“Bless the LORD, O my soul; all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits...”
The world’s systems can fall apart in a matter of days. Things we depend on can crumble overnight. Then what? What do you do if you lose everything? Answer: Remember the Lord and forget not his benefits. God sees ahead and makes provision, and our job is to stay receptive to him, so we’ll follow his leading into provision.
It may take a while, and you may have some problematic days or even years. You may have to work a job you don’t like for a while. You might lose your pension/retirement. But the Lord is with you and can do exceedingly above all you can ask or think.
Be wise, plan, save, invest, but remember those things are not your provision; they are simply tools to manage the Lord’s provision.
The reason we don’t cling to God and allow him to lead us through adversity into extravagant blessing is we get scared and forget about his benefits and lean to our own strength in the process.
We become afraid or get mad at God that we’re going through adversity and harden our hearts to his spirit. We constrict the flow of his blessings by focusing on our problems and making them bigger them him.
It’s the principle of the sower, and the seed from Mark 4, the receptivity of your heart to God’s word determines the degree of his kingdom you’ll experience in this earth. (more on that topic here)
You have the responsibility to believe and co-labor with God. BUT REMEMBER!! You are not limited to your ability. You are not limited to what’s in your hands. You have God’s faith working in you. But that doesn’t absolve you from believing. It’s a collaboration, so don’t forget his benefits.
“Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation!”
Life happens while you’re waiting for those benefits to manifest. You have legitimate needs now, I get it. I have friends in the airline industry whose jobs are uncertain. They have not worked in months, and there seems to be no definitive return date.
I have pastor friends who have to relocate because they cannot make their building payments. The chef who has a fantastic restaurant next to our church has to move because the response to the virus killed his business. Life happens, and it’s not always loaded with God’s benefits.
But if you’ll remember, if you’ll keep our hearts open to him, if you’ll hold his promises in your heart and doubt not, you will see his provision. God is always speaking, and he is still leading you into truth and blessing, make sure you are not clouded with fear. Factor God into your life’s decisions. Click for an article entitled “God Is Constant In A World Full Of Variables.”
What Are His Benefits?
If you’re not supposed to forget his benefits, you have to know what they are in the first place. Start with his NAME. God is who he is, and he always behaves in a way that’s consistent with his character.
Check out this list of God’s names to remind yourself of who he is. If you remember who he is, it will help you remember his benefits, they’re the same.
Psalm 103 is another place where he lists his benefits. Let’s walk through the first five verses to learn how NOT to forget God’s benefits.
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul; all that is within me, bless His holy name.
David is speaking to himself, his own soul. He steps outside of his situation to instruct himself to bless the Lord with all that is within him. This is an exercise in repentance, he’s changing the way he thinks about his present situation, and himself, to direct his mind and heart to the Lord.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits;
David refines his own instructions to focus on God’s benefits. When David is facing adversity, he chooses to focus on God’s promises and praise him from a different perspective.
3 He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases,
ALL!! Even under the Old Covenant, David knew God was merciful and forgiving. These are specific promises David is holding on to. He takes the time to remind himself of God’s character.
4 who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with loving-kindness and compassion,
David shifts from specific benefits like healing and forgiveness to more poetic and emotional benefits. God will lift you out of the hole, and he will deliver you from darkness, he will save you from the pits of life.
He also gives you a beautiful picture of God’s attitude toward you as he is healing you, forgiving you, and lifting you out of the pit. God does these things with kindness and compassion toward you. God didn’t have to reveal his heart toward us, but he did. He wants us to know how he feels about us as he forgives us. He loves you and wants to be kind to you.
You can use this as a meditative exercise. What does it feel like for the Lord to crown you with his love? How does he do that? What does his kindness feel like as it rests upon your head?
I love poetic moments like this in God’s word. They help us transcend our issues and step into God’s heart for us.
5 who satisfies you with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.
Keep in mind, David is reminding himself of who God is and how he relates to him. He’s repenting. He’s changing his mind and getting a grasp on his emotions, framing his inner world with God’s character and promises. David knows that the Lord is good, and he desires to strengthen us.
How can you apply what King David models to us in Psalm 103? How can you remember God’s benefits to transcend the emotions of your circumstances? What do you know about God that you can set your mind on and see manifest in your life? David didn’t just quote scripture. He spoke things to himself that are true about God, and then he experienced them. He held on to God’s character until he experienced the very things he knew about God.
Don’t give up, hold fast to God’s character, and he will renew you and load you with benefits. I recommend writing your own Psalm of self-encouragement. Instruct yourself to think on the Lord, include things you should remember. Then expect to see those things in your life, because the Lord is for you!
