Food for Thought: Thanksgiving Day Edition. 1 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. Psalm 103 has been called, “David’s Hallelujah Chorus” because of its singular focus on God’s benefits and blessings to His people. It serves as a call for each of us individually and corporately to bless and praise God for His goodness toward us. In the Hebrew version, Psalm 103 contains 22 sections with each section containing two lines and being uniform in length (the NASB and NIV bring this out). It is meant to be poetry of praise. Interestingly, no petition appears anywhere in this chapter. Some see a connection between psalm 102 and Psalm 103. In Psalm 102 the focus is on prayer and petition, while in Psalm 103 the focus is on praise. In Psalm 102 the focus is on prayer for deliverance. In Psalm 103 the focus is on praise for being delivered. It would seem that as God answered the prayer of Psalm 102, David was led to pen the praise of Psalm 103. Anytime we have trouble praising God we should turn to this Psalm. It is the paean of perfect praise. For the purposes of this post I want to look at the first five verses. In them we have David’s benediction toward God (v.1-2) and God’s benefits toward David (v.3-5). “1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,” The word “bless” means to praise, to acknowledge God for His greatness, goodness and glory. William Dunlop who lived from 1692-1720 wrote: “To bless God, then, is, with an ardent affection humbly to acknowledge those divine excellencies, which render him the best and greatest of beings, the only object worthy of the highest adoration; it is to give him the praise of all the glorious attributes which adorn his nature, and are so conspicuously manifested in his works and ways. To bless God, is to embrace every proper opportunity of owning our veneration and esteem of his excellent greatness, and to declare to all about us, as loudly as we can, the goodness and grace of his conduct towards men, and our infinite obligations for all our enjoyments to him, ‘in whom we live, move, and have our being.’ And a right blessing of God must take its rise from a heart that is full of esteem and gratitude, which puts life into the songs of praise.” Did you get that last part? We bless God because we have a “heart of esteem and gratitude” for God. To bless the Lord then is to offer up to Him our sacrifices of praise because we are grateful for His blessings in our life. Our praise is to be focused on two things: Who He is and what He has done. We Praise Him for Who He Is – v.1a “And all that is within me, bless His holy name.” We are to bless His holy “name.” He is the Lord Jehovah – Yahweh – the self-existent one – the Great I AM. God’s name is important because it reflects and reveals who He is…His character and nature…all that He is in Himself. He is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, immutable and eternal etc. And notice that it is His “holy” name. His holiness beautifies His attributes…this means He is righteous, truthful, good, gracious, loving, merciful and just. Notice that David says: “Bless the Lord, O my soul. And all that is within me” The word “soul” refers to our innermost being. It speaks of who we really are. The phrase “all that is within us” refers to all of our faculties, affections, thoughts, emotions and capabilities. Our praise to God should come from our very beings. Not only do we bless the Lord for who He is, but we bless Him for what He has done. “2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits;” “Benefits” literally means “actions” or “dealings.” We are to bless the Lord by NOT forgetting God’s good deeds toward us. Herbert Lockyer wrote: “David called upon all within his soul to remember all the Lord’s benefits. How we should give heed to the warning that memory is very treacherous about the best things: by a strange perversity, engendered by the fall, it treasures up the refuse of the past and permits priceless treasures to lie neglected, it is tenacious of grievances and holds benefits all too loosely. It needs spurring to its duty, though that duty ought to be its delight.” Isn’t that so true? Because of our fallen natures we easily remember the evil deeds against us and more easily forget God’s gracious, bountiful, glorious benefits for us. So in order to help us remember those benefits David proceeds to list several for us. Charles Spurgeon says that David “selects a few of the choicest pearls from the jewelry box of divine love, threads them on the string of memory and hangs them about the neck of gratitude.” What then are His benefits? I see five in verses 3-5. Let’s focus on those. Benefit #1 – Forgiveness –v.3a “3 Who pardons all your iniquities,” Forgiveness is listed first in order because it is our greatest need. Without pardon we can never truly enjoy God and bless Him. In fact, without forgiveness we cannot experience the blessings of the other benefits. Notice a few things about this forgiveness. First, it is forgiveness of our “iniquities.” An “iniquity” (or in-equity) speaks of something that is not just or right. Our fallen natures bring about the in-equities in our attitudes and actions toward God, others, and even ourselves. These “in-equities” prevent us from having fellowship with God and others and warp our view of our own importance and goodness. What we need in order to be restored to fellowship and “rightness” with God and others is forgiveness. Second, this forgiveness is comprehensive. David says He forgives “all” of our iniquities. Od’s forgiveness is far-reaching. It removes all of our sin, including those of omission and commission, sins in word, thought and deed. Third, it is continual, “who pardons.” The modern translations don’t bring this out, but His forgiveness is ongoing. Once we are trusting in Christ alone for eternal life, He keeps on forgiving our sins. Finally, this forgiveness is personal. He pardons “your” iniquities. Here the “your” has reference to the “soul” in v. 1-2. Benefit #2 – Spiritual Health – v.3b “Who heals all your diseases;” This verse has caused a great deal of controversy. The debate revolves around whether or not David is describing physical healing? Or, is there some deeper meeting? Without getting into the details of the debate, I want to simply point you to the subject of these verses i.e. “soul” in verse 1-2. I believe that David is referring not to physical but spiritual (or soul) diseases. There is a cause and effect here going on in verse 3. When our sin is forgiven the effects of sin are cured. What are the effects of our sin? Guilt, doubt, fear, anger, discouragement, hate, jealousy, strife etc. God is not only our forgiving judge but He is also our curing physician. Forgiveness of iniquities and healing of our soul diseases are two sides of the same coin. When we are suffering from spiritual maladies we can go to Him for the sweet medicine of forgiveness and to be restored to spiritual health. “No disease of the soul can baffle God’s skill and as each malady arises the divine surgeon is present to heal.” Lockyer Benefit #3 – Redemption – v.4a “4 Who redeems your life from the pit,” The pit refers to death, the grave, or hades. Sin enslaves us and places us in bondage to its effects and consequences. The ultimate consequence of our sin nature is death (Romans 6:23). BUT GOD redeems us from that bondage. The word “redeems” means to buy back, to pay the price. How did God do that? By sending His son Jesus to die on the cross in our place. Forgiveness and healing are not complete without redemption. Benefit #4 – Crowning – v.4b “Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;” What a tribute to God’s wonderful grace that we go from being delivered from the pit to being crowned with His lovingkindness and compassion! Where God pardons He also gives acceptance. Spurgeon wrote: “Our Lord does nothing by halves, he will not stay his hand til he has gone to the uttermost with his people. Cleansing, healing, redemption, are not enough, he must needs make them kings and crown them, and the crown must be far more precious than if it were made of corruptible things such as silver and gold; it is studded with gems of grace, and lined with the velvet of lovingkindness; it is decked with jewels of mercy, but made soft for the head to wear by a lining of tenderness.” Notice the two superlatives “lovingkindness and compassion.” God does everything superlatively! Benefit #5 – Satisfaction and Renewal – v.5 “5 Who satisfies your years with good things,” The idea here is that of “soul-satisfaction.” No man can truly be filled to satisfaction without the blessing of God in his life. I sincerely believe that only God truly satisfies. And here is the great thing…God satisfies our souls (years) with “good things.” Notice that he does NOT say that God satisfies us with rich things or many things or everything we ask for…But “good things!” Things that are good and beneficial to our souls. “So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.” The picture here is of someone given a new lease on life. They have been given a renewed strength. An eagle served as a symbol of freedom and vigor. Think about how each of these benefits builds on the other. Because David experienced forgiveness, healing and redemption, he was therefore crowned, satisfied and strengthened. He had a new and vital outlook. Like an eagle he was ready to soar with the Lord’s strength (Isaiah 40:31). So on this Thanksgiving Day I am thankful for many things. I am thankful for my family. My children and their families are all healthy and doing relatively well. I am thankful for my career. God has blessed me with a wonderful job that I enjoy. I am thankful for my friends and extended family. They have been so supportive of me. I am thankful that God brought someone special into my life to love. But most importantly, my soul blesses the Lord for all of His benefits. I thank God for His forgiveness, healing, redemption, crowning and renewal! I am indeed blessed!
Posted on: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 16:31:03 +0000
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