like to point them out to you. I'd like to point out all those hidden benefits. Perhaps it's your holidays fully paid for all other extra holidays paid for your hospitalizations all looked after and so on and on it goes.

And you begin to count up all the benefits. You say this is not only a good job. It's got tremendous benefit. Well you see when you come to Christ when you're introduced to him you're taken up with himself and the glories and the greatness of the Lord and his love and his grace towards you and his mercy.

And then lo and behold when you could put your trust in him. When you're born again to your amazement you find that are so many benefits to this christian life. So many of them. And he says forget not all his benefits.

Forget not all his benefits. There are so many things that accompany the salvation into which we're brought in. If I'm speaking to someone here this morning and you're sitting here maybe your son or a daughter of someone who's here and you've never accepted Christ as savior.

You know the gospel. You've heard it again and again. You've been brought up listening to the gospel but you have never accepted Christ. Beloved. You are losing out terribly. I can't work. I find that many boys and girls and young people shy away from trusting in Christ because they feel if they do they'll have to give up certain things.

Happiness must go out the window. The idea of happiness and belonging to the Lord and living for the Lord they cannot reconcile and put together. What a lie of the evil one. Notice david's comment here.

Have you noticed again the little word who. Five times it's used here. Verse three who who. Verse four twice over again and in verse five who satisfy thy mouth with good things. So just think of that.

Shall we just for a moment. Five wonderful who's. Five wonderful verbs involved here as well. We have the verb forgive heal redeem crown satisfied. My. That's tremendous. Even just reading that over kind of excites.

You does it not. I hope it does. Look at the first on david's list. May you just think about this for a moment. Beloved if I were to go around here this morning which I'm not going to do and give each one a slip of paper and then say now I'd like you to just write down some of the Lord's blessings to you some of his benefits.

I wonder what you would put at the top of the list. What would be the very first thing that would come to your mind. Well it's interesting to notice the first thing that came to david's mind. There he is making out his little list.

As he writes down he said lord I want to praise you and all this within me. And I want to praise you for all your benefits. Number one number one who forgiveth now beloved that cannot be taken away from the believer.

There is something that is eternal for us to lay hold on. Who forgives. By the way do you know that your sins are forgiven. Can you say from your heart I prayed the Lord this morning. My sins have been forgiven.

Young girl went to the Sunday school and teacher played the way of salvation. And after a few weeks she made a commitment and she sat down on her knees and she accepted Christ the Savior. A few weeks later she took sick and she was quite sick for a number of weeks and Satan began to undermine her thinking and she was beginning to wonder if all her sins were forgiven.

And she asked her sister she came in to see her. One afternoon she said when you get the bible out says there's a verse that the teacher told me about. They said I think it's in first john. She opened up to first john.

I think it's in chapter one. And they began to read through chapter one and finally they came to the verse the blood of Jesus Christ God's son cleanseth us from all sin. She said that's it she says. I couldn't remember whether it said the blood of Jesus Christ God's son cleanses from sin or whether it says cleanse us from all things.

I thought maybe some of the things are still there. But the blood of Jesus Christ God's son cleanses from all sin. So David said I want to put that right on the top of my list. I want to praise him for that.

I want to thank him for it for all eternity. We'll be praising him for that. The second thing we heal of all thy diseases. Now I know the Lord is able to heal physically. I believe. But it seems to me primarily what the psalmist has in mind here he's calling upon his soul to praise the Lord.

Oh my soul. And all within me. And David is going through his experience with the Lord in a spiritual way. Having said that all his sins were forgiven. Having seen himself as a criminal before the bar condemned and then the pardon given to him.

And now he begins to see himself in the hospital. And from the soul of his foot to the top of his head are wounds and purifying and purifying sores. He sees that he has a disease called sin. It's affected his mind.

It's affected his walk. It's affected him in every way. He's spiritually blind. He's spiritually lame. He's spiritually dead. It is come to the Lord that he's healed all my disease. You see beloved. When you come to Christ he enables you to walk by his power and his grace pleasing to him.

You can't do that without him. When you come to him those blind eyes are open. And if you begin to see things the word of God begins to open up to you. Some of the glories of Christ begin to be revealed to you and your eyes are open.

He heals those blind eyes. The mind which has been blinded by satan is now open. You find the light here. Number three who redeems my life from destruction. He sees himself as one who's like a slave in the slave market.

He said as a criminal i needed divine forgiveness. I've received it. As a hospital patient i needed a divine physician to heal me. I've found him as a slave a slave to sin in the slave market he said i needed someone to redeem me.

Someone to buy me out of the slave market. Buy me back to myself. To to to himself. And he said the lord has done that. Why he could say my redeemer. Oh what beauties in that lovely name of peace. And then number four he says who satisfies my mouth.

Or who promised me with loving kindness and tender mercy. Well that's kind of exciting to me. Because you see i think of the fact that my sins were forgiven. I remember that time on my own life many years ago i remember that divine healing that the lord graciously had upon me.

And i remember the being redeemed and how wonderful it was. But then i found that after i was redeemed that was only the the beginning. He began to crown me. He began to pour out his blessings upon me his loving kindness and tender mercy.

They were new every morning. This christian life brought me into a situation where i could lean upon him. And his word was there to comfort and to strengthen me. And his presence was there before he just kept crowning daily loading with his benefit beloved each day.

When you arise you can stop. Can you not. And think of the many benefits of the lord. Thank you for it. Oh we need to be up praising you. We'll stop there. Time is gone. But i want to go on with this song this evening because it just gets better and better as the christian life does as you go on.

But i hope that you're a thankful people this morning. We have a merciful god. Are we a thankful people. Gracious father. How we thank thee this morning. For thy mercies thy mercies which are new indeed every morning.

We thank thee father that thy mercies are everlasting. That thou art indeed a merciful and gracious god. We thank thee above all for this great salvation for the forgiveness of sin. And we praise thee for crowning us with thy loving kindness and tender mercy.

Lord make us a thankful people lives bring forth glory to thy name. For this we pray in the name of the lord jesus christ. Amen.