Psalm 103 
February 18, 2018
preached by Ryan Bouton
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Time of Reflection Quotations

“Too often our practical view of sanctification, discipleship, and counseling takes the short view…We love gazelles. Graceful leaps make for a great testimony to God’s wonderworking power. And we like steady and predictable. It seems to vindicate our efforts at making the Christian life work in a businesslike manner. But, in fact, there’s no formula, no secret, no technique, no program, and no truth that guarantees the speed, distance, or time frame. On the day you die, you’ll still be somewhere in the middle, but further along. When we lengthen the battle, we realize that our business is the direction. God manages to work His wonderworking glory in and through all of the above scenarios!”

~David Powlison

“Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problem of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment [in Psalm 42] was this; instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself, ‘Why art thou cast down, O my soul?’ he asks. His soul had been repressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says: ‘Self, listen for a moment, I will speak to you’. Do you know what I mean? If you do not, you have but little experience. The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself…”

~D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

~A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy

“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”

~Psalm 42:11

Sermon Passage

Psalm 103 (ESV)

¹  Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
²  Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
³  who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
⁴   who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
⁵   who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
⁶  The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
⁷   He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
⁸  The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
⁹   He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
¹⁰ He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
¹³ As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
¹⁴ For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.
¹⁵ As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
¹⁶ for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
¹⁷ But the steadfast love of the Lord is from
everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children’s children,
¹⁸ to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.
¹⁹ The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
²⁰ Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
²¹ Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!
²² Bless the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!