Psalm 103 – A Father’s Compassion
Psalm 103 – A Father’s Compassion
July 29, 2007 AM
By Pastor Lee Hemen
Father figures are important in the life of children. They have proven that the influence of a good father in the life of a child can decide whether they go onto college, pick a good future spouse, hold a good job, or succeed in life in general. A father figure can be a grandfather, uncle, step dad, a good friend of the family, or simply a good father! What is important is that a child feels loved, accepted, and forgiven by a predominate male figure in their life. The same is true spiritually as well. So much so in fact that we find within Scripture God relating to His people His role as our Heavenly Father and the importance of our close relationship to Him. Within the pages of Scripture we discover a Father’s compassion as we look at our relationship to God the Father.
David, within his music (the Psalms) often found solace in the fact that while others sought to kill him or to bring him ruin, there was always someone who loved, accepted and forgave him. He relates for us in very beautiful terms a heavenly Father’s compassion for those He loves. For David there was nothing that could compare with the close personal relationship an individual could enjoy with God. Let’s find out what David discovered for ourselves this morning as we look at a father’s compassion.
READ: Psalm 103
There were many times while I was growing up that I knew my Dad did not necessarily need to do certain things for me, but he did. I remember one time when we could not afford presents for Christmas, my father earned extra money, went out and bought some for all of us. I remember once he stayed up all night setting up a Lionel electric train set, just so that when I got up on Christmas morning I could see it wind its way around the tree. David often shared what God had done for him as well. In fact, David was quick to relate how God watched over his life. Within this Psalm David shows us…
I. The mercies of our Heavenly Father! (vv. 1-5)
1. God deserves our exuberant praise as a compassionate Father!
1) From our “soul” and our “innermost being” we should “praise God’s holy name!” It is our personal vocal praise of who God is! This is more than just feeling good about God. It can only be done by those who intimately know who God truly is and have a personal relationship with Him by faith. You cannot praise someone whom you do not know. In fact, those who say they know God, but do not and then try to praise Him are considered ungodly. God related to Isaiah concerning this kind of false piety, “you have been false to me, and have neither remembered me nor pondered this in your hearts.” (Isaiah 57:11) God knows our insincere faith. Jesus said, “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:22-23) Inner praise comes from those who trust the Lord with their lives.
2) When we praise God the Psalmist related that we should “forget not all His benefits” but remember some important facts concerning just what God has done for us: He “forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, [He] redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, [He] satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” This is the mercies of God towards those who trust in Him. He cares! In fact Jeremiah was told by the Lord, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” (Jeremiah 31:3) Later, Jeremiah would declare, “Because of the LORD’S great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!” (Lamentations 3:22-23) David would say, “I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 89:1, KJV) Here we discover the mercies of our heavenly Father!
EXAMPLE: Mercy is God’s grace applied. We do not deserve His love and yet He freely gives it to us. It is like when I had disobeyed my mother. Dad came home and I had to go and talk to him about it. Now if you knew my Dad, this could be quite an unpleasant thing because he did not allow us to ever disobey or disrespect our mother. “Real men,” he would relate, “do not treat any women with disrespect.” So, as I drug myself to see him, I feared for the worse. I was completely surprised at what he told me, however: “Lee, since you apologized to your mother and then went and did more than she asked you to do, I will forgive you. Just do not allow it to happen again.” It was like Jesus who told the woman caught in adultery, “I know all about your past sins. I forgive you, now go and sin no more.” (John 8:10-11) He displayed for me the mercies of our Heavenly Father.
While my own father could be a disciplinarian, I knew first and foremost he loved me. I knew so because no matter what I had done, he still loved me. He may not have liked me for a moment or two, but I knew he always loved me and forgave me. We find this to be true with our Heavenly Father as well. Within this Psalm David shows us…
II. The compassion of our Heavenly Father! (vv. 6-18)
1. People live for the moment, God lives for eternity and His love reflects it!
1) God’s grace toward His children is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love.” All loving parents reflect this kind of love toward the children they love and care for. God knows who we are and how we are formed: “He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.” God knows He is the Creator and we are but His creation. We are His and He has compassion on us as His children because He loves us. While He is eternal, we are but for a moment in time on this earth. But here is a wonderful beautiful truth, Jesus said: “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24) Do you know the Father’s compassion through faith in Jesus, His Son?
2) God “will not always accuse” us “nor will He harbor His anger forever!” Why? Because “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.” In fact, “ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” In fact, in Jesus we are complete and utterly forgiven: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
3) The reason is obvious: “As a father has compassion on His children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him!’ God loves us as His children when we follow Him by faith: “from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’S love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children’s children -- with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.” Are you His child? John writes that “to all who received Him [Jesus], to those who believed in His name, He [God] gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12-13)
EXAMPLE: The world displays a false and phony compassion. Many think that if they feel bad enough about something, then that is good enough. Or if they throw money at the problem, then it is no longer their concern and they have at least “shown compassion.” Shallow compassion is like phony faith: little substance and less depth. James would say, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22) He would go on to comment that “If one of you says to [someone in need], ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:16-17) The compassion of our heavenly Father was accompanied by His actions of sending Jesus to die on a cross for our sins! Oh how great a grace!
I will never forget my father relating to me that I was never to call him by his first name. My father was never “Lowell” to any of us, even after some of us grew older. There was always a certain amount of respect my father expected out of his children. It taught us to understand just who our father was. He was not our friend, we had plenty of them. He was our father. It is like when we praise God. There is a reason why we should and if you do not understand it, then you may not know who God truly is. David teaches us through this Psalm…
III. The praise our Heavenly Father deserves! (vv. 19-22)
1. God is God, and we are not!
1) We have to remember who God is! David understood that it is God who “has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all,” and whether we want to believe it or not, God is our ruler and King! We find that one day “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’ So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:11-12) In fact, Paul would later write that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11)
2) God is not just ruler of us, but of the angels in heaven as well! We discover that they are to “Praise the LORD, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His bidding, who obey His word. Praise the LORD, all His heavenly hosts, you His servants who do His will.” Again, this is the key to our heartfelt worship of God. It is not found in “doing things.” Mere acts of contrition or trying to appease God will not work. He looks at the human heart and at the real intent of our soul. Jesus would say, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15) He went on to say, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” (John 14:21) and that you are to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31) If God is our ruler it will be reflected in our obedience and devotion to Him.
3) Even all of creation knows who God is. David cries out, “Praise the LORD, all His works everywhere in His dominion!” The writer of Hebrews would tell us that “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13)
EXAMPLE: When I was younger my father showed me something I never forgot. We were in a store that sold all kinds of glassware. My mother like crystal and I had found some glasses that were cheap. My Dad took one, walked me over to where there were others that were similar, took one of them and then proceeded to show me the difference between simple glass and real crystal. All he did was lightly flick the rim of each. Can you guess what happened? The crystal rang with a clear tone, while the simple glass just went “thunk!” In our politically correct world we are quick to hand out praise when it is not deserved, thinking it will illicit better behavior from those who could care less. Praise should only be given to those who deserve it because of who they are and what they have done, not to make someone “feel good about themselves.” Nothing is worse than false praise. It rings hollow and untrue. David teaches us the praise our Heavenly Father deserves.
Conclusion:
The mercies of our Heavenly Father! The compassion of our Heavenly Father! The praise our Heavenly Father deserves!
July 29, 2007 AM
By Pastor Lee Hemen
Father figures are important in the life of children. They have proven that the influence of a good father in the life of a child can decide whether they go onto college, pick a good future spouse, hold a good job, or succeed in life in general. A father figure can be a grandfather, uncle, step dad, a good friend of the family, or simply a good father! What is important is that a child feels loved, accepted, and forgiven by a predominate male figure in their life. The same is true spiritually as well. So much so in fact that we find within Scripture God relating to His people His role as our Heavenly Father and the importance of our close relationship to Him. Within the pages of Scripture we discover a Father’s compassion as we look at our relationship to God the Father.
David, within his music (the Psalms) often found solace in the fact that while others sought to kill him or to bring him ruin, there was always someone who loved, accepted and forgave him. He relates for us in very beautiful terms a heavenly Father’s compassion for those He loves. For David there was nothing that could compare with the close personal relationship an individual could enjoy with God. Let’s find out what David discovered for ourselves this morning as we look at a father’s compassion.
READ: Psalm 103
There were many times while I was growing up that I knew my Dad did not necessarily need to do certain things for me, but he did. I remember one time when we could not afford presents for Christmas, my father earned extra money, went out and bought some for all of us. I remember once he stayed up all night setting up a Lionel electric train set, just so that when I got up on Christmas morning I could see it wind its way around the tree. David often shared what God had done for him as well. In fact, David was quick to relate how God watched over his life. Within this Psalm David shows us…
I. The mercies of our Heavenly Father! (vv. 1-5)
1. God deserves our exuberant praise as a compassionate Father!
1) From our “soul” and our “innermost being” we should “praise God’s holy name!” It is our personal vocal praise of who God is! This is more than just feeling good about God. It can only be done by those who intimately know who God truly is and have a personal relationship with Him by faith. You cannot praise someone whom you do not know. In fact, those who say they know God, but do not and then try to praise Him are considered ungodly. God related to Isaiah concerning this kind of false piety, “you have been false to me, and have neither remembered me nor pondered this in your hearts.” (Isaiah 57:11) God knows our insincere faith. Jesus said, “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:22-23) Inner praise comes from those who trust the Lord with their lives.
2) When we praise God the Psalmist related that we should “forget not all His benefits” but remember some important facts concerning just what God has done for us: He “forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, [He] redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, [He] satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” This is the mercies of God towards those who trust in Him. He cares! In fact Jeremiah was told by the Lord, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” (Jeremiah 31:3) Later, Jeremiah would declare, “Because of the LORD’S great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!” (Lamentations 3:22-23) David would say, “I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 89:1, KJV) Here we discover the mercies of our heavenly Father!
EXAMPLE: Mercy is God’s grace applied. We do not deserve His love and yet He freely gives it to us. It is like when I had disobeyed my mother. Dad came home and I had to go and talk to him about it. Now if you knew my Dad, this could be quite an unpleasant thing because he did not allow us to ever disobey or disrespect our mother. “Real men,” he would relate, “do not treat any women with disrespect.” So, as I drug myself to see him, I feared for the worse. I was completely surprised at what he told me, however: “Lee, since you apologized to your mother and then went and did more than she asked you to do, I will forgive you. Just do not allow it to happen again.” It was like Jesus who told the woman caught in adultery, “I know all about your past sins. I forgive you, now go and sin no more.” (John 8:10-11) He displayed for me the mercies of our Heavenly Father.
While my own father could be a disciplinarian, I knew first and foremost he loved me. I knew so because no matter what I had done, he still loved me. He may not have liked me for a moment or two, but I knew he always loved me and forgave me. We find this to be true with our Heavenly Father as well. Within this Psalm David shows us…
II. The compassion of our Heavenly Father! (vv. 6-18)
1. People live for the moment, God lives for eternity and His love reflects it!
1) God’s grace toward His children is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love.” All loving parents reflect this kind of love toward the children they love and care for. God knows who we are and how we are formed: “He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.” God knows He is the Creator and we are but His creation. We are His and He has compassion on us as His children because He loves us. While He is eternal, we are but for a moment in time on this earth. But here is a wonderful beautiful truth, Jesus said: “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24) Do you know the Father’s compassion through faith in Jesus, His Son?
2) God “will not always accuse” us “nor will He harbor His anger forever!” Why? Because “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.” In fact, “ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” In fact, in Jesus we are complete and utterly forgiven: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
3) The reason is obvious: “As a father has compassion on His children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him!’ God loves us as His children when we follow Him by faith: “from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’S love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children’s children -- with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.” Are you His child? John writes that “to all who received Him [Jesus], to those who believed in His name, He [God] gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12-13)
EXAMPLE: The world displays a false and phony compassion. Many think that if they feel bad enough about something, then that is good enough. Or if they throw money at the problem, then it is no longer their concern and they have at least “shown compassion.” Shallow compassion is like phony faith: little substance and less depth. James would say, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22) He would go on to comment that “If one of you says to [someone in need], ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:16-17) The compassion of our heavenly Father was accompanied by His actions of sending Jesus to die on a cross for our sins! Oh how great a grace!
I will never forget my father relating to me that I was never to call him by his first name. My father was never “Lowell” to any of us, even after some of us grew older. There was always a certain amount of respect my father expected out of his children. It taught us to understand just who our father was. He was not our friend, we had plenty of them. He was our father. It is like when we praise God. There is a reason why we should and if you do not understand it, then you may not know who God truly is. David teaches us through this Psalm…
III. The praise our Heavenly Father deserves! (vv. 19-22)
1. God is God, and we are not!
1) We have to remember who God is! David understood that it is God who “has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all,” and whether we want to believe it or not, God is our ruler and King! We find that one day “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’ So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:11-12) In fact, Paul would later write that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11)
2) God is not just ruler of us, but of the angels in heaven as well! We discover that they are to “Praise the LORD, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His bidding, who obey His word. Praise the LORD, all His heavenly hosts, you His servants who do His will.” Again, this is the key to our heartfelt worship of God. It is not found in “doing things.” Mere acts of contrition or trying to appease God will not work. He looks at the human heart and at the real intent of our soul. Jesus would say, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15) He went on to say, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” (John 14:21) and that you are to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31) If God is our ruler it will be reflected in our obedience and devotion to Him.
3) Even all of creation knows who God is. David cries out, “Praise the LORD, all His works everywhere in His dominion!” The writer of Hebrews would tell us that “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13)
EXAMPLE: When I was younger my father showed me something I never forgot. We were in a store that sold all kinds of glassware. My mother like crystal and I had found some glasses that were cheap. My Dad took one, walked me over to where there were others that were similar, took one of them and then proceeded to show me the difference between simple glass and real crystal. All he did was lightly flick the rim of each. Can you guess what happened? The crystal rang with a clear tone, while the simple glass just went “thunk!” In our politically correct world we are quick to hand out praise when it is not deserved, thinking it will illicit better behavior from those who could care less. Praise should only be given to those who deserve it because of who they are and what they have done, not to make someone “feel good about themselves.” Nothing is worse than false praise. It rings hollow and untrue. David teaches us the praise our Heavenly Father deserves.
Conclusion:
The mercies of our Heavenly Father! The compassion of our Heavenly Father! The praise our Heavenly Father deserves!
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