13th September 2026

Experiencing the Psalms 8 – 13/09/26 (Psalms 103, 145, 117)

Readings Psalm 103:1-12 & 13-22

I hope that you’re enjoying this series about the Psalms.  So far, we’ve studied about 24:-

some that express the wonder of God's Majesty in Creation,

some about thirsting for God,

some which told us the wisdom of centering our lives on God’s word, some just praising God for who he is,

some about finding strength in our faith,

some that talk about God’s protection,

and last week, 3 advising us to rest in God's Care.

I’m thinking of doing two more messages after this one, making 10 in total, before we start working our way towards Advent and Christmas.

This morning all three of our psalms explore the nature and attributes of God's unchanging character”.

Isn’t it amazing how things have changed since we were small.  Telephones, televisions, computers, cars, roads, politics, weather patterns, even us ourselves. Of course I could go on and on.  Some things change for the better, but some for the worse.  And so, in our constantly changing world, one of the joys of the believer is to revel in the strong, solid character of an unchanging God.

That was certainly in David’s mind when he wrote the Psalm that Gillian and Philip just read to us. Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

More familiar to some of us may be the Authorized Version Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

This word “bless” isn’t the same as the one we use when someone sneezes. It’s one that implies something more like "declaring God to be the origin of all things, and therefore to praise him." 

And David, we see, was doing this “with all his inmost being” or “with all that was within him”, from the very depths of his being.

How often is that true of our hymn singing on Sunday mornings? That’s not meant to be a criticism, but the honest reality is that sometimes our bodies are tired, our spirits seem dull, we’re not too sure of the tune, someone over on the other side is singing out of tune and too loudly, and so we don’t do it because we just don’t really feel like it.

But we don't praise God because we feel like it, we praise him because he is worthy. So sometimes we have to push ourselves and then, as we do, after a while, our spirits get in tune with God's spirit and we begin to feel more like worshipping him.

Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.... David says in the second verse, before he starts to enumerate some of them. God is the God, he says, who forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases … who redeems our lives from the pit and crowns us with love and compassion … who satisfies our desires with good things so that our youth is renewed like the eagle's.

These are themes that are not just found in Psalms, but throughout the Bible.  Forgiveness, pardon, healing, restoration, deliverance, redemption, love and compassion, sustenance for our bodies, and as we ponder them “our youth is renewed like the eagle's”.

I’m reminded that Isaiah said later, in one of his prophecies, Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Maybe these psalms will help us to renew OUR “hope in the Lord” and to “renew OUR strength”.

I won’t say any more about this one because we’ve all just heard it, and can read it again at home perhaps. Let’s move on to our second one, Psalm 145.

This one is also attributed to David and is titled: "a psalm of praise." While its theme is similar to Psalm 103, it’s written in a completely different style, in two ways. 

Firstly, and interestingly, it is one of nine psalms (9, 10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, 145) that are structured as an acrostic, with each verse or section beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This would undoubtedly have contributed an extra level of pleasure to those who used them in their worship. But I’m not a Hebrew scholar, so I’m not going to get into that.

Secondly, it consists of a series of alternating calls to praise that are followed by a reason for doing it. Again, I’m not going to lay that out in detail, you can look at it at home, later, if you want to.

I will exalt you, my God the King; David begins I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you, ….

Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts.

“One generation commends your works to another.” We are not all gifted and passionate evangelists , but it is important that we pass on our faith to the next generation, and that’s not just our own children. We should tell them of God's faithfulness, both in our own lives and in the history of God's people. If we keep our Christian experience to ourselves, we are doing both them, and the church, a huge dis-service.

But instead, David says, we should tell them about ‘his greatness that no one can fathom’, about ‘his mighty acts’, about ‘his glorious splendour’, about ‘his majesty’, about ‘his wonderful and awesome works’, about ‘his great deeds’,‘his abundant goodness’,  and about ‘his righteousness’.

We should tell them, David also says, that “the LORD is gracious and compassionate, good to all, slow to anger and rich in love toward all he has made.”

He then goes on to describe, in some detail, Yahweh's character, his graciousness and his benevolence. There is quite a list.

The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.
The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.
You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.
The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfils the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.
The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.

And then he closes off with this amazing affirmation. This Lord, he says, the one with all these amazing attributes is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfils the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.

Do you sometimes feel far away from God? Well, he’s not far away from you.

Call on him in full sincerity and he promises to be near you and deliver you from whatever trouble you find yourself in, to "watch over", to "guard" and to "preserve" you, in other words "to exercise great care over you."  And so it’s no wonder that David concludes by saying Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.

Our last psalm, whose author is unknown to us, happens to be, you might be glad to hear, with all of two whole verses, the shortest psalm and the shortest chapter in the Bible. It’s in a similar vein, so let me simply read it to you.

Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples.
For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.  Praise the LORD.  God’s love is unchanging, it says.

This is a call to the "nations" or "Gentiles", so it’s to us as Christians. But it’s also a call to all the peoples of the earth to know and praise him as Yahweh, the I AM THAT I AM, the everlasting God!

And so, in conclusion, our 3 psalms today show us that our God is good. How can we ever doubt him? How can we neglect to praise him for the awesome qualities that allow all us poor, sinful creatures to relate to him, and that allow us, what's more, to be loved and desired by such a majestic God? We are so blessed, my friends. We are blessed beyond all measure to be loved by such a God. How can we keep that to ourselves?

Prayer Father, we pray that we would become people who give you the praise that you so richly deserve. As our hearts soak in your love, compassion and dependability, let us become more like Jesus. Let our words tell the stories of your greatness to our children, to our grandchildren, as well as to our friends and neighbours. Let our deeds reflect your integrity, your justice and your righteousness. In His holy name, we pray. Amen.