Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits

Psalm 103 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Praise for the Lord’s Mercies. A Psalm of David.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
² Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
³ Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
⁴ Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
⁵ Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

⁶ The Lord performs righteous deeds
And judgments for all who are oppressed.
⁷ He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the sons of Israel.
⁸ The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
⁹ He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
¹⁰ He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
¹² As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
¹³ Just as a father has compassion on his children,
So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.
¹⁴ For He Himself knows our frame;
He is mindful that we are but dust.

¹⁵ As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
¹⁶ When the wind has passed over it, it is no more,
And its place acknowledges it no longer.
¹⁷ But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
¹⁸ To those who keep His covenant
And remember His precepts to do them.

¹⁹ The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,
And His sovereignty rules over all.
²⁰ Bless the Lord, you His angels,
Mighty in strength, who perform His word,
Obeying the voice of His word!
²¹ Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
You who serve Him, doing His will.
²² Bless the Lord, all you works of His,
In all places of His dominion;
Bless the Lord, O my soul!

The psalmist begins saying:  Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name.  Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits;  Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.   When people consider where they will work, who their employer will be, one of the things they consider is what the benefits are; what they get in addition to their wages.  The Lord has a great benefits package for those who are with Him.   

He pardons all your iniquities.   The psalmist says:  As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.  John 3:16 says:  God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.   So we receive the benefit of eternal life in Christ. Not only that in Luke 23:34, when He was on the cross, Jesus said:  “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  He forgives and pardons all of our iniquities. He doesn’t accept our sin. He pardons our sin through the finished work of the cross, so that we can be free from sin.

He heals all your diseases.  Isaiah 53:5 says:   He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.  Sickness, disease and handicaps of all sorts are not part of God’s original plan for us. They are the result of sin, not that the one who is sick is sick because of sin, but that we live in a fallen world which suffers from the consequences of sin. In 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 it says:  Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”   Jesus body was broken so that ours could be made whole. We of course don’t always see or experience the full manifestation of healing here on earth. Jesus is eternal and perhaps many will not see and know the fullness of the healing until they experience it in eternity, where there will no longer be any evidence of the consequences of sin; no sickness, no disease; no handicaps or impairments of any kind. Jesus taught us to pray though saying: Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  We are to pray and believe for the realities of the eternal, heavenly realm to be manifested here and now, on earth. That is what a miracle is. It is when the circumstances of earth become aligned with the realities of heaven.  

He redeems your life from the pit.   Regardless of our social or financial standing in the world, apart from God in this life, we are destined for an eternity apart from Him. Through the cross, Jesus redeemed us from that destiny. We are reconciled to God through Him. God created us for fellowship with Him and by the redeeming work of the cross we are restored to that relationship with God; that like Adam and Eve before the fall, we can walk with Him and talk with Him. Hebrews 4:14-16 says:  Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  Because we are redeemed, we have full access to God in the heavenly realm.

He crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion.  His love and compassion are one of the crowning benefits we receive when we are with God. Yet as we recognize that we are reconciled and restored to His plan and intention for us, we understand that we were created in the image and likeness of God, to rule and reign with Him over creation. Love and compassion are also the crown of authority that we have to reign with Him. Without love we do not have the power or authority of God and Christ.

He satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.    God wants us to enjoy this life. Children, youth are carefree and filled with the wonder, excitement and anticipation of good things. In Christ we are recreated, renewed. We should see each day with the excitement, joy and expectancy of a child. In Psam 37:3-4 the psalmist says:  Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.    Our satisfaction begins and is fulfilled in God.

Bless the Lord, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word,
Obeying the voice of His word!  Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will.  Bless the Lord, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the Lord, O my soul!  Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name.  Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits;  Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.  Amen.