Psalm 103

We forget. We forget who our God is. We forget what He has done. We have selective memories when it comes to our Lord, our Savior, our Father. There are some who forget His majesty. They see Him as the Almighty Butler, who exists to make us happy. They forget that we exist for God, not the other way around. There are some who forget His purity, His Holiness. They see Him as just getting along with everyone, the loving God who accepts anyone, no matter who they are or what they’ve done. The God that all roads lead to. They forget that the only way to come to Father is through Jesus.

We know these things. We remember that God is holy, He is just, He is majestic, He is righteous. We remember that Jesus is the only way to find salvation, to find the way back to God.

But we forget, too. For too many of us, God is the God who demands. God is the God who threatens. Our Father is the punishing Father, who places incredible expectations on us, expectations that seem almost impossible to meet. He tells us in Deuteronomy 15:4 that there should be no poor among us. How are we ever going to make sure there are no poor people? He tells us to go into all the world and make disciples. How does He expect us to do that? Not a hint of impurity? Not a suggestion of sin? It’s all overwhelming. We just can’t.

And we forgot. We forgot who our God really is. We remembered some parts about Him, with our selective memories. We just didn’t remember everything.

And Psalm 103 reminds us. Don’t forget His compassion. Don’t forget His love. Don’t forget His kindness. Don’t forget His grace. Because, if you remember, if you don’t forget, then, you will, verse 1:

Worship is not something we should do. Worship is not something we have to do. Worship, praise, adoration is something we CAN’T NOT do. We can’t hold it back, at least not true worship. We can’t stop, at least not the worship the Lord is looking for.

And this kind of worship, this kind of praise does not come when we forget the loving-kindness and tender mercies of the Lord. The pressure of God’s expectations, the weight of His demands might force us into this room and require us to open our books and to sit through 25 minutes of a guy talking up here. We’ll do it, because we’re supposed to do it. But that’s not the worship God wants. If that’s our worship, then it’s not really worship.

True praise comes from knowing God, not just parts of God. True worship comes from remembering. Verse 2:

Don’t worry. We’ll get to the obedience. If that is making you nervous, just sit back and forget not all His benefits for a moment. There’s a whole list here.

Don’t forget who your God is, verse 3:

And there are a lot of them, aren’t there? The total depravity is just that, total, complete. Every thought, every word, every movement of a hand, every breath breathed is attached to some sin, some impurity. With every heartbeat comes some form of sin. But remember, don’t forget. He forgives all your sins. When we are aware of just how much we sin, and when we hear that our Lord forgives all our sins, then absolutely, all that is within us will praise His holy name.

And don’t forget our God who, verse 3:

We pray, a lot, for the healing and care of those who are sick, for cancer treatments and heart disease, for depression and other mental illnesses. We pray, because we know that God heals all our diseases. We have seen this. We have seen treatments come to an end because there is no more sickness, and we have rejoiced. He heals our diseases. And we have treatments come to an end, because our Lord healed their body completely, by bring them home. And we rejoiced, while the tears flowed, because He heals our diseases. We don’t forget that the Lord heals us here, or He heals us there, but whatever the case, sickness, death, does not get the last word. We remember.

So far, we remember how God deals with the bad stuff in life, the sin, the sickness, the death. Now, we remember the good that He brings. Verse 4, how He:

This works two ways. He showers you with love and compassion, He loves you, He has compassion on you. Don’t forget how much He loves you. Don’t forget the safety of having God, almighty God, love…you. But then that love and compassion that God gives you becomes your love and compassion for others. You wear God’s love and compassion. People see you as loving and compassionate, and dressed like that, you look good. Don’t forget the Lord of love and compassion

Verse 5:

If we forget who God is, we might end up thinking that desires are bad, that desires are to be suppressed and ignored. But don’t forget your Lord, who satisfies your desires. He satisfies your desires with good things, which might not always be what we’re asking for. We want significance. We long for companionship. We desire fulfillment. We want everything just right. And the Lord satisfies those desires with exactly what we need. Almost never does He satisfy our desires when we want Him to. Almost never does He follow our timeline. And almost never does He satisfy according to our shopping list, giving us exactly what we ask for. But when we are able to look back, when we’re able to understand what He has done, we won’t forget, we will remember.

And seeing what He has done, seeing how He satisfies lifts us up, makes us feel like we can fly. While we were waiting for the satisfaction, sure, there were tears, and flying seemed like the last thing we would ever do. But now, now that we can see what He’s done, now that we’re able to step back and view His work, now that we understand and can remember, our spirits are lifted, and it feels like nothing can touch us. When we forget not His benefits.

We don’t forget that, verse 6:

I wonder sometimes if we think the other way around, that the Lord oppresses the righteous and the just. But that’s when we are forgetting. We’re forgetting, verse 8:

I’m not sure how many more times the psalmist can write God’s love into one verse. Don’t forget, He’s is compassionate. Don’t forget His grace. Don’t forget that He doesn’t have a quick temper, that He’s not just waiting to get you. Don’t forget that His love overflows, that He’s not stingy on loving us, that He abounds in love. He has more love for us than we will ever need. He will never run out of love.

And yet, somehow, this is hard to remember. We suffer, we grieve, we hurt, and we wonder, where is this loving God? I know it in my head. I want to feel it in my heart. I want to experience God’s love, see the effects of God’s love, not just know verse 8.

And it’s not just suffering that makes us wonder. When we sin, when we forget about God, when we do what we knew better not to do, then we start to wonder. Will God get us? Will He just let us suffer the consequences, live with our decisions? If we’re going to walk away from Him, then He’ll just walk away from us? No. Don’t forget who your God is. Verse 9:

And here’s the best part. Verse 10:

Because His love is abounding. Because He is compassionate. Because He is gracious. This is where our minds kind of go in two directions. We know that He’s loving. We want Him to be loving. We’re desperate for Him to be loving. But we know how serious our sin is. We know He can’t just let us get away with it. He’s going to have to do something.

Well, that’s right. He has to do something. And what He does comes from verse 11:

We run into problems when we forget how great His grace is, how large His love. Maybe we think that He loves us, grudgingly, like an owner loves a pet. Maybe we think that He loves us, but in a stern, barely tolerant sort of way, like He made us, so I guess He has to love us.

That’s not the love that Psalm 103 is talking about. As high as the heavens are above the earth, that’s how big His love is. Verse 12:

They’re gone. We’re forgiven. He’s not mad. He’s not going to get us. He’s not going to treat us the way He ought to treat us, the way we deserve. His love, His abounding, massive, big as the world love has pushed all of our nastiness away. He’s not letting anything come between us.

Because, verse 13:

I hope our understanding of God is clear by this point. I hope our misconceptions of Him as distant or angry or demanding are long gone. I hope when anything happens, our first response, our quick response, is to turn to the arms of our Father. Whether it’s the tragic news that comes over the phone, or the temptation that comes creeping up, or when we’ve fallen into the sin, we bought into the temptation. Whatever is happening, we aren’t scared of Him, we don’t try to avoid Him, we go running straight toward Him, trusting in His kindness. Verse 14:

He knows. He Himself is us. He Himself is human. He Himself is dust. He knows the strength of temptation. He knows your desires. He knows your fears. He knows you. And He understands you. And He loves you anyway. With a big love.

A love that can’t end. Verse 17:

This is the part that’s kind of been in the back of our minds this whole time. It’s great remembering the benefits, the forgiveness, the healing, the crown of glory and compassion, having our desires filled with good things. But here’s the catch, we think. All of those good things, including the sky high love, all that only comes when we remember to obey. If we forget, if we fail, then all of that just disappears, right? Then God stops loving us, right? That’s when He really will treat us the way our sins deserve, right?

Uh-uh. See, God covered that too, in His love. He Himself obeyed His own precepts. He did it perfectly, and He gave us the credit. His perfection is credited to us as ours. Because Jesus died on the cross, because He broke out of the grip of the grave, because we believe that He did all this, and because we’ve turned over our lives to Him, all of the love and compassion and benefits and satisfaction comes from God to us.

When we accept this as fact, when we remember who our Lord really is, that He’s not scary, that He’s not threatening anymore, because of Jesus, when we forget not, now we’re ready to really worship like we were created to worship. Not sitting in this room, this sanctuary here because we should. Not taking the hymnals in a minute because everyone else is. But worshipping because we can’t help but worship. Verse 20:

Standing next to the angels, the ones who certainly can’t forget who our God is, we praise.

In a huge crowd of people who don’t forget His compassion, His love, His kindness.