By Rev. Greg
Schermerhorn, November 20, 2012
As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving this
week, have you considered the thanks that you ought to give to the
Creator? It should come as no surprise
that I believe in a literal six day creation of the world, but that is not what
I am here to write about today. I am
here to proclaim to you five reasons to rejoice this Thanksgiving.
King David, the author of the majority of the
Psalms, wrote Psalm 103 to
praise the Lord and to remind us about God’s love, mercy and grace. It is a wonderful twenty-two verse Psalm of
praise and thanksgiving to God. Today,
we are going to examine the first five verses.
Psalm
103:1–5 (NKJV)
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 iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, 4 Who
redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and
tender mercies, 5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
David starts this Psalm with a blessing for God.
God does not need anything from us. After all, He is the Creator of the Universe.
He is omnipotent, He is omniscient, and
He is omnipresent. Please allow me to
pause just a moment to explain these $5 theological words I just used. To say God is omnipotent is to say He is all
powerful. To say that He is omniscient
is to say that God knows everything. To
say the He is omnipresent is to say that God is in all places at all
times.
I mentioned just a moment ago that doesn’t need
anything from us. While this is
certainly true, God does WANT and DESIRE to receive praise
back from us. Why? Praise is the proper response of the
Christian or believer to God’s revelation of Himself to them. Praise is the expression of our delight in
God. Praise is worshipful and honoring
to God. That is why He desires to
receive praise from us.
David’s praise is not just lip service. He is expressing praise as coming from his
very soul, that is to say the very core of his being. David is saying that he is worshiping God
with his whole body: his heart, his
mind, and his very soul. It is much
deeper than simply a mental ascent; he feels it down to his core. That is why David says in verse one: “Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!”
King David, the man that the Bible says is a man
after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), gives us five reasons to rejoice in the Lord,
five benefits that the Lord has given to all
believers in Him. These five benefits
are:
1. Who forgives all your iniquities?
2. Who heals all your diseases?
3. Who redeems your life from destruction?
4. Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender
mercies?
5. Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s?
All of these questions are really rhetorical. David expected his readers to know the
answer. If you have a personal
relationship with Jesus, you also already know the answer to these five
questions. If you know Jesus, you
already experience these benefits in your life.
Let’s fill in some of the details to each of the benefits of the Lord
that David gave us.
1. Who forgives all
your iniquities?
God the Father has
done all of these things. He did them
when He sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to Earth to be the sacrifice for our
sins. Because of His great love for us,
God has made it possible for us to be forgiven of our iniquities through the
shed blood of Jesus. Jesus paid the
penalty for our sins. Jesus suffered our
punishment unto death to free us from the bondage of sin. There is an Old Testament passage that comes
to mind that tells this story well. It’s
found in Isaiah 53:5-6.
Isaiah
53:5–6 (NKJV)
5 But He was
wounded for our transgressions, He was
bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we
like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the
Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
2. Who heals all your
diseases?
Because of Jesus’ finished
work on the cross of Calvary, God heals all of our diseases either here on this
side of eternity or on the other. When
we have a personal relationship with Jesus, we can have peace here and now
knowing that our future is secure in His hands.
Romans
8:28 (NKJV)
28 And we know that all things work together for
good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Nahum
1:7 (NKJV)
7 The Lord is
good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him.
Psalm
91:1–4 (NKJV)
1 He
who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of
the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” 3
Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. 4 He shall cover you
with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
3. Who redeems your
life from destruction?
Jesus redeemed your
life from destruction when He came to Earth, lived a sinless life, died a
criminal’s death on the cross, and was resurrected from death on the third
day. All you have to do is to receive God’s
gift of salvation. Jesus made our
redemption from destruction as easy as A…B…C! You simply have to Admit you are a sinner.
This means you repent and turn away from your sin.
Acts
3:19 (NKJV)
19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your
sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence
of the Lord
Believe
that Jesus is the Son of God and receive His gift of forgiveness from sin. This is not just a mental acknowledgement
that Jesus is the Son of God, but the heartfelt conviction that He is also your
Savior. This means that you know in
your heart that Jesus is the one who paid the penalty for YOUR
sins to be forgiven.
Romans
5:8 (NKJV)
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in
that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Finally, Confess your faith in Jesus
Christ as your Savior. You do this with
your mouth, verbally. It is that easy to
receive God’s redemption from destruction.
Romans
10:9–10,13 (NKJV)
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord
Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will
be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and
with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the
Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him
will not be put to shame.” 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Before we move on, I
want to be very clear on this point; salvation from your sins has been paid for
by Jesus Christ alone. There is NO
OTHER sacrifice needed, nor is there any another sacrifice possible
that would satisfy God the Father’s righteousness. Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus
Christ ALONE plus NOTHING! Jesus IS the FULL and COMPLETE
sacrifice that has atoned for our sins.
There is NO OTHER WAY to Heaven!
All anyone has to do is to receive Jesus’ finished work on the
cross as His gift to you. Failure to
receive salvation has eternal consequences that will result in your damnation
in Hell. It is an unfortunate reality
that many people chose to reject Jesus’ gift of salvation thinking that Hell
isn’t real of that their goodness will get them to Heaven. Let me assure you now that there is only one
way to Heaven and His name is Jesus.
John 14:6 (NKJV)
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Romans 6:23 (NKJV)
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the
gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
4. Who crowns you
with lovingkindness and tender mercies?
The Lord crowns us or
showers us with His tender regard, His mercy, and His good favor. He has not abandoned us to chance, nor has He
abandoned us to the schemes of the Devil.
The Lord’s plan is one of indwelling by the Holy Spirit and one of
intercession by both Jesus and His Holy Spirit.
God takes His blessing us, leading us, guiding us, and being united with
us very seriously. I have to ask those
who have a personal relationship with Jesus, how seriously do you take your
relationship with Him? Get excited about
these verses. Both The Holy Spirit and
Jesus are praying for us! That’s 2/3 of
the Godhead.
Romans
8:26 (NKJV)
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our
weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the
Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be
uttered.
Romans
8:34 (NKJV)
34 Who is
he who condemns? It is Christ who
died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also makes intercession for us.
1
Corinthians 6:19–20 (NKJV)
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple
of the Holy Spirit who is in you,
whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were
bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which
are God’s.
My friend, Mark Mirza
with Common Threads Ministries (www.CTMPrayer.org),
tells a story I will relate to you here.
Nothing catches our God by surprise!
This DOES NOT happen in Heaven.
God DOES NOT sit on His throne and all of a sudden see something
that catches Him off guard. He doesn’t
have to call out to His archangels Gabriel and Michael to ask them, “Hey, what
happened over there?” Satan cannot do anything without first
getting permission from God to do it. Do
you remember the story of Job? This is
an interesting thought that I would like you to chew on for a moment. I would like this thought to sink into your
mind. God is in control. He has COMPLETE sovereignty over ALL
events. God is the one who not only
created all things. He is the one who
spins the Earth and regulates its motion.
He put the stars in the heavens and He directs their paths. God not only created everything, He maintains
the function and delicate balance of it!
We serve a Great God!
5. Who satisfies your
mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the
eagle’s?
The Lord is the
provider of ALL provision. He is the one
who gave all of us the skills, talents, and abilities we have. He is the one who breathed life into us. He is the reason we all have a heartbeat and
draw breath. The Lord renews our vigor
and increases our fervor for the tasks He has given to us to accomplish. He is the One who restores and renews our
strength.
Isaiah
40:31 (NKJV)
31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with
wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not
faint.
Proverbs
3:5–10 (NKJV)
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean
not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord and depart from evil. 8 It will be health to your
flesh, And strength to your bones. 9 Honor the Lord with your
possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; 10 So
your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new
wine.
God’s benefits should not ever be forgotten, but
in this case, especially because they have an eternal consequence. Friends, God loves you. He loves your family. He loves your neighbors. He loves your coworkers. He loves this community, this state, this
nation, and this world. It is not
His will that any should perish and go to spend an eternity in Hell. It is His will that we all have a
personal relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus. However, He gave all of us free will to
choose our own path. We all can either
choose to receive or reject His Son Jesus and His gift of salvation. It is our choice. God is a “perfect gentleman” who will not
force His will upon us.
John 3:16–18 (NKJV)
16 For God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but
have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the
world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18
“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is
condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God.
Regardless of people’s attitudes about Jesus today, there will be a day
when they will humbly acknowledge His absolute deity and sovereignty over all
creation. Unfortunately, for those who
reject Jesus in this life, it will be too late for them to change their
position. Every knee will bow and every
tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.
This includes the atheist, the agnostic, the Muslim, the Buddhist, the
Hindu, the Universalist…everyone. There
is only ONE way to Heaven and He has a name held in honor above every other,
Jesus!
Philippians 2:9–11 (NKJV)
9 Therefore God also
has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of
those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of
God the Father.
We have a lot to be thankful for all of the time. Thankfulness should not just be reserved for
Thanksgiving Day and a once a year event.
Thanksgiving and a thankful heart are the first steps into growing more
spiritually mature in your walk with the Lord.
If you don’t know Jesus in a real and personal way, you have been shown
enough meet Him. If you have questions,
contact me or your local Bible believing church. You will never regret meeting Jesus. He will become your best friend. May the Lord bless you and your family this
Thanksgiving and may we bless the Lord with all of our soul!
