Northside Church - Sydney
Stop. Revive. Survive. – Week 4: Psalm 103
You're listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. Hey what's the worst thing you've ever forgotten, or the most serious thing you've ever forgotten? And if you've gotten a birthday for a loved one, an anniversary, a wedding anniversary, you only forget that once, fellas, you with me? Because the fallout is so bad that you never forget it again. I received a phone call, I've been, it was my first year of ministry, first year of ministry, Brooklyn Park Adelaide, received a phone call, mid-morning, "Grand, where are you?" I said, "What do you mean?" I instantly recognised the voice as my friend Peter, funeral director. He says, "Where are you?" "We're down here at West Terrace Cemetery, we're ready to start the funeral." I said, "Oh my gosh." I said, "I thought it was this afternoon." He said, "No mate, it's now, right now." So, "Where are you?" I said, "Well, I'm still home, I'm not dressed." Now, mercifully, and this is a real blessing of God, mercifully, I was able to get to that funeral, arrive quite a bit late, because it was one of many, many porpo funerals I did in Adelaide. Porpo funerals, they still happen, where somebody dies, and they, despite advertising and making that death known, nobody comes forward to claim that person. Nobody comes forward, there's either a friend or a relative, nobody, and they call porpo funerals, and I used to do quite a few of them. So, the one and only funeral I've ever forgotten about, and it was a problem with we're running two diaries, and we learnt a lot out of that incident, it was for just for me, for the grave digger, and for two funeral parlor representatives. If it could have been the ideal funeral to be late for, that was one. No guests, no mourners, no family to be in convenience, but a lesson well learnt. What have you forgotten over the years? I mean, we all go to extraordinary lengths to ensure we don't forget things. We have diaries, we have little alarms on our watches, on our phones, on our computers, on our iPads, reminding us about meetings, about birthdays, about anniversaries, about special events. If you like me, you use a lot of those sticker pads, those little sticker things, 3M, put them out, the little brightly coloured. I used a lot of those, I had them stuck on my desk, and stuck on cupboards and things, and stuck on the dashboard sometimes, just to remind me about certain things that are coming out of my diary and out of other places that are designed to help me remember. Little sort of notes to self. Now, here in Psalm 103, David writes a little note to self when he says, "Do not forget how kind he is." He's talking about God. And it raises the question, do you really need a note to remind you of how kind God is? Do you really need a note to remind you of how great he is? Well, in David's case, it's not a reminder in the usual sense of that word. It's more of a foundation. It's more of a starting point from which he moves into an extensive time of thanksgiving and praise. That's what this Psalm is all about. I mean, in this Psalm, David can hardly contain himself. This is the one you've got to read this week over and over again. David can hardly contain himself when it comes to praising God for his provision, his protection, and his power. I mean, look at verse 1, "Praise the law of my soul, all my being, praise his holy name, praise the law of my soul, and do not forget how kind he is." Now, if kindness was the only attribute of God being acknowledged here, that would be worthy of praise and thanksgiving in itself, but that's not where it ends. That's not where it ends. You see, in Psalm 103, David having prompted himself with a little self note to never forget the many blessings of God, he proceeds to compile a long list of the things he's grateful for. And, guys, he doesn't hold back. This is one of the most amazing Psalms we ever like you to read. He doesn't hold back. I mean, it's a long list of blessings and gifts from God. Let me remind us of those verses read a moment ago by Nick. He forgives all my sins. He heals all my diseases. He keeps me from the grave and blesses me with love and mercy. He fills my life with good things so that I stay young and strong like an eagle. The Lord judges in favor of the oppressed and he gives them rights. He gives them their rights. He revealed his plan to Moses and he let the people of Israel see his mighty deeds. The Lord is merciful and loving, slow to become angry and full of constant love. Wow, now friends, here's the thing. David is tapping into something that is an essential component. An essential component to the stop, revive, survive, approach to life's stresses and strains. He's urging us all to develop what Dr. Schiller called years ago an attitude of gratitude. He was the one who made that little phrase famous. In other words, a predisposition to be grateful, not grumpy. A predisposition to be thankful, not fretful. To genuinely count our blessings rather than curse our problems. Most people find it hard to achieve this level of gratitude. Am I right? Most of us find it really hard to achieve this level of gratitude. In fact, most of us find it hard to remember what we're supposed to remember in our ongoing walk with God. That's why the Bible contains so many reminders, usually expressed by God himself. Reminders to get us on track, reminders to be aware of his love and his mercy and his grace. In the Old Testament, 2 Kings, chapter 17, verse 38, "Do not forget," says God, "the covenant I have made with you." And do not worship other gods. Proverbs 3, verse 1, "My children, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart." And Deuteronomy 6, 12, "Do not forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt." And then over in the New Testament, Hebrews 13, 16, "Do not forget to do good and share with others because these are the sacrifices that please God." And so time and time again, over and over, just take a little selection. Over and over again, the Word of God, usually God himself, through his writers, reminds us to be thankful. And although many times we find this difficult because the weight of our problems threatens to totally overwhelm us, it's really hard to be thankful under those circumstances. Even though that's the case, we do well. In fact, I believe it's essential. We embrace the spiritual discipline because that's what it is. The spiritual discipline of always being thankful, of always finding something to be thankful for, to express gratitude at all times. Friends, there's always something to be thankful for. I'm not too sure, Graham, if you know what was happening in my life at the moment. Well, I know what's happening in some of your lives. There is always something to be thankful for. The kind of thing any one of you can pull off the internet at any time, if you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the six million people who won't see this week out. If you've never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of just under one billion people in the world. Because we can attend a church with freedom, with no fear of persecution or imprisonment, we are more blessed than three billion people in the world, which is moving toward half of the estimated close to seven billion people in the world. Guys, if you have food in the fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your head, a place to sleep, you, we are richer than 75% of the world's population. And if you have money in the bank, no matter how much or how little, if you have some money in your wallet or purse right now, if you've got a few coins in a bowl at home somewhere, you are among the top eight percent of the world's wealthy. These are sobering statistics, aren't they? So sometimes it's a matter of perspective. Sometimes seeing, it's a matter of seeing things in a different light in order to appreciate what we have. And so this morning we join with David in expressing our praise and thanksgiving. Look where he says, "Praise the Lord my soul, all my being praise his holy name, praise the Lord my soul and do not forget." Now in that sense, this is an interactive Psalm because you get to finish that verse. Do not forget how would you finish that verse? How would I finish that verse? David finished it and just ran off the page. Just kept rolling, rolling, all the things he was thankful for. What are you going to thank God for this morning? What's included in your list of blessings, things that you must never forget? Can change your whole perspective on life? Can change your whole perspective on prayer? I've shared with some of you before. I pray constantly, even in the case when people are very, very sick, pray constantly for the things we can be thankful for. I go in a hospital ward, thank you Lord for the provision of a place like this. Thank you for the fact we live in a land where there are skilled medical people who can bring their expertise to this situation. Thank you for the care of the friends who are surrounding this loved one who's desperately ill. Thank you for the prayers of the church family that are being, it just puts a different perspective like, "Oh God, what's happening here?" That's a real panic, a real sort of defeatist approach. But to switch gear and to see everything in terms of thanksgiving, it's an amazingly liberating, refreshing perspective spiritually. It really helps me, and I know it helps many of you to stop, revive, survive. There's always something to be thankful for. Praise the Lord my soul, all my being, praise His holy name, praise the Lord my soul, and do not forget you fill in the gaps this week. Fill in the gaps today. Get a list. Be thankful to God. And use that as a motivation to open your life to Him more fully and more completely than ever. I spoke to somebody this week who's wrestling His way through a comparison between Christianity and a religion He's known all His life, a different religion. And He said, "I've noticed one thing. In the Christian church, you emphasize giving out of what has already been given rather than giving in order to get points and in order to get, you know, ticks on the box you give because of what's been given. This man is moving steadily toward embracing Christianity. That was a powerful insight on his part. And the more grateful we are, the more inclined we'll be to open our hearts and lives to allow God to do His mighty thing within us. Guys, it's happening already, friends. We are passing through a beautiful season in this church because so many of you have already captured that. If you haven't, read Psalm 103 this week. You read it in as many different versions as you can. And when you get to the part where it says, "Do not forget," you write your own Psalm. You finish off the verses. I'll bet many of you will run off the page. It's down prayer.