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SNT 0348 Psalm 103

Psalm 103

November 21, 1965

Expository teaching covering the entire chapter.
SNT – 348

3rdburglar by Wordburglar
Topic: DRAFT
Format: audio
Publication Date: 11-21-1965

Victor Paul Wierwille was a Bible scholar and teacher for over four decades.

By means of Dr. Wierwille's dynamic teaching of the accuracy and integrity of God's Word, foundational class and advanced class graduates of Power for Abundant Living have learned that the one great requirement for every student of the Bible is to rightly divide the Word of Truth. Thus, his presentation of the Word of God was designed for students who desire the in-depth-accuracy of God’s Word.

In his many years of research, Dr. Wierwille studied with such men as Karl Barth, E. Stanley Jones, Glenn Clark, Bishop K.C. Pillai, and George M. Lamsa. His formal training included Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Theology degrees from Mission House (Lakeland) College and Seminary. He studied at the University of Chicago and at Princeton Theological Seminary from which he received a Master of Theology degree in Practical Theology. Later he completed his work for the Doctor of Theology degree.

Dr. Wierwille taught the first class on Power for Abundant Living in 1953.

Books by Dr. Wierwille include: Are the Dead Alive Now? published in 1971; Receiving the Holy Spirit Today published in 1972; five volumes of Studies in Abundant Living— The Bible Tells Me So (1971), The New, Dynamic Church (1971), The Word's Way (1971), God's Magnified Word (1977), Order My Steps in Thy Word (1985); Jesus Christ Is Not God (1975); Jesus Christ Our Passover (1980); and Jesus Christ Our Promised Seed (1982).

Dr. Wierwille researched God's Word, taught, wrote, and traveled worldwide, holding forth the accuracy of God's "wonderful, matchless" Word.

Psa 103:1-22

Psa 103:3-7

Psa 103:7-12; Act 2:37, 38; 1Jo 1:3, 4

1Jo 1:9; Psa 103:12-17, 19-22; Eze 34:18

_____________________

DRAFT

Snt-0348-Psalm103 DRAFT

Take your Bibles and turn to the 103rd Psalm tonight, which I’m sure that you will find some tremendous truths that bless your heart and mind, to carry with you into the week, and the months and the years to come.

I believe for the greatness of this tremendous chapter I should just read the entire chapter first before I begin to unfold it a little more in detail.

Psalms 103.

Psalms 103:1-22:
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:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
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 for ever.
He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. [and the word ‘fear’ is love, reverence, awe, respect him]
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that… [love] him.
For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
But the mercy [the mercy] of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that… [love] him, and his righteousness unto children's children;
To such as keep his… [commandments], and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
Bless the LORD, ye his angels, [messengers, ministers] that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.
Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.

Isn't that a tremendous Psalm? Just the reading of it thrills the heart of any man or woman who even has the depth of knowledge of language, let alone a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. The beauty with which this is set, just reading it from a plain human point of view, without thinking of the spiritual impact of it, it should thrill the heart and soul of any man or any woman.

But there are tremendous spiritual truths hidden in this wonderful Psalm that we ought to bring to our attention and recall and move in on with the greatness of the power of God within us.

Psalms 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:

Wouldn’t it be terrific if it said in there: Bless the Lord, O my soul, and remember all his benefits? Who of us here could possibly begin to enumerate? You know. And you couldn’t enumerate if you couldn’t remember. To remember and then begin to enumerate all the blessings, all the benefits that we have had from God Almighty through the years. Nobody.

And therefore, in this tremendous Psalm, he does not say, remember all the benefits, he says, forget not all of them.

Psalms 103:2:
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

There are certainly some things that we can remember where He has benefited us. How He has called us out of darkness into the marvelous light of the gospel of redemption and salvation. How He has made this Word of God living and real to us again. How He has taught us the keys that are so beautifully written in this Word of God that will make it fit like a hand in a glove. That you don’t have to squeeze it or anything else, but that it means what it says and says what it means, and all these other wonderful truths.

How tremendous it is to just not forget what we were at one time and what we are today. How God has taken us and loved us with an everlasting love. Put His hand on us, and somehow or other just seems to draw us and to call us and to bring us into a life that many of us, even two or three years ago, would have said is impossible.

Where we have had answers to prayer. Where we have had the privilege of ministering to people and seeing God’s mighty deliverance performed in their lives. How we have seen lives changed when we’ve taught them the Word of God. When this Word of God again started to make sense to them. Started to fit like a hand in a glove. How their lives were changed. Children, young people, adults.

You heard me say tonight how thankful I am for hearing from men out these foreign countries who have studied here and been under this ministry, like Rev. [Wade 00:06:07] this summer. [P.J Wade 00:06:09] from Australia.

But teaching here, “forget not all his benefits”, reminds me of how he finally… Not finally, but early in this program as we were moving along, how he really got convinced that this teaching ministry works. And you know how I found out? He went to the children. You see these children that our teachers are teaching week after week? And as these children were here at The Way Biblical Research Center out on the grounds, when he had an opportunity he would approach the children and he would ask them questions that he had been told they knew. And lo and behold, they’d quote him chapter and verse, or they’d tell him this is how it works, and just tell him exactly what it is.

And [P. J. Wade 00:07:00] would just stand back in awe and say, boy, if children can do this, then certainly I as a minister of God should go back to Australia and I can work it. And he’s really been working it back there, tremendously. We’ve just heard from him this week. I think you got a letter this week. We got a letter last week. Many of our people are hearing from him and how this thing is moving in his life.

And he made a statement in that letter I thought was sort of [apropos, 00:07:30] I suppose. How tired he was of going to the Women’s Guild meetings and all these other meetings, if they’d just come and let him teach the Word. Well, he has a church, I don’t. So I don’t have to go those kinds of meetings, I can just teach the Word. That’s it. Anyways, he’s getting the Word taught, and for that I’m grateful.

We just have to don’t forget all his benefits. It doesn’t say remember them all, but certainly we can remember some of them, can’t we? Well, what can you remember? Well, whatever you can remember that you’re grateful for.

Psalms 103:2:
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

Just think of a few of them and your old heart will just bubble. And that enthusiasm within your soul, knowing that God has wrought this within your life, will just make you a blessing.

It says in verse 3,

Psalms 103:3:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;…

The word ‘iniquities’ there is ‘sin’. Who forgiveth all our iniquities, our sins.

Now, there are many people who believe the first part of this verse, but somehow or other when they get to the second part they begin to rationalize. And then when they begin to rationalize they finally lose the whole thing.

It’s either… Class, listen. It’s either all God’s Word or none. If any one person has a right to scratch out any one verse and throw it out if it’s in the Word of God, then every person has a right to scratch out a verse. Right? And if you scratch out one verse and everybody scratches out a verse, you no longer have the Word of God left. It’s either God’s Word or it isn’t. It’s as simple as all that.

Just because it doesn't agree with my theology does not invalidate it or make it any less God’s Word. It’s not a question of whether it agrees with my theology, the question is if I agree with the Word. Right? It is still God’s Word, [inaudible 00:09:31]. How they can take the first half of that scripture and throw the second half out, you have to be better than a Houdini, or a Jekyll or a Hyde or somebody. The scripture very plainly says,

Psalms 103:3:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy [what?] {diseases;}

Well then, does He? He must or He is a liar. And God is not liar, every man is, the scripture says.

Psalms 103:3:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all… [of them.]

And people say, well, why doesn’t He heal everybody? It is God’s will. It’s just because we are not able to rise up to our rightful privilege. It is because we live in a negative society, a negative environment, negative people around us, and the first blessed thing you usually hear the following morning is negative. To live with a group of people who are vital and alive and not always talking negative is like getting a fresh glass of water on a hot day in July. That’s right.

You know how negative people are. Well, how’s your arthritis this morning? Or, your rheumatism? How’s your lumbago? Somebody told me he was a teacher this year for the first time someplace around here, and he already had ulcers. Hasn’t even… Was it, how many? Six weeks have gone by. Good gravy. If you’re a teacher and you’ve already got ulcers now, what are you going to have by the end of the year? I’m sure there are a lot of you teachers haven’t got any ulcers. We’ve got a lot of teachers in The Way fellowship. We must have five or six, maybe more, that are in here tonight. So you ought to be nice to your teachers.

But this person said that, that’s how I had ulcers. Well, of course he has. You know what? If he could get to the Word and that Word could start living, God’s still able to quiet down the nerves. God is still able to bring peace, comfort, without any sedatives or barbiturates or alcohol. You bet your life. You just have to get the right spirit.

Psalms 103:3:
Who forgiveth all… [our sins]; who healeth all… [our what?] {diseases;}

And the word ‘all’ is ‘without exception’. Without exception. Not without distinction, but without exception. A tremendous truth.

Verse 4 says,

Psalms 103:4:
Who redeemeth thy life from [what?] destruction;…

Who redeems us from the destruction that is constantly around us to destroy us. Get the impact of that one? That with which we’re surrounded day in and week in and week out, that will endeavor to shorten our lives, to kill us prematurely. He redeems our life from that type of destruction. And He,

Psalms 103:4:
… [crown us] with lovingkindness and [by his] tender [what?] mercies;

And then comes that fifth verse.

Psalms 103:5:
Who satisfieth… [your] mouth with good things;…

You see, He redeems us from a life of destruction, from the life of the negative. The frustrations, the fears, the anxiety. He redeems us from this and He satisfies our mouth. Those of us who He redeems, He satisfies our mouth with good things. Not the negative, not the fears, the anxieties, the frustrations. Not talking about Johnny Jump Up, or Snowball Peter, Mary Baloney or any of these other people. Just satisfies with the greatness of the power of God.

This is what He puts in our mouth. Tremendous difference in what some people have in our mouths. Some are all negative, some are positive. You meet them, and the moment they shake your hand they give you and effervescence and a glow. You’re glad to meet them. You’re glad to be a part of their fellowship and the people that they represent, because they add something to you.

Psalms 103:5:
Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth [at 85 and 90] is renewed like the [what?] {eagle's.}

And He’s not talking about [inaudible 00:13:53] down in Florida. That’s [inaudible 00:13:57]. He’s not talking about the fountain of youth that pumps the [inaudible 00:14:01] down there. He isn’t talking about life where you get older, you’re 75 and 80, and if you believe big enough you could be 20. That’s a bunch of baloney. That’s right.

Because the same God, class and it’s very important. The same God who sets the law where if you’re one year old, then you’re two, then you’re three, and as you get older you can’t go back to being 20 in that physical state because that’s the law of God. He set that law.

But He also set the spiritual laws. And in context here in this tremendous Psalm, is the wonderful and outstanding truth.

Psalms 103:5:
thy youth is renewed like [what?] {the eagle's.}

That’s why no matter how old you are, you can constantly stay in the youthful atmosphere and [acclimization  00:15:01] – is that a good word – of your mental aliveness. Where you’re vital and alive. Where you’re not burdened down with the negative of people of similar age, similar negatives in your environment. You don’t have to be burdened. He has redeemed us from it, remember? And He renews our youth. And youth has no negatives. Youth can beat the world, you know it. They can lick any problem. They only become negative when we adults have them long enough and we keep driving it up.

But young people, like that Youth Advance we’re having here towards the New Year, you want to be with a group that are alive and vital, you won’t hear one negative. They won’t complain about their arthritis, rheumatism or lumbago or… What’s that other fellow have? Ulcers. They’re not going to talk about those things because, young people, you know what it was like when you were young. You’re always looking for tomorrow. You’re always anticipating a wonderful day, a wonderful time.

Some [inaudible 00:16:23] promise that’s just real nice. And he taught us the greatness of this renewing like the eagle. It didn’t make any sense to me before, and it doesn’t make any sense to you either. He’s going to renew your strength like an eagle. Well, what in the world is going on? What has the eagle got that renews the strength, and what symbolism would it relate to us?

Well, there [are you then 00:16:50] in the East. Every year, this is the eagle. This is the word that’s used here regarding that species. And once a year, that eagle will climb and climb and climb and climb to tremendous heights, and all at once it will go straight down and just fold its wings and just come straight down and go headfirst right into the ocean. And when it comes up, it hasn’t got a feather on its back. And then it waddles its way back to the shore and goes in amongst the bushes until its feathers grow out again. That’s this here. Isn’t that something. Read up on that sometime.

He renews our youth like the eagle. He takes everything off. All those old, dirty feathers. All those negative, those fears, those worries, those anxieties, all of the things that have burdened us down. We go down in and He removes them all. That’s what He’s talking about.

Psalms 103:5:
… [He] satisfieth… [then our] mouth with good things;… [for he renews our youth]

Our youth. Our youth. In getting rid of all these negatives, 

Psalms 103:2:
… forget not all his benefits:

Follow? That’s why it’s in context. And when you think about how He has taken away from us – or caused us to drop off, would be a better word. To leave behind all of those things that at one time disturbed us, and in many cases overcame us, it’s a tremendous thing. Must be like the Apostle Paul writing in the epistles. Isn’t that where he wrote,

Philippians 3:13-14:
… forgetting… [the] things… [such] are behind,…
I press… [forward for] the mark…

Forgetting the things that are behind. You have the same general [inaudible 00:18:58] here.

Psalms 103:5-7:
… [He] satisfieth thy mouth with good things;… thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
[verse 6] The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all… [who] are [what?] oppressed.
He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

Isn't that terrific? We read that verse of scripture and it just goes in one ear and out of the other or we just turn it in our mind and keep going. But do you know what it says? It says,

Psalms 103:7:
He made known his [acts, his] ways unto Moses, his acts… [to] the children of Israel.

Have you read the Old Testament of how God worked with Moses? How Aaron was given to Moses to be Moses’ mouthpiece? How God gave the information to Moses, Moses told Aaron, and Aaron told the people?

Psalms 103:7:
He made known his ways unto Moses,…

If you’ll read that Old Testament carefully, you will see that God told Moses why He did it. What His purposes were. His intent. Why He carried out certain things. He told Moses why He did it. He made known the reasons, the whys and the wherefores, His ways, unto Moses. But He never told the children of Israel. To the children of Israel, to them He made known only His what? Acts. That’s what that verse says, that’s what it means.

Isn’t that wonderful?

Psalms 103:7:
He made known his ways unto Moses,…

But all that the children of Israel ever saw was acts of God. They believed God because of the acts they saw, not because of that God went around and explained to everybody why He did this.

Now, I've often thought about these things in the teaching ministry that some of us represent today in this world. If I went around telling everybody the little things that I know from the Word, and how it fits and so forth, and all your time telling them about The Way. God gave the ministry to some of us that the acts of God can be seen and done among God’s people today.

And you can’t sit around all the time and explain the little details. Take, for instance, body, soul and spirit in Genesis. When you carry through the Word [inaudible 00:21:31] and chi. Chi. C-H-I. When you carry these words through minutely, and God shows them to you systematically down the line, this is making known His ways. But the acts of God are as clear as the nose on my face to any of God’s people who want to know it, who want to understand it, who want to be cognizant of the great truth that is set in God’s Word.

So, God raised up hope. Moses believed God and God made known his acts, the whys and the wherefores to Moses, but to the rest of the children of Israel they could only know God if they saw the acts. A-C-T-S. Sometimes they got the A-X because they didn’t see it the other way, I've told you.

Verse 8. I’m glad I don’t get paid for my sense of humor.

Psalms 103:8-10:
The LORD is merciful and gracious, [he better be] slow to anger, and plenteous in [what?] {mercy.}
He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. [the figure, condesensio. See it?]
He hath not dealt [verse 10. He hath not dealt] with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

Here’s another Orientalism. It’s stated twice. The same thing is stated twice to put the [inaudible 00:23:05] on it, the solemness , the oomph. Why it’s put twice in one verse.

Verse 11.

Psalms 103:11-12:
For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that… [that respect]  him. [who have awe for him. Who love him. As the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy. Mercy]
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our… [sins, our] transgressions [our iniquities, our sins. So far has he removed our transgressions] from us.

Well, how far is the east from the west? A pretty good distance, huh?

Psalms 103:12:
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our… [sins] from us.

Remembering His mercy, His love. People, when we begin to gel the greatness of God’s Word and understand the way in which God dealt with us when He gave us remission of sins and forgiveness of sins, then we can’t help but to be thankful, to be [inaudible 00:24:28] and to be a part of God and His wonderful power today.

There’s a tremendous difference, as all of you people know when we get into the Word in the foundational class and show the difference between the word remission of sins and forgiveness. And I've never taught a man or woman yet who was not flabbergasted and surprised when I got to the Word in this category and unfolded it to them, and they saw the tremendous difference between remission of sins and forgiveness of sins. Because, at best, at best, all you are ever taught, ordinarily speaking, is that if you want to get saved you have to confess your sin. Right? And people do not get saved today because they confess their sins. We get saved today because we confess the savior from sin, the Lord Jesus Christ. Right? You bet your life.

You could confess your sin until you’re blue in the face; it won’t save you. Because we’re not saved by works, we’re saved by grace because of His mercy and of His love.

Ephesians 2:9:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.

And confessing sin is hard work. Some people spend most of their life confessing. My goodness. Why not confess the Savior from sin, The Lord Jesus Christ, and get saved and have it over with? So that you can walk with an effervescence and a glow. Because no man, no woman can walk abundantly as long as they feel that they’re burdened down with sin, as long as they feel with negative views, frustrations, or anything else like that.

Well, He hath redeemed us. He renews our youth like the eagle. He has cast our sins from us as far as the east is from the west.

In Acts chapter 2, I want to take a look at it just to renew it in your mind. Acts chapter 2. Right after they started the church which you and I belong, in verse 38 when Peter preached that sermon on that Day of Pentecost, verse 38.

Acts 2:38:
… Peter said unto them, [verse 38] Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the [what?] remission of sins,…

Not forgiveness of sin but what? Remission. Remission of sins. When you get saved you get remission of sins. All the sins that have accumulated in your life until that moment, He casts from you as far as the east is from what? And He’ll remember them no more. This is remission. That’s what the unsaved sinner gets at the time he gets saved.

Romans 10:9:
… if… [you] confess…  the Lord Jesus [Christ],… [believing] God… raised him from the dead,… [then you get remission of sins.]

But in 1 John, the epistle of 1 John, better look at it. Chapter 1. Here he is talking in this chapter about fellowship. In verse 3, for instance.  

1 John 1:3:
… [we] may have fellowship…: our fellowship is with the Father,…

Can you have fellowship in the family of God before we have sonship? No. No more so than I can have fellowship in the Wierwille family until I was born. Our children could not have fellowship until they were born into our family. Your children had no fellowship in your family until they were born. No person can have fellowship with God until after he is born again. He must belong to God then he can have fellowship with Him.

And he says in verse 4 of this tremendous chapter, chapter 1.

1 John 1:4:
… these things write we unto you, that your joy may be [what?] full.

Not half full, not two-thirds, not 99.44/100ths  but full. That your joy may be full. How few people really manifest this joy to the full. They don’t. Forgetting all this

How do you get it? Well, it says in verse 9,

1 John 1:9:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [of] our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

At the time we get saved, we get remission of sins. But after you’re saved, if you sin, what do you do with that sin? You confess that one because that one I can remember. That one I can take care of. That you confess. But that makes fellowship, not sonship. Sonship is by birth. Fellowship is the walk.

And over here in the 103rd Psalm he says,

Psalms 103:12
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our [sins, our] transgressions from us.

Both when we get remission and when we confess our sins. He’ll remove both of them.

Psalms 103:13:
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth [or loveth] them that… [love] him.
… [He knows] our frame;…

And thank God He does. It’d be miserable if He didn’t understand it. Had He not known us, He never would have instituted this walk. Because there is no way whereby you can walk with an effervescence and with a glow and with an enthusiasm and with a victory in your life today except to walk in the Word. And know what you have in Christ and what Christ gave to you and how he’s covered for you and did everything else.

He knoweth our strengths.

Psalms 103:14-17:
… [He knows that we’re like] grass:…
… [He knows that] the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof… [remembers] it no more.
But… [that] mercy of the LORD…

That’s the second or third time in this particular Psalm that he’s talking about the mercy.

Psalms 103:17:
But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon [those who love] him,…

And, according to verse 19

Psalms 103:19:
The LORD [according to verse 19] hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom [God’s kingdom] ruleth over all.

Then comes that tremendous section that is the 20th verse.

Psalms 103:20:
Bless the LORD, ye his angels,… [is the King James. The word is messengers.]

Messengers. Many of you have that revised… I don’t know if I’m saying it right. I’m thinking of the 1881 and 1901 translations of the King James. Not the reverse Bible that they published some years ago, but the… Is that the Revised? What’s it called, [Rachel 00:32:34]? Yeah. 1901 was [inaudible 00:32:34]. Do you know, [Emma Jean 00:32:40]? American Standard? Good. Thank you, Mel.

Anyone have an American Standard with them tonight? Anyone have a Lamsa? You have Lamsa there? Well, what is his translation of 20? How did he translate verse 20? {inaudible 00:33:05.} Oh, that’s not right. Well, thank you. I asked you to read it, you read it. That’s no reflection on you, that’s his problem. You people can’t take this thing personally.

[Jim Chamberlain 00:33:25], is that word ‘messengers’ in Aramaic? [inaudible 00:33:30] back in the engineering room back there? What about that word, angels and messengers? Well, if you find it, hold up your right hand. Let me know.

I know what it is in the text. It’s the word ‘messenger’.

Psalms 103:20:
Bless the LORD, ye his angels, [angels] that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

No, no, no, no, no. He’s talking about, forget not all His benefits. He’s talking how He has redeemed us. How he has cast our sin from us as far as the east is from the west. And that he has prepared for us these things. His kingdom ruleth over all.

Therefore,

Psalms 103:20:
Bless the LORD, ye his… [messengers], that excel in strength,…

And, are excelling in strength, is that we have been cast off all these things from us which have held us back. And with singleness of mind, we have set our minds on the things of God and moved forth to that greatness of that Word. That’s why we excel in strength, because it’s His strength in us.

And the scripture corroborates this, for the scripture says,

Philippians 4:13:
I can do all things through [what?] Christ [who does what?] {strengtheneth me.}

You see, ye his messengers. By the way, the word is ‘angelos’. It’s used 171 times in the New Testament. Nine times it is translated, if I remember correctly, ‘angels’. And all the rest of the time, it’s translated messenger or minister. You find the same word in verse 21. There it’s translated ‘ministers’. Same word.

Psalms 103:20-21:
Bless the LORD, ye his… [messengers], that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his [what?] pleasure.

That do his pleasure. Ministers of his that do His pleasure. Now, how can a minister stand on a teaching platform at a university, or at any other place – pulpit or any other place – and declare that the Word of God, the commitment to Christ, is no more relevant to you today, and be a minister of His that does His pleasure? You explain it. I can’t.

And I think any thinking person knows that you can’t say those kinds of things and be doing God’s pleasure, because what you’re saying is just contrary to the Word of God.

It reminds me of something we discussed just this morning from Ezekiel chapter 34. Look it up. A verse of scripture you may want to mark. Show it to your friends this week. Ezekiel. Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel. It’s in the Old Testament. Ezekiel 34. Ezekiel 34, verse 18.

Ezekiel 34:18:
Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, [he’s talking to the shepherds here. Not only have you eaten up the good pasture,] but ye… tread down with your feet the residue [the rest that you didn’t eat up you trod under your feet] of… [the good] pastures? And… [you have drunk, you shepherds] have drunk of the deep waters [the clear water, that] ye must foul the residue with your feet?

That you must muddy up the rest of the water with your feet? That’s the word ‘foul’. Muddy up. [inaudible 00:37:45].

You know what these shepherds were doing? These shepherds were… Read the whole chapter sometime. I just have to give it to you very briefly. But these shepherds were eating the good pastures and feeding baloney to their sheep. They were getting the good things for themselves but handing out nothing. And then they would drink of the best water, and then before the sheep would come they’d put their feet in the water and muddy it up. Then the sheep had to drink the dirty water. If you read the rest of the chapter God says that’s no[inaudible 00:38:18]. That’s no deal. That’s what they were doing.

Look what we’re doing today many times. Muddying up the water for people, saying that the Word of God is no more relevant. What’s the matter with us?

Forget not all his benefits, ye ministers of His.

Verse 22.

Psalms 103:22:
Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my [what?] {soul.}

Isn’t that wonderful? When you know the greatness of God’s Word and the power of His Holy Spirit, when you know that this Word of God is living and real and it fits like a hand in a glove, and it’s alive and it’s vital, there’s nothing you can do but to stand and say…

[end: 00:39:00]