Grace and peace be yours in abundance (1 Peter 1:1). Amen.
Do you have a working definition of the word “praise?” We use it frequently, especially here in worship. It is not as if it is unfamiliar to us. It has been around for a long time. King David even opened his psalm with it. But what does it mean—to praise?
How about this? To praise is “to speak words of the excellence of an article or an individual.” Maybe you were just going to go with “to extol.” Perhaps you don’t find either of those all that helpful. What, then, is “to praise?”
The thing to note with praise is that there is an object of praise and there is a reason for praise. As always, an example might be beneficial. When a quarter or semester ends at school, teachers fill out and send out report cards. If there are good grades, there is high praise. (Remember: “to speak words of the excellence of an article or an individual.”) So how does that play out? A parent exclaims as he examines the high marks: “Son, well done.”
§ The object of praise: the child.
§ The reason for praise: the letters that are closest to the beginning of the alphabet on that piece of paper.
David encourages himself and us to do that with our God. Praise the Lord God for his gift of grace.
“Praise the Lord” (Ps 103:1). First it is the who. The Lord. This is the One who does not change. Ever. Always the same. He is the One whom we honor. And not just a portion of us or a fraction of us. “Praise the Lord, O my soul” (Ps 103:1). Every last bit of us and part of us proclaims his praise and gives him glory. I do it. You do it.
And what is this Lord like? David echoes what Moses heard from the Lord himself when he was on the mountain for the second time to receive the 10 Commandments (Ex 34:5-7). That is when God really gave a sermon on his own name. David repeats it this way:
… “The Lord is compassionate” (Ps 103:8). That is not a love that is superficial, but significant. A deep love like the natural bond of a mother to her daughter. The Lord has established a closer bond with us than that as his children (1 Jn 3:1). And that is what we are. That is our status in and through Jesus (Ga 3:26). Faith allows us to experience that and enjoy that.
… “The Lord is … gracious” (Ps 103:8). That carries the idea of the free quality of his love. We don’t deserve it, but God dumps it on us. Generously. Abundantly. God’s grace is free like a gift (Eph 2:8).
… “The Lord is … slow to anger” (Ps 103:8). You don’t have to guess when someone is mad. You can see it even before they say it. The nostrils flare. The nose may get red. But God’s nose is long. It doesn’t burn up right away. God does punish sin (Ex 34:7). He is not soft or spineless. But he is patient. He wants all to repent of their sin and rely on their Savior, Jesus, turning from it and turning to him (2 Pe 3:9).
… “The Lord is … abounding in love” (Ps 103:8). God’s mercy—knowing our great need and meeting it—is on the high end of a scale of 1-10. Actually it is an 11+.
Praise the Lord God.
This is not something that we could come up with on our own. Certainly we can learn about God by looking at the world around us (Ro 1:20). The sky above us and the ground below us, and everything in between, can reveal that God is wise in the way that he creates. Or he is powerful in the manner that he keeps (Ps 19:1). But there is a limit. Our conscience can condemn us. But there is a loss. Who is God? And what do I do with my guilt?
That is the beauty of the season of Epiphany. God makes known to us and makes clear his love for us as he sent Jesus—born of a virgin, hung on a cross, gone from a tomb. We can only learn that from the Bible. And thus God tells us about himself.
David highlights that: “He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel” (Ps 103:7). The Lord taught them his activity and actions. Remember how he removed them from their slavery in Egypt with the 10 Plagues? And they walked out. Recall how he rescued them from the threat of pharaoh’s army? In both cases they had no hope—from making bricks under cruel taskmasters to standing scared at the bank. There was the water ahead of them, the desert to the side of them, the troops behind them. We hear it in their cry: “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?” (Ex 14:11). They needed God’s help. He walled up the sea and they walked through. Their sandals did not get wet at all. That didn’t happen when you walked on an unshoveled sidewalk this past week and your toes got soaked with a few inches of snow. And then with them safely on the other side, the water came crashing down. There were no survivors.
And then God led them to Mt. Sinai where they proceeded to dance around a golden calf in direct violation of the 1st Commandment. But the Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. And that carried through as they marched through the wilderness as discipline for their disobedience as they tried his patience. They grumbled, “God can’t provide.” And there was manna day after day. They gripped, “The Lord cannot protect.” And there was victory time after time. The Lord was always faithful, even when his people were not.
King David’s history read the same as Israel’s. Scripture records his failures. There is that tryst with Bathsheba. And our story is similar. We have our faults. There is that time of bitterness. We are aware of them as are others. As well as God. Of all of them (Ps 103:3). But where there is sin from us, there is grace from God (Ro 5:20). And grace upon grace (Jn 1:16). Because of who he is. And he communicates it to us. “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” (Ps 103:8). Our response: “Praise the Lord, O my soul” (Ps 103:1).
Then it is the why. And the list is lengthy. There are quite a few comforting pictures.
“He will not always accuse” (Ps 103:9). If it were a matter of standing trial, God would have plenty of evidence against us. The devil would be happy to add an accusation or two (Re 12:10). And we would have no defense. Guilty. And yet. There is a verdict of “not guilty” because we are surrounded by and covered in Christ (Ro 5:1). Jesus pleads for us (1 Jn 2:2). And his blood cleanses us (1 Jn 1:7).
“Nor will he harbor his anger forever” (Ps 103:9). God does not keep his wrath like we are all too good at. He continues his kindness.
“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities” (Ps 103:10). He does not do to us what we have coming. The consequence should be death for all that is crooked, twisted, and bent, but he delivers us from the guilt of all of it (Ro 6:23). We have life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him” (Ps 103:11). We can try to put a figure on the height of the heavens—the location of the sun and stars. The distance from the earth to the sun is 92.96 million miles. Does that even fit into our heads? I doubt if we round it to 93 million or refer to it in light years that would make any difference. We are glad when an odometer turns over 200,000 miles or lasts for a decade or three. The psalmist emphasizes how immeasurable God’s mercy is. It never comes to an end like the gas in the tank of a vehicle. We respond with respect for him.
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Ps 103:12). If you start out heading east, you will never begin going west. Just east—toward the sunrise, not the sunset. The two don’t meet. When God cancels sin, it is complete. He will not bring it up again. Our sins cannot attack us. Keep that in mind in the middle of the night when Satan calls. God acquits us. He has the final word. And it is “forgiven.”
“As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him” (Ps 103:13). One more illustration. Unfortunately we have to qualify it. God is picturing a good dad. Such a one shows love for his children and wishes the best for them. What we could not achieve—living perfectly—Jesus accomplished. The Father hands that to us as he heaps our sin on his Son. We react with reverence for him. Praise the Lord God for his gift of grace.
If you can’t define praise—“to speak words of the excellence of an article or an individual,” you can do it. Who? Praise the Lord. Why? Praise the Lord God for his gift of grace.
We read from 103:1,7-13:
1 Praise the Lord, O my soul;
7 He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you (1 Co 16:22). Amen.
January 29, 2017
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