#834.5 10,000 Reasons Part Dos

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! Psalm 103 ESV

A Psalm of David continued from verse 6.

Justice for all who are oppressed - We see everything as a long time in coming, but praise be to God it is, for we were also transgressors of His holy law. Does He forget righteousness? Are those who are guilty in truth, yet freed by loop holes unjustly, still to answer? He does not forget and a thousand years are like a day.

- Justice may at times leave the courts of man, but it abides upon the tribunal of God. For this every right-minded person will bless God. Were he careless of his creature's good, did he neglect the administration of justice, did he suffer high-handed oppressors finally to escape, we should have greater reason for trembling than rejoicing; it is not so, however, for our God is a God of justice, and by him actions are weighed; he will mete out his portion to the proud and make the tyrant bite the dust, --yea, often he visits the haughty persecutor even in this life, so that "the Lord is known by the judgments which he executeth." - C. H. Spurgeon

…17 So now I pray, may the power of the Lord be magnified, just as You have declared: 18‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving wrongdoing and rebellion. But He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He visits the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’ 19 Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people, in keeping with the greatness of Your loving devotion, just as You have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.”… Numbers 14: 17-19

He will not always chide - Remember His holiness, His discipline is perfect in this as well as His forgiveness. There is much inside of me that is still not good and so His Spirit is at work in me continually, driving out evil and leading me towards righteousness. It is not like the forgiveness of men, who even after you have repented, after you have served your time or paid the penalty of your vice, they still hold a grudge. God cleans the slate, accepts us anew and changes us more and more to the image of His Son. We should not hold against a man what he no longer is. God is gracious not only to forgive, but to put us aright.

Repay us according to our iniquities - We know according to the law and sin that all we are owed is the wages of sin, which is death. He defeats even that, taking it upon Himself and setting His children free.

…20 Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5: 20-21

…11 After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered among the transgressors. Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 53: 11-12

He remembers that we are dust - How careful is He in the treatment of His children. If He were to show me all of my sin at once, I could not bear the weight of it. If I were to catch even a glimpse of His holiness without the promise of Christ, the shadow of the cross, it would be utter despair, my heart would melt inside me. There would be no hope, but God considers our frailty. He shows compassion.

As for man, his days are like grass -

- A large congregation, in many-coloured attire, always reminds us of a meadow bright with many hues; and the comparison becomes sadly true when we reflect, that as the grass and its goodliness soon pass away, even so will those we gaze upon, and all their visible beauty. Thus, too, must it be with all that comes of the flesh, even its greatest excellencies and natural virtues, for "that which is born of the flesh is flesh, "and therefore is but as grass which withers if but a breath of wind assails it. Happy are they who, born from above, have in them an incorruptible seed which liveth and abideth for ever. - C. H. Spurgeon

It's place knows it no more - Such is the life of a flower, such is man. The world will not shutdown tomorrow if I go home tonight, and you could build a monument, carve in stone, but it will wear away, and eventually even that place will be no more. But this world is not my home, so don't make vane memories of me, tell tales about how good I was, when I die, tell everyone that I loved Jesus, I was the most wretched of men, but He saved me. 

To those who keep His covenant -

- Children of the righteous are not, however, promised the Lord's mercy without stipulation, and this verse completes the statement of the last by adding: To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them. The parents must be obedient and the children too. We are here bidden to abide by the covenant, and those who run off to any other confidence than the finished work of Jesus are not among those who obey this precept; those with whom the covenant is really made stand firm to it, and having begun in the Spirit, they do not seek to be made perfect in the flesh. The truly godly keep the Lord's commands carefully--they "remember"; they observe them practically--"to do them": moreover they do not pick and choose, but remember "his commandments" as such, without exalting one above another as their own pleasure or convenience may dictate. May our offspring be a thoughtful, careful, observant race, eager to know the will of the Lord, and prompt to follow it fully, then will his mercy enrich and honour them from generation to generation. This verse also suggests praise, for who would wish the Lord to smile on those who will not regard his ways? That were to encourage vice. From the manner in which some men unguardedly preach the covenant, one might infer that God would bless a certain set of men however they might live, and however they might neglect his laws. But the word teaches not so. The covenant is not legal, but it is holy. It is all of grace from first to last, yet it is no panderer to sin; on the contrary, one of its greatest promises is, "I will put my laws in their hearts and in their minds will I write them"; its general aim is the sanctifying of a people unto God, zealous for good works, and all its gifts and operations work in that direction. Faith keeps the covenant by looking alone to Jesus, while at the same time by earnest obedience it remembers the Lord's commandments to do them. - C. H. Spurgeon

Bless the Lord, all His works - The psalmist beckons every created being or thing to bless the Holy One. Who is like Him?

Bless the Lord, O my soul.