Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church

Psalm 103

One week after Christmas, on the front step of a new calendar year. This time of year it is common and appropriate to reflect on the past year and remember. And what we remember tells us a lot. What do you remember?

One of my earliest memories is as a young boy, perhaps four years old. I was born in Plymouth, MA and for many years had Boston Red Sox pennants on my bedroom wall. On this particular day, my dad was taking me to see the Red Sox play at Fenway Park. I remember driving up somewhere near the city, and riding the T, Boston's subway transit, up to the Kenmore station. I remember the sights of Red Sox hats and shirts, I remember the thrill of being on the T, I remember the smells of B.O. and stale beer. It took me many years to learn those smells were not just T and Fenway smells and discover what they really were.

As we came above ground at the Kenmore station, we joined the crowd of people moving toward Fenway. We could see the famous Green Monster, Fenway's famous tall left field wall, from the outside. I remember eating Fenway franks, and peanuts, and the ice cream sundae that comes in an upside-down, miniature batting helmet. So for about as long as I can remember, to some varying degree, I have been a Red Sox fan.

There are other very vivid memories I have. Even though it will be eleven years ago on February 24th, I still remember with incredible detail the day I proposed to my wife Anne. I remember the snowy morning, and the way the sun ripped through the clouds to a clear, deep blue sky. I remember the adrenaline and anticipation, the meals we ate, and words exchanged.

But not all my memories are pleasant. I also have disappointing memories. I can remember my terrible treatment of Jimmy Roe. I was a bully to Jimmy in middle school. I called him Jimmy "Fish Eggs" and tried to get him to take a swing at me so I could fight him. But he never did, in part because I was almost twice his size. To this day I regret the way I treated him and someday hope to ask his forgiveness.

What do you remember? We tend to remember places, things, events, and especially people we LOVE. We also remember things we really want to forget. The things we remember, and the things we forget, tell us a lot about the things we love.

By looking at what God remembers and what God forgets, we will see evidence of how much God loves us. Let's look at Psalm 103 to guide our thinking about what we remember and forget, and what God remembers and forgets. To do this, we'll break down the Psalm from back to front. Hebrew reads right to left, so in a way, from back to front, is very Hebrew to our Western minds.

What we forget:

The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, obedient to his spoken word. Bless the LORD, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will. Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the LORD, O my soul.

- Psalm 103:19-22

We forget God's sovereignty. We forget that His kingdom "rules over all." There is so much we forget about God in our day-to-day lives. As we go about our set list of 'To Do's,' bounce around to appointments, making contacts, eating meals, working, resting, or playing, it is so easy for us to forget God's Kingdom. Outside of church, or small group meetings, or choir/ band practice, how often in our day to day do we remember that the Lord is working?

What it comes down to is this: we forget our own soul. Last phrase of the Psalm, "Bless the LORD, O my soul." The part of us that has our eternal nature, our most intimate relational connection with God, the part no one but God sees, the part of us where our "heartfelt" prayers come from ¬ our soul ¬ we forget it. It's not that we are malicious and intend to do ourselves harm, it's just easy to forget something that our overbearing five physical senses doesn't register.

We, humans, have also become very adept at comforting ourselves physically. So much so that our soul could be crying out for attention and we might never notice. Maybe it's a gnawing ache that we just learn to live with. Maybe we're just too busy in the "real" world to deal with pain in the spiritual world. How sad that the part of us that is most acutely designed to love God, is something we so easily forget.

But let's consider what God remembers.

What God remembers:

As a father has compassion for his children, so the LORD has compassion for those who fear him. For he knows how we were made; he remembers that we are dust. As for mortals, their days are like grass; they flourish like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.

Psalm 103: 13-18

First, God remembers that we are dust. Wind blows and we are gone. That doesn't sound like a loving thing to remember. Is that love? YES, when it's the truth! God knows exactly what we are. He remembers that we are dust. The same part of us that God remembers is dust is the same part of us that demands a great deal of our attention.

God remembers His love. Eternal God is everlasting love. "The steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting." It goes from eternity in one direction to eternity in the other. God does not love us because of anything we do or don't do. God loves us because of who He is.

And God also remembers his covenant. First thing, the Bible records God remembering:

"I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh" (Genesis 9:15). An incredible promise! God will remember His covenant. The prophet Ezekiel wrote God's word: "Š yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish with you an everlasting covenant Š"

(Ezekiel 16:60.

What is that everlasting covenant? You might be able to guess; it's the most incredible display of God's love for us, the ultimate sacrifice: God's Son on the cross for our sin.

God remembers that we mortals are dust. But he also remembers His love for us, so there is something about us worth living and dying for, and He also remembers his eternal covenant. But God is God. He knows everything, how can he forget anything?!?

Let's look back at Psalm 103 Š

What God forgets:

He will not always accuse, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us.

- Psalm 103: 9-12

God forgets our sin.!!!!!! What? Really? How?

The book of Hebrews twice quotes Jeremiah 31:34:

The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."

- Hebrews 10:15-17

Hebrews is claiming Jesus' sacrifice is the ultimate, once for all, supreme elimination of sin for those who have faith in Jesus. Our sins could not be farther from us when we are in Christ. That is incredible love. Now don't for a second think that forgetting all our sin is easy to do. It takes incredible sacrifice for God to be able to "remember no more." Because of God's great everlasting, steadfast love, he is able to forget our sin.

And that is one of the many differences between us mortals and God. We often remember the things we want to forget, and forget the things we ought to remember. But God is able to forget what we do not want Him to remember, and He remembers what we do not want Him to forget.

An interesting request was made by one of the thieves being crucified with Jesus, expressing belief that Jesus was the innocent Son of God. "Remember me," that thief requested. Jesus response and promise, "Today you will be with me in paradise," was the beginning of an eternal covenant.

This week, that request of the thief to Jesus, "Remember me," has become more significant. In that brief moment, that thief expresses what seems to be a universal human hope, that we might be remembered when we die; specifically, that we might be remembered in the afterlife. Jesus' response in that moment is not specifically a promise to remember, it is a promise of relationship.

So how do we respond to what God remembers, what has been done through Jesus, and what God is able to forget? We need to remember. God puts the law in our hearts and writes it on our minds so that we will remember! The beginning of Psalm 103 gives us a great picture of what we ought to remember.

What we (should) remember:

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits-- 3 who forgives all your sin, 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 as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. 6 The LORD works vindication 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.

-Psalm 103:1-8

The Psalm begins like it ends, "Bless the LORD, O my soul." One way to respond to God's love is by remembering our soul. Take care of the relational connection that we have with Jesus. We can also respond to God by remembering, as the Psalm says, "all his benefits." The God we gather to worship is the Forgiver. He is also the Healer and the Redeemer, the one who crowns you with love and mercy, the one who satisfies you.

The LORD is working. As long as there are still sinners and until Christ returns, God is working. We forget that message too easily, don't we?

I pray you will remember the sacrifice made, God is able to forget because of it.

I hope you will remember God's love for you in this year to come so that you might respond to it.

I encourage you to remember your soul so that your relationship with Christ might be alive. Bless the Lord, O my soul!