“Bless The LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.” Psalm 103:2
What comes to mind when you hear the exhortation to recall the benefits The LORD has given you? If you were to begin your list, what would be the first thing that would come to your mind to record? I don’t mean the Sunday School answer that you think you should give, I mean what would your list truly begin with? This is the question that I asked myself after reading David’s list, and after meditating on the few verses that followed (Psalms 103:2-5), my prayer was that God would fill me with His Spirit and I too would begin listing God’s benefits just as David did. Here are a few thoughts I’d like to encourage you to ponder and may it cause you to bless The LORD as well.
Who Forgives All Your Iniquity
The very thing that separates me from Him, the thing that requires condemnation be upon my head – my sin! He forgives it all! The acts that I have committed that fly in the face of His right of being God. The disobedience, the wilful acting in direct contradiction to the command of the One who has given me life, breath, and all creation to enjoy. He has forgiven!
Who Heals All Your Diseases
I think, contextually, what is in view here is not physical maladies. While God most certainly can heal any disease, and does heal physical ailments of many; it would seem that this is a poetical metaphor for something far more ominous than physical sickness. David begins this Psalm by talking to himself, “O my soul”. The first item on the list was one of forgiveness of iniquity, so it would be more consistent to understand the diseases spoken of here are diseases of the soul. God heals our hearts. The reason there are iniquities to be forgiven of is because we heart consumed with a terminal illness. Jeremiah 3:22 says, “Return, O faithless sons; I will heal your faithlessness.” “Behold, we come to you, for you are the Lord our God.” While we do need forgiveness for our faithlessness (iniquity), we also need healing from it. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) Desperately sick – this is the description God gives of our hearts. God told Israel through the prophet Isaiah, “Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.” (Isaiah 1:5) The Hebrew word the ESV translates as faint has a broader meaning. I believe the Amplified Bible, CSB, and Young’s Literal Translation are much closer in translating it as sick. The word means to be faint or ill. God not only forgives our iniquities, He heals our hearts (regeneration) so we no longer continue in our rebellious sin.
Who Redeems Your Life From The Pit
This is beautiful! The Hebrew word for redeem means more than purchasing an item off a store shelf. It means to redeem, to act as a kinsman. God has redeemed my life as if He were family – my next of kin. He spares me from the deep pit; my life has been pulled up from the grave and I am brought into the house of God. I am in the care and protection of my Kinsman Redeemer!
Who Crowns You With Steadfast Love and Mercy
The words that stood out to me here are CROWNS, LOVE, and MERCY. The Hebrew holds for us another wonderful gem as we look at the word used for “crowns”. The meaning of this word is to encircle, to surround. The covenant, steadfast, faithful love of my God and His compassion (mercy) encircles me as a diadem encompasses the head of a king. The lyrics come to mind of a favorite hymn of mine, “Underneath me, all around me is the current of Thy love.” (Oh, The Deep Deep Love of Jesus)
Who Satisfies You With Good
The list could have stopped at any one of the benefits previously listed, but David carries on with this final one – satisfaction. The word literally means to drink until one is full. God has infinite, joyful pleasures that He permits me to imbibe until I am filled. He doesn’t just permit me to drink to the full, he welcomes me to so that my youth is renewed like the eagle’s. “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” (Isaiah 55:1) “…let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.” (Revelation 22:17)
May this also cause you to join in with David and me as you too proclaim, “Bless The LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”
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