Thanks, Justy. Well, keep that psalm open and we're going to follow it through together.
Again, if there's any questions at any time through what we look at on a Sunday morning,
then please feel free to chat with me afterwards or raise anything that you want to.
Well, let's pray and ask for God's help.
Our Father God, we thank you that you are indeed great.
And we ask that you would help us to better understand your greatness,
but not just to know it in our heads, but also to experience it in our hearts and in our lives day by day.
And for that to happen, we need your spirit to be at work in us.
And we pray that he would be at work in our lives even now as we read and as we listen.
And as we think through what your word is saying.
So we ask for your help in this, in Jesus' name. Amen.
A few years ago, the author Christopher Hitchens, who's a leading atheist, he's since died,
but his book is still very influential.
He wrote a book called God is Not Great.
His argument was simply this.
Rather than being the great hope of the world, God, or the very idea of God,
is the reason why the world is in such a mess.
In other words, if we can get rid of God, then the world wouldn't have all the problems.
Listen to what he says.
This is a quote from his book.
This is what he says about God.
He doesn't have a lot of time for God.
Now that's not an uncommon thought.
Many people today believe that.
You might even think it.
People who you work with and socialize with will believe it.
They simply think that God is not great.
In fact, people see God as being a problem.
And if we can remove God, then things would be better.
In contrast to that, though, is the author of Psalm 103.
Here the writer claims that God is great and that we should worship him.
So look how it says,
So look how it starts in verse 1.
He says,
Praise the Lord, O my soul, all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
And then look how it finishes, the very last line.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
So the whole psalm from beginning right to the very end is a reason for why we should worship God.
In fact, he claims that everyone and everything should praise and worship God because he is great.
So look at verse 21.
He says,
Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts.
You his servants who do his will.
Praise the Lord, all his works.
Everywhere.
There's nothing excluded.
Everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
Now that's a big claim.
When increasingly people are becoming more and more anti-God.
People will say,
Well, why should I worship God?
What has he ever done for me?
Why should I give my devotion to God?
What makes God better than anybody else?
So the question we want to ask is,
Is God great?
Or is God not great?
Well, you can draw your own conclusions as we look through this psalm together.
Is God great?
Or is he not great?
Well, as we look through this psalm,
we're going to look at four pairings that help us to capture what I think is the greatness of God
and why we should worship him.
Four pairings that capture the greatness of God.
First,
forgiving and forgetting.
I wonder as you listen,
can you remember anything that you have said or done that you know is wrong?
Can you think of anything that you've said or done that you know is wrong?
We don't have to think very long, do we?
It's quite easy.
Because we all have things that we regret.
Oh, wish I wish I hadn't done that or said that.
And no matter how hard we try,
there are some things we can just never forget.
Even as we sit right now,
there are those things from the past that just keep on haunting us and come back to us time and time again.
It seems we have an inability to forget our past and to forget our sin.
In contrast to that, God not only forgives, but he also forgets our sin.
Look at verse 2.
Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your sins.
Do you know what?
There's nothing too big and there's nothing too great.
He will forgive the past, he will forgive your present, and he will forgive your future.
Nothing is too big.
But that's not all.
Look at the rest of verse 3.
He tells us there that he heals all our diseases.
Now the difference there between sin, forgiving all our sins, and healing all our sickness,
is what we might say is timing.
When we confess our sin to God, he immediately forgives.
Straight away, we can know his forgiveness.
When we ask God for his healing, it is usually future.
Not always, but usually future.
That is, not until we are in heaven will we know his complete and full healing.
So God forgives us now, that's the teaching of the Bible,
and God will fully and completely heal in time.
But he forgives immediately.
But he doesn't just only forgive, he also forgets.
Look down at verse 11.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him.
You know when we try to measure, or if you try to measure,
God's love towards us,
we find that his love is immeasurable.
We live in a galaxy that's called the Milky Way.
Our next closest galaxy to us is called Andromeda.
It's 2.5 million light-years away.
One light-year is 6 trillion miles.
So you can do the maths, okay?
2.5 million light-years away.
One light-year is 6 trillion miles.
That's just the next galaxy.
And what does it say there in verse 11?
What does it say about God's love?
For as far as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love.
It's immeasurable.
It's beyond comprehension.
It's so vast.
It's so great.
And as an expression of his great love towards us,
what has he done?
Look at verse 12.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far as he removed our transgressions from us.
Just as God's love is immeasurable,
so God's removing of our sin,
or the way I phrase it here,
forgetting it,
it doesn't mean that he ignores it.
It means that when he forgives us,
he no longer holds it against us.
He removes our sin from us.
And that gap is immeasurable.
It's infinite.
It's like God has a record on computer
of all the things that we've ever said,
or thought,
or done wrong.
All there on file.
And when we confess,
he clicks select all.
And then he clicks delete.
There's no undo button.
It's irretrievable.
It's gone.
It's wiped out.
Never to be known or held against us again.
This is the greatness of God
in contrast to our inability
to be able to forgive each other
or to be able to forget our past.
That is why we should worship God.
No one else can do what God can do for us.
So he forgives and he forgets.
Second pairing.
He redeems and he renews.
I know some of you yesterday
were walking up the mountains.
Well, when we were younger,
our family used to go for long walks
up the Cummerah Mountains.
And on one of those walks,
my elder brother, Philip,
was running away out ahead of us all.
And then all of a sudden,
he just disappeared.
Just vanished.
Didn't know where he'd gone
until we got up to
as far as we had last seen him.
And there he was,
ten feet down
in this great big bog pit
at the bottom.
And he couldn't get out.
And the only way that he could get out
was for my dad to actually
reach down,
climb down,
and pull him out.
Well, look what it says
about us in verse 4.
We are described
as being in a pit.
Verse 4.
He redeems your life
from the pit.
Now, what happened to my brother
was extremely funny
to all of us looking on.
We thought it was hilarious.
But for us being in this pit,
it's being in a state
where we are beyond self-redemption.
We can't rescue ourselves.
We can't do anything about it.
And it isn't funny.
In fact, the pit,
as the Bible describes it
the whole way through,
is like we are on our way.
It's a path that leads to hell,
which is eternal separation from God
and from all that is good.
But God has redeemed us.
That means he has reached down to us
through his son, Jesus Christ,
and he has pulled us up out of that pit.
He's rescued us.
He's delivered us.
And instead of hell hanging over us,
look what we have in place.
Look at the rest of verse 4.
He redeems your life from the pit
and now crowns you
with love and compassion.
What a contrast.
No longer treated
as a rebellious enemy,
but now treasured
as his own child.
But he not only redeems,
he renews us.
Verse 5.
He satisfies our desires
with good things
so that our youth
is renewed like the eagles.
It's a picture of just reversing
our whole life.
He fills us
and he satisfies us
like nothing
and no one else can.
It's like he's giving us
a complete fresh start
from the pit
to a crown of life
to a fresh start
so that,
look at the end of verse 5,
your youth
is renewed like the eagles.
Well, maybe you don't feel
like an eagle this morning.
Maybe you don't feel
very young and youthful.
But this is picture language.
And it's all picture language
about resting in God's strength
and God's abilities.
And I'm sure we've all seen
the nature programs,
whether it's...
Oh, his name's gone from me now.
David Attenborough, thank you.
Any of those kind of nature programs.
And we see the eagles
flying effortlessly
over the mountains.
And what they do is
they catch the warm thermals
and it lifts them up
and they just travel
from mile after mile.
Well, as God renews our life,
as he redeems us from the pit,
crowns us with love
and compassion,
it's as if we are carried
along daily
by the wind of grace.
His strength
bringing us through life
as we face
every kind of trial
and circumstance.
This is the greatness
of God
in contrast to our inability
to change
or to do anything
about our own circumstances.
This is why
we should worship God.
Nobody else
can do
what God can do.
The third pairing.
Unfailing love
and undeserved mercy.
Look at verse 6.
The Lord works righteousness
and justice
for all the oppressed.
God always does
what is right
and he always does
what is good.
His ways are just.
They're perfect.
He never gets anything wrong.
And what follows
is an example
of his rightness
in the way
he deals with people.
Look at verse 7.
He made known
his ways to Moses
and his deeds
to the people of Israel.
And what follows
in this psalm
is referring back
to a time
when God intervened
into his people's lives
with his love and mercy.
And we want to go back
to look at that.
It's found in Exodus 32.
Ralph actually picked up on it
earlier on
just before we were singing.
So go back
keep your finger
in Psalm 103
and go back to Exodus
chapter 32.
So Psalm 103
verse 7
says he made known
his ways to Moses
his deeds
to the people of Israel.
And this illustrates
what God did.
So we're going to pick it up
in Exodus 32.
And remember
the context here
is that God's people
have been rescued
from slavery
in Egypt.
God has defeated
their enemies
he's led them
through the Red Sea
he's brought them
into a new land
to a new home
they have all the possessions
that they need
and now Moses
their leader
has gone to talk
to God
on the mountain
and look what happens
chapter 32
verse 7
Then the Lord
said to Moses
go down
because your people
whom you bought up
out of Egypt
have become corrupt.
They have been quick
to turn away
from what I commanded them
and have made themselves
an idol
cast in the shape
of a calf.
They have bowed down
to it
and sacrificed to it
and have said
these are your gods
O Israel
who bought you up
out of Egypt.
So quickly
they have turned
their backs on God
after all
that he has done
for them
and God is rightfully
angry
and look how God
responds in verse 9
He says
I have seen
these people
the Lord said
to Moses
they are stiff-necked
people
in other words
they're just stubborn
now leave me alone
so that my anger
may burn against them
and that I may
destroy them
then I will make you
into a great nation.
That's what they deserve
but Moses
appeals
to God's
character
to his
unfailing love
and his
undeserved
mercy
and look what he says
verse 11
Moses sought
the favour
of the Lord
his God
O Lord
he said
why should
your anger
burn against
your people
whom you bought
out of Egypt
with great power
and a mighty hand
look at the end
of verse 12
turn
from your
fierce anger
relent
and do not
bring disaster
on your people
and what does God
do?
look at verse 14
then the Lord
relented
and did not
bring on
his people
the disaster
he had
threatened
that
is
unfailing
love
that
is
undeserved
mercy
in fact
God
renews
his relationship
with his people
even though
they'd
turned their
backs on him
God
commits himself
to his people
again
and this is
what he says
in Exodus
34
verses 6
through 7
Exodus
34
verse 6
through 7
this is the
completion
of this
whole story
and God
passed in front
of Moses
proclaiming
the Lord
the compassionate
and gracious
God
slow to
anger
abounding
in love
and faithfulness
maintaining
love
to thousands
forgiving
wickedness
rebellion
and sin
back to
Psalm 103
you see
that's what
we have
quoted
in Psalm 103
verse 8
this is what
God made
known to his
people
verse 8
the Lord
is compassionate
and gracious
slow to
anger
and abounding
in love
now let's
just reflect
for a minute
how has
God
intervened
into
our lives
what has
he done
for us
forgiven
us
removed
or forgotten
our sin
redeemed
us
and renewed
us
and how
many times
have we
turned our
back on
him
being
stubborn
lived our
own way
and how
does God
respond
look at
Psalm 103
verse 9
he will not
always accuse
nor will he
harbor his
anger forever
he does
not treat
us
as our
sins
deserve
or repay
us
according to
our
iniquities
that
is the
greatness
of God
in contrast
to our
continued
failure
and
disobedience
this is
how God
is
towards
us
that is
why we
should
worship
God
the
fourth
pairing
compassionate
father
and
continuous
love
I know
we have
lots of
little
babies
here in
the family
of this
church
and I'm
always
amazed
at the
size
of a
newborn
baby
so
tiny
so
delicate
so
fragile
totally
helpless
they
can't
feed
themselves
they
can't
fend
themselves
in
response
mum
and dad
has to
provide
them
with
everything
that
they
need
well
in the
same
way
God
sees
us
as
delicate
and
totally
helpless
oh yeah
we like
to play
tough
we like
to think
of ourselves
as being
independent
and don't
need
anyone
or
anything
but look
how God
sees us
verse 14
for he
knows
how we
are
formed
and he
remembers
that we
are
dust
we'll
die
one day
and we
will be
just
dust
but look
how he
responds
to us
knowing
what we
are like
in verse
13
as a
father
has
compassion
on his
children
so the
Lord
has
compassion
on those
who
fear him
because
he knows
how we
are formed
he knows
that we're
dust
compassion
is seeing
the
helplessness
and the
inability
of somebody
else
and reaching
out to
them
and doing
something
for them
and helping
them
and so
that's
what
God
has
done
he
provides
us
with
all
that
we
have
he
cares
for
us
intimately
he
has
compassion
I know
that some
of you
are
gardeners
and some
of your
gardens
are probably
looking very
well
at this
time of
year
lots
of flowers
out
the variety
of colours
that there
are
but you
know
yourself
that within
a few
weeks
those
flowers
will be
a heap
at the
bottom
of the
compost
rotting
away
that's
how
we
are
described
so
very
fragile
here
one
moment
and then
gone
look at
verse 15
as for
man
his days
are like
grass
he
flourishes
like the
flower
in the
field
the wind
blows
over it
and it
is gone
and its
place
remembers
it
no more
we're
here
and then
we're
gone
I was
only
reminded
of that
just last
week
me and
Kirsty
went for
a cycle
ride
and on
our way
back
we came
to the
traffic
lights
to the
pedestrian
lights
and we
pressed
it
it went
green
and Kirsty
was just
on her
way out
onto the
road
and a
car just
went
straight
past
one more
second
and a
life would
have
gone
one
second
we're
here
and we're
gone
but in
contrast to
our
momentary
and fragile
life
God's
love
is
continuous
and
everlasting
look at
verse 17
from
everlasting
to
everlasting
the
Lord's
love
is with
those
who
fear
him
and
his
righteousness
with
their
children's
children
our
life
may
end
but the
Bible
tells us
that
before
the
creation
of the
world
God
loved
us
it
goes on
to expand
that
neither
death
nor
life
neither
the
present
nor
the
future
nor
any
powers
or
anything
in
all
creation
is able
to
separate
us
from
God's
love
God's
love
is
continuous
and
constant
not even
our own
sin
not even
Satan
not even
sickness
can
separate
us
from
God's
everlasting
and
continuous
love
that is
the
greatness
of God
in
contrast
to
our
weak
delicate
and
frail
lives
that is
why we
should
worship
God
no one
else
can do
what God
says he
can do
now before
we wrap
up
there is
one
critical
question
to ask
and it's
simply
this
how do
I
experience
the
greatness
of God
how do
I take
what's
on the
screen
how do
I take
what's
written
in my
Bible
these
words
how do
I know
his
forgiveness
in here
his
redemption
his
compassion
how can
I sense
it
how can
I know
it for
real
in my
own
life
every
day
well
God's
greatness
is always
true
and it
can always
be
experienced
right here
right now
and here's
how
look at
the end
of verse
11
so great
is his
love
for
who
for
those
who
fear
him
look at
verse
13
as a
father has
compassion
on his
children
so the
Lord has
compassion
on
those
who
fear
him
verse
17
from
everlasting
to
everlasting
the
Lord's
love
is
with
those
who
fear
him
God's
greatness
is always
true
it's
never
changing
but it
only
becomes
a reality
in our
own
lives
when we
fear
God
now
fear
kind of
seems a
harsh word
doesn't
it
we don't
like the
idea of
fear
what does
it mean
well it
does not
mean being
scared and
shaking in
the corner
as if you
were cowering
from some
kind of
vindictive
bully
that's what
Christopher
Hitchens
and others
would want
us to
believe
that God
is just
mean
and a
bully
and he
makes you
scared
but fear
in the
Bible
is
different
fear
in the
Bible
means
a
deep
awe
and
humble
respect
I think
the best
illustration
for this
is
in the
lion
the witch
in the
wardrobe
when Lucy
is with
the badgers
and she's
getting ready
to meet
Aslan
the lion
and this
comes from
a quote
from the
book
the joy
of fearing
God
and he
quotes it
this
is what
he says
or this
is what
Lucy
says
is he
quite
safe
I
shall
feel
rather
nervous
about
meeting
a
lion
that
you
will
dearie
and no
mistake
said
Mrs
Bieber
if
there's
anyone
who can
appear
before
Aslan
without
their
knees
knocking
they're
either
braver
than
most
or
just
plain
silly
then he
isn't
safe
said
Lucy
safe
said
Mr
Beaver
don't
you
hear
what
Mrs
Beaver
tells
you
who
said
anything
about
safe
of course
he
isn't
safe
but
he's
good
he's
the
king
I
tell
you
to
come
before
God
with
fear
is
like
Lucy
as
she
came
to
Aslan
there's
this
humble
awe
this
deep
respect
and
if
we
are
to
experience
the
goodness
and
the
greatness
of
God
if
we
are
going
to
know
his
forgiveness
his
redemption
his
compassion
his
unfailing
love
we
must
come
before
him
with
fear
and
if
we
don't
know
and
we
don't
experience
the
forgiveness
of
God
in
our
lives
or
his
compassion
well
it's
simply
because
we
do
not
worship
God
because
to
worship
God
is
this
fear
of
submitting
to
him
and
making
him
king
of
your
life
and
living
under
his
rule
and
authority
look
at
verse
19
the
Lord
has
established
his
throne
in
heaven
and
his
kingdom
rules
over
all
he
wants
to
rule
over
every
area
of
your
life
there
is
not
one
part
of
your
life
that
is
outside
of
his
rule
or
authority
and
this
is
what
worship
is
it's
to
come
before
God
in
fear
before
a
great
king
to
bow
in
humility
to
serve
him
with
joy
to
delight
in
his
love
and
as
we
worship
him
with
fear
then
we
begin
to
know
and
experience
and
enjoy
his
forgiveness
of
all
of
our
sin
we
come
to
appreciate
his
redemption
in
our
lives
and
crowning
us
with
love
and
compassion
and
we
experience
that
deep
unending
everlasting
love
and
his
compassion
that
reaches
down
to
frail
people
like
us
God
is
great
and
we
should
worship
him
in
fear
and
we
will
know
and
enjoy
him
as
a
great
God
let's
pray
together
our
father
god
you
have
shown
yourself
to be
great
you
have
made
this
universe
and
you
have
made
us
the
very
breath
that
we
breathe
right
now
is
something
you
have
given
to
us
you
sustain
us
you
keep
us
our
very
life
from
beginning
to
end
is
held
in
your
hands
and
yet
our
life
is
so
weak
so
fragile
so
delicate
thank
you
that
you
have
shown
your
greatness
to
us
and
that
we
can
come
to
you
and
find
that
forgiveness
and
that
you
would
no
longer
hold
our
sin
against
us
through
Jesus
we
thank
you
and
it's
our
desire
that
we
would
know
and
experience
your
love
and
compassion
your
redemption
and
your
renewing
in
our
lives
your
mercy
every
day
so
help
us
to
bow
before
you
as
king
acknowledge
your
lordship
and
your
authority
over
every
area
of
our
life
we
thank
you
that
you
are
a
great
God
in
Jesus
name
amen
well
we're
going
to
sing
a
song
that
really
tried