Psalm 103 Why We Bless The Lord

Daily Bible Study for Sunday November 20, 2016

By: Hanny Lynn Stearns

Fish N Loaves Ministries, Inc.

“Multiplying God’s Word Around the Globe”

Chapter Reading for Today: Please read in your Bible before proceeding. Note that most translations are considered paraphrases. The Young’s Literal Translation provides a more accurate translation since he is the one who authored a concordance. Others are helpful for seeing a different perspective, but we cannot always depend on their wording. I trust this is helpful to you. If you are studying in another version, that is fine. I am studying from the KJV.

 ***Please note a change! We will look at everything for our basic study from the King James Version going forward. It is helpful to stay with one solid version as we study so as not to cause confusion. I may add other translations for specific scriptures as the Lord directs. 

One final note: I will put the scripture in italics to differentiate from my own writing. I am adding red to the letters when it is Jesus talking – just like the Bible. Thank you.

Bible Gateway Verse of the Day

Psalm 95:1-2

O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

Psalm 103

Why We Bless the Lord

It only takes a quick glance through this chapter to get into a state of awe and start to bless the Lord out loud for all He has done for us – hallelujah! Praise His name and bless Him forever. He has not given us what we most certainly deserve. No, instead He has lavished us with His amazing and unfailing love. He has given us freely all things, beginning with His precious Son to pay the fine we owed in the heavenly courtroom. Oh, give thanks to the Lord because His mercy endures forever! Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father:

Thank You for the many ways You have shown endless mercy to Your children who fear Your name. You are a loving Father, far greater than any earthly father on the planet. We come before You today in this lesson to do what Your word is calling us to do – bless You! Help us to see the many ways You have loved us over our lifetime, brief as it is, and remember the wonderful and tender mercy You have shown us. With Thanksgiving Day in the United States just a few days away, Father we take this time to thank You for all You have done for us. For the child of God, it is right to give You thanks and praise at all times. Father, I ask You to give me the anointing and utterance to bring this message to Your children across the globe today. Show us how we can bless You more and more. Help us to have spiritual eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts to receive all that You have for us. You are good and You always do good. Bring glory to Yourself in and through us as we read and meditate on Your word today. Father, cause this to go out unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or my flesh. Multiply this seed (of Your word) sown to bring forth a mighty end time harvest of righteousness and peace to those who will receive it. Father, we thank You for always watching over Your word to perform it in our lives when we obey You. With the help of Your Holy Spirit, we will be doers of Your word and not forgetful hearers. Thank You for the answers to this prayer. We believe we receive them and thank You for it in Jesus name. Amen.

There is a Christian song that has been out since 2011 recorded by Matt Redman. You can hear it on You Tube online. The title is called, “10,000 Reasons.” Maybe you have heard it. Perhaps you are like the many people who have enjoyed singing it to the Lord. It is a song that worships the Lord’s holy name. I am listening to the lyrics right now as I begin this study and it is quite amazing how beautifully it ties in with the beginning verses of the scripture we are studying today. He undoubtedly used this Psalm to pen the words to this beautiful song.

We really do have so many reasons to bless and thank the Lord, don’t we saints? After all, He has forgiven our many manifold sins. That is the biggest of all blessings to the mere mortal man, amen! In the forgiveness of our sins, He also heals all of our diseases – yes, all of them. Isn’t this worth shouting about saints? Hallelujah! I have so enjoyed singing this song to the Lord as I think of His great goodness to me. The Lord has redeemed our lives from destruction. Without Jesus to pay for our sins, we would all be destroyed.

Oh, we have so much to thank Him for. And once He has done all of this, He swings around to cover us (crown us) with His loving-kindness and tender mercies. What an awesome God and Father He is. Then, to top it all off, He satisfies our lives with good things so that our youth is renewed like the eagles. Think of the life of a child. When they are young, their lives are not yet poisoned by the sins of adult life. They are innocent and pure of heart. Their little souls are alive unto God. They are happy and joyful. At least those who live in a proper setting.

Sadly, many kids have their childhood innocence stolen from them, but for the purpose of this lesson, we will stay with how it is supposed to be. Think of a happy young boy or girl. When we even get near them, they bring our hearts joy. They act silly and are full of energy, laughter and fun. They are not tangled up with wondering what someone is thinking. If they want to shout, they do. They jump and dance and the glory of the Lord is revealed in their sweet innocence. It is a blessing to behold.

The Lord gives only good things. The Lord cares for the oppressed and He steps in on their behalf. It may seem like they are forsaken at times, but not where the Lord is concerned. The Bible is full of verses that assure us that He will defend the oppressed…

Psalm 9:9

The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

The Lord has clearly revealed Himself to His chosen people – Israel. In these last days and times, He has revealed Himself to all mankind. He has shown Himself to the world through His Son Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah. Jesus came as the Bread from heaven. Look at this…

John 6:32-40

³² Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

³³ For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

³⁴ Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.

³⁵ And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

³⁶ But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.

³⁷ All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

³⁸ For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

³⁹ And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

⁴⁰ And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

He came to His own, but His own did not receive Him. It was not for lack of making the effort to reach out to mankind. God made a way for us to come to Him and receive His tender mercies through Jesus. But many did not accept it. The Lord’s anger against our sin was, according to His timetable but for a moment. But this Psalm assures us that He does not stay angry forever. I can certainly be a witness to this like all of you who are reading this. Just yesterday I made a poor choice at the gym by trying to move a heavy weight lifting bench to get it out of my way, and my back already had a hint of pain in the lower part. As soon as lifted it, I could feel my back and the results were not good.

By the time I got home from my work out, the pain was mounting. As the afternoon went on, the pain only increased. I knew I had made a foolish choice. I am not supposed to lift anything heavy. This combined with eating a bit too much protein the day before when the car wouldn’t start at Walmart, and I had set myself up for enemy attack. We know that we have to obey the Lord in order to keep the door closed to the enemy – this, in addition to guarding our hearts and minds to keep him out.

There I was, writhing in pain by bedtime. I didn’t sleep much all night. The pain was intense. I did what I know to do and placed my trust in Jesus as my Healer. I spoke to the pain and I repented before the Lord for any disobedience where my eating was concerned. After that I just kept thanking Jesus, even while the pain was so intense that the thought of going to the emergency room had crossed my mind. I stayed in the bed and kept my faith in God. I praised Him and thanked Him. Today, I did what He said to do and I took another Epsom salt bath like last night. The Lord said today I am to take two. I have one left to go. My neighbor came over and offered to help walk my puppy. This morning she came to help while my husband is out of town, and then she prayed over me.

As I sat in my living room and prayed, spending time with the Lord, I could tell that I had received my healing. By the time I got done watching our church service online, I was doing so well that I could kneel down to feed our puppy and then take him for a walk all the way around the little lake by our apartment. Hallelujah! Thank You, Jesus! He really has healed ALL our diseases. He is faithful. That is one of thousands of reasons that we have to bless Him – to pronounce Him holy and to praise and magnify Him. How many realize that magnifying the sickness or injury only magnifies the problem. But Jesus is the name above every name – including physical injuries - praise His name forever!

Here is some really good news that we need never forget. Think about how far the east is from the west. That is an expression of how far the Lord removes the guilt of our sins from us. Isn’t that worth shouting about? And once He forgives them, and forgets them, so should we. We must not allow satan to come back and play his tape recorder in our heads to remind us again and again of our past mistakes. 

He will try, but we do not have to accept those thoughts. We can cast them down as fast as they come in and replace those evil thoughts with the word of God. This is how we succeed when we have to wrestle against the principalities, powers and rulers of darkness. It is quite simple. Folks make it out like we have to fight the enemy, but we don’t. Jesus already did it and won. All we have to do when the enemy shows up is to put on the full armor of God and stand on His word. We focus on and magnify God – not the devil.

The Lord pities us like a father would, only His pity is far greater than any earthly father. I am so glad, aren’t you? The whole idea here today is that we each take some time to meditate on these verses and really bless the Lord for all His many benefits to us. I don’t know the many ways He has blessed you, but you do. There is no time like the present to stop and thank Him for all of His goodness He has shed on you. The Lord knows our time here is very brief. We are like a piece of dust in the wind compared to the eternal existence of the Most High God. He understands this better than we do.

After we read verses 17-18 today, let’s take a look at these verses in Jeremiah…

Jeremiah 42 (The Entire Chapter)

42 Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near,

² And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the Lord thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:)

³ That the Lord thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.

⁴ Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the Lord your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the Lord shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.

⁵ Then they said to Jeremiah, The Lord be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the Lord thy God shall send thee to us.

⁶ Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.

⁷ And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah.

⁸ Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,

⁹ And said unto them, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;

¹⁰ If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.

¹¹ Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the Lord: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

¹² And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.

¹³ But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the Lord your God,

¹⁴ Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:

¹⁵ And now therefore hear the word of the Lord, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;

¹⁶ Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.

¹⁷ So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.

¹⁸ For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.

¹⁹ The Lord hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.

²⁰ For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the Lord your God, saying, Pray for us unto the Lord our God; and according unto all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.

²¹ And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent me unto you.

²² Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.

As I opened to this chapter today, I could see how well this relates to what the Lord is showing us in verses 17-18. He is good to those who will listen to Him and do His will. But to those who refuse and return to the land of the enemy (Egypt), the future is dismal at best. Once we have experienced His many tender mercies, the best place to stay is in the center of His will. Yesterday I had a little taste (once again) of what happens when I allow my flesh to tell me what it wants to do when I get hungry, tired or tested in a trial.

I paid a very high price last night for my disobedience on Friday combined with not using wisdom about lifting that heavy bench. I bring you along with me as my experiences apply to these lessons for a couple of reasons. I want to help you learn as the TEACHER teaches me. Also, it helps me to remember what not to do as well. We all benefit from it if we will heed (pay attention to) what God is saying to us.

Our heavenly Father is the sovereign ruler of the universe. It does not mean that He controlling things. He isn’t. But in the end, He will have His way on how things wrap up at the end of this time on the earth.  He will get the things done that needs to be done. How we each respond to the Lord is of the utmost importance. He is our Ruler – He is on the throne. But He will not force anyone to cooperate with Him. This is and always will be our free choice.

The chapter wraps up with a call for all those in the heavenly host who do His work and anyone who does his works in His dominion – His kingdom, to bless Him. The Lord is worthy of all our praise for all His benefits to us. We should be blessing Him. After all, look at the ways He has blessed us!

There are three main points to consider from today’s study…

To bless the Lord is to praise and magnify Him

We have countless reasons to bless the Lord

Everyone in His kingdom needs to bless the Lord

Questions:

Name some of the ways that the Lord has blessed you?

What can you praise and thank Him for right now in this season of your life?

In what way has reading this chapter changed your thinking?

What will you do differently going forward?

Who can you share this study with?

How many reasons do you have to bless the Lord?

                                                               Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father:

I come to You now to praise and bless Your holy name! Father, You alone are worthy of all my praise. Thank You for the many reasons I have to bless You because of how You have blessed me. I ask You to show me who I can share this study with so they too can bless Your holy name. Thank You Lord in Jesus name.

And God Said… You fill in the blanks.

           

Exodus 15:26

 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.