SERMON TITLE: For God
TEXT: Psalm 103 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 1/3/21
You can watch the sermon here.
You can find the sermon notes here.
As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And the one thing I always want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshipping with us in person or are worshipping with us online — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
SERIES INTRODUCTION
About every other year, we begin the new year with a series that focuses on who God is and the implications for what this means for different areas of life. In 2017, we did a series titled “Under God?” where we looked at how our nation’s pledge of allegiance ends with the words, “One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” And — by looking at who God is — we saw his concern for justice in the areas of race, life, and marriage. In 2019, we did a series titled “Evil” and asked the question “Are blurring the lines between what God has declared to be just and good and the evil going on in our world?” We used a passage from Malachi as our text as we tackled a variety of topics including are all religions the same, immigrants, and a pro-life ethic.
In 2021, we’re again returning to some of these familiar topics but this year we’ll be doing so through the lens of things that God is for. And once again we’ll see that God is for justice. He’s for life. And he’s for the family. But before we get to any of those topics, we must begin with what God is most for. And what he is most for may surprise you but it’s the foundation for the rest of this series.
In fact — throughout 2021 — this theme of what God is for — is going to be woven into all of our worship services as — what God is for — will be the focus of our time of prayer each week throughout this year.
And if you have your Bible, please turn with me to Psalm 103. We’ll be looking at the entire psalm together — all 22 verses — as we discover what God is most for — which is also what we — his people — are to be most for.
Here are the words found in Psalm 103. Beginning in verse 1.
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 103:1-22 ESV)
MORE THAN MENTAL ASSENT
Did you notice the repetition of the word “bless” in this psalm? Think about the different ways we use the word “bless.”
But if we think of scripture — and in particular — our psalm — we see a glorious picture of who God is and how our response to who he is to be a response of blessing. But what does that mean — what does it mean for us to bless God?
Well one thing this indicates is that — contrary to what many think — there’s more to Christianity than just believing in God. Now we must believe in God — but we’re called to do more than that and — here — we see that part of the more — that we’re to do — is to bless God.
Now something I’ve observed is that most people — if they believe in a divine power — have a positive view of their god. Meaning, our psalm is full of some wonderful truths about God — and a lot of people — even non-Christians — would say, “Yup. My god is just like that!” And this is because most people have a positive view of their god. It’s other people’s gods who are the wrathful, mean, vindictive god, right? It’s common for people to create their own versions of a god and this is usually a god who makes them feel good, accepted, and loved — a god who has no expectations of them. “Just keep on living your life, doing what you want to do, and I’ll be here to love on you when life is over.” Being religious — or being a spiritual person — isn’t much more than having a mental checklist that says, “This is what I believe my god is like” and nothing more.
And this makes Christianity unique. For the God of Christianity expects a response from those who believe in him. The God of the Christian faith isn’t satisfied with people simply believing some things about him — he wants their believing in him to change all of who they are. Their emotions, their thoughts, their words, their actions, their relationships.
Now — for the rest of this sermon — we’re going to focus on what it means to bless the Lord — but I don’t want us to skip over one other response God’s people are to have. The response we see in verse 11, which says, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his (God’s) steadfast love toward those who fear him.” (Psalm 103:11 ESV)
We’ll look at God’s steadfast love — in a bit — but notice that God’s great, steadfast, never-ending love is towards those who fear him. So what what does it mean to fear the Lord?
It’s been said that, “The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas, if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.” Or as someone else has said, “We fear circumstances so much because we fear God so little.”
“Well that all sounds good, but it still doesn’t tell me what it means to fear the Lord.” One Bible scholar is helpful. He says that, “The fear of the Lord is [encouraged] throughout Scripture, demanding that God’s people stand always in awe of him, appreciate his supremacy and greatness, fear the consequences of disobeying his will, and not treat lightly any aspect of their covenant relationship with him, lest the consequences be severe or even fatal. Attempts on the part of some in modern times to define fearing the Lord as merely respecting him distort the biblical evidence.”
So — to fear the Lord — does mean to respect him, but it also means to be in awe of him, to recognize his greatness, to fear the consequences of disobeying him, and to not dismiss our responsibility to live for him.
Jesus gives us a glimpse as to what it means to fear the Lord when he says, “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” But — someone may think — “But, Jesus, don’t you know what John said? He said, ‘There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.’ So what about that, Jesus? Because your words are a bit heavy.”
What Jesus would most likely say is something like, “Why don’t you finish the rest of John’s verse?” For the whole verse says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”
So a Christian — being secure in the love of God because of all that Christ has done on their behalf — a Christian should not be afraid of God’s eternal judgement. But we should still have a fear of the Lord — a standing in awe of who he is, appreciating his supremacy and greatness, fearing the consequences of disobedience while desiring to honor him with every word that comes out of our mouth and every thought in our mind and every action we make. No fear of eternal judgement — but that doesn’t mean we treat our relationship with God lightly. And treating our relationship with God lightly is something tempting for all of us to do. And it’s something plaguing churches these days.
But let’s return to our psalm and see who God is and what it means to respond to who he is by blessing him. And — as we do — we’ll see who God is most for.
WHO GOD IS
Let’s begin with who God is. Now — something encouraging and amazing — and I hope your awe has been stirred from this psalm already — but our verses give us a picture of how good, and great, and beautiful God is. Beginning in verse 3 we read that God...
...forgives all your iniquity, (he is the One...) 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. (Psalm 103:3-19 ESV)
So we’ve just read that God forgives and he heals. And he redeems us and crowns us with his steadfast love and mercy. Let’s pause here.
How many of you have a hat with your favorite sports team’s logo on it? Now that hat represents the love you have for your team — a devotion you have to your team — and you wear the hat because you want others to know about your commitment to your team. But — here in our psalm — we have this picture of God crowning us with his love and mercy. So we’ve been given a spiritual hat that we’re to wear on our heads that shows others God’s love and mercy towards us. But — in wearing this hat — the expectation is that we respond to God’s love and mercy with a commitment to him. We respond with a love for him. We respond in a way that shows others that God gives us joy and delight.
Continuing on in the psalm we read that God satisfies us and works righteousness and justice for the oppressed. He’s made known his ways and he acts on behalf of his people. He’s merciful and gracious, slow to get angry and abounding in love. We see that he won’t always chide — or scold — us. Nor be angry with us forever.
Something that should amaze us — though in many ways we’ve become so used to this news that it doesn’t amaze us like it should — is that God doesn’t give us what our sins deserve.
We’re reminded — again — of his infinite love for us and how — in love — he’s removed the sins of his people. What’s his love like? Well the psalmist says, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth.” Think of the bigness of the universe. Think of looking up at the sky and seeing the stars and realizing how small we are. Well here’s something the bigness of creation is meant to do: It’s meant to show us how big God’s love is for us. When was the last time you looked up at the sky and stopped to ponder how big God’s love is for you?
The psalmist tells us that God has removed our sins from us as “far as the east is from the west.” The distance between Washington D.C. and Beijing is about 7,000 miles. Now I know that’s not the east and west the psalmist was thinking about when he wrote these words. But it helps us to picture the vastness of God’s love for us and how — when he thinks of us — when he thinks of you — because of your faith in Christ — he sees not your sin and fault and the things that give you shame. Why? Because he’s removed all of our transgressions from us as “far as the east is from the west.”
Continuing on we see that God is like a compassionate father to us. And that he knows us. He knows our weaknesses — that we’re nothing more than dust. From the dust of the ground he formed us and to dust our bodies will return until Jesus’ comes back to his creation. And if we stop and pause on this thought — that we began as dust — what a fragile beginning for us.
Back before Christmas, some friends of ours were babysitting some kittens. Now — cats I tolerate — but I love me some kittens. But kittens are so fragile, right? You have to be careful and delicate with them. They seem so breakable. And there’s a natural tenderness mode — we all go into — when we hold a kitten, right? This tenderness — we display — is but a small glimpse of the tenderness and compassion our God has towards us — for he knows us — he remembers that we are but dust.
DIRT ILLUSTRATION
And this — this dirt is our humble beginnings — this is what God used to make us. Now think of the ridiculousness of how highly we view ourselves — how proud we are — how we make ourselves to be the center of the universe — think of the ridiculousness of how we view ourselves when this dirt is where we come from. And think of how gloriously ridiculous it is that — though God made us and formed us from dirt — he loves and cares for us — in love he came to earth to live and die for us — even though we come from very humble beginnings.
And though we may put on a good show for others — there’s no fooling God — we come from dirt, after all. So he knows you and me — all of our folly and foolishness and sin — and — don’t miss this — he loves you and me anyway. And though our days are limited — like the flowers that come up in the spring only to die in the winter — though back to the ground — to dust — we’ll return — again, don’t miss this — God’s love towards us will never die or fade away. And that should floor us all.
The psalmist goes on to tell us that God gives righteousness to his people. Righteousness is what we need to be able to survive the presence of his holiness — for nothing unrighteous can survive his holy presence. And God has established his throne in the heavens — he’s the King who rules and reigns over all his creation. This is who God is.
Now here’s the point of tension for all of us. This is all glorious news — I mean — look at who God is! And — it seems pretty obvious — that our response to this news should be a response of joy, and hope, and gladness, and a desire to want to please this God who is so awesome and glorious. And — yet — the tension for us is that all of this can sound too good to be true. Because — let’s be real — if this is who God is — I mean — no sugar coating, no lies or deception — if this is who God is — then no one and no thing can compare to him, right? And yet we often settle for so much less when it comes to what gives us joy, and hope, and gladness. Thus — instead of living for God — we live for something less. Instead of blessing God we bless other things.
And — as I said earlier — there are many people who would agree wholeheartedly with the description of God in this psalm and yet be kind of “ho hum” about him. More passionate about something other than this amazing, awe-inspiring God who’s described in our psalm and in the entire Bible.
GOD IS FOR GOD
And this leads us to what — though counterintuitive — is both biblical and natural once we really begin to trust that all we’ve just read is who God really is. But before we get to what’s counterintuitive — let’s talk about what should be our natural response to who God is: We should be for God. Anyone who believes that this is who God is — should be first and foremost for God. Meaning, our beliefs and thoughts, our words and emotions, our relationships and actions should demonstrate that first and foremost we...are...for...God.
Now that seems fairly obvious — though not as easy to follow through on given the spiritual war we’re all in and the fickleness of our hearts.
But what’s counterintuitive? If we’re to be first and foremost for God — because of who he is — then it shouldn’t surprise us that God is first and foremost for himself. Wait, what? God is for himself first and foremost? Yes.
A few biblical examples that — I think — make this clear and not nearly as offensive as it may first sound to our ears.
Jesus was once asked, “which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” 37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” Notice which commandment is first. Love God comes first. It’s primary. And — don’t forget — that Jesus is God. So God — himself — has told us — has commanded us — to love him first.
Additionally, there’s a theme throughout the Bible where we find a phrase that shows us that “God being for God” is why other things happen. We don’t have time to exhaust all of Scripture, but here are some examples from the psalms.
He (God) restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.
For you (God) are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me.
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake!
Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness. 7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea. 8 Yet he (God) saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power.
But you, O God my Lord, deal on my behalf for your name’s sake; because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!
For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!
The phrase “for your name’s sake” essentially means “for your glory, for you God, for you first and foremost.” And look at all that’s done — first and foremost for God — which results in our benefit and favor.
“Lead us in righteousness — in right living — first and foremost — why? For your glory, God.”
“Pardon us of our guilt — first and foremost — why? For your glory, God.”
“Atone our sins — save us — first and foremost — for your glory, God.”
“Even though we sin, and rebel, and forget the works you’ve done for us — even though we forget your steadfast love towards us — first and foremost — for your glory, God, save us.”
With as gloriously wonderful as God is — no one can compare to him — he must be first and foremost committed to himself. But this isn't bad news. God’s not a narcissist — so this isn't bad news — this is great news! Because God first and foremost being for himself — always results in good for his people.
BLESS THE LORD
And our response to who God is — our response of being for God — is to be a response of blessing. Our psalm begins with the words…
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...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 103:1-2, 20-22 ESV)
It’s hard for me to not think of Matt Redman’s song — Bless the Lord, O my Soul — when I hear the opening words to our psalm. If you’re familiar with the song, I’m sure it came to your mind as well.
But back to our original question which we’ve yet to fully answer. With all that we’ve now learned, what does it mean to bless the Lord? The simplest way to think of what it means to bless the Lord is to think of blessing God as an “expression of praising thankfulness — an exclamation of gratitude and admiration.”
As the doxology says, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him all creatures here below; praise him above ye heavenly hosts; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.”
God — the One from whom all blessings flow — God the Giver of every good gift — the Originator of all blessings is surely the definition of the Blessed One. The One who is the source of all blessings is the One who is the Blessed. So us — blessing God — is us recognizing his blessedness. Us — blessing God — is us saying — with our words and lives and thoughts — “God, you are blessed!”
And what are some ways we do this?
A simple place to begin is to tell someone about how awesome God is. Tell them about the things he’s done — in your life and in history. Share things that you admire about God. Or point out to others how the good things in your life — those hashtag #blessed things — are gifts from God. In fact, if you’re joining us on Facebook or YouTube, leave a comment telling others about the awesomeness of your God.
Another way — to bless God — is to kneel before him. As another psalm says, “Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, 7 for he is our God. We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care.” When’s the last time you kneeled before God? Humbled yourself, gotten on your knees, and bowed before him? Something my wife and I began doing — quite some time ago — is that before we go to bed, we humble ourselves before God, bow before him, and thank him for one thing from the day.
Sing — singing is a great way to bless God. The psalms are filled with commands to sing to the Lord. And there’s no caveat as to how good of a singer you must be. If you don’t know, one of the ways our worship staff have served you is by putting together playlists — on Spotify — of the songs we sing here at Gateway. They know that the more familiar you are with the songs — the easier it is to sing them. If you haven’t checked out the playlists, you can find them on our app or regularly on our church blog — the Gate — the worship team posts the songs we’ll be singing each weekend with links so you can listen to them. So don’t just stand or sit and watch, but join us in blessing the Lord by singing.
One last idea — and this one’s a bit outside the usual box of things we Christians do. Try writing your own psalm of blessing to the Lord. Now — I don’t mean — we’re going to add your psalm to the Bible. What I mean is write down — in your own voice — words about God’s goodness or kindness towards you. His graciousness or mercy. His power or beauty. How all of these attributes of God are displayed in Christ. Write down — in your own words — who God is and what he’s done for you.
CONCLUSION
As we continue in this series — looking at things that God is for — things he wants his people to be for — we’ve seen that God is first and foremost for himself. And we — his people — are to be for him too — living a life that’s a blessing to him.
So in the coming weeks — as we look at what it means to be for justice and for life and for the family — we must remember that we are first to be for God. And remember that the Lord we mean — when we say and sing “Bless the Lord, O my soul” — is the only Lord and Savior — our Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s pray.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, first we thank you for being first and foremost for yourself. This is great news for us because infinite blessings flow to your people because of this good news. Father, you are the Blessed One — the giver of every good gift — and in response we praise you and bless your holy name.
Spirit of God, thank you for the gift of new life that you give to all who turn to Christ in faith — what an undeserved blessing. I ask that you would give the gift of new life to many who hear my voice. Pour out your blessings of grace, and hope, and joy, and peace, and life on them.
And Jesus, thank you for making all of these blessings possible. You are the Lord to whom our souls are to praise with the words, “Bless the Lord, O my soul!” May we — in response to who you are and in being for you — may we tell others about you. May we sing praises to you. May we bow down before you. And may all of who we are — our thoughts, emotions, actions, and relationships — may all of who we are be for you. And we pray all of these things in your name. Amen.
COMMUNION
Hopefully — as you came in — you grabbed one of the prepackaged communion cups that were at the entrances. If you don’t have one — and would like one — raise your hand at this time and one of our ushers will get one to you.
And as we turn to the Lord’s Table, we’re reminded once again of the greatest gift God has given to us — as this meal is a powerful display of God’s love for us in the life and death of his Son.
On the night he was betrayed, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:24b-26 ESV)
And with these words our Lord commands all believers to eat this bread and to drink this cup in true faith and in the confident hope of his return in glory. God graciously declares to us that our sins have been completely forgiven through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Let’s pray.
PRAYER
Father, we give you thanks for your Son, Jesus. For his obedience and suffering during his life on earth, and for his giving up of his body and blood on the cross. Give us assurance that our sins are pardoned through his blood and may your perfect love drive out all fear. Fill our minds with your peace and turn our eyes to Heaven, where Christ is at your right hand interceding for us. Unite us with each other through your Spirit so we bless you with our lives until our Savior returns. Amen.
At this time, if you peel back the first layer of your communion packet, you’ll find a wafer. Take and eat — Christ’s body given for you.
And — now carefully peel back the second layer. Take and drink — Christ’s blood shed for you — feast on God’s grace.
PRAYER
Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, in your wisdom, you have made all things and you sustain them by your power. You formed us in your image, setting us in this world to love and serve you, and to live in peace with one another. When we rebelled against you — refusing to trust and obey you — you did not reject us, but still claimed us as your own. Then in the fullness of time, out of your great love for us, you sent your only Son to be one of us, to redeem us, to heal our brokenness, to cleanse us from our sin, and to defeat our greatest enemies of Satan, sin, death, and Hell so that we might be first and foremost for you — that we might bless you with all of who we are. And in response to these great truths, we now praise you in song together. Amen.
BENEDICTION
May you go blessing the Lord with all of who you are — living first and foremost for him. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
You can find the sermon notes here.
Stories, news, and resources for things happening at Gateway Church.
