Click on the audio player to download mp3 or to change listening speed
Unpacking the Gospel, Part 4
Celebrating the Cross
Bruce A. Hess
Please open up the Word of God now and turn in it, in the Old Testament, to the book of Psalms, Psalm number 103.
Today we are coming to a close in our series we have entitled, Unpacking the Gospel. It has been an invigorating journey for me. One of our greatest spiritual needs is to be re-amazed by the Gospel message.
Charles Hodge says something very interesting about the Gospel He said this, “The gospel is so simple that small children can understand it, and it is so profound that studies by the wisest theologians will never exhaust its riches.” And that is so very true.
In this series that we’ve been in we’ve been stressing the fact that regular gratitude for the deep grace of the gospel is what catalyzes a daily attitude of worship for you and me. It is what energizes our drive to serve God. And it is what stimulates our desire to share the gospel with others.
Now, this is the fourth of four messages. There have been three messages before this and I can’t cover everything that was in those, but I do want to give a quick, brief review of what we’ve covered so far. We began by looking at Our Need for the Cross. We noticed in that message that all of us, whether we’re young or whether we’re older, have a significant problem. The Scripture points this problem out to us. We looked at Romans, chapter 3, verse 23, you may be young, you may be old, but it says, “We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Then, we see from Isaiah 59, verse 2, “Your sinful acts, (yours and mine) have alienated you from God.” So, we have a significant problem that exists and the problem gets more complicated from there. We saw in that message that the wages of sin is death; what we earn because we have sinned is death.
Then, it gets worse than that. It says in Revelation, chapter 20, verse 15, “If anyone’s name” (Bruce’s name or anyone’s name) is not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the Lake of Fire.” So, these are significant problem issues that we have that clearly point out Our Need for the Cross.
I have shared this quote many times at Wildwood, my favorite quote of all time. Canadian scientist G.B. Hardy, he said this—I love the way he just summarizes what life is really about—“I only have two questions: Number one, did anybody ever conquer death? Number two, did he make a way for me to do it too?” And the answer to those two questions are yes and yes!
So, we looked first at Our Need for the Cross, that leads us to looking, which we did the second week, at God’s Work at the Cross. This is why Jesus became a man. That’s why He came as a man. We looked at some passages of Scripture again. Isaiah 53:6, “All of us,” that includes everybody young and old, “like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way; But” here is the good news, “the Lord has caused the sins of us all,” you and me, “to fall on Him.”
Then, Romans 5:8, “God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners,”—what does it say? What does it say?— “Christ died for us.”
You know, I lived two different stretches in the state of New Jersey. How many people have ever been to New Jersey? So, a few of you have. I lived there two different times. The second time I lived there we went to a church in Asbury Park, New Jersey, the First Baptist Church of Asbury Park. One of the people I met there was a guy by the name of Mickey Mykowski. Mickey Mykowski had been a performer in bars and other clubs; he had been a singer. His stage name was Mickey Holiday, real name Mickey Mykowski, but Mickey Holiday sounded better so he went by that.
He was in all these various places singing and someone from First Baptist Church shared the Gospel message with Mickey and he trusted Jesus as his Savior. He believed this: that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Not long after coming to faith in Christ, Mickey wrote a song and I love this song. I’ve shared it before. It is a song called Who Killed Jesus? I am going to sing it for you right now…I heard that laughter! I am not going to sing it for you right now. I mean, I can make a joyful noise, but you don’t want to hear my ‘joyful noise.’ But I will give you the lyrics to the song Who Killed Jesus?, by Mickey Holiday. Here is the way that it goes:
Who killed Jesus many years ago?
Who is guilty of a crime so low?
Why did He have to die?
What is the reason why?
Who killed Jesus, I would like to know.
Was it Hebrew children, proud of who they were?
Shouting “Crucify Him” at their king?
Trading their Messiah for a common thief
Turning down the kingdom He could bring.
It goes on to say:
Was it Pontius Pilate, he was governor
Trying to decide the case that day.
Finding that the Savior had no fault His own,
Was he guilty, when he turned away?
Was it Roman soldiers, with their tools of war,
Driving nails through hands that did no wrong?
Mocking, abusing, crowning Him with thorns,
All the evidence is very strong.
Who killed Jesus many years ago?
Who was guilty of a crime so low?
Why did He have to die?
What is the reason why?
Who killed Jesus, I would like to know.
Then, the song goes like this:
When I think of Jesus and the way He died
How upon Him all my sin was laid
All the other people fade away from view,
It’s for me the sacrifice was made
I no longer wonder any more
I have found what I’ve been searching for
My sin demanded hell,
On Him the judgment fell
I am guilty, now it’s plain to see,
That it was really me.
That’s a great song that so summarizes, so summarizes God’s Work on the Cross.
So, as we said, the first week we looked at Our Need for the Cross, the second week God’s Work on the Cross. Then, last week we looked at Choosing to Embrace the Cross. We said this is not an automatic thing for people, embracing Jesus as our rescuer. It’s not automatic. Well, what is our response to be? Well, we looked at some verses again. John 3, verses 15 and 16, “Whoever,” what does it say? “Believes in Him will have eternal life. (Verse 16) “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever,” does what? “Believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
I would like to suggest that people put their own name into these verses. If Bruce believes in Him, Bruce will have eternal life. For God so loved Janet, that He gave His only son that if Janet believes in Him, she should not perish, but have eternal life. Our response is to believe. What believe means is to depend on something, to rely on something, to trust in something.
Years ago, there were three men fishing on the Broadback River in northern Quebec, Canada. As they were doing that in their boat, a violent storm arose and gale force winds overtook them and their boat overturned. The men knew they couldn’t save themselves, it wasn’t going to happen. But then they noticed a large ice chest that had been in their boat, now floating on the water. So, they pulled that ice chest underneath them and rested their weight on it and trusted that ice chest to save them. And, it did. That is the very picture we are to have with what Jesus did on the cross. By faith we are to rest our weight on, to rely on, to trust in Jesus’ death on the cross. That is what it means to believe.
Now, as we were talking last time about Choosing to Embrace the Cross, part of what we talked about was embracing our identity as Jesus’ ambassadors and we spent a lot of time on that. It is very difficult for me to summarize that so if you weren’t here for that, I would encourage you to go back to message number three and spend some time listening to how God has called us to be His ambassadors.
[ But one of the things we did last time is, we had a handout for you, a green handout that was tucked into the bulletins, some practical help in being an ambassador. What we found out is—in some of our services—we had plenty of bulletins printed, but they didn’t make it to the bulletin stands and some of you didn’t get a copy of that. I heard from a number of you saying, I would like to have a copy of that handout. So, it tells you about some ideas on how to bring people One Step Closer to Christ. It has some Connection Points in connecting with people. We have some available up here at the front of the stage, we have some available out at the Welcome Center, so if you did not get one of these last time we want you to have one. You can take advantage of that and pick that up.]
In this series we’ve looked at Our Need for the Cross, God’s Work at the Cross, Choosing to Embrace the Cross, so what are we doing today? Today we are going to be Celebrating the Cross. Our guide is going to be Psalm 103. Before we jump into Psalm 103, it is important to note that the wonder of the Gospel and its ramifications we need to remind ourselves of regularly. The wonder of the Gospel and its ramifications we need to meditate on methodically. And the wonder of the gospel and its ramifications we need to celebrate consistently. It is vital that we surround ourselves with other celebrants. That is why we are all here today!
So, we want to go ahead and look at Psalm 103. As we move to Psalm 103, I just want to point out it is one of the top five best known psalms. Charles Spurgeon said this of Psalm 103, he said, “It is so rich, it is so deep, it could almost suffice alone as the hymn book for the church.”
Some have called Psalm 103 King David’s Hallelujah Chorus. Psalm 103, in 1834 was an inspiration for a man named Henry Lyte, and Henry Lyte wrote a hymn based on Psalm 103 and that hymn was entitled, Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven.
Psalm 103 foreshadows the completed work of Jesus on the cross. It hadn’t happened yet, but it is foreshadowing that event. One of the things that is interesting about Psalm 103 is there is not one request of God in Psalm 103, not one. And gratitude graces every line of Psalm 103!
So, what I would I would like to do as we Celebrate the Cross is, I would like to read Psalm 103 (ESV). I invite you to follow along in your Bible as I read.
“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 forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the people of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide, nor will He keep His anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him. He knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; and he flourishes like a flower of the field, for the wind passes over it and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.
But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep His covenant and remember to do His commandments.
The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all. Bless the Lord, O you His angels, you mighty ones who do His word, obeying the voice of His word! Bless the Lord, all His hosts, His ministers, who do His will. Bless the Lord, all His works, in all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!”
Let’s go back and take a little closer look at the structure of Psalm 103. The first thing that we see the psalmist do is he has a Personal Heartfelt Call to Praise in verses 1 and 2. Notice the very first phrase, “Bless the Lord.” My translation here has the ‘Lord’ in all caps. If your translation has ‘Lord’ in all caps, one thing to remember is every single time it occurs like that it is always translating one word, which is the word ‘Yahweh.’ Lord with lower case letters is ‘Adonai,’ Lord with all caps is ‘Yahweh.’ So, literally, he says here, “Bless Yahweh.”
Who is Yahweh? Well, it is the name of God that He communicated to Moses at Mount Sinai. Who is Yahweh? Well, John 8, verse 58 tells us that Yahweh was Jesus. Jesus says, “I am Yahweh.” He says there, “I tell you the solemn truth, before Abraham came into existence, I am.” He is saying I am Yahweh, God. You want to know who Yahweh God is, Jesus says I am Yahweh.
So, what we have in these first couple of verses is this call to worship, “Bless the Lord,” a call to self-praise, to rehearse and to replay what God has done. Bless the Lord, express joyful gratitude is what I want to do, I want to give gratitude for all that He is and all that He has done. He says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me.” This call to personal worship comes from deep inside of him. It’s not a shallow thing; it’s not a casual thing; it’s not a half-hearted thing.
“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.” I want to replay it; I want to recall it; I want to re-appreciate it; is what he is saying.
So, it begins with this Heartfelt Call to Praise, but then it moves to The Basis for his Praise in a long section from verse 3 down to verse 19. We’re going to break all that down into other parts. So, he is giving The Basis for his Praise and the first thing that he says, regarding praise, is that Your Pardon is Great. “Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all His benefits; who forgives all your iniquities.” That word ‘iniquity’ means ‘all your crookedness.’ He forgives all your iniquity.
I know that many of us who are here today are a little bit younger and so maybe you haven’t quite learned this lesson by personal experience—but life can and will get tough. Life can and will get tough. This world is terribly broken and there will be—in your life and mine—there will be times of suffering; there will be times of disappointment; there will be times of spiritual failure. But, knowing you are forgiven is the most wonderful thing in all of the world. Life can and will get tough; the world is terribly broken; there is going to be times of suffering; times of disappointment; times of spiritual failure, but knowing you are forgiven is the most wonderful thing in all of the world! The implication of these verses is that God constantly forgives.
He goes on in verse 3, he says, “Who forgives all your iniquity,” and then he says this, “who heals all your diseases.” This is a strong word, this word for disease here. It refers to, not just a regular, run-of-the-mill [an ordinary, everyday type] disease, but rather a deadly disease. Here is what is interesting about the concept of healing. In both the Old and New Testaments, when we see that term, we need to clarify something: Is he talking about physical healing or is he talking about spiritual healing? The context lets us know.
For example, we have up here on the screen Isaiah 53:5, it says there, “By His scourging we are healed.” Now, is that talking about physical healing? There is physical healing. Or rather, is that talking about spiritual healing? Well, the context always lets you know. We know it is talking about spiritual healing in Isaiah 53:5 by looking at the context. In the same verse it talks about our transgressions. It talks about our iniquities. In the next verse it says, “He laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all.” So, here in Isaiah 53 it is talking about spiritual healing and we have the same thing in Psalm 103. It doesn’t make any sense he is throwing in physical healing there in verse 3.
Look at all the surrounding words and terms. “He forgives all your iniquity, He heals all of your diseases.” What does He say next? “He redeems your life from the pit.” What is the pit? It is the pit that each one of us dug because of our own sin. And He delivers us from the pit, which the pit that we dug because of our sin leads to the grave, it leads to death, it leads to hell. And He redeems your life from the pit!
Then, it goes on to say this—I love this in verse 4—, “He crowns you with steadfast love and mercy.” The New Living Translation says, “He crowns you with unfailing love.” The NET Bible says, “He crowns you with loyal love and mercy.” He treats us as part of the royal family of God! That is amazing stuff!
He goes on to say next, not only is your pardon great, he says Your Provision is Great, in verses 5-7. “He satisfies with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.” You know, when you have your spiritual burden lifted, you feel like you could fly. That is why being forgiven is the most wonderful thing in all of the world.
Notice he says in verse 6, “The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.” We all can receive some unfair things in our life, but He is ultimately going to vindicate all of that. He will take care of all of that. He says Your Pardon is Great, that is why I want to praise You. Your Provision is Great.
Then, he also goes on to say, Your Patience is Great, in verses 8-12. You’ll notice I have up here on the screen Exodus 34:6. What is interesting, the reason why I have that up there, is that verse 8 is quoting Exodus 34:6. What is going on in Exodus 34:6? Well, what you have is, you go back and you look at the chapter of Exodus 34, you are at Mount Sanai and you have the Lord and He has been communicating truth to Moses. And at Mount Sanai, there in Exodus 34, the Lord descends down from the mountain, and then He speaks with Moses. What we really have in verse 8 is Yahweh’s own proclamation about Himself. It’s not something somebody else said. This is what God, Yahweh Jesus, says about Himself in verse 8. Yahweh is merciful and gracious. Jesus says, “I am merciful and I am gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love.” Exactly what God said about Himself in Exodus 34, is just being repeated here by the psalmist. God is merciful and gracious, He says of Himself. Slow to anger, He says of Himself. Abounding in steadfast love—I love that phrase—abounding in steadfast love, abounding in unfailing love. More than you would ever, ever need, He has it.
And he expands on this a little more in verses 9-12. It says in verse 9, “He will not always chide,” or contend with us regarding some of the mistakes that we make, “nor will He keep His anger forever.” Oh, look at verse 10! “He does not deal with us according to our sins.” Oh man, because we deserve to be dealt with according to our sins, but He doesn’t deal with us according to our sins! “Nor repay us according to our iniquities,”… nor to our misdeeds. We deserve to be dealt with that way, according to our sins and iniquities. We deserve to be repaid that way. But He does not do that!!
Then, in verse 11 he says, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him.” What an incredible picture, us standing on the planet and He goes, for as hiiiiiiigh as the heavens are above the earth. He is pointing out into outer space. He says, when you stand here and you think on waaaaay out there to outer space, that is how great His steadfast love is. It is immeasurable; it is incalculable. I mean, what is the distance between here and way out into outer space?? We can’t even measure that! And, he says, that is how great His steadfast love is.
I like the way the NET Bible translates this part of the verse. It says, “His loyal love towers over us.” Just picture that, all the way up into outer space and His loyal love for you and for me just towers over us.
Then, we come to verse 12, “As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.” How many people have ever heard that verse? Let me see hands. Okay, so a good number of us. As far as the east is from the west. You know what is interesting about that verse? What he does not say. He does not say, as far as the north is from the south, so far has He removed our sins from us. You may say, well, why is that particularly significant? Well, hang in there with me for just a moment, alright?
Think about this. We are in Norman, Oklahoma, right? Right now. Let’s say we decide to go north and we have all the equipment we need. We have the super parkas and everything, you know and we keep trekking north and you keep trekking north. You know you go far enough you got some ice and snow and everything and you finally get to the North Pole. Then, what happens when you are at the North Pole? Exactly, you start heading south and then if you head south far enough and you come all the way around south, then you come to the South Pole and then you continue on your journey, what do you end up doing? Now you’re going north again.
The same thing is true in reverse. We leave here and we go south from here and we go all the way south, we go to the South Pole. We’re going south, we’re going south, we’re going south, and then we keep traveling and then suddenly, whoa, now we’re going north, we’re going north, we’re going north.
It is very different when he says, “As far as the east is from the west so far does He remove our transgressions from us.” Now, here is what I want you to do. You’re still awake with me, right? We’re in Norman, Oklahoma. Now, we’re going to go east, right? So, we go east, we cross the United States, we cross the Atlantic Ocean, we cross the other continents, we keep going. We’re going east, we’re going east, we’re going east, we’re going east. We come all the way around again to Norman, Oklahoma and we keep going. What are we doing? We’re still going east, we’re still going east.
The same thing if you do it the other direction. We’re going to go west now. We’re going to go all the way. We go to California, across the Pacific Ocean, we keep going west, we’re going west, we’re going west, we’re going west. We keep coming around all the way back to Norman, Oklahoma. We’re going to keep going. We’re still going west. You see the difference? Do you see, the difference is very significant? It is very significant.
It is infinite to go east or to go west. It’s just an infinite distance. You never stop. And that is how far He has removed the guilt of our transgressions from us. That is an astonishing statement! Astonishing!
Then, he goes on to say, not only is Your Pardon Great, Your Provision Great, Your Patience Great, he says, Your Understanding is Great, in verses 13-16. Look at verse 13. He says, “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him.” The NET Bible says, “To those who are His faithful followers.”
Verse 14, “For He knows our frame.” What is our frame? That is our body. “He knows our frame, He remembers that we are dust.” He knows what we are made of. He knows that we are basically fragile, frail people. We have human limitations. “He knows our frame, He remembers that we are dust.” You remember that in the creation account in Genesis 2, God formed Adam from what? The dust of the ground. Then, in chapter 3 of Genesis, when Adam and Eve have sinned and they are now destined for death, He says to them, “Dust you are and to dust you will return.” He knows that we are like that.
Verse 15, “As for man, his days are like grass: he flourishes like a flower of the field. When the wind passes over it, it is gone. And its place knows it no more.” Again, we live in a different part of the world. This is a picture of an extreme, dry climate. What happens in extreme, dry climates is that grass can sprout up, or a flower can sprout up, and then what happens is this hot wind comes along and basically withers them completely. And they just disappear as though they were never there. Had a little bit of grass, hot wind comes, it’s as if it never even existed. The same thing with a flower in that extreme, dry climate. It is a picture that he is drawing here that your life and my life are marked by frailty and brevity. We are marked by frailty and brevity. We live on this planet and then we’re gone and it is as though we were never there.
Think about the people who lived in the 1700’s. They lived and they’re gone and it is as if they were never here. Or, people who lived in the 1200’s. Or people who lived in the 800’s. They lived, they’re gone, it’s as if they were never here. He understands that about us—our lives are marked by frailty and brevity.
He says, Your Pardon is Great, Your Provision is Great, Your Patience is Great, Your Understanding is Great, and then he says, oh, Your Steadfast Love is Great, in verses 17 and 18. Verse 17, notice the contrast, “But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children. To those who keep His covenant and remember to do His commandments.” Your steadfast love is from everlasting to everlasting. That is different than us. It never ends; it never alters; it never fades. That is fabulous news, men and women, for people who are marked by frailty and brevity on this planet. His steadfast love is from everlasting to everlasting, and it extends out to our families and to our grandchildren being blessed.
So, he says, Your Pardon is Great, Your Provision is Great, Your Patience is Great, Your Understanding is Great, Your Steadfast Love is Great and then he says, sixth, Your Sovereign Authority is Great. We see that in verse 19. “Yahweh has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over…” some of the world?? Does it say that? “He has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all.” As Creator God, He rules over everything!
You know, we are experiencing some confusion right now in our culture. There is a lot of confusion. For example, confusion over the whole issue of genders. Are there two genders or are there a hundred genders? There is a lot of confusion going on in our culture. But you know what that ultimately is? It is a failure to acknowledge God as Creator and to heed what the Creator says. He is very clear about gender. Very clear about it. Your Sovereign Authority is Great, the psalmist says.
Then it comes to a conclusion, ultimately, where we have A Rallying Call for all Creation to Praise, verses 20 and 21 says that. Notice what it says, “Bless the Lord,” bless Yahweh, “O you, His angels.” He is just saying, I want the whole created universe involved in this. “Bless the Lord, O you His angels, you mighty ones who do His word, obeying the voice of His word. Bless the Lord, all His hosts, His ministers who do His will.” He is saying, I want to include—when it comes to blessing Yahweh God, for all that He is and all that He has done—I want to include everybody. I want the whole creation involved in all of this.
Then, he goes on in verse 22, really carries on the thought, he says, “Bless Yahweh, all His works.” The NET Bible says, “All that He has made.” The New Living Translation says, “Everything that He has created.” “Bless the Lord, all His works in all places of His dominion.”
Then, the very end of the psalm. The last phrase, he ends as he began. See, at the beginning it was just personal. Now he has called every bit of creation into it. He says at the very end, “Bless the Lord, O my soul.” The New Living Translation says, “I too will bless the Lord.” So, there is a call to all of us in creation, then he ends with making it personal again. I want to bless the Lord.
You know I want to refer again to Henry Lyte’s hymn that he wrote in 1834. Here is what he said, this is part of the words of the hymn. You’ll see the parallel.
Angels in the height adore Him. You behold Him face to face.
Saints triumphant bow before Him, gathered in from every race.
Alleluia, alleluia! Praise with us the God of grace!
Men and women, the Gospel is the most important truth in all of the universe. I want to close this session with a quote from another hymn. It is a more recent hymn, Before the Throne Above. This summarizes it all.
Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free.
For God, the Just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me.
Let’s bow in prayer together. Father, we thank You so much for Your Word. We thank You for the fact that it’s electric. We thank You so much for the truth of the cross, for the opportunity we’ve had to unpack the cross. And Lord, we want to pray along with the psalmist, bless the Lord, bless Yahweh. We want to praise You with all that is within us. What an incredible truth it is that You loved us before we were born enough to send the Son of God to this planet to give His life as a payment for our sin. May we always enjoy remembering and rejoicing in that truth and we pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Questions for Reflection
Unpacking the Gospel
‘Celebrating the Cross’
1. Read Revelation 5:9-10. Look back over those verses which describe God’s work in redemption and make note of these ideas:
– the cost of redemption
– the act of redemption
– the extent of redemption
– the immediate result of redemption
– the ultimate consummation of redemption
2. Bruce has been saying that regular gratitude for the Gospel is what:
– catalyzes a daily attitude of worship
– energizes our drive to serve God
– stimulates our desire to share the Gospel
Take some time to brainstorm practical ways you can refresh your gratitude
for the Gospel
3. Discuss what you would include in explaining the Gospel to someone you know. What’s the bad news and what’s the good news? What response to the Gospel does God require?
4. What are your favorite verses from Psalm 103? Elaborate.
5. Explain the imagery behind of the statement in 103:12 “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
6. Why is knowing you’re forgiven so significant?
7. Spend some moments in prayer to “Bless the LORD, o my soul” for all the salvation benefits he has brought you.