TALKING to yourself…or LISTENING to yourself.

Which one of those do you

do most often? We’re fascinating creatures, aren’t we, us humans? There is
always a conversation going on inside of us. But which do you do most
often? Do you TALK to yourself…or do you LISTEN to yourself? I know I’ve
asked this question from this pulpit before…but it really is an important one…

Too often I find myself listening to myself…and it gets me in a funk. First

thought when the alarm goes off…”I’m soooo tired…this is going to be a long
day…I don’t want to go to that meeting…I can’t wait until I can go to bed…” A
string of thoughts go through my mind, I don’t even have to do anything…
they just come flooding in…and I listen and I listen and I listen. And it can go
on all day long…Jeff listening to Jeff. I can’t believe they even passed their
driving test…there is no way we are going to be able to afford that…who do
they think they are…I can’t believe they said that to me…did they really just
send me that email”

Listening to yourself. The great Welsh preacher of the 20 th century, David

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, said that listening to yourself is one of the main causes
of spiritual depression in the life of the Christian. Before Lloyd-Jones became
a great preacher…he was a very promising young doctor in London…he was
the Chief Clinical Assistant to the Royal Physician…Sir Thomas Horder. But
after only a couple years as a doctor, he felt a call to preach…and returned to
Wales to be a pastor in 1927.

About 30 years later, in 1954…The Doctor preached a series of 24 sermons on

the topic of Spiritual Depression. And the conclusion of this brilliant medical
doctor turned spiritual doctor, on this topic of spiritual depression is this – I
suggest that the main trouble in this whole matter of spiritual depression in a
sense is this, that we allow our self to talk to us instead of talking to our self.

If you find yourself in a bit of a spiritual funk this morning, then Psalm 103 is a
model of how we fight out spiritual depression…we talk to ourselves. King
David is preaching self-communion, self-encouragement, self-command.
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A few weeks ago Pastor Matt mentioned the spiritual discipline of meditating
upon God’s word…and of the importance of memorizing the Bible so that we
can take it with us and meditate upon it during the day.

[SLIDE – Bible Memory App] Over the last ten years or so I have used this app
called, quite appropriately, The Bible Memory App, to help me memorize a
bunch of Bible passages. I encourage you to look into it…go to
BibleMemory.com…or just search for Bible Memory App in the app store. A
great way for us to regularly and systematically memorize Scripture.

Well…almost 8 years ago Bill Gabriel and I decided that we were going to
memorize Psalm 103 together. [SLIDE – Bible Memory – Past Due] I know it
was that long ago because when I pulled up my app last week, it told me that
I was 2,827 days overdue to review Psalm 103! 😊

So I worked again on memorizing Psalm 103 as I prepared to preach this

week. And I would encourage you to practice the discipline of memorizing
the Bible. It is a discipline. It takes effort and accountability and
determination. Do it together with someone. Don’t too it to try and impress
one another about how great you are…do it to impress yourself with how
great God is.

[BLANK SLIDE] And that is exactly what Psalm 103 is – a declaration of just
how great God is…and a call for the Christian soul…and the Christian
community, to rise up and bless the Lord…to praise him for how great and
awesome he is. And if you find yourself in a spiritual funk this morning…here
is an antidote for your spiritual melancholy…here are some things that you
need to say to yourself this morning…and this week. You need to get these
truths deep into your heart and mind and soul…and you need to say them to
yourself, you need to preach them to yourself…you need to shout them to
yourself. You need to take your soul by the hand…or by the scruff of the neck
and tell it to stop talking to you…and to start listening while you talk to it.

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Psalm 103 is a Psalm of praise to God. It is a song that calls the singer to bless
the Lord of the great things he has done…to count your blessings and see
what God has done. And the Psalms, the songbook of God’s people…is, in a
sense, no different than songs written today. They were written by the artist
with a particular person or event in mind – like the Beatles song,
“Something”…a love song most likely written by George Harrison for his wife
Pattie Boyd…that opening line…” something in the way she moves”…but how
many men have heard that song, and taken it for themselves and the woman
they love…more than 50 years later, that song is still played and enjoyed and
appropriated to people other than George Harrison and the one he loves.

The Psalms in the Bible aren’t much different. Psalm 103 was written by King
David, who lived about 1,000 years before Jesus…so about 3,000 years ago
this song was written. It was originally written by the King of Israel…for the
people of Israel…to remember the God of Israel who had redeemed them
and sustained them and made a covenant with them and watched over
them. And King David wanted his people to take Psalm 103 to their lips…to
sing it to their soul’s content…to remind themselves and the community of
which they were a part, of who God is and what he has done.

And as members of God’s covenant people…through faith in the covenant

promise of God that is found in Jesus Christ our Lord…this song is our song…
we are descendants of Abraham through faith in Christ, we are heirs of King
David through faith in Christ…Psalm 103 is our song, we are a part of God’s
covenant people through the work of Jesus Christ – his life, death and
resurrection which have become ours through the grace and mercy and
kindness of God.

So let’s turn to Psalm 103 and lets encourage our souls this morning with its
truth, this is the sort of things we need to be saying to our souls regularly…
especially when our souls are talking nonsense and rubbish and lies and
discouragement to us.

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Look at the opening verses, vv. 1-5, follow along as I read them –
103 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.

Bless the Lord, O my soul! Praise the Lord! Give him honor and thanks and
praise! Bless the Lord, O my soul…ALL that is within me, bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord and forget not all his benefits!

Here is an application from Pastor Ken’s sermon last week…we are to

remember…and forget not. Bless the Lord O my soul…forget not all his
benefits! When our souls are downcast and despairing…we need to fight the
fight…we need to fight our forgetfulness. We need to praise the Lord and
give thanks to the Lord. We need to count our blessings, name them one by
one and see what the Lord has done.

And David goes on to say that there are a few ways in particular that we
should do that – bless the Lord O my soul, and forget not all his benefits…
then he names FIVE things that God has done for his people…you see them
there in vv. 3-5…they all begin with that word “who”, referring to God.

1. (v. 3) Who forgives all your iniquity. This is the foundational blessing
for God’s covenant people – the forgiveness of our sins through the
death and resurrection of Jesus.

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 2. (v. 3) Who heals all your diseases. This could mean our physical
diseases…but even Christians don’t have all of their diseases healed…
they still die of cancer and other diseases. Many Bible scholars think this
could be a metaphorical expression talking about the spiritual and moral
life – that God heals us spiritually and morally when we are in
relationship with him.
3. (v. 4) Who redeems your life from the pit – again, most likely a
metaphorical meaning…since most Christians will never have our lives
threated as King David did as he was pursued by King Saul or his son
Absalom. But David has seen God rescue and protect his people. But
God will redeem us from the pit of sin and death and spiritual
destruction.
4. (v. 4) Who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy – the Christian
wears the love and mercy of God upon her brow as a king wears a
crown…it is the great honor and privilege and wealth of the Christian –
that God loves us and is merciful towards us in Christ.
5. Finally, v 5…Who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed
like the eagles. The prophet Isaiah says the says, doesn’t he – “those
who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up
with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk
and not faint”.

If you are a Christian this morning…this is how God acts towards you…five
times “who”…who does this, who does this, who does this, who does this.
Christian – God almighty forgives, heals, redeems, crowns, and satisfiesw. O
how much we have to bless the Lord for…no matter your condition this
morning, no matter what you are going through…preach these things to your
soul this morning…and then rise up and bless the Lord, praise the Lord, thank
the Lord for his richness of blessing in your life.

These are the foundational truths that must fuel our fight of faith. God is
with us. God is for us. Let us forget not all his benefits! If you are feeling in a
spiritual funk this morning – here are five things to shout at your soul. Call
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upon your soul to listen to you…and then remind yourself of these great
truths…this is who God is, and this is what God has done for you if you are a
Christian this morning.

We need to do these things…individually as Christians. But we need to

constantly be reminded of the corporate, community, nature of the Christian
life. We aren’t Christians in isolation. We are a part of the people of God.
And David’s song here in Psalm 103 is very community focused…we aren’t
lone-ranger Christians, we are a part of a faith-community as followers of
King Jesus.

We see that community focus in the rest of this Psalm. And the members of
that community are a particular group…they are described in a particular way
three times in this Psalm…in verses 11, 13, and 17. Who are the people that
are being addressed here in Psalm 103 – well, look at verses 11, 13, and 17…
and you will see it is those who “fear him”…who “fear the LORD”…who fear
God. And if you look at verse 18, we get a bit of helpful explanation of what
it means to “fear the LORD” – it is those who “keep his covenant and
remember to do his commandments”.

Those who “fear the Lord” are those who are in relationship with the LORD…
who are a part of his covenant family. To be one who fears the Lord does not
mean to be afraid or scared of God…even though there is an element of awe
and respect. The idea of “fear” in the Bible means to be overwhelmed, to be
controlled by something. To fear the Lord is to be overwhelmed with wonder
before the greatness of God and his love…to fear the LORD means to bow
before him out of amazement at his glory and beauty.

Well these verses in Psalm 103 are talking to a specific group of people –
those who “fear the LORD”. Is that us, this morning? Are we overwhelmed
with who God is and what he has done for us? Does he control us – are our
thoughts and attitudes and actions governed by his commands…do we act in
a way that is fitting for his covenant people?
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Let’s look at vv.6-14…follow along as I read them. They are a wonderful
expression of who God is and what he has done for his people.

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.

These are some of the most famous verses in the Psalms…in the whole of the
Bible, and rightfully so. Verse 8 describes God as he is so often described in
Scripture – merciful and gracious. God’s mercy means we don’t get what we
deserve, he is merciful to us as we come to him for forgiveness and pardon
confessing our sins. And he is gracious – he gives us things that we don’t
deserve. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in
steadfast love. This is the character of God towards his covenant people.

In fact, verse 11 tells us that God’s steadfast love toward those who fear him
is incalculable…it knows no limits – it is as high as the heavens are above the
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earth – that is how great God’s covenant love is towards his people. The next
verse, verse 12, uses another incalculable description to tell us how far God
removes our sin from us – as far as the east is from the west, so far does he
remove our transgressions from us. God forgives our sins, and he remembers
them no more. He separates us from our sin completely – the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ was shed for the forgiveness of our sins…and if we look to
Christ in faith, our sins are forgiven, they are removed from us as far as the
east is from the west, and we are clothed in the righteousness and perfect
obedience of Jesus Christ.

Verses 13-14 remind us that God is to us, a heavenly Father. Just as our
fathers show compassion and kindness and understanding to their children –
we don’t belittle a two year-old learning to walk when they stumble and fall –
so the LORD shows compassion to us. For he knows what we are like – he is
the one who formed us, he knows that man was formed out of the dust and
to dust man shall return. We are feeble and frail and totally dependent
creatures. God knows this, and he doesn’t look down at us because this is
so…rather it brings out his compassion and mercy and kindness and grace
towards us.

These are great truths for us to preach to ourselves regularly. We need to

stop for a few minutes and talk to ourselves…especially when we get too
busy listening to ourselves…”God doesn’t love me, God could never forgive
me, God doesn’t hear my prayers, he doesn’t care about what I’m going
through”. Here are some truths for your soul to grab onto, to declare with
great confidence and assurance.

In the next section of this Psalm – vv. 15-19 – we see some similar themes.
The finiteness and temporary-ness of man is compared to the majesty and
limitless-ness of God. And we see the promise of God’s faithfulness from
generation to generation in steadfast love to those who fear him. The LORD
rules and reigns. Yet he is kind and loving and compassionate. Look at those
verses with me, 15-19 –
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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.

Having raced through this Psalm much, much too quickly…we come to the
final verses and the song ends just as it begins…with a call to bless the LORD…
which is only right and fitting with all the things that have been said about
him throughout the song. There is not a single petition or request in this
Psalm. It is a description of our great God…and blessing and praise if the only
right, the only natural, the only fitting response.

And David calls on not just the souls of the redeemed…but he calls on all of
the created order – all that God has made, to join in this song of blessing and
praise. He calls on the angels to join the chorus, to join in on the praise. But
then, in a rather abrupt way, he returns right back to the beginning…calling
on his soul to bless and praise his loving, faithful, covenant-keeping God.
Look at these closing verses –

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!
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22 Bless the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!

LISTENING vs TALKING

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