Summer in the Psalms | Part 6 | Matt Johnson

Psalm 103 opens as an ever expanding call to worship. David begins with one soul, “Bless the Lord, oh my soul,” and the praise starts there before it spills out to the people of God and finally to all creation. The call to praise is meant to become contagious, the kind of life where worship stirs in one heart and then pours out into family members, neighbors, and the people around.

David repeats the phrase “bless the Lord” three times right away because the phrase is bigger than just singing. Blessing the Lord means praise and adoration, but it also carries the idea of bending the knee. Blessing God is a whole-life posture that says, “Lord, you are right. You get to correct me. My life belongs under your rule.” God does not need anything from his people, but God is blessed when his children speak truth back to him, when they confess that he really is wise, good, powerful, faithful, and worthy.

David shows this same kind of blessing near the end of his life in 1 Chronicles 29. David stands before the assembly and says that greatness, power, glory, victory, majesty, riches, honor, strength, and rule all belong to the Lord. God’s character and God’s works cannot be pulled apart. God acts in ways that match who he is, and David has learned over a lifetime of ups and downs, bumps and bruises, and outright rebellion that God is still merciful and faithful.

The warning in Psalm 103 is also serious: “forget not all his benefits.” Forgetting God is not a small thing. Moses told Israel to keep the soul diligently and pass down the stories of God’s faithfulness to children and grandchildren. The people had the best bedtime stories imaginable: the Red Sea, manna, quail, water from the rock, clothes that did not wear out. Yet Judges says that within only a few generations, Israel forgot the Lord and served false gods. Forgetting became the first long step toward spiritual disaster.

Psalm 103 names the benefits that must not be forgotten. God forgives iniquity, heals diseases, redeems life from the pit, crowns with steadfast love and mercy, and renews strength like the eagle. God works righteousness and justice for the oppressed. God revealed his ways to Moses after the golden calf, not by pretending sin did not matter, but by declaring himself merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. God does not repay according to iniquity because mercy restrains judgment, and in Christ, God himself pays the debt that sinners could never pay.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Blessing God means bending the knee Blessing the Lord is not God receiving something he lacks. Blessing the Lord is the soul taking its proper place under God’s rule and saying back to him what he has already revealed. Worship becomes truthful when praise and obedience belong together, not when words rise while the heart keeps resisting correction. [05:26]
• 2. Forgetting God dilutes real praise Praise grows thin when God’s goodness is not remembered on purpose. Forgetting is not just a mental lapse, but a spiritual drift where lesser stories begin shaping the heart. The soul that stops rehearsing God’s character slowly becomes vulnerable to fear, self-reliance, and false gods. [20:55]
• 3. God’s faithfulness needs retelling Moses’ command shows that faith is carried by remembered truth, not vague religious feeling. Children and grandchildren need more than rules; they need true stories of how God provided, protected, corrected, and sustained. A household is shaped by the stories it repeats, and stories of God’s faithfulness train the next generation to depend on him. [17:30]
• 4. Waiting admits helplessness before God Waiting on the Lord is not passive delay or polite religious patience. Waiting means admitting helplessness and committing oneself again to the God who forgives, heals, redeems, crowns, and satisfies. Strength is renewed when self-sufficiency finally gives up and God is trusted to carry what human strength cannot. [26:21]
• 5. Mercy restrains what sin deserves God does not ignore sin, and the golden calf shows that judgment is real. Yet God also does not fully act toward his people according to what iniquity deserves, because steadfast love restrains wrath. The cross reveals the same Father heart, where God pays the debt himself instead of abandoning the people who keep messing it up.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [01:09] - Psalm 103 as Expanding Praise
• [03:34] - What Does Bless the Lord Mean?
• [05:26] - Blessing as Kneeling and Praise
• [07:56] - David Blesses God Publicly
• [12:39] - Listening Children and Speaking Truth
• [15:57] - Moses and Remembering God’s Works
• [17:30] - Passing Faithfulness to Children
• [20:55] - Forgetting as Spiritual Disaster
• [25:28] - Remembering God’s Benefits
• [27:54] - God’s Ways Made Known to Moses
• [30:39] - Mercy, Justice, and Steadfast Love
• [32:43] - Contagious Lives of Praise

Bible Reading

Psalm 103:1-2
“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,” [01:09] [03:34] [04:11]

1 Chronicles 29:10-13
“Therefore David blessed the LORD in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: ‘Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.’” [07:56] [10:55]

Deuteronomy 4:9
“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children—” [15:57] [17:30]

Exodus 34:6-7
“The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.’” [30:39]

Observation questions

1. In Psalm 103:1-2, what does David tell his own soul to do, and what warning does he attach to that call to bless the Lord? [04:11]
2. In 1 Chronicles 29:10-13, what specific things does David say belong to the Lord when he blesses him in front of the assembly? [10:55]
3. In Deuteronomy 4:9, what are God’s people told to keep, not forget, and pass on to the next generation? [17:30]
4. In Exodus 34:6-7, what words are used to describe God’s character, and what do those words hold together about mercy and justice? [30:39]

Interpretation questions

1. Psalm 103 begins with David speaking to his own soul. Why might real praise need to begin there before it spreads outward to other people? [01:35]
2. Blessing the Lord includes praise, but it also carries the idea of bending the knee. How does that deepen the meaning of worship beyond singing or spoken words? [05:26]
3. Deuteronomy 4:9 connects remembering God’s works with telling them to children and grandchildren. Why is forgetting God such a dangerous first step, even for people who have seen his faithfulness? [20:55]
4. Exodus 34:6-7 and Psalm 103:8-10 show that God is both merciful and just. How does the cross help make sense of the fact that God does not ignore sin, yet also does not deal with his people fully according to what they deserve? [32:02]

Application questions

1. Blessing the Lord is a whole-life posture of bowing the knee before him. Where is there resistance right now—an attitude, decision, habit, or relationship—where the heart needs to say, “Lord, you are right”? [05:39]
2. Forgetting God usually does not happen all at once. What has been shaping the heart lately more than God’s goodness—stress, disappointment, self-reliance, fear, constant noise, or something else? [21:03]
3. God’s faithfulness needs to be retold on purpose. What story of God’s provision, correction, or answered prayer could be shared this week with a child, a friend, a spouse, or someone in the group? [19:19]
4. Waiting on the Lord means admitting helplessness and committing oneself to him again. Where has life been pushed forward in personal strength, and what would it look like to wait on God there instead? [27:02]
5. David told his soul, “forget not all his benefits.” Which benefit in Psalm 103: forgiveness, healing, redemption, steadfast love, mercy, or renewed strength, feels especially needed right now? Why? [25:55]
6. God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. When failure or sin becomes painfully clear, is the instinct to hide from God, clean things up first, or come honestly to him for mercy? What makes that hard? [30:57]
7. Praise is meant to become contagious. What is one simple way worship, gratitude, or spoken truth about God could spill over into everyday life this week at home, at work, or with neighbors? [33:08]