Let us read, dear friends, the one hundred and third Psalm, not because we do not know it, but because I trust that we know it by heart, and feel that it is a fit expression for our heart's thankfulness on this last Sabbath evening of another year.
Psalms 103:1. Bless the LORD, O my soul:
He has been blessing thee; now begin thou to bless him. If, during the week, thou hast been busy about the things of the world now leave these unimportant matters, and come to the grandest exercise in which an intelligent spirit can be engaged. «Bless the Lord, O my soul.» Let there be no sleeping now, no coldness, no indifference; let it be real soul-work. His blessings have been real, let thy praises be real, too.
Psalms 103:1. And all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Bless the whole of his name, and especially the holiness of it; be glad that thou hast a holy God. There was a time when this was a terror to thee, for thou wast unholy, and unable to delight in God's holiness; but he has cleansed and washed thee, and now thou canst rejoice in the whole of his character, in the wholeness, or the holiness, of his blessed name.
Psalms 103:2. Bless the LORD, O my soul,
Do it again. If thou hast praised him now in thy heart, lift up thy heart yet higher. Let the praise come up from a greater depth, from the very bottom of thy heart, and let it rise to a loftier height, even to the highest heaven.
«Bless the Lord, O my soul.»
Psalms 103:2. And forget not all his benefits:
Thou hast a bad memory for good things; but now try to make thy memory awake, forget not any of God's benefits. If thou canst not remember all, yet do not wilfully forget any of them: «Forget not all his benefits.» Here is a list to help thy memory:-
Psalms 103:3. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;
Canst thou not praise the Lord for this? One of those iniquities, like a millstone about thy neck, would be sufficient to sink thee into hell; but God forgives them all. He does it now as much as ever he did. He still forgives, for the forgiveness of God to his people is a continuous act. Do thou, then, continually praise him, and rejoice in him.
Psalms 103:3. Who healeth all thy diseases;
None can set the human frame in order but he who made it. Medicines and physicians are of little service unless God blesses the doctor's skill. Especially does the Lord heal soul sicknesses; and they are very many and very terrible. Bless his name that he continues still to heal. As fresh complaints break out in thy poor flesh or spirit, and thy soul mourns over them, he comes, and gives the healing balm.
Psalms 103:4. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;
Keeping thee from the gates of the grave; and, better still, delivering thee from the jaws of hell.
Psalms 103:4. Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
The Lord has made a king of thee; and what an empire is thine! And what a crown is this, which thou dost wear! Other crowns make the head lie uneasy; but this is the softest, the best, the richest coronet that ever crowned head did wear. Thou mayest be content to keep it though all the Caesars should offer all their pomp to thee in exchange for thy crown; «He crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies.
Psalms 103:5. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
The mouth of man is very hard to fill. There are some men's mouths that never will be filled until the sexton gives them a shovelful of earth; for they are covetous and greedy, and always hungry after more; but God has filled thy mouth, not with earth, nor with earth's treasure, but «with good things», the very best things. The best of the best he has given thee, all that thy heart desireth, in giving thee himself; so that thy youth, when thou growest old, and feeble in thy spirit, returns to thee once more. Bless the Lord, then, for all these mercies.
Psalms 103:6. The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
He lets the oppressor go on for a while; but sooner or later, there comes a terrible retribution. There is nothing of oppression in this world that can live long; for God is abroad, and oftentimes even the horrors of war make an end to the equal horrors of oppression. God interposes in dreadful judgments to execute vengeance on those that oppress the poor.
Psalms 103:7. He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.
Bless him for this. Bless him for the Old Testament Scriptures. Bless him that he did not hide himself of old; but did speak to his people, and reveal himself by his prophets, and by the types and symbols of the law, Bless his name, and study much the revelation of his ways and acts, and get all the good out of it that thou canst.
Psalms 103:8. The LORD is merciful and gracious,
Bless him, O my soul! Bless him for this, for where wouldst thou have been if he had not been merciful? Where wouldst thou be if he were not gracious, giving grace to keep thee what thou art, and to make thee better?
Psalms 103:8. Slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
Blessed words! Any who are under a sense of sin will suck honey out of these choice expressions. «Slow to anger.» God does get angry at last when grace has had her day; but he is «plenteous in mercy.
Psalms 103:9. He will not always chide:
He will chide sometimes. He would not be a kind Father if he did not. That is a cruel father to his children who never chides them. This was Eli's sin, and you know how it brought destruction upon him and his house. Our Father takes care to chide us when we need it; but «he will not always chide.»
Psalms 103:9-10. Neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
Brothers and sisters, bless his name for this. Let every verse, as we read it, awaken fresh gratitude; and let us keep up the music of our souls in harmony with the language of the Psalm.
Psalms 103:11-12. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
They are gone. There is a chasm between us and our sins, which will never be bridged. To an infinite distance has the great Scapegoat carried away all the sins of his people; they shall never return to us.
Psalms 103:13. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
The best of them need pity. There is something to pity in them; and because the Lord pities them, he will not lay too heavy a burden upon them, he will not demand too much of them, he will not give them over to their enemies. He deals tenderly with them because they are so weak.
Psalms 103:14. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
Sometimes we do not remember that ourselves; we think that we are iron, and we fancy that we shall last for ever; but the Lord «remembereth that we are dust.»
Psalms 103:15-16. As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
Before even the mower's scythe comes, the hot eastern wind has dried up the grass, and it is gone. How little a thing carries us away! It seems as if it did not need death to come with a sharp scythe to cut down such frail creatures as we are; he does but breathe upon the field, and all the flowers are withered at once. Oh, that we might all be prepared for such a speedy end of our lives, and not look upon this world as a place for a long stay; but only as the meadow in which we, in common with other feeble flowers, are blooming out our little hour!
Psalms 103:17. But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him,
Blessed be his name that mercy had no beginning, and shall never have an end. You and I are of yesterday, and therefore we pass away tomorrow; but God is ever the same, and of his years there is no end, because he is without beginning; and such is his love to his people, eternal, and unchangeable. Bless his name for this, dear friends. Do not forget what is to be the accompaniment to the reading of the Psalm; but constantly bless the Lord, praise him, and magnify his holy name.
Psalms 103:17-18. And his righteousness unto children's children; to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
Bless him for his goodness to our children. Some of us have seen the covenant of the Lord kept to our children as well as to ourselves. May we all have that blessing in the case of all that spring of us!
Psalms 103:19. The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
Bless him for his sovereignty. A God who did not reign would be no God to us; but «the Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice;» and let his people be glad because he «hath prepared his throne in the heavens,» beyond the reach of all man's attacks or assaults. Beyond all time and change, the Lord reigneth on for ever and ever, «and his kingdom ruleth over all.» It extends over all things that are on the earth, and above it, and beneath it; angels and men and devils are all subject to his sway.
Psalms 103:20-22. Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.
I think, before we pray, we must bless and magnify the Lord by singing Milton's version of Psalms 136:1:-«Let us with a gladsome mind, Praise the Lord, for he is kind: