Psalms 103:1-5
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.
Tag: Praise trumps Complaining
One of the greatest struggles we have in life is the ability to see God's marvelous work in our midst through the cloud, fog and mirky waters of life. Whatever analogy you want to use to describe the frustrations of life, they tend to want to move us to forget the work that God does for us, in us and with us. The writer of this Psalm is asking us to pause and it exhorting us to "forget not all his benefits." The devil and his unholy system want to distract our focus and have us fret over the things of this world. Yet, God has given us benefits we should remember that can trump the trials of this life. Note the areas the writer mentions:
1. He forgives our iniquity - no matter what life gives us we can rest in the peace that there is NO MORE any condemnation to those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)
2. He heals our diseases - this does not mean that God heals "all" diseases (think about the Apostle Paul ... 1 Corinthians 12:7-8). But, if there is healing it comes from the hand of God (Psalm 147:3).
3. He redeems your life from the pit - Again, this is not an all inclusive statement, but rather that any redemption comes from God initiating and consummating it. We can rejoice that God pulls out out of the miry clay (Psalm 40:2).
4. He crowns us with love and mercy - this may be the greatest in this list of blessings. Not only does God heal and rescue us, He bestows on us His love and His mercy. He gives us blessings we can use in our life to serve others. Love and mercy are not dormant or stagnant gifts. They are to be used to love others and to show them mercy. That is what the entire book of 1 John is about; those whom God loves, love.
5. He satisfies with good - James 1:17 tells us that anything good we get in our lives is from God. Matthew 5:45 tells us that God sends the rain on the just and the unjust. Even the unjust, who known not God and fail to acknowledge Him, "benefit" from the goodness that is from God. But, the believer, in particular, is given good things by God.
6. Our youth is renewed like the eagles - why the writer picks the eagle as the metaphor for our youth being renewed, it is hard to say. But, there is a picture of strength, freedom and beauty in the image. Only when we get old can we appreciate how God can restore our strength and our desire to be curious and the beauty of our nature.
In all these benefits we see that the writer tells his "soul" to reflect and refresh itself on these thoughts. We are crushed every day with the burdens of this life. Yet, God is in the process of renewing us and giving us glorious refreshment, if we will but see it. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not His benefits!!
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