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Bless the LORD!

Psalms 103:1-5

1Bless 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 forgives all your iniquity,

who heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit,

who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

who satisfies you with good

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

 

Last week we saw in the Lord’s prayer, that God satisfies us, heals us, and meets our needs.  Our daily bread comes from him.  Psalm 103 adores God for these good gifts.

This Sunday we are meditating on our iniquity and God’s forgiveness; and how God’s redemption results in an overflow of forgiveness to others.  This psalmist is worshipping God for the forgiveness of all his sin.

The psalmist speaks to his soul repeatedly saying, “Bless the Lord”.  He is earnest to worship the Lord with all of his being through his thoughts, emotions, and actions.  He worships in order to remind himself of who God is and what he has done.  He recounts God’s complete forgiveness, powerful physical healing, redemption of us from the pit, and  amazing blessing.  The psalmist knows his satisfaction is fully good and complete in God. 

As we prepare our hearts for worshipping together this Sunday, our hearts can be full as we consider the many reasons we have to bless the Lord.

These lyrics from Jesus paid it all powerfully speak to our need for a savior:

 

I hear the savior say

Thy strength indeed is small

Child of weakness, watch and pray

Find in me thine all in all

 

Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe

Sin had left a crimson stain

He washed it white as snow

 

Songs for This Sunday:

Rejoice

Psalm 62

Yet Not I But Through Christ in Me

Jesus Paid it All

His Mercy is More

Posted by Will Vogelsang with

The Lord is My Strength and My Song

“I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
    for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
    that you might comfort me.

“Behold, God is my salvation;
    I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
    and he has become my salvation.”

Isaiah 12:1–2

When we gather for corporate worship, some of us feel we have strength, and some of us feel we lack strength. Some of us feel we have a song to offer to the Lord, and some of us feel that we can barely muster the emotion to sing a single hallelujah. For those who feel a lack of spiritual power and a damper on the affections that would lead us to praise—and let's be honest, we're all in that place sometimes—there is encouragement that the Lord God himself IS our strength, and he IS our song. As we look to him and away from our own resources, strength and faith rise within us, and before long, a song starts to burst forth.

But how do we look to God to be our strength and song? What should we see in him to cause us to be built up and joyful?

The first lines of this song from Isaiah give us a simple answer. These verses remind us of two fundamental truths that should resonate in our hearts and feed the flame of our love for God whenever we approach him in worship: one, that our sin has most assuredly brought about the anger of God, more so than we are usually aware, and two, that God has turned away his anger and promised to comfort us, his people, rather than condemn us. Over and over again, we come back to these truths in order to stand firm in our faith and delight in God, because without an ongoing, honest recognition that our sin deserves the just wrath of a holy God, we won't delight in the greatness of a Savior who rescues us from that wrath. So we admit again and again that we have angered a God who gave us life and breath and everything—turned on him, belittled him, ignored him by our selfish thoughts and deeds. We acknowledge in our souls the truth that the eyes of our heart can see the face of our heavenly Father, who longs to bless us but is disappointed that we treasure so many other things above his loving gaze. And as we acknowledge that we have angered our Father, there is a softening of our hard hearts, sometimes a breaking. But the breaking is only for the purpose of rebuilding. Hope and peace and love are re-formed out of our brokenness as we hear the promise again: God's anger is forever turned away from us! Only because of Christ and his sacrifice in our place. And God's comforting love and steadfastness and faithfulness are forever pouring in our direction! Only because of Christ.

This is our salvation. We're raised from the depth of hideous sin to the height of glorious, undeserved forgiveness. As we remember all that God has done in his love for us, let our strength in him and joyous singing of his worth return, even to the weariest among us.

Here are the songs and Scriptures for this week’s service:

-Call to Worship from Isaiah 12:1-2
-All Creatures of Our God and King
-He Is Our God
-Kingdom Come
-Available
-Sermon from Matthew 6:10
-Communion
-I Stand Amazed

 

 

Posted by Kendall Ellis with

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