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Blessing the Lord Part 1 of 4

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• Psalm 103, and let's read the first five verses. Psalm 103, beginning with verse one: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles." Now, let me call your attention just to verses one and two: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits."

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• A few months ago, I was asked a question by a Christian brother. And the question was simply this: "How do I bless the Lord?"

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• Now when you stop and think about that question, it should be a very important question. We know that the Lord blesses us, but how do we bless Him? I gave a very quick answer to his question, and my answer, of course, was correct. But the more I thought about that question, the more I realized I could have answered in depth to a greater deal. And then I got to thinking, even if you really answered the question the way it should be, you would basically have to go through the entirety of the Bible. I would imagine this question, "How do we bless the Lord?" is one that most of us probably never get around to asking.

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• Probably because we're too busy and too interested in seeking His blessing upon us and upon our family and our friends. And I suspect that that attitude, when we're more interested in His blessing us than our blessing Him, would have shades of idolatry in it. Because when we're more interested in ourselves, we're putting ourselves first, ahead of and before God, which is indeed a violation of the first commandment: "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me."

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• And you remember our Lord taught His disciples to pray. He said, "When you pray, say, 'Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.'" And after we praise and bless Him, then we begin to ask petitions for ourselves. Now before I answer this question, "How do we bless God?" I need to delve a little more deeply into one theological precept. And that is, I need to show you the difference between God's essential glory and God's external glory. Sometimes God's essential glory is referred to as His inherent glory. His external glory is referred to as His manifested glory. Since you're in the book of Psalms, hold Psalm 103, but look back very quickly into Psalm 16, and let me show you a truth concerning even the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice if you would please in Psalm 16, David says in verse 2, which, of course, David was a type of Christ, and this verse is representative of Christ.

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• "O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, 'My Lord,'" now notice what he says, "'my goodness extendeth not to Thee, but to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent in whom is all my delight.'" In other words, the perfection of Jesus Christ added nothing to the person or the glory of God. The work that Jesus Christ did did not extend to God the Father in that sense of the word, but as the Scripture says, His work then extended to the saints which were in the earth. So thankfully, although it did not do anything in addition to God's honor and glory, it did indeed do something for us. Now the Bible tells us in Psalm 108 and verse 5, "Be Thou exalted, O God, above the heavens, and Thy glory above all the earth." Why is it that neither you nor I nor even Jesus Christ could add anything to God the Father? Here's why. Because God is perfectly blessed and perfectly sufficient in and of Himself. His will is most holy, His glory is most perfect, nothing can be added to God and nothing can be taken away from God.

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• God is perfect in honor, in glory, and in praise. So when you're talking about God's inherent glory, God's intrinsic glory, God's internal glory, you've got to understand that nothing can be added to or taken from. Now the next question is this: What about God's external glory? Well, the truth is that God's external glory can either be praised or blasphemed by our words, by our attitudes, and by our conduct. So that leads us then to another question. How do we distinguish between God's inherent glory and God's external glory? Well, here's the answer. Essential, inherent glory is that which God is in and of Himself. God's external glory is the emanation or the manifestation of His inherent or essential glory.

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• Let me say that again. God's inherent glory, God's essential glory is that which He is in and of Himself. His external glory is just simply the manifestation outwardly of His internal glory. If I were to ask you this simple question, "How did God manifest His glory?" you can answer in three simple ways. God manifested His glory in creation, in redemption, and in providence. Okay? Let me show you.

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• Very quickly, look in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 1 and verse 20. You're going to see that God does have an external glory and that external glory is indeed manifested in creation. Notice if you would Romans 1 and verse 20. The Bible says, "For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." God does have an external glory that He's manifested in the world.

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• What does Psalm 19 say? "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard." So the very heavens declare the glory of God. God's inherent, God's essential glory has been manifested in some degree, not perfectly, but it has been manifested in creation. Therefore, when you and I, listen carefully, enjoy and use, but do not abuse God's creation, we are extolling and praising Him for His creation.

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• Some of you have been to Yosemite. Thankfully, the Lord has let us go a number of times. There is no way in the world that any picture or any video camera can capture the beauty and the magnitude of the greatness of Yosemite Valley. You have to see it. And then when you see it, you can't believe it. You can't get enough of it. Why? Certainly not because of evolution, but because you understand that God created this world and everything. The same thing when you view the ocean. The same thing when you view the mountains. The same thing when you view the desert. Whenever you enjoy and use God's creation, you have to understand that that creation is an external manifestation of God's glory. And when we use it the way God commands us to, we're indeed praising and blessing Him for it. The same truth is applicable in redemption. God has not only revealed Himself in creation, He's revealed Himself in redemption. He's revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. Everyone in this room can quote, or at least you should be able to quote, John 14 and verse 6, where Jesus Christ said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by Me."

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• Do you remember the passage in verse 14? "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Therefore, when we trust in Jesus Christ, when we study His Word, when we obey Him, when we bring our lives in conformity to Jesus Christ, in one sense of the word, we're blessing and praising God because God has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. That's why the Bible says in 1 Timothy 3 and verse 16, "And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh." So when you and I trust in Christ and live for Him, we are indeed, in one sense of the word, blessing God and His glory. So now if you and I are concerned, and we should be, with praising God in His external glory, we have to realize that external glory is just simply a manifestation of His inherent or His internal glory.

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• In fact, look in Psalm 113 since our text is not too far from there. Let me just show you. This is a tremendous passage. I've dealt with it in times past and probably shall in the future as well. But notice in Psalm 113, the Bible says in verse—well, let's begin with verse 2. "Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, the Lord's name is to be praised. The Lord is high above all nations, and His glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high," now watch, "who humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth?"

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• "He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the needy out of the dunghill, that He may set him with princes, even with the princes of His people." So God has manifested Himself not just in creation and in redemption, but in providence as well.

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• Now notice if you would, the Bible says the name of the Lord is to be praised from the rising of the sun to the setting of the sun. There are a multitude of scriptures that command us to praise God and the name of the Lord. For instance, look in your Bibles to Psalm 100. Psalm 100. And notice if you would, first of all, verse 4. Psalm 100, verse 4. Notice he says, "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him and bless His name." Bless His name. Let me just quote this one, you don't have to turn there, but Revelation 4 and verse 11.

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• "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created." In one sense of the word, since we're in Psalm 100, I want you to understand, we are obligated to bless God and to praise Him, for we are His creatures and the sheep of His pasture. Look in verse 3. He says, Psalm 100 verse 3, "Know ye that the Lord, He is God."

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• "It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture." In other words, God not only owns us by virtue of creation, but also by virtue of redemption. So therefore we should be desirous to bless and to praise His name. We're talking about God's providence. Do you know the Bible says in Acts 17 and verse 28, "For in Him we live and move and have our being."

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• Very simply stated, without Him we would not exist. In Him we live and move and have our being.

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• Now, God has revealed Himself in creation, in redemption, and in providence. Now here's a question, and I'm going to be dealing with this question, I hope, for the next three weeks. How then do we bless Him? I want you to look in Psalm 50, if you would please, at verse 23. This is going to be a key verse. Psalm 50, verse 23. I love this passage. Watch carefully. Psalm 50, verse 23. God says, "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth Me, and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God." "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth Me." We bless Him. We praise Him. We honor Him by offering Him and giving Him praise. Listen carefully now.

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• First, for who He is. And secondly, for everything that He has done. You've heard me say this before. You had better praise God and bless God that God is God. Because I can assure you that if I was God, I would have killed me and a whole lot of you a lot earlier. God has far more patience than I do, I can assure you. We need to learn to bless Him just simply because He is God.

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• And then for all that He does. Now, look in Psalm 103, and we're not going to get far today, I can assure you. But I want you to look at verse 1. David begins in verse 1, and he says this, and this is our introductory verse: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name."

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• Now, I want to give you a brief quote written by John Stevenson in 1856. Listen to what he said about Psalm 103. Listen carefully. "It is observable that no petition occurs throughout the entire compass of the 22 verses. Not a single word of supplication is in the whole Psalm addressed to the Most High. Prayer, fervent, heartfelt prayer had doubtless been previously offered on the part of the psalmist and answered by his God.

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• Innumerable blessings had been showered down from above in acknowledgement of David's supplications, and therefore an overflowing gratitude now burst forth from their joyful recipient. He touches every cord of his harp and of his heart together and pours forth a spontaneous melody of the sweetest sound and purest praise."

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• Now let me emphasize what John Stevenson said. In Psalm 103, David is not asking any petitions. He is not begging for any supplications. David is not asking for anything in Psalm 103. All David is doing is just simply blessing and praising the Lord. He says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name." Now, interestingly enough, when David says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul," it is an imperative in the Hebrew, which means it is a command. David is in essence commanding his soul to bless the Lord.

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• Now the word "bless," when it applies to God, and of course I suppose applies to us as well, but it means to praise, implying a strong affection for Him, as well as a sense of gratitude. So when we bless God, we are praising Him with a strong sense of gratitude and with a strong affection for Him. So David says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul." David is now commanding himself, therefore, to bless the Lord to the fullest capacity of his being. Every faculty, every desire, every ounce of his being was to be given to praising and blessing God. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me."

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• Now listen, John Stevenson, the pastor I quoted earlier, continues and he says this on verse 1: "Let your conscience bless the Lord by unvarying fidelity. Let your judgment bless Him by decisions in accordance with His Holy Word. Let your imagination bless Him by pure and holy musings. Let your affections bless Him by loving whatever He loves. Let your desires bless Him by seeking only His glory. Let your thoughts bless Him by meditating on His excellencies. Let your memory bless Him by not forgetting any of His benefits. Let your hope praise Him by longing and looking for the glory that is to be revealed. Let your every sense bless Him by its fealty, your every word by its truth, and your every act by its integrity." Well said, John Stevenson. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me."

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• No one actually knows the occasion for David's writing Psalm 103, but evidently this psalm was composed after some signal manifestation of God's mercy toward David. It could have been God's judgment upon him for his sin, could have been God's chastisement, it could have been God's teaching him things, but whatever it is, that divine displeasure has been lifted. God has interposed and mercifully and graciously delivered David, and now David is doing nothing but blessing the Lord. Notice he says in verse 1, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me." Verse 2 as well. Skip down to verse 20. He says, "Bless the Lord, ye His angels, that excel in strength and do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His Word." Then notice verse 21. "Bless ye the Lord, all ye His hosts, ye ministers of His that do His pleasure." And then verse 22, "Bless the Lord, all His works in all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul." So David begins with his own soul. He extends the blessing to the angels, to His ministers, to everyone, to all creation.

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• And says, "You join in with me by blessing the Lord." Now if you'll go back to verse 1, he says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless His holy name." What does David mean when he says, "Bless His holy name"? You have to understand that the name is a revelation of the character of the person. So God's name is a revelation of Himself. Every truth of God, every attribute of God is to be praised and blessed under God's name. Thus we read in Proverbs 18 and verse 10, listen carefully, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe." What do you mean by that? "The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it and is safe."

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• Well, if someone's persecuting you, don't you pray that God would intervene and stop the persecutor? If you're in need, don't you pray that God would supply your needs? If you're sick, don't you pray that God would heal you in touch? You're running to the name of the Lord. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it and is safe. Well, now, David has commanded his soul to bless the Lord. So let's ask this question: If you and I are to bless the Lord, where do we begin? How do we start? David gives us a point of beginning in verse 2. He says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits."

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• Now let me tell you what our biggest sin is. Our biggest sin is that we forget God. And we do forget His benefits as well. Let me just tell you, first of all, the word "benefits." The Hebrew word is "gemul," which is usually translated as "rewards," or "recompenses," or "benefits." Over and over in the Scripture, we are instructed not to forget God, nor His benefits. Do you realize that Israel's greatest sin in the Old Testament was they forgot God?

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• Hold Psalm 103, but go back in your Bibles to the book of Judges and look if you would please at Judges 8 and verse 34. Joshua, Judges, Judges 8 and verse 34. You're going to see as you read through the book of Judges, which we're not going to do, but this was Israel's sin over and over. Judges 8 verse 34, "And the children of Israel remembered not the Lord their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side." And the children of Israel remembered not the Lord their God.

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• You remember what he said in Deuteronomy 8? He said, "Beware lest thou forget the Lord thy God." He warned us, as he warned Israel, not to forget God. Look in your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 106. Psalm 106. And notice, if you would please, verse 7. Notice again what Scripture says. Psalm 106, verse 7. "Our fathers understood not Thy wonders in Egypt. They remembered not the multitude of Thy mercies, but provoked Him at the sea, even at the Red Sea." Now, look. "Our fathers understood not Thy wonders in Egypt." In other words, they didn't remember God. They didn't even remember what He did. They didn't understand what He did. They remembered not the multitude of Thy mercies. What was the result? They provoked God. They forgot God. They forgot His benefits and they ended up sinning against God. Skip down to verse 21, Psalm 106 verse 21. "They forgot God their Savior who had done great things in Egypt." Israel had been warned over and over and over not to forget God. In fact, Deuteronomy 6 and verse 12 says this.

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• "Then beware lest thou forget the Lord who brought thee out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage." I want you to understand something. And I think I want to take the time right here to make this point. And to make this application lest we fall into the sin that Israel fell into in the Old Testament. Here it is. Listen carefully. I'm going to show it to you from the Bible.

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• A forgetful people cannot be a thankful or a grateful people. That's one thing. Listen carefully. A forgetful people cannot be a thankful people or a grateful people, and a forgetful people will always fall into idolatry. Look in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 1. Everyone in this room is familiar with the wickedness, the corruption, the filth, the abominations that these people fell into in Romans chapter 1. But have you ever asked, how in the world did they fall into such wickedness and such corruption?

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• Let me show you how it began. Notice Romans 1 and verse 21. Here's how it all began. "Because that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened." Because when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, that is, they forgot Him, and their forgetfulness led them to their unthankfulness, and their unthankfulness led them to their corruption and their idolatry. So a forgetful people cannot be a thankful people. And a forgetful people will always fall into idolatry.

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• That's what happened to Israel. Every time they forgot God, they ended up in idolatry.

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• Now, let's go back in our Bibles to Psalm 103. I only have one point today, and we're only going to cover half of that point. Okay? Here it is. Notice, if you would, Psalm 103, verse 2. He says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgiveth all thine iniquities." And that's as far as we're going to go today. Notice, here is His spiritual provision. We're talking about God's provision. "Forget not all His benefits," and we're going to cover this one point, His spiritual provision. "And forget not all His benefits, who forgiveth all thine iniquities." I want you to stop just for a moment and ponder that thought in your mind: "who forgiveth all thine iniquities." Albert Barnes, commenting on verse 3, says this.

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• "It is observable that this is the first thing in view of the psalmist, the first of the benefits which he had received from God, or the first thing in importance among His acts or His dealings which call for praise. Properly considered, this is the first thing which calls for praise, that God is a merciful God, that He has declared His willingness to pardon sin, that He has devised and revealed a way by which this can be done, and that He has actually done it in our case, is the most important matter for which we should praise Him."

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• "When we understand all the things which most affect our welfare, and which enter most deeply into our happiness here and hereafter, we shall find that this is a blessing compared with which all other favors are comparative trifles." In other words, He is saying, it is the most important, that God has forgiven all of our iniquities. In Psalm 86 and verse 5, let me just quote it. Psalm 86 verse 5, the Scripture says, "For Thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee." Think about that. God is good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Him. In Psalm 57 and verse 10, "For Thy mercy is great unto the heavens and Thy truth unto the clouds." Look in Psalm 103 verse 8. Here it is again. "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy." Now, go back to verse 2 and 3.

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• I want to make this exceedingly clear. He says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgiveth all thine iniquities." All thine iniquities, not some of them, not a few of them, not most of them, not many of them, but all of them. Do you realize that forgiving a few of our iniquities, or most of our iniquities, or many of our iniquities, would never do?

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• If the smallest iniquity was left in us, we would still be left unforgiven, we would be just as badly off, and just as far from God, and just as unfit for heaven, and just as directed to hell, as if none of them had ever been forgiven. Our text does not say, "who forgiveth thine iniquities previous to thy conversion." It just simply says, "who forgiveth all thine iniquities." There is no notion in Scripture that God just simply forgives us of our sins prior to our conversion and after our conversion we're responsible for our sins. No. It is true we're responsible beings. But God forgiveth all of our iniquities.

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• The source, the channel, the power, the standard of forgiveness is all divine. God's forgiveness is full and free. When God cancels a man's sins, He cancels all of those sins. Just like Christ died for our sins, the forgiveness of God extends to the work of Jesus Christ. You can say it like this: God's forgiveness stretches to the length of Christ's atonement. Christ's atonement stretches to the length of every one of the believer's sins, past, present, and future.

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• Listen to 1 John 1:7. "The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin." The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. I have had innumerable believers ask me concerning our sins after we are saved. Everyone in this room that is saved has sinned. None of us are perfect. Sometimes we've committed sins of omission, sometimes sins of commission, sometimes sins of ignorance, but all of us have sinned.

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• And what does the Bible say? "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

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• Now, in order to help you comprehend a simple fact, that Jesus Christ and God the Father, through the work of Christ, forgives our sins, past, present, and future, let me ask you a question. Maybe this will help you grasp the greatness and the wonder of God's forgiveness. Here it is. How many sins had you committed before Jesus Christ came and was crucified and was raised from the dead? How many sins had you personally committed before Jesus Christ was crucified? What's the answer? None. What? You weren't even born. What does that mean? That means Christ not only died for all past sins, but all future sins as well. Now let me ask you another question. How many sins does a believer have to pay for on judgment day? The answer is zip, zero, nada, none.

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• He forgiveth all thine iniquities. Now it is true, and I'll show you the Scripture. It is true that there is a judgment seat of Christ for believers. It is also true that we will answer for our obedience or a lack thereof, and we will either be rewarded or not be rewarded. But this is not a judgment necessarily for our sins. If you and I were being judged for our sins, we would not even be near the judgment seat of Christ.

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• For instance, look in your Bibles. Let me show it to you. Look in your Bibles. First of all, Romans 14 and verse 10. And then we're going to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Romans 14 and verse 10. Notice what Paul asks, Romans 14 verse 10, "But why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." And then if you look in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 10, notice again what the Apostle Paul says, 2 Corinthians 5, verse 10, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether

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• it be good or bad," and actually the word is "phaulos" for bad, whether it be good or worthless. There is a judgment seat, but that judgment seat has nothing to do with our sins. He forgiveth all thine iniquities, past, present, and future.

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• Now let me just point something out. Well, since all of our sins are forgiven, does that mean we can run out in sin? What does the Apostle Paul say? "God forbid," perish the thought. No. Read Romans chapter 6. "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid," he said. Don't even let that thought enter in your mind. The very fact that you've been saved and forgiven should drive you not to sin.

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• Not to do anything that would be wicked and wrong. Why? You're not your own. You're bought with a price. As the Scripture says, "Therefore glorify God in your body and your spirit, which are His." I want you to turn in your Bible to Romans chapter 4. I'm not going to read this Scripture right now, but I want you to be ready. Look in Romans chapter 4. This passage is quoted from Psalm 32. Before I give you the Scripture, I want to read a paragraph written by John Gill. And I want you to listen carefully. This is a wonderful, wonderful paragraph. He's commenting on Psalm 103, verses 2 and 3.

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• He says this: "The psalmist explains here what he means by benefits and gives a particular enumeration of them and begins with the blessing of pardon, which is a special and peculiar benefit. It is according to the riches of divine grace and the multitude of tender mercies, without which all outward blessings signify nothing. And without a sense of this, a man is not in a suitable and proper frame to bless the Lord."

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• Now let me just stop there. He said if you really want to be in a proper and suitable frame to bless the Lord, you have to comprehend that God has forgiven you all your iniquities. Now listen, "without a sense of this, a man is not in a suitable frame to bless the Lord. And this being the first benefit, a soul sensible of sin, its guilt, and its concern for and seeks after, so enjoying it, is the first he is thankful for. This is rightly ascribed to God, for none can forgive sins but He. And what He forgives are not mere infirmities, peccadilloes, and the lesser sins of life, but iniquities and grosser sins, unrighteousness, impieties, and the most enormous crimes, sins of a crimson and scarlet dye, yea, all of them, though they are many, more than the hairs of a man's head, He abundantly pardons, multiplies pardons, as sins are multiplied and leaves none unforgiven, original sin, actual sin, sins of the heart, lip and life, of omission and commission, all are forgiven for Christ's sake."

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• "And the special mercy is when a man has an application of this to himself, and can say to his soul as David to his, 'God has forgiven thine iniquities,' for though it may be observed with pleasure, and it is encouragement to hope in the Lord, that He is a forgiving God, and has forgiven others, yet what would this avail a man if his sins should not be forgiven? The sweetness of the blessing lies in its being brought home to a man's own soul. And if it be further observed that this is a continued act, it is not said 'who has forgiven' and 'will forgive,' though both are true, but 'forgiveth,' continues to forgive, for as there is a continual virtue in the sacrifice of the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world, and as His blood continues to cleanse from all sin, so there is a continual flow of pardoning grace in the heart of God, which is afresh applied to the consciousness of His people by His Spirit, and this is a blessing to be thankful for."

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• Wow! Did you hear that? As there is constant and continual power in the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse sin, so there is a constant and continual forgiveness flowing from God toward us because of the person and work of Jesus Christ.

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• Now, David said, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits." And then he said, "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities." All. Let me say that again. "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities." If God forgives all of them, how many are left? None. Not one.

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• Now, I want to just make one application. I want to tie this together. And I want you to think with me. When you and I understand that all of our sins are forgiven, and that none of them are imputed to us who believe on Jesus Christ, who've turned from our sins, who have repented, when we understand that none of them are imputed to us, that all of them are forgiven, it should lead us

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• to say, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all of His benefits, who forgiveth all thine iniquities."

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• Now I want you to note, look in Romans 4 and verse 8. I told you I was going to read this verse. Look what David says, and I say David because Paul is quoting from David out of Psalm 32 and verse 2. In Romans 4 and verse 8. In fact, let's begin reading with verse 6. "Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, 'Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.'" Do you know what the word "impute" means? It means to charge to one's account. Oh Lord. Now listen. Do I sin? Yes. Unhappily, I'm a sinner. Do you sin? Yes. Unhappily, you're a sinner. But when you sin, your sin is not charged to your account. Why? Because it's charged to the account of Jesus Christ. You remember that passage in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21, I think it is, where the Bible says, "For He, God the Father, hath made Him, that is God the Son, to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."

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• God does not impute sin to His believers because our sin was imputed and charged to Jesus Christ. Now, I want you to turn with me. Go back in your Bibles to Psalm 103, that's our text. I'm just showing you, if you are a believer, why you can bless the Lord. Look in Psalm 103 and let's begin with verse 11. "For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him."

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• "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us." As far as the east is from the west. So let's suppose I left today heading west. When I got to the west, what direction would I be going? I'd still be going west. In fact, I really couldn't go east because it doesn't matter, I'd still be heading west. It doesn't matter where. If I'm making a circle, I'm always heading west. As far as the east is from the west, so hath He removed our transgressions from us.

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• Look in your Bibles to Isaiah 38 and verse 17. Isaiah 38, verse 17. Isaiah 38, verse 17.

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• You probably need to underline some of these verses. Make sure you memorize them. Isaiah 38, verse 17. Isaiah writes, "Behold, for peace I had great bitterness, but Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption, for Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back." Now, God has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west, and now the Bible tells us that God has cast all of our sins behind His back.

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• You no doubt heard the story about the little boy and the atheist. The little boy was walking down the street singing a hymn, and the atheist stopped him and said, "Son, are you a Christian?" And he said, "Yes, I am." Well, he said, "Son, are you a sinner?" He said, "Well, yes, I am." He said, "Well, son, what are you going to do about your sins?" He said, "They've been taken care of."

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• "God has put them behind His back." The atheist kind of sneered and said, "But what if God turns around?" The little boy said, "Sir, it doesn't matter which way He turns, they're always behind His back. He'll never see them. He'll never remember them again." He's not only removed our sins as far as the east is from the west, He's placed them behind His back never to remember them against us anymore.

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• Turn in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 8. Hebrews chapter 8 and look if you would please at verse 12. I'm not making this up. I'm just showing it to you from the Bible. Hebrews chapter 8 and notice verse 12. What does God say? God says, "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities I will remember no more." Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. And then if you look in Hebrews 10 and verse 17, God says it again. I could ask you this simple question, how many times does God have to say something to make it true?

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• The answer is only once. But yet in Hebrews 10 and verse 17 he says this, "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." Alice can tell you that often times we hear things and I see things, I hear about what people have done or are doing. I could never do that. And Alice will say, "Well, you used to." I said, "Well, I don't remember it." Well, she said, "You used to." And my response is always, "Well, if God has forgotten my sins, why should I not forget them?" He never remembers them against us anymore.

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• I want you to turn back to Psalm 103 and I want you to listen as I close with this. Listen carefully now. What an abounding grace has been thus displayed to a creature so completely vile, so destitute of all ground of hope in claiming himself. Think about this. What an amount of guilt that God has pardoned. It is impossible to overstate this. When you think of our original debasement, our wayward youth, our rejection of His love, our rebellion against His authority, our forgetfulness of His goodness, our backslidings in the way, our inconsistent profession, our vain and sinful example, the wickedness of our unconverted state, the errors and sins of our renewed state. Alas, every day, every act that's brought up against me as a separate testimony, He has completely and totally and freely pardoned and forgiven.

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• He has blotted out the whole fearful record. So that when God sees me, He looks at me through Jesus Christ, and He sees perfection and holiness and righteousness.

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• Now can you say with David, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgiveth all thine iniquities," every single one, gone through the blood of Jesus Christ. Father, we bow to Thee this day and we thank You, we magnify You, we exalt You for Your divine forgiveness and Your tender mercies toward us. And we acknowledge and we confess, Lord, this is the first and greatest mercy, that You've had mercy upon us who are sinners. We confess our ungodliness, our waywardness, our wickedness, our rebellion, and yet, Lord, You've wiped it all clean so that we're forgiven in Jesus Christ. We do bless Thee, O Lord, and may we constantly and continually bless Thee for that divine forgiveness in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, we pray. Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-04T19:52:53Z