An Undeserved Grace

Psalm 103. We're going to look at the first 12

verses, but we're really only going to focus

on 8 through 13. We're going to spend most of

our time talking about that. Psalm 103. This

is a Psalm of David. We don't really know a lot

of details. There's no superscription. We don't

really know. Some have suggested that perhaps

this is later in David's life, but we really

don't know. Don't know when he wrote it. Don't

know what the situation was. But regardless of

when and where he wrote it, the words are still

good for us. And so we're going to read through

these first 12 verses, then we'll pray, and then

we'll talk about them. Psalm 103, verse 1. My

Psalms 103:1

soul prays Yahweh. and all that is within me

praise his holy name. My soul, praise the Lord.

Do not forget all his benefits. He forgives all

your sin. He heals all your diseases. He redeems

your life from the pit. He crowns you with faithful

love and compassion. He satisfies you with goodness.

For youth is renewed like the eagle. The Lord

executes acts of righteousness and justice for

all the oppressed. He revealed His ways to Moses,

His deeds to the people of Israel. The Lord is

compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and

rich in faithful love. He will not always accuse

us or be angry forever. He has not dealt with

us as our sins deserved or repaid us according

to our offenses. For as high as the heavens are

above the earth, so great is his faithful love

toward those who fear him. As far as the east

is from the west, so far has he removed our transgression

from us. Let's pray. God, we come to you. We

thank you for your good work. And I pray, dear

Lord, that we would just understand the importance

of this word and what this means, dear Lord,

that we may rejoice in these truths tonight,

dear Lord. David is a man who knows what it's

like to sin greatly, but he's a man that knows

the joy of forgiveness. He's a man that knows

what it means to just praise you, dear Lord,

for your goodness and your blessing. And so,

God, I pray that we would be men and women like

that today. that perhaps there is some sin in

our life. Perhaps, God, we're in the midst of

just blessing that we see and we recognize and

we know and we're walking just in the light and

in your grace, dear Lord. I pray that we would

praise you like David tonight. And I ask these

things in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, we see in the

first part of this psalm just beautiful praise.

This is just a man. who is praising the Lord

because God is good to him, because God has provided

for him, because God has forgiven him, and he's

just acknowledging. The greatness of the Lord.

What about us? Do we ever just praise the Lord?

Now, we probably all pray at some point. We probably

pray that God would help us with stuff or that

God would take care of us or provide for us or

heal somebody that's sick. And those are good

things that God wants us to pray for, pray to

him for. But do we ever just take a moment to

just praise God? To just say, God, I thank you

that you're good to me. God, maybe things have

been tough or maybe things have been stressful

and maybe I've just forgotten to praise you,

God. Maybe sometimes in the midst of life we

just forget how good God is. But maybe sometimes

instead of going to God with our request, perhaps

sometimes we just need to pause and we just need

to say, God, I just praise you for who you are

because you're good, God, and you're with me.

And you bless me and you forgive me. And so,

dear Lord, let me just praise you. And that's

exactly what David is doing in this psalm. But

let's skip on down to verse 8. He says, the Lord

is compassionate and gracious. Now, those are

two good qualities that the Lord possesses. And

praise the Lord that he is compassionate and

gracious. We see the best example of this in

Scripture, I believe, in Jesus. I mean, I don't

think there's any better example of what it means

to be compassionate and to be gracious. Perhaps

a real famous story that maybe you've heard is

the story where Jesus is going to feed the 5

,000. And John the Baptist had just been beheaded,

and it appears from the Scripture that Jesus

and the disciples are... They're kind of down,

you know, and obviously so. A friend has been

killed, and Jesus says, look, let's go away for

a little while and rest. And no sooner than they

get to where they're going, the crowds are already

there. And, you know, some days you just don't

feel it. Some days you just don't feel like it.

You don't want to see people. Some days you don't

feel like coming to church. You just, man, you

just don't want to do it. There's just some days

you just don't feel like it. And it kind of seems,

at least to me in that passage, that they just

were kind of down. Maybe they were in that mindset

that maybe they weren't just super excited to

go out and do the things they've been doing.

They just wanted to take a break. But no sooner

than they get where they're going, the crowds

are there. And Jesus doesn't say, look, I'm tired.

I don't want to fool with you. I've had a bad

day. Come back later. I'll talk to you later.

Just come back later. The scripture says that

Jesus saw the crowds, that they were like sheep

without a shepherd, and that he had compassion

on them. And he was compassionate, and he was

gracious to those who came to him. What about

us in our life? Are we compassionate to people

in our life? Even on the days where we're stressed,

where we're tired, are we compassionate to people?

Do we show grace to people? Maybe we do. But

we need to strive to be people who are gracious

to those that we encounter, who are compassionate

to those we encounter. And that may take some

praying on our part because that's not normal

to us. Like our human nature, I think our human

side is, look, life is tough and sometimes we're

tired and sometimes we're stressed. And sometimes

we just don't, like the human side of us, like

we're not just saying, oh, yeah, I'm going to

just be happy, go lucky. Like some days you're

just not. God will help us, I think, to be compassionate

and to be gracious if we would pray and ask him

to help us in that area. That's not saying that

we just have to always pretend like we're happy

and go lucky and always try to fake it, but we

just have to say, okay, God, the reality is his

life is hard and sometimes I'm not feeling it,

so even in those days that I'm not feeling it,

help me still to show some compassion and graciousness.

But probably what happens for some of us in those

days is We are not compassionate. We perhaps

get a little snappy. We get a little snappy at

people. We don't show any grace to people. We

are quick to jump on people if they say something

or do something wrong because we're just kind

of frazzled with what's going on in our life

maybe, and we don't show compassion and graciousness.

But what does it say in the next part of that

verse? That God is slow to anger. And rich and

faithful love, what about us? Are we slow to

anger? Well, maybe we are or maybe we're not.

Maybe we live in just kind of this whirlwind

of stress and just hardship of life and we get

angry easy because we don't have that compassion

and we don't have that graciousness. Perhaps

we are not slow to anger. And that's not a good

thing. You can examine your own life and you

kind of tell. How quick are you to snap? How

quick are you to go off about something? How

quick do you go from zero to angry? Maybe for

some of us it's pretty quick. Maybe not always.

Maybe sometimes we do, or maybe we do a lot.

And that's something that we need to look at

our life and say, okay, how quickly am I angering?

Because we see here that the Lord is slow to

anger, so that's a pretty good example. If we're

pretty quick to get angry at everybody and everything

all the time, then we're not in a good spot.

We're not in the spot that God wants us to be.

And again, that's not easy because what is easy

from our human side is just to be, it's easy

to be angry. It is so easy to be angry at people

and get angry about every little thing. I mean,

it is so easy. But what's hard is to not get

angry. And that's where we have to have the power

of God and have to say, okay, God, I know I shouldn't

be angry. Most of the time, most things are not

worth getting angry about and acting a fool about,

but I do. So God, I need you to help me to not

do that. And it may take a lot of praying, but

over time, I believe the Lord helps us with that.

It says the Lord is slow to anger and rich in

faithful love. Okay, that's something to strive

for. Don't be angry. People love people. Be rich

in that love and the way that we treat them and

the way that we act toward them. Maybe in some

way that we can support them and help them. Love

shows itself just in a kind word and a gentle

word. Maybe it shows itself by helping somebody

in need. God is rich in faithful love. And so

what about us? Do we walk around all the time

angry? Well, it's hard to be loving when you're

angry all the time. It's really difficult. I

don't know that you could do both of those things

together. So if we walk around angry, it's hard

to love. But if we ask God to give us patience,

to give us compassion, to help us to be gracious

to people, then loving people will be a lot easier.

But if we don't have compassion and grace and

we're angry all the time, it's going to be hard

to love people. But that's what God calls us

to do, to love God and to love people. So we

need to pray that God will help us in those other

areas. So we can succeed in the area he wants

us to most. Verse 9. He will not always accuse

us or be angry forever. Well, praise the Lord.

Now, we may accuse ourselves because there are

things that we do that, man, we've done in the

past. And we just say, golly, I just struggle.

This thought keeps coming back. I keep being

reminded of this thing I did. And it just tears

us up. And it just eats away at us. And we just

keep living in that. But God doesn't do that.

God doesn't. accuse us forever and revelation

it talks of the enemy it talks about the enemy's

accusations before god day and night but what

does it say about the enemy that the enemies

took care of when we read the rest of the book

of revelation the one who accused god's people

day and night he's already been dealt with on

the cross through jesus christ and so if we trust

in jesus christ what can what can be held over

our head if it says that god doesn't accuse us

or anger forever Perhaps God is angry sometimes

with us. Perhaps God is not always pleased with

what we do. There's reality there. You read the

Old Testament, you look at the Israelites, man,

there were some times that God was angry with

them. And perhaps there are some times that God

is angry with us. But we also know that God is

slow to anger and he's full of compassion and

graciousness. So God doesn't want to stay angry

at us forever. He wants to forgive us. He wants

us to repent and to come back to him. And so

we have to decide if we're going to do that or

not. If we're going to trust and say, okay, God,

you sent Jesus Christ. I know that my sins are

forgiven. And God, I don't want to be in your

wrath. I don't want to be in your anger. God,

I want to repent and come to you and praise the

Lord. The scripture says God will not be angry

at us forever. Verse 10. He has not dealt with

us as our sins deserve or repaid us according

to our offenses. That's a good verse for us to

remember. That God has not dealt with us as we

deserve. Wages of sin is death. If God dealt

with us how we deserve, he'd strike us all right

now. We wouldn't even be here. We'd have been

struck years ago. Man, God is so gracious that

he does not give us what we deserve. And we need

to remember that and let that... Let that be

kind of a driving force in our life. Because

what we like to do is we like to be forgiven

and not be held accountable for what we deserve.

But what we don't like to do is pass that on

to other people. We like to be forgiven, but

what we really like is for other people to get

just what they deserve. And maybe we've said

that before. Well, he got just what he deserved.

Okay, well, hold up. Let's not relish in that

fact. Too much here. Because what is God's word

saying? He has not dealt with us as we deserve.

Now there are people that do stuff to you and

say stuff to you and act in a certain way. And

it may very well be true that they deserve something,

some type of justice to occur. It very well may

be true. But the same is true for us. There may

be somebody who comes up to you and they tell

you all kind of stuff and they curse you out

and they tell you what they think about you and

maybe they deserve to be punched in the nose.

Maybe that's what they deserve. God doesn't give

you what you deserve. So maybe that's what needs

to drive us to say, okay, God, here's where I

could be quick to anger. But I pray that you

give me some compassion, God. That I don't give

them what they deserve. But instead, let me pray

for that person. Now that's what Jesus calls

us to do. You've heard it said, an eye for an

eye or a tooth for a tooth. That's what Jesus

says. But he says that's not the way it's supposed

to be. You've heard it said that. That was in

the Old Testament. He said, but you've got to

love your enemy. You've got to pray for those

who persecute you. So this is a good reminder

to us. The Lord has not dealt with us according

to how we deserve. So next time you encounter

somebody that slips up a little bit, somebody

that messes up, somebody that does you wrong,

that's not justifying or saying that they're

right, but that's up to the Lord to deal with

them. Should somebody deserve something, the

Lord will see to it. The Lord will take care

of that. But maybe we need to have a little graciousness.

Verse 11. For as high as the heavens are above

the earth, so great is his faithful love toward

those who fear him. Now, this is kind of symbolic

language. When we talk about heaven, where the

Lord resides, we're talking about a spiritual

place. Where is it? I don't know. I don't know.

Some would say it's just, it's super far away.

Or some would say it's a spiritual realm that's

right beside this realm that we can't see. The

language is symbolic. When we think, I think

oftentimes when we think about the Lord in heaven,

we think about God is high above. How far above?

How far away are the heavens from us? Well, so

far as we're concerned, they're an infinity away.

There's no way we can reach the heavens apart

from Jesus Christ. So wherever God is right now,

it might as well be an infinity away from where

we are. To infinity and beyond is how far away

God is. But the point that's being made here

is, as far away as that is, from the heavens

and the earth, as far away as those two things

are apart, so great is God's faithful love. It's

that big. It's that large of a margin. How big

is God's love? It's big. That is to say, you

cannot comprehend it. God's love is infinite.

That's a lot of love, praise the Lord. It takes

a lot of love. Man, think about all the stuff

that we've done in our life. Is that stuff that's

love worthy? Nope. Look at all the stuff that

goes on in the world. Think about the worst of

the worst stories you've seen in history or you

hear on the news or you see on Facebook today.

There is some evil and horrible and just unbelievable

things that go on. But yet God is slow to anger.

He wants all to come to repentance, to come to

Jesus Christ so that they may be saved. That

takes a lot of love. Love can put up with a lot.

God puts up with a lot, not because we deserve

it. What we deserve is to be struck, but God

doesn't give us what we deserve because he's

a God of love. How much love? It's infinite love.

It cannot even be measured. You cannot even comprehend.

You think about the greatest love you've got.

Probably it is, for those of you who have children,

probably having a child, it's probably the greatest

love that you could ever experience in this world.

And God's love is infinitely greater than that.

That's powerful love. What would you do for your

children? Well, how much more would God do for

those that he wants to be his children? For all

of creation that are God's people. He desires

for them to really be his people and to seek

Jesus Christ and to come to him through Jesus

Christ. That's a great love. Verse 12. As far

as the east is from the west, so far has he removed

our transgressions from us. Boy, that's a good

reminder. That kind of goes along with the verse

we looked at a couple of verses ago that God

will not be angry forever. As far as the east

is from the west, God has cast our sins away

from us. It's a song. You've probably heard the

song, The East to the West by Casting Crowns,

a real popular song. Based on this verse. So

how far away are our sins from us? They're gone.

Again, it's symbolic language. How far is the

east from the west? Well, you can't measure it.

It's infinite. Where do you start? Where do you

end? If you start on a globe and you say, okay,

this is the east and I'm going to the west, where

does the east stop and the west begin? It's symbolic

language. It's infinite. It's gone. It doesn't

exist. God is... forgiven our sins we're not

judged by our sins jesus christ on the cross

has shed his blood so that we could be forgiven

of our sins what we deserve is death what jesus

deserved was to be seated at the right hand of

god and he is but to get there jesus had to take

what we deserve So Jesus took what we deserve

so that we can share in what only he deserves.

And that's the gospel of Jesus Christ. That our

sins are forgiven. That God is compassionate

and gracious and he is slow to anger. And he

desires for us to repent of our sins and to seek

him and to trust in him. And when we do that,

you can have peace tonight. if you trust in Jesus

Christ, if you ask him to forgive you, if you

call on him to be your Lord and Savior, if you

repent of your sins and you seek to follow him,

your sins will be cast as far as the east is

to the west. And that's why David has a reason

to praise. That's why he says, I praise you,

Lord. I praise you, Lord, for who you are, for

your goodness and for your grace. I praise you,

Lord. So maybe tomorrow you wake up and you say,

man, work's going to be so hard. I've got this

other stressful thing or I've got this illness

I'm going through. And you've got all these things

that are just not good. And maybe you just don't

really feel like praising the Lord. Well, you've

still got a reason to praise if you've trusted

in Jesus Christ. David knew what it meant to

be forgiven of his sins. That's why he rejoiced.

May we be those who have a reason to rejoice

today. Let's pray. God, we come to you. We thank

you for these good words. I pray that you would

help us to live by them. Help us, dear Lord,

to have compassion and graciousness. Maybe we

don't always have that. I pray that you would

help us to have that, dear Lord. We may be quick

to anger. And help us to fight against that,

dear Lord, to keep our calm. And we can only

do that by your power. I pray that you would

help us to be slow to anger. and rich and faithful

love so that we can share that with those that

we encounter. Dear Lord, we thank you that our

sins are forgiven. Don't let us just wallow in

our old sins that we've already repented of and

gave to you. It's hard for us to forget them.

But dear Lord, I pray that tonight we can know

that they have been forgiven and cast as far

as the east is to the west that you love us with

a greater love than we could ever imagine. And

so I pray, dear Lord, that we can find peace.

not worry about those old sins, but know that

there is forgiveness through Jesus Christ. I

pray that if there is one here that does not

know Jesus Christ or one listening online, God,

that tonight they would pray, that they would

repent, that they would ask Jesus to be their

Lord and Savior and forgive them of their sins,

that they too would be able to rejoice like David.

And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.