Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vols. 13–63

What more appropriate passage than the 103rd Psalm can we read, on this first Sabbath night of another year, to express the gratitude of our thankful hearts? I will only interject a sentence here and there, but let me beg all to try to worship God in the spirit while we once more read together the familiar words of this much-loved Psalm.

Psalm 103:1. Bless the LORD, Omysoul. O my Soul, be not thoughtless and wandering, but give this holy hour to the sacred employment of praising and blessing your God!

1. And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Let every string of my heart be now touched by the fingers of the Holy Spirit, let every faculty of my being wake up to praise the Lord—"and all that is within me, bless His holy name."

2. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. They are very memorable. They deserve to be "engraved as in eternal brass." To be forgetful of them will be a base form of ingratitude. Come, my memory, wake up! "Forget not all His benefits." Here are a few of the choicest of the gems in this cabinet—the jewels are too many for me to exhibit them all.

3. Who forgives all your iniquities. The Lord has done it and continues to do it—"who forgives"—not some of your iniquities, but all of them, so that you can sing, "The depths have covered them: there is not one of them left." Why, there is enough to sing of in that, alone! We need never leave off praising God for that one mercy of forgiven sin —it is the first of God's favors and prepares us to enjoy the rest.

3. Who heals all your diseases. Many times has my heart had to sing about the gift from my God of this precious pearl, "who heals all your diseases," and some of you have also had occasion, in your restored health, to praise the Lord for this privilege. But, oh, to think that, every day, He is healing us of the great disease of sin—our very afflictions being, often but the lancet and the knife with which He is removing from us the foul taint of evil. "Who heals all your diseases."

4. Who redeems your life from destruction. You have a life that can never die, for He has redeemed it. Then, bless your Lord for Redemption! If you do not sing for this cause, the very stones in the street will cry out against you!

4. Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies. What a crown! What gems are on it! No gold or silver can ever equal this—"loving kindness and tender mercies." Every child of God is a crowned king—shall we not, for this, also, sing aloud, "Bless the Lord, O my soul"?

5. Who satisfies your mouth with good things; so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. If you enjoy sweet inward contentment and satisfaction with your God, you must praise Him, "who satisfies your mouth with good things; so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's" With renewed strength, can you, will you, be silent? I am sure you cannot, but you must use all the strength that God has given back to you to His praise and Glory.

6. The LORD executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. Blessed be His name for this! He is the supreme Governor of the world and He will rectify all its wrongs in His own time and way. There is a great power that makes for righteousness and that power is on the Throne of God. "The Lord reigns."

7-9. He made known His ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will He keep His anger forever Let your heart keep praising the Lord as we read every one of these sentences, for there is a theme for everlasting music in each line of this Psalm. "He will not always chide," Hallelujah! "Neither will he keep His anger forever." And again we say, "Hallelujah!"

10. He has not dealt with us after our sins. Blessed be His holy name!

10. Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. Forever adored be His long-suffering and His tender mercy.

11. For as the Heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. Therefore praise

If He is such a God as this, you can never overdo His praises. It is impossible to exaggerate your exaltation of Him!

12. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. They are gone! They are removed to an infinite distance—they will never come back. It is not possible that they should ever again be laid to our charge.

13. Like as a father pities his children, so the LORDpities them that fear Him. Do not stop the music of thanksgiving. Let your hearts, if not your voices, keep on saying, "Bless the Lord! Bless the Lord!" Oh, what pity you and I have needed! What tenderness and compassion! And—

"Such pity as a father has Unto his children dear"—

such pity has God had upon us!

14-16. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust As for man, his days are asgrass: as a flower ofthe field, so he flourishes. For the windpasses over it, andit is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. As a congregation, we have had most grievous proof of this Truth of God during the last two or three months. It has seemed to me as if everybody was dying. Our ranks have been thinned wondrously—

"And we are to the margin come, And we expect to die."

17-19. But the mercy ofthe LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto children's children; to such as keep His Covenant, and to those that remember His Commandments to do them. The LORD has prepared His Throne in the heavens; and His kingdom rules over all Do not believe the people who attribute sickness and death to the devil, and so try to make it appear that God has left His Throne. He still reigns! He reigns forever, "King of kings, and Lord of lords, Hallelujah!" "Bless the Lord, O my soul!" "The Lord has prepared His Throne in the heavens; and His kingdom rules over all."

20-22. Bless the LORD, you His angels, that excel in strength, that do His Commandments, hearkening unto the voice ofHis Word. Blessyou the LORD, allyou His hosts;you ministers ofHis that do Hispleasure. Bless the LORD, all His works in all places ofHis dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul. For well you may, O my Soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you! Lead the song and may the whole world join you in joyful adoration of the Triune Jehovah, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! Now we will read the passage that especially relates to the message I have to deliver to you presently in my Master's name. Turn to Isaiah 59, verse 16—

Isaiah 59:16. And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore His arm brought salvation unto Him; and His righteousness, it sustained Him. Man's extremity was Christ's opportunity. There was no one left to save poor fallen manhood, no one who could lift a hand or a finger for our rescue. Therefore, Jesus came, and fought, and bled, and died, and conquered on our behalf.

17-19. For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon His head; and He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay fury to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; to the islands He will repay recompense. So shall they fear the name ofthe LORD from the west, and His Glory from the rising ofthe sun. Christ came once and He is to come a second time because He will be again needed here. And when He returns, He will ease Himself of His adversaries, and speedily win the victory for truth and righteousness. Then shall the whole earth know what Christ can do.

19-21. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit ofthe LORD shall lift up a standard against him. And the redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, says the LORD. As for Me, this is My Covenant with them, says the LORD; My Spirit that is upon you, and My Words which Ihave put in your month, shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out ofthe mouth of your seed, nor out ofthe mouth of your seed's seed, says the LORD, from henceforth and forever. The Church of God shall have the Spirit of Truth and the Word of Truth ever abiding in her midst. God will not break His Covenant by withdrawing His Spirit from His Church. The Redeemer has come and His work of Redemption is accomplished. The Spirit also has come, but His work is not as yet done—it is being performed from day to day and the Spirit will never be withdrawn while any part of His ministry remains unfulfilled. The consequence of all this is the Glory of the true Church of the living God. There are better days coming for the cause of Christ and of His Truth. Listen, and be encouraged, all you that are heavy of heart!

Isaiah 60:1-3. Arise, shine; for your lightt is come, and the Glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon you, and His Glory shall be seen upon you. And the Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. The Church of God is one, whether it is among Jews or Gentiles. That poor Church seemed abandoned and forsaken. Dark days came and it looked as if the Church must even cease to exist, but it did not. Now God has brought in many sinners of the Gentiles and He will bring them in much more numerously in the future times of refreshing. They shall come in armies, in hosts, in nations—and the Church of God shall be exceedingly glorious!

4,5. Lift up your eyes round about and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to you: your sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side. Then you shall see, and flow together, and your heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto you, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto you. All the strength of the land and of the sea—the armies and the navies shall come and prostrate themselves before the Church of God. The supreme power on earth shall yet be the Christ in the midst of His Church.

6. The multitude of camels shall cover you, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come. The Easterns shall bow before the King; they that of old had some light shall come to the yet greater light. In those holy lands which afterwards became so unholy, there shall yet be a return to the Truth of God and all the false prophets shall be expelled. Where Mohammed's crescent has cursed the nations, there shall shine again the Sun of Righteousness, with healing in His wings.

6, 7. They shall bring gold and incense; and they shall show forth the praises of the LORD. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto you, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto you: they shall come up with acceptance on My altar, and I will glorify the house of My Glory. Wandering tribes of wild Arabs shall come and bow before Christ, and lay their wealth at His feet.

8. Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?The growing Church sees a greater multitude coming to her than even the populous East could muster. From where do they come? Listen, Brothers and Sisters, and look around and see for yourselves.

9. Surely the isles shall wait forMe, and the ships ofTarshish first, to bring your sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because He has glorified you. In ships from these remote islands, and from countries that were dimly spoken of, in the East, as, "lands of Tarshish," far away, great multitudes were to come to Christ. Are they not coming today from this Ultima Thule, this distant land beyond the pillars of Hercules, are they not coming to Christ "as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows"?

10-16. And the sons of strangers shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister unto you: for in My wrath I smote you, but in My favor have I had mercy on you. Therefore your gates shall be continually open; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto you the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; yes, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto you, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious. The sons, also, of them that afflicted you shall come bending unto you; and all they that despised you shall bow themselves down at the soles of your feet; and they shall call you, The City of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through you, I will make you an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. You shall also drink the milk of the Gentiles, and milk the breast of kings: and you shall know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. In God's good time, all this shall come to pass.