Undeserving
Do You Struggle To Be Grateful For God's Blessings?
Paul Basden
May 23, 2021 32m
Sometimes we can struggle to remember to be grateful for the blessings given to us by God. But as we see in today's message on Psalm 103, when you do remember God's undeserved gifts, you become a grateful person. Video recorded at Frisco, Texas.
TranscriptionmessageRegarding Grammar:
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
You're listening to the Preston trail Community Church podcast, rich church based in North Texas that is committed to helping people find and follow Jesus Christ. We hope that the message you're about to hear is encouraging and inspiring.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget none of his benefits. Who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeemed your life from the pit, who crowns you with loving kindness and compassion, who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle. The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he himself knows our frame, he is mindful that we are dust. Bless the Lord, all you works of his in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul.
One of the most fun things in life is to think about all the good things in your life. Isn't it nice to be able just to pause sometimes, and think about those family members you just love, and even some of the ones that sometimes drive you crazy, you're still thankful, mostly, that they're in your life. You think about your friends, people you love to hang out with. Think about your work if it gives you meaning. The people you get to play with, your hobbies, the good graces of God, it's good to think about those things. But lurking behind that experience is this question: Are all those good things “rights” that I have? Or do I not deserve any of them? That's an interesting question. Do you deserve all those things you were just thinking of?
Deserve is an interesting word. A comedian once said, when receiving an Emmy Award, “I'm very grateful for this award. I don't deserve it. Of course, I have arthritis, and I don't deserve that either.”
And so, deserving refers to things that we think we don't deserve, and things we think we do deserve. But if, when you think of all the good things in your life, your first thought is, I kind of deserve those things.
Now, I want to ask you to start thinking further and further back in your life—as far back as you can go. Can you remember something from when you were three or four? What if you could go back to the day you were born? Or, let's go back before that. Let's go nine months before that, when you were conceived, or before that. A week before you were conceived or a month, even a year. There was no you around who could go to God and say, “You better bring me into this world!” If you weren’t there, how could you deserve it? So, if you didn't deserve it, then that means all is grace, all of life is gift.
My mentor in Birmingham used to say to me, “Paul, just remember that life is gift, and birth is windfall.” Neither is deserved, neither is earned. And so, if not even birth was deserved, then nothing in all of life is deserved. And that leads to the most profound change of thought you can have in life. Because that kind of thinking will morph you into a grateful person. And that's what today's talk is all about. When you remember God's undeserved gifts, you become a grateful person.
Psalm 103 is going to help us get there. In it, David tells us several things to help us become grateful persons. The first thing that helps you become a grateful person is this: Talk to yourself. Here are the first two verses of Psalm 1:2 and 3 “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord. O my soul and forget none of his benefits.”
This is my very favorite Psalm. I have my Bible open to Psalm 103 every single time I preach—there's the little marker, and it's open there. And you may think, You're kind of superstitious, aren't you, Paul? No, I've had it there for sermons that were clunkers, and I've had it there for sermons that were pretty good. I just leave it open there because it's my very favorite Psalm. And when you really love something, you commend it to people. If you really love a restaurant, you want them to try it. So, I want you to try Psalm 103:1 and 2, and I want you to memorize it with me; it's only two sentences. You got this. Let's just go one line at a time. Ready? (I hope you do better than the 8:15 crowd, it's very clear to me that they were coffee deprived.) So, let's just do the first sentence. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name.” Y'all are sharp!
Second sentence—ready? “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of his benefits.” One more time, then we're doing it from memory. Let's go, all together. “Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of his benefits.” Okay, we're going to do it all from memory. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget none of his benefits.” Alright! Y'all get an A plus, and I hope you will repeat that sometime this week—if not several times.
David starts this psalm with “self-talk.” A lot of psychologists practice self-talk today. It is a very good mental health discipline. But it’s as old as humanity: we need to talk to ourselves, David’s saying here, talk to the deepest part of who you are–that soul, that inner self that animates your whole body. And from time to time simply say, “Hey, you, self. What are you thinking about? Have you heard from God lately?” He uses the word bless three times here. And it will be used four times in the last few verses. So, seven times that word shows up. It's the same word that can be translated praise, or worship. But it literally is used in a non-religious way. It comes from an old Hebrew word that means to bow down in the presence of greatness as if you're in the presence of royalty, if you're in the presence of power. You don't just sashay in and shake hands, instead you go in on your knees. That's the concept. It was a political, secular, non-religious concept. So, in the presence of God, sometimes all we can do is just kind of sink down and say, “Worthy is the great Lord God. Bless the Lord.” Why? Because of all his benefits, because of all his blessings, not one of which we deserve. And when David says, “forget none,” that's because we forget too easily.
Jesus knew this. In Luke 17, there's a story about Jesus walking on the border of Samaria, in Judea. He happened to bump into a band of lepers. There were ten men, they'd been completely excluded and ostracized from society; they were on their own, unable to gather with other groups. And when Jesus saw them, he approached them, which is amazing. And he healed them. And when he finished healing them, he said, “Now you all go back to your local priest—who really functioned as a county health official—and show yourself to him so he can tell you that you're legit to go back into the crowds. And they were so excited. They all left, and a couple of hours later, one returns and says to Jesus, “Thank you so much for healing me of leprosy, what a burden I've carried all these years.” He leaves and Jesus turns to disciples and says, “Hmm, weren't there ten? Where are the other nine?” Great question. Indeed. Where are the other nine? Let's be the one who comes to the Lord and “forgets none of his benefits.” Not the nine who leave and never return. So, becoming grateful starts with talking to yourself. Now what do you say? It's a second thing David tells us to become a grateful person. He says to count your blessings. David names four, and these are so rich we're going to go into some detail on these. Verses three, four, and five. “Who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and who crowns you with loving kindness and compassion, who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.”
Alright, let's talk about each one. The first: who pardons all your iniquities. If you did not hear Jim's message, back two or three weeks ago on Psalm 51, please go back and watch it or listen to it. It talks about the depth of forgiveness, the power of guilt to make us feel separated from God, and the power of God's pardon to bring us right into God's presence. There's nothing like it. And you and I know for a fact that in Christ, we are made right with God through the death of Jesus through all he has done for us through his life, through his death, and through his resurrection in order to draw us into his presence. And so therefore, our sins have been erased. Just like going to a chalkboard or a whiteboard, you just erase everything. The debts are canceled, right? Dave Ramsey makes a big deal about people giving the debt free scream. Every Christian gives a debt free scream every day because God has completely erased our sins.
I'm reminded of a story I heard a long time ago about two men who had been friends for years and years, and one of them betrayed the other. It was a hateful act, completely selfish, self-absorbed. And of course, their relationship deteriorated until there was really no relationship at all. Once close friends and now, not even enemies—just apart. They lived in different towns and cities over the years. And one day the Lord was working real seriously in the life of the one who was the primary offender. And God said to him, “You need to confess this to me,” which he did. And then the Lord told him through Scripture, “Now you need to go to your brother and tell him how much you sinned and ask his forgiveness.” The guy struggled with it. But he finally wrote the letter, and it was so freeing, and he knew he was doing the right thing. And he said, Dear friend, I'm so sorry for the way I treated you. So sorry for what led me to do it. I just want to tell you now that if I could turn back the clock, I would not do it again. But all I can do now is ask you to forgive me—if you will consider it. But he didn't know how that letter would land on his friend who he had been separated from and alienated from for so many years. But of all things. About a week later, he got a postcard in the mail. The postcard had three words on it: forgiven, forgotten, forever. And that is exactly what God does to your sins, which is why David could say that God is the one who pardons all your iniquities. Forgiven, forgotten, forever.
The second blessing David names, “Who heals all your diseases.” Disease was not part of God's original creation. Disease and illness and sickness, that is all a part of the sinful part of this world that we live in. Jesus, when he was on earth, brought the kingdom in on many occasions, proving it by his healing. You and I have all been healed of something in some way. There's something in our lives where God answered a prayer that was health-wise, whether it was really big or really small. But the truth is, there are other times you and I have prayed, and we did not get what we asked for. We prayed, we asked for healing, and it didn't happen. And then we asked a question. “Well, Lord, is that because my faith isn't big enough? Is that because I have some unconfessed sin in my life? Worst of all, is it because you're not even a loving and a good God? How is it possible that you did not heal me when I prayed for healing, especially when this verse says, ‘who heals all your diseases?’”
Well, I will tell you that David knew in his heart when he wrote this, that “all your diseases” does not mean in real life, all the time, all your diseases. Now why do I say that? I say that because in the story of David and Bathsheba found in 2 Samuel, David had the affair with her, and she gave birth to a child—his child. That baby was born very sick—gravely sick. David prayed and fasted for seven days. I've never prayed that seriously about anything. He prayed and fasted for seven days. He didn't want that beloved child to die. Unfortunately, the child died even after David prayed. So, what can we conclude? We can conclude first that God did pardon all David's iniquities, but God did not heal all diseases because the baby died. Now, that leads us to a very important conclusion that we need to hang on to throughout our lives. And here it is: Healing in this life is a gift from God for which we should give thanks, and we do give thanks, and it is a foretaste of heaven. But the full and permanent healing that we all long for must wait for that life to come.
Many of you have asked me to pray for you over the years, and I keep this list of people that I pray for including a list of people with cancer, including sweet little Ella right there, I pray for her every day. And my next door neighbor who told me six years ago, he'd been stricken with a tough form of stomach cancer and he ran And he fell when he rallied, and he fell. And they called in hospice last week. And on Wednesday, his wife texted Denise and me and said, “He's just passed.” He was a man of faith and lived in a community of faith. We prayed for him. Hundreds of people prayed for him, and he died. Now, what do we do with that? Well, we remember that we don't always see healing in this life. And therefore, we are confident that there is another life where there will be healing. This is not all there is. Now if you want to go deeper on this subject, because you have a need to understand it better, I encourage you to look at the series Jim and I did several years ago, called 40 Days of Healing, specifically, this message that was on physical healing, that's the link, you can find the depression trail.org and you can check that on your own. Second, he heals our diseases.
Third, he redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with loving kindness and compassion. The pit. There are a lot of pits you can fall into these days. I wonder if you've been in the pit lately: the pit of teenage depression which, during COVID, got significantly worse.
The pit of being in a marriage that is meaningless. The pit of having a job you can't stand or being fired from a job you loved. The pit of being in so much financial debt that you just don't know how you're going to get out.
There are lots of pits to fall into. I've been in the pit before. Against all odds, a thought I never had in the first 13 years of my life was I went to school on a Thursday, everything was normal, I went to school on the next Monday, and I was fatherless. Just that fast, my dad died of a heart attack on Friday morning. I was in a pit but not right away. It was a delayed response of me burying those emotions and being afraid to face grief. Because it's so painful. Not understanding that grief is like a porcupine, you better hug it and move forward. Otherwise, it’s just going to be shooting thorns at you your whole life. You better befriend it. And I did not befriend grief, I was too scared. And therefore, when I was 17, 18 and 19, I went through this episodic depression that was really hard. Now it wasn't clinical depression. Because I didn't wake up every morning feeling like, you know, my life was worthless. I couldn't even crawl out of bed. I know people who have gone through that that is really hell on earth. Because I woke up every morning ready to go. But by the middle of the day, there was just something dark in there, just some clouds that seemed to follow me. And I think it was because I had never dealt with Dad's death.
And I remember Denise and I both being in the pit when we're 28 years old, we had one precious little girl who was two or three, and Denise was pregnant with baby number two. And she carried that thing the full nine months, went in for the nine month checkup right before the baby was to be delivered. And Dr. Don Gloff in Clifton, Texas, said “I don't detect a heartbeat.” And she came home and told me, and we just got on our knees and said, “God give us a heartbeat give us a heartbeat give us a heartbeat.” And just a few days later, we buried little Jason Jeffery Basden, the only boy that I would ever have, but we never could bring him home. I was in the pits.
I don't know what pit you’re in, but I do know this—if you've ever been in the pit, and you're out now, the reason is because God in his kindness stooped down to you and lifted you up. And when he lifted you up, he put the equivalent of a crown on your head. A lot of you have become fascinated over the last several years with The Crown and how wonderfully Claire Foy plays that particular role of QE 2. And you recall that on her coronation day, she actually had a crown put on her head. I just love that image. And you say, “Well, of course, her dad was a king.” So, who's your dad? Who's your heavenly Father? Is he not the King of kings and Lord of lords? And when he lifts you out of the pit, he absolutely puts a crown on your head, “Who redeemed your life from the pit and crowned you with loving kindness and compassion.” That's the third blessing David names.
The fourth one who satisfies your years with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle. When we think of David, it's easy to think of him as that buff, muscular young teenage guy who took down Goliath. What we forget is that David aged, and that's what we all forget when we're young. We think I'll never age. Yeah, I just never dreamed I would make noises when I got down on the floor and got off the floor. It never occurred to me. I thought only old people did that. But we all age. And with aging comes changes. And yet David says his conviction is that even as he aged, God filled his life with good things. Not making him younger—he died an old man—but filling his life with good things so that his youth was renewed like the eagle's. I remember going to my counselor, Roy Austin, about ten years ago and I listed just a bunch of things that were ticking me off in life, and I'm not usually that ticked off, but for whatever reason that season I was irritated about a bunch, and I named this, and named this. I bet there were about five things. When I finished, he looks at me and he goes, “Paul, do you think this is all related to just aging and changes that you just don't like?” I thought, that is the stupidest thing, why in the world am I paying you $100 for that pathetic insight. Surely you've got more, buddy, give it. I went through it again. He goes, “I think that's mostly related to aging, and you don't like the changes this is bringing.” So, I'll say to all of you, “You're aging, and you're welcome. I just saved you $100.” But you are aging, and God promises even in the aging process—wherever you are in that process—to fill your life with good things. You won't be getting younger, he doesn't reverse that. But your youth will be renewed, like the eagle, we age. God renews.
All right, David is not done, he is just getting started. The third thing he says is to become a grateful person, remember who God is, remember who the giver of all these blessings is. And here's how the next few verses read. “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, nor will he keep his anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.” Now, this first sentence, right here, all the way down to the word lovingkindness, David is in essence quoting what God said to Moses in Exodus 34, when Moses said, “Who are you that has rescued us from slavery in Egypt,” and God says That's who I am. Those are the four words he uses. And I want us to look at each one of those words because they're very precious to us as believers.
First, compassionate. Many translations give this as the word merciful. And that's the word that means a mother's womb. That's what the Hebrew word is: mercy, compassion, mean a woman's womb, and is there anything more tender in terms of a mother's love than how a mama feels about her womb when she's pregnant? There's just nothing like it that any man can comprehend. And God is like that towards us. He is compassionate.
Second, is filled with grace. Grace is a word that literally means to stoop down and look someone in the eye even though they are way smaller than you. There was a time in your life, although you don't remember it. And I don't remember it in my life. When you were so helpless, and so little, that if someone had not gotten down on your level and changed you, fed you, burped you, put you to sleep, and clothed you, that you would not be here today. If they had not done those things for you, you would be dead, you would not be present today. They showed you grace, they got down on your level. And for all of you who are moms and dads, you know just what I'm talking about—getting right down in the level of a kid, talking to them with stupid language that no one else understands. And they think you've lost your brains. You're just getting on their level because you love them so much. That's what God does with us. shows us grace.
Third, slow to anger. I'll comment on that again in a minute. But God's temper is not short. God's temper is way, way long. And then, fourth, it says he is abounding in lovingkindness. Lovingkindness comes from the Hebrew word hesed, it is my favorite Hebrew descriptor of God because it means covenant love, that when God made a covenant with his people, he does not let them go. And he's made a covenant with you in Jesus Christ, if you're one of his followers, and he will not let you go. Now, you notice in this passage, the word anger appears twice: slow to anger, and he will not keep his anger forever. We ought to talk about that for a moment, because you may have either heard too much about God's anger in your life or heard the wrong things. I'd like to set that straight.
Here's what we know about the anger of God—or anger, period. Healthy anger is not opposed to love. Healthy anger is an expression of deep love. Now I'm not talking about crazy anger, irrational anger, immature anger, but mature, healthy anger is always an expression of true, good love. If you're a parent, and someone mistreats or abuses or bullies your child, you're angry, not because you don't love your child, but because you love your child so much. And God is a good parent, and he loves us deeply. He is perfect love, and so therefore he gets angry.
When does God get angry? He gets angry when you and I give him a stiff arm and tell him to leave us alone. He gets angry when you and I hurt other people that he loves or hurt ourselves who he loves. He gets angry when we harm his reputation and his name out in the world. He is actively opposed to sin and that opposition is his anger. But don't think God is anger. No, no, we can be very clear about this, friends. God is love. God is love. But God shows anger. It's easy to think once you say God gets angry that God is anger. No, no, God is love. But out of love God, appropriately, at the right time, shows anger. And it's not like ours, he doesn't hold a grudge, he doesn't explode. His anger is very steady. It's always in control. It's always purposeful, and always serves his love.
Now, David so wants us to understand this character of God who is filled with grace and mercy that he gives us three illustrations that make sense to every single one of us. And here they are, “For as highs the heavens are above the earth, so great is his lovingkindness toward those who fear him.” Now I have no way to measure how high the heavens are from the earth. Some astronomer might tell us some number, but they're probably wrong. It's farther than that. But that misses the point. The point is, whatever that seemingly infinite distance is, that's how much God loves you.
Second analogy, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” I don't know how far the east is from the west, it seems like a mathematical trick question to me. But that misses the point, however far you can go west or east, you can't go far enough to even describe how far God has removed your sin from you.
Third analogy, “Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.” It's fascinating that that word compassion is the word that means mercy, that, in the Hebrew, means a mother's womb. And so, it mixes these metaphors a bit to say, as a father has the compassionate love that the mom has for the baby in her womb, so, the Lord has compassion on all of us. In other words, think of the best father in the history of the world. Maybe your father, maybe a father you knew, maybe somebody else, but just think of the greatest father, then multiply that by infinity. That is the kind of love and compassion God has on us. And why? Because this last verse here says, “For he himself, knows our frame, and is mindful that we are but dust. I love verse 14. God knows we came from dust, and he knows we are going back to dust. God is not confused about your lifespan, he does not think you're going to live a million years. He knows your frame, he knows you're going to die. He knows that your body has illnesses, he knows that your mind is too forgetful. He knows that your soul is tempted by idols. And at the very same time that he knows all that about your limitations, he knows that one day you will live forever with him in a perfect state of joy and laughter and meaningful work and meaningful relationships and peace and praise. He knows both of those simultaneously. Which means he also knows that you're not there yet, in that perfect place that we call heaven—which I think is kind of a relief to know that he looks at us and goes, “I know. I know what I picture for you one day, and I know what it is right now. And I'll make sure you get there, but you're not there yet.”
David has one last thing to say. To become a grateful person, join with all creation, join with all creation. Let's read these last few verses and watch again how many times blessed comes in. “Bless the Lord you his angels, mighty in strength, who perform his word, obeying the voice of his Word.” David calls the angels to bless God. “Bless the Lord, all you his hosts.” Heavenly hosts means not just angels, but now the planets and the stars. You who serve him, doing his will. Next he says, “Bless the Lord, all you works of his in all places of his dominion.” And finally, he returns to himself. “Hey, you! Bless the Lord.” I think you can see why this is my favorite psalm. I commend it to you. I hope you love this psalm. I hope it will teach you and me how to be grateful children and remind us that all is grace and that nothing is deserved. So, what do we do with the psalm? How do we respond? Well, I don't really want you to have an action that you go out and do. Instead, I want to ask you to remember, remembering is such an important part of the Christian life. David told Israel in this passage, forget none of his benefits, meaning remember them all. Why? Because Israel had a short memory. And when Jesus was on earth, he said to his disciples a night before his crucifixion, don't forget me either. Remember me. Remember my death for you. Remember that I crawled up Calvary’s cross to die on your behalf. I just can't help Jesus but think that Jesus thought of this Psalm and thought “as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is my love for you, as you see in the cross. As far as the east is from the west, so much greater have I even removed your sins from you because of the cross. As a father has compassion on his children how much compassion our father has on you, as you see in my death on the cross for you.” He says remember me. Forget me not. For 2000 years, followers of Jesus remembered through communion. Today we're going to partake of communion. It's a very precious moment for us to remember who Jesus is. If you'll take the piece of bread, I'll remind you of what Christ said in the upper room with his disciples, knowing that within a dozen hours, he was going to be suffering to the nth degree. He said, “This is my body, which is given for you. When you eat it, remember me.” Let's remember him now. As we prepare to take the cup, Jesus said to the disciples, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. When you drink it, remember me. Let's remember Christ.
Please join me in prayer.
Lord Jesus, all gifts from you are undeserved. None is greater than the one we just remembered, the one we just thanked you for and promised we wouldn't forget you as we take it. And that is your life, your death, your resurrection. Lord, our life is filled with gifts. They are spiritual, they're material, they're relational, they're intellectual. I mean, you just keep on giving. And our hands are all so full, that they're just overflowing. And for every gift you give just, every time you bless us when we pause, and bless you. So here our prayer. And as we say back to you that we love you hear us even right now.
relational, they’re intellectual. You just keep on giving. And our hands are so full that they’re overflowing. Every time you bless us, may we bless you. So hear our prayer and as we say back to you that we love you, hear us even right now.
Colby: We hope that you feel encouraged and inspired by the message you've just listened to. If you'd like to get in touch with someone on our team, you can send an email to info@prestontrail.org. Additionally, you can call us at 972-668-1244. We would absolutely love to hear from you. Thanks so much for listening.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
god, david, life, anger, healing, lord, pardons, compassion, people, pit, jesus, loving kindness, bless, deserve, grateful, diseases, compassionate, years, love, sins
Recorded in Frisco, Texas.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget none of his benefits. Who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeemed your life from the pit, who crowns you with loving kindness and compassion, who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle. The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he himself knows our frame, he is mindful that we are dust. Bless the Lord, all you works of his in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul.
One of the most fun things in life is to think about all the good things in your life. Isn't it nice to be able just to pause sometimes, and think about those family members you just love, and even some of the ones that sometimes drive you crazy, you're still thankful, mostly, that they're in your life. You think about your friends, people you love to hang out with. Think about your work if it gives you meaning. The people you get to play with, your hobbies, the good graces of God, it's good to think about those things. But lurking behind that experience is this question: Are all those good things “rights” that I have? Or do I not deserve any of them? That's an interesting question. Do you deserve all those things you were just thinking of?
Deserve is an interesting word. A comedian once said, when receiving an Emmy Award, “I'm very grateful for this award. I don't deserve it. Of course, I have arthritis, and I don't deserve that either.”
And so, deserving refers to things that we think we don't deserve, and things we think we do deserve. But if, when you think of all the good things in your life, your first thought is, I kind of deserve those things.
Now, I want to ask you to start thinking further and further back in your life—as far back as you can go. Can you remember something from when you were three or four? What if you could go back to the day you were born? Or, let's go back before that. Let's go nine months before that, when you were conceived, or before that. A week before you were conceived or a month, even a year. There was no you around who could go to God and say, “You better bring me into this world!” If you weren’t there, how could you deserve it? So, if you didn't deserve it, then that means all is grace, all of life is gift.
My mentor in Birmingham used to say to me, “Paul, just remember that life is gift, and birth is windfall.” Neither is deserved, neither is earned. And so, if not even birth was deserved, then nothing in all of life is deserved. And that leads to the most profound change of thought you can have in life. Because that kind of thinking will morph you into a grateful person. And that's what today's talk is all about. When you remember God's undeserved gifts, you become a grateful person.
Psalm 103 is going to help us get there. In it, David tells us several things to help us become grateful persons. The first thing that helps you become a grateful person is this: Talk to yourself. Here are the first two verses of Psalm 1:2 and 3 “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord. O my soul and forget none of his benefits.”
This is my very favorite Psalm. I have my Bible open to Psalm 103 every single time I preach—there's the little marker, and it's open there. And you may think, You're kind of superstitious, aren't you, Paul? No, I've had it there for sermons that were clunkers, and I've had it there for sermons that were pretty good. I just leave it open there because it's my very favorite Psalm. And when you really love something, you commend it to people. If you really love a restaurant, you want them to try it. So, I want you to try Psalm 103:1 and 2, and I want you to memorize it with me; it's only two sentences. You got this. Let's just go one line at a time. Ready? (I hope you do better than the 8:15 crowd, it's very clear to me that they were coffee deprived.) So, let's just do the first sentence. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name.” Y'all are sharp!
Second sentence—ready? “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of his benefits.” One more time, then we're doing it from memory. Let's go, all together. “Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of his benefits.” Okay, we're going to do it all from memory. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget none of his benefits.” Alright! Y'all get an A plus, and I hope you will repeat that sometime this week—if not several times.
David starts this psalm with “self-talk.” A lot of psychologists practice self-talk today. It is a very good mental health discipline. But it’s as old as humanity: we need to talk to ourselves, David’s saying here, talk to the deepest part of who you are–that soul, that inner self that animates your whole body. And from time to time simply say, “Hey, you, self. What are you thinking about? Have you heard from God lately?” He uses the word bless three times here. And it will be used four times in the last few verses. So, seven times that word shows up. It's the same word that can be translated praise, or worship. But it literally is used in a non-religious way. It comes from an old Hebrew word that means to bow down in the presence of greatness as if you're in the presence of royalty, if you're in the presence of power. You don't just sashay in and shake hands, instead you go in on your knees. That's the concept. It was a political, secular, non-religious concept. So, in the presence of God, sometimes all we can do is just kind of sink down and say, “Worthy is the great Lord God. Bless the Lord.” Why? Because of all his benefits, because of all his blessings, not one of which we deserve. And when David says, “forget none,” that's because we forget too easily.
Jesus knew this. In Luke 17, there's a story about Jesus walking on the border of Samaria, in Judea. He happened to bump into a band of lepers. There were ten men, they'd been completely excluded and ostracized from society; they were on their own, unable to gather with other groups. And when Jesus saw them, he approached them, which is amazing. And he healed them. And when he finished healing them, he said, “Now you all go back to your local priest—who really functioned as a county health official—and show yourself to him so he can tell you that you're legit to go back into the crowds. And they were so excited. They all left, and a couple of hours later, one returns and says to Jesus, “Thank you so much for healing me of leprosy, what a burden I've carried all these years.” He leaves and Jesus turns to disciples and says, “Hmm, weren't there ten? Where are the other nine?” Great question. Indeed. Where are the other nine? Let's be the one who comes to the Lord and “forgets none of his benefits.” Not the nine who leave and never return. So, becoming grateful starts with talking to yourself. Now what do you say? It's a second thing David tells us to become a grateful person. He says to count your blessings. David names four, and these are so rich we're going to go into some detail on these. Verses three, four, and five. “Who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and who crowns you with loving kindness and compassion, who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.”
Alright, let's talk about each one. The first: who pardons all your iniquities. If you did not hear Jim's message, back two or three weeks ago on Psalm 51, please go back and watch it or listen to it. It talks about the depth of forgiveness, the power of guilt to make us feel separated from God, and the power of God's pardon to bring us right into God's presence. There's nothing like it. And you and I know for a fact that in Christ, we are made right with God through the death of Jesus through all he has done for us through his life, through his death, and through his resurrection in order to draw us into his presence. And so therefore, our sins have been erased. Just like going to a chalkboard or a whiteboard, you just erase everything. The debts are canceled, right? Dave Ramsey makes a big deal about people giving the debt free scream. Every Christian gives a debt free scream every day because God has completely erased our sins.
I'm reminded of a story I heard a long time ago about two men who had been friends for years and years, and one of them betrayed the other. It was a hateful act, completely selfish, self-absorbed. And of course, their relationship deteriorated until there was really no relationship at all. Once close friends and now, not even enemies—just apart. They lived in different towns and cities over the years. And one day the Lord was working real seriously in the life of the one who was the primary offender. And God said to him, “You need to confess this to me,” which he did. And then the Lord told him through Scripture, “Now you need to go to your brother and tell him how much you sinned and ask his forgiveness.” The guy struggled with it. But he finally wrote the letter, and it was so freeing, and he knew he was doing the right thing. And he said, Dear friend, I'm so sorry for the way I treated you. So sorry for what led me to do it. I just want to tell you now that if I could turn back the clock, I would not do it again. But all I can do now is ask you to forgive me—if you will consider it. But he didn't know how that letter would land on his friend who he had been separated from and alienated from for so many years. But of all things. About a week later, he got a postcard in the mail. The postcard had three words on it: forgiven, forgotten, forever. And that is exactly what God does to your sins, which is why David could say that God is the one who pardons all your iniquities. Forgiven, forgotten, forever.
The second blessing David names, “Who heals all your diseases.” Disease was not part of God's original creation. Disease and illness and sickness, that is all a part of the sinful part of this world that we live in. Jesus, when he was on earth, brought the kingdom in on many occasions, proving it by his healing. You and I have all been healed of something in some way. There's something in our lives where God answered a prayer that was health-wise, whether it was really big or really small. But the truth is, there are other times you and I have prayed, and we did not get what we asked for. We prayed, we asked for healing, and it didn't happen. And then we asked a question. “Well, Lord, is that because my faith isn't big enough? Is that because I have some unconfessed sin in my life? Worst of all, is it because you're not even a loving and a good God? How is it possible that you did not heal me when I prayed for healing, especially when this verse says, ‘who heals all your diseases?’”
Well, I will tell you that David knew in his heart when he wrote this, that “all your diseases” does not mean in real life, all the time, all your diseases. Now why do I say that? I say that because in the story of David and Bathsheba found in 2 Samuel, David had the affair with her, and she gave birth to a child—his child. That baby was born very sick—gravely sick. David prayed and fasted for seven days. I've never prayed that seriously about anything. He prayed and fasted for seven days. He didn't want that beloved child to die. Unfortunately, the child died even after David prayed. So, what can we conclude? We can conclude first that God did pardon all David's iniquities, but God did not heal all diseases because the baby died. Now, that leads us to a very important conclusion that we need to hang on to throughout our lives. And here it is: Healing in this life is a gift from God for which we should give thanks, and we do give thanks, and it is a foretaste of heaven. But the full and permanent healing that we all long for must wait for that life to come.
Many of you have asked me to pray for you over the years, and I keep this list of people that I pray for including a list of people with cancer, including sweet little Ella right there, I pray for her every day. And my next door neighbor who told me six years ago, he'd been stricken with a tough form of stomach cancer and he ran And he fell when he rallied, and he fell. And they called in hospice last week. And on Wednesday, his wife texted Denise and me and said, “He's just passed.” He was a man of faith and lived in a community of faith. We prayed for him. Hundreds of people prayed for him, and he died. Now, what do we do with that? Well, we remember that we don't always see healing in this life. And therefore, we are confident that there is another life where there will be healing. This is not all there is. Now if you want to go deeper on this subject, because you have a need to understand it better, I encourage you to look at the series Jim and I did several years ago, called 40 Days of Healing, specifically, this message that was on physical healing, that's the link, you can find the depression trail.org and you can check that on your own. Second, he heals our diseases.
Third, he redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with loving kindness and compassion. The pit. There are a lot of pits you can fall into these days. I wonder if you've been in the pit lately: the pit of teenage depression which, during COVID, got significantly worse.
The pit of being in a marriage that is meaningless. The pit of having a job you can't stand or being fired from a job you loved. The pit of being in so much financial debt that you just don't know how you're going to get out.
There are lots of pits to fall into. I've been in the pit before. Against all odds, a thought I never had in the first 13 years of my life was I went to school on a Thursday, everything was normal, I went to school on the next Monday, and I was fatherless. Just that fast, my dad died of a heart attack on Friday morning. I was in a pit but not right away. It was a delayed response of me burying those emotions and being afraid to face grief. Because it's so painful. Not understanding that grief is like a porcupine, you better hug it and move forward. Otherwise, it’s just going to be shooting thorns at you your whole life. You better befriend it. And I did not befriend grief, I was too scared. And therefore, when I was 17, 18 and 19, I went through this episodic depression that was really hard. Now it wasn't clinical depression. Because I didn't wake up every morning feeling like, you know, my life was worthless. I couldn't even crawl out of bed. I know people who have gone through that that is really hell on earth. Because I woke up every morning ready to go. But by the middle of the day, there was just something dark in there, just some clouds that seemed to follow me. And I think it was because I had never dealt with Dad's death.
And I remember Denise and I both being in the pit when we're 28 years old, we had one precious little girl who was two or three, and Denise was pregnant with baby number two. And she carried that thing the full nine months, went in for the nine month checkup right before the baby was to be delivered. And Dr. Don Gloff in Clifton, Texas, said “I don't detect a heartbeat.” And she came home and told me, and we just got on our knees and said, “God give us a heartbeat give us a heartbeat give us a heartbeat.” And just a few days later, we buried little Jason Jeffery Basden, the only boy that I would ever have, but we never could bring him home. I was in the pits.
I don't know what pit you’re in, but I do know this—if you've ever been in the pit, and you're out now, the reason is because God in his kindness stooped down to you and lifted you up. And when he lifted you up, he put the equivalent of a crown on your head. A lot of you have become fascinated over the last several years with The Crown and how wonderfully Claire Foy plays that particular role of QE 2. And you recall that on her coronation day, she actually had a crown put on her head. I just love that image. And you say, “Well, of course, her dad was a king.” So, who's your dad? Who's your heavenly Father? Is he not the King of kings and Lord of lords? And when he lifts you out of the pit, he absolutely puts a crown on your head, “Who redeemed your life from the pit and crowned you with loving kindness and compassion.” That's the third blessing David names.
The fourth one who satisfies your years with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle. When we think of David, it's easy to think of him as that buff, muscular young teenage guy who took down Goliath. What we forget is that David aged, and that's what we all forget when we're young. We think I'll never age. Yeah, I just never dreamed I would make noises when I got down on the floor and got off the floor. It never occurred to me. I thought only old people did that. But we all age. And with aging comes changes. And yet David says his conviction is that even as he aged, God filled his life with good things. Not making him younger—he died an old man—but filling his life with good things so that his youth was renewed like the eagle's. I remember going to my counselor, Roy Austin, about ten years ago and I listed just a bunch of things that were ticking me off in life, and I'm not usually that ticked off, but for whatever reason that season I was irritated about a bunch, and I named this, and named this. I bet there were about five things. When I finished, he looks at me and he goes, “Paul, do you think this is all related to just aging and changes that you just don't like?” I thought, that is the stupidest thing, why in the world am I paying you $100 for that pathetic insight. Surely you've got more, buddy, give it. I went through it again. He goes, “I think that's mostly related to aging, and you don't like the changes this is bringing.” So, I'll say to all of you, “You're aging, and you're welcome. I just saved you $100.” But you are aging, and God promises even in the aging process—wherever you are in that process—to fill your life with good things. You won't be getting younger, he doesn't reverse that. But your youth will be renewed, like the eagle, we age. God renews.
All right, David is not done, he is just getting started. The third thing he says is to become a grateful person, remember who God is, remember who the giver of all these blessings is. And here's how the next few verses read. “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, nor will he keep his anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.” Now, this first sentence, right here, all the way down to the word lovingkindness, David is in essence quoting what God said to Moses in Exodus 34, when Moses said, “Who are you that has rescued us from slavery in Egypt,” and God says That's who I am. Those are the four words he uses. And I want us to look at each one of those words because they're very precious to us as believers.
First, compassionate. Many translations give this as the word merciful. And that's the word that means a mother's womb. That's what the Hebrew word is: mercy, compassion, mean a woman's womb, and is there anything more tender in terms of a mother's love than how a mama feels about her womb when she's pregnant? There's just nothing like it that any man can comprehend. And God is like that towards us. He is compassionate.
Second, is filled with grace. Grace is a word that literally means to stoop down and look someone in the eye even though they are way smaller than you. There was a time in your life, although you don't remember it. And I don't remember it in my life. When you were so helpless, and so little, that if someone had not gotten down on your level and changed you, fed you, burped you, put you to sleep, and clothed you, that you would not be here today. If they had not done those things for you, you would be dead, you would not be present today. They showed you grace, they got down on your level. And for all of you who are moms and dads, you know just what I'm talking about—getting right down in the level of a kid, talking to them with stupid language that no one else understands. And they think you've lost your brains. You're just getting on their level because you love them so much. That's what God does with us. shows us grace.
Third, slow to anger. I'll comment on that again in a minute. But God's temper is not short. God's temper is way, way long. And then, fourth, it says he is abounding in lovingkindness. Lovingkindness comes from the Hebrew word hesed, it is my favorite Hebrew descriptor of God because it means covenant love, that when God made a covenant with his people, he does not let them go. And he's made a covenant with you in Jesus Christ, if you're one of his followers, and he will not let you go. Now, you notice in this passage, the word anger appears twice: slow to anger, and he will not keep his anger forever. We ought to talk about that for a moment, because you may have either heard too much about God's anger in your life or heard the wrong things. I'd like to set that straight.
Here's what we know about the anger of God—or anger, period. Healthy anger is not opposed to love. Healthy anger is an expression of deep love. Now I'm not talking about crazy anger, irrational anger, immature anger, but mature, healthy anger is always an expression of true, good love. If you're a parent, and someone mistreats or abuses or bullies your child, you're angry, not because you don't love your child, but because you love your child so much. And God is a good parent, and he loves us deeply. He is perfect love, and so therefore he gets angry.
When does God get angry? He gets angry when you and I give him a stiff arm and tell him to leave us alone. He gets angry when you and I hurt other people that he loves or hurt ourselves who he loves. He gets angry when we harm his reputation and his name out in the world. He is actively opposed to sin and that opposition is his anger. But don't think God is anger. No, no, we can be very clear about this, friends. God is love. God is love. But God shows anger. It's easy to think once you say God gets angry that God is anger. No, no, God is love. But out of love God, appropriately, at the right time, shows anger. And it's not like ours, he doesn't hold a grudge, he doesn't explode. His anger is very steady. It's always in control. It's always purposeful, and always serves his love.
Now, David so wants us to understand this character of God who is filled with grace and mercy that he gives us three illustrations that make sense to every single one of us. And here they are, “For as highs the heavens are above the earth, so great is his lovingkindness toward those who fear him.” Now I have no way to measure how high the heavens are from the earth. Some astronomer might tell us some number, but they're probably wrong. It's farther than that. But that misses the point. The point is, whatever that seemingly infinite distance is, that's how much God loves you.
Second analogy, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” I don't know how far the east is from the west, it seems like a mathematical trick question to me. But that misses the point, however far you can go west or east, you can't go far enough to even describe how far God has removed your sin from you.
Third analogy, “Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.” It's fascinating that that word compassion is the word that means mercy, that, in the Hebrew, means a mother's womb. And so, it mixes these metaphors a bit to say, as a father has the compassionate love that the mom has for the baby in her womb, so, the Lord has compassion on all of us. In other words, think of the best father in the history of the world. Maybe your father, maybe a father you knew, maybe somebody else, but just think of the greatest father, then multiply that by infinity. That is the kind of love and compassion God has on us. And why? Because this last verse here says, “For he himself, knows our frame, and is mindful that we are but dust. I love verse 14. God knows we came from dust, and he knows we are going back to dust. God is not confused about your lifespan, he does not think you're going to live a million years. He knows your frame, he knows you're going to die. He knows that your body has illnesses, he knows that your mind is too forgetful. He knows that your soul is tempted by idols. And at the very same time that he knows all that about your limitations, he knows that one day you will live forever with him in a perfect state of joy and laughter and meaningful work and meaningful relationships and peace and praise. He knows both of those simultaneously. Which means he also knows that you're not there yet, in that perfect place that we call heaven—which I think is kind of a relief to know that he looks at us and goes, “I know. I know what I picture for you one day, and I know what it is right now. And I'll make sure you get there, but you're not there yet.”
David has one last thing to say. To become a grateful person, join with all creation, join with all creation. Let's read these last few verses and watch again how many times blessed comes in. “Bless the Lord you his angels, mighty in strength, who perform his word, obeying the voice of his Word.” David calls the angels to bless God. “Bless the Lord, all you his hosts.” Heavenly hosts means not just angels, but now the planets and the stars. You who serve him, doing his will. Next he says, “Bless the Lord, all you works of his in all places of his dominion.” And finally, he returns to himself. “Hey, you! Bless the Lord.” I think you can see why this is my favorite psalm. I commend it to you. I hope you love this psalm. I hope it will teach you and me how to be grateful children and remind us that all is grace and that nothing is deserved. So, what do we do with the psalm? How do we respond? Well, I don't really want you to have an action that you go out and do. Instead, I want to ask you to remember, remembering is such an important part of the Christian life. David told Israel in this passage, forget none of his benefits, meaning remember them all. Why? Because Israel had a short memory. And when Jesus was on earth, he said to his disciples a night before his crucifixion, don't forget me either. Remember me. Remember my death for you. Remember that I crawled up Calvary’s cross to die on your behalf. I just can't help Jesus but think that Jesus thought of this Psalm and thought “as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is my love for you, as you see in the cross. As far as the east is from the west, so much greater have I even removed your sins from you because of the cross. As a father has compassion on his children how much compassion our father has on you, as you see in my death on the cross for you.” He says remember me. Forget me not. For 2000 years, followers of Jesus remembered through communion. Today we're going to partake of communion. It's a very precious moment for us to remember who Jesus is. If you'll take the piece of bread, I'll remind you of what Christ said in the upper room with his disciples, knowing that within a dozen hours, he was going to be suffering to the nth degree. He said, “This is my body, which is given for you. When you eat it, remember me.” Let's remember him now. As we prepare to take the cup, Jesus said to the disciples, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. When you drink it, remember me. Let's remember Christ.
Please join me in prayer.
Lord Jesus, all gifts from you are undeserved. None is greater than the one we just remembered, the one we just thanked you for and promised we wouldn't forget you as we take it. And that is your life, your death, your resurrection. Lord, our life is filled with gifts. They are spiritual, they're material, they're relational, they're intellectual. I mean, you just keep on giving. And our hands are all so full, that they're just overflowing. And for every gift you give just, every time you bless us when we pause, and bless you. So here our prayer. And as we say back to you that we love you hear us even right now.
relational, they’re intellectual. You just keep on giving. And our hands are so full that they’re overflowing. Every time you bless us, may we bless you. So hear our prayer and as we say back to you that we love you, hear us even right now.
Colby: We hope that you feel encouraged and inspired by the message you've just listened to. If you'd like to get in touch with someone on our team, you can send an email to info@prestontrail.org. Additionally, you can call us at 972-668-1244. We would absolutely love to hear from you. Thanks so much for listening.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
god, david, life, anger, healing, lord, pardons, compassion, people, pit, jesus, loving kindness, bless, deserve, grateful, diseases, compassionate, years, love, sins
Recorded in Frisco, Texas.
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