Title: Talk to Yourself (Lent Day 28 Sermon)
Talking to Yourself
Psalm 103:1-4
1 Bless the LORD, my soul. All that is within me, bless the name. 2 Bless the LORD, my soul, and do not forget all his benefits. 3 He forgives all your iniquities, and heals all your diseases, 4 He redeems your life from destruction, and crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion...
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 iniquities, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies (NKJV)
Psalm 103 is a good example of talking to yourself. “My soul, bless the LORD. All that is in me, bless the name.” He commands himself to bless the Lord. A unique word that trains one's soul to praise Jehovah's name.
Do you have any experiences of talking to yourself like this? Not only Psalm 103, but also Psalms 42 and 43 are psalms that communicate with one's soul. “My soul, why are you discouraged, and why are you troubled within me? you look to God Rather, I will praise him for the help of his face.”
Do you have any experiences of talking with your soul like this? Involuntarily, “Why am I doing this?” Have you ever said this? Has anyone woken up this morning and had a fight with himself? “Would you like some more sleep? What do you mean, you have to wake up, you promised God that you would pray in the dawn of Lent?” Have you not had these conversations with yourself?
However, today's psalm goes beyond this ordinary conversation and trains one's soul to praise God. He calls himself “my soul” and “all that is within me” and says, “Do not forget all your benefits.” Do not forget the grace that God has bestowed upon you.
According to the Bible, not remembering the evil deeds of others is love (1 Corinthians 13:5). By the way, we remember other people's bad things well, but we easily forget the good things. It seems to be the case with our relationship with God. The grace that God has bestowed on me is easily forgotten. Bonhoeffer, whom I introduced a few days ago, said in a letter to his friend. “I cannot be a religious person by nature. So I must always think of God and Christ. Truth, life, freedom, mercy, these things matter to me."
Easily forget God's grace? Perhaps this is the face of our fragile humanity. So we must always think about God's grace. What is the season of Lent? Isn't this time to stop doing what one likes and focus on the cross and suffering of Jesus Christ instead? Why do we need such a period? Otherwise, it is because we forget the cross forever and live.
It is the same reason why we should think about the grace of God. When life gets annoying and doesn't work out, people easily forget God's grace. When we despair and become discouraged, people easily forget God's grace and blessings. So, we need to train ourselves to praise God and to remember God's grace.
Look at today's psalm, which enumerates the grace of God to one's soul. First, God who forgives all your iniquities. It is the first thing to think about when thinking about God's grace. You can think about the things that helped me when I was having a hard time and was lonely. The first thing to think about is that God has forgiven my sins. This is the beginning of thinking about God's grace. That's right. If God had not forgiven my sins, I could not have become a child of God. And I couldn't even call God my Father. Now you know Do you know how much grace it is to call God the Father?
Second, God healed all my diseases. That is why there are many special words of healing the sick in the Bible. There are so many words of healing the sick that Jesus' work is said to be the work of healing the sick. Diseases here do not necessarily mean physical diseases in the literal sense. Our bad habits are also our disease in a broad sense. Our erroneous thoughts and beliefs, too, in a broad sense, are our diseases. We have suffered many aftereffects from our sins. He also said to the adulterous woman in John 8, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more” (8:11). Also, Jesus said to the man who was healed, “Behold, you are well; sin no more, so that nothing worse happens” (John 5:14).
What disease do you have? Do you have an incurable physical illness? Or, do you have a bad habit that needs to be broken? Maybe your disease will not be cured in this life. However, in heaven all diseases will be healed. Revelation 21:4 says this. “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, neither mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the first things have passed away.”
Third, God who redeems your life from destruction. "Destruction" is called "destruction". Our lives are ruined and our lives are destroyed, not because our lives are in jeopardy. Such dangers can be avoided with luck, or with someone's help. It is the ruin of death that our lives could never be saved from. When you die, everything is over. The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). We were doomed to ruin through sin. God has redeemed us from this. Do you know the meaning of “redeem”? God bought us at the price to redeem our lives from ruin.
Fourth, God who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies. The words I memorized yesterday morning were about God's mercy and mercy. “For the mercy and mercy of the LORD are endless; we are not to be utterly destroyed. It is new every morning; great is Your faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22-23).
The writer of Psalm 103 tells his soul to remember the grace of God. And do not forget that grace, and tell them to bless and praise. How are you now? Are you ready to remember and praise God's grace? Are your affairs and your plans going smoothly? Or, are you going through a difficult and difficult time in your life?
However, be aware of this one thing. Your life will never go wrong in God's plan and purpose for you. Let us recite the words of Romans 8:28 that we memorized. “All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose.” Did I tell you then? God is weaving beautiful fabrics using the threads of suffering we are going through. One day they will appear before us as beautiful.
God's purpose for you is good. He blesses you, forgives you, heals you, redeems you, and has mercy on you. It is to be crowned with kindness and mercy. Shall we not bless that God this morning according to Psalm 103? To your soul, “My soul, all that is within me, bless God!” won't you say No, not just this morning, but when you are happy and happy, no, when you are having a hard time, why not say that to your souls?