Psalms 103:2
NKJV - 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
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The most important of the many benefits that God has bestowed on humanity is making eternal life possible for us through faith in Christ. But God also provides humankind with life itself, as well as with every good thing (both tangible and intangible) with which people are blessed, including their senses and health, the beauty and resources of God's creation, family, possessions, food and drink, and employment. In the case of the psalm from which the verse in the question came, David (the author of the psalm) was undoubtedly thinking also of the protection that God had provided to him from his enemies, and the blessings that God had given him in taking him from being a shepherd to being king of Israel, with all the authority and material wealth that came with that position.
First, look at the big general picture along with one particular, Pardon : Jehovah in His Relationship with Men (as seen in Psalm 103) As Pardoner —He forgiveth all my iniquities Ps. 103:3,10; see also Psalm 103:12 The total removal of the sin as a result of the Divine forgiveness is variously expressed in the Scriptures: "Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back" (Isa 38:17); "Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea" (Mic 7:19); "I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more" (Jer 31:34); "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions" (Isa 43:25); "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us" (Ps 103:12). Ideally, this same result is attained in human forgiveness, but the memory of the sin remains with both parties as a barrier between them, and even when there is a complete restoration of amity (a friendly relationship) the former state of alienation cannot entirely be removed from memory. When God forgives, however, He restores man to the condition of former favor. Release from punishment is involved, though Divine forgiveness is more than this. In most cases, the consequences, which in some instances are spoken of as punishment, are not removed, but they lose all penal character and become disciplinary. Nor does the forgiveness remove from the human mind the consciousness of sin and the guilt which that involved, but it does remove the mistrust which was the ground of the alienation. Mistrust is changed into trust, and this produces peace of mind (Ps 32:5-7; Rom 5:1); consciousness of the Divine love and mercy (Ps 103:2 ff); removes the fear of punishment (2 Sam 12:13), and awakens love to God. As Redeemer—He redeemeth my life from destruction Ps. 103:4 As Physician—He healeth all my diseases Ps 103:3 As Benefactor—He satisfieth my mouth with good Ps 103:5 The Music of the Praising Soul Psalm 103:1-5 Psalm 103 begins and ends with the same words—Bless the Lord, O my soul. The Music of the soul is the soul of music. All that is within me All I am for God All His benefits All I have from God David sees himself in five Places— 1 A criminal in the Law courts who has been acquitted Who forgiveth all A good way to explain sin is it’s anything we say, think, do or don’t do that is displeasing to God. Now, just imagine if someone sinned only 3 times in a day – 1 bad thought, 1 unkind word, 1 loss of temper about something. You’d probably think that’s pretty good. But 3 sins a day adds up to more than a thousand sins in a year. Imagine standing before a traffic judge with 1,000 transgressions of the law. And yet, we try to stand before an all Holy God whose standard is perfection. But praise God for Jesus for paying the penalty for our sin. Jesus would be like a merciful father of the traffic violator in this illustration who is also the judge, who rises from the bench, lays aside his judge's robe, and pays the fine for his son to forgive him of his debt. Sin is like a debt. Jesus lets us off the hook, though, by paying our debt. 2 A Patient in the Hospital who has been cured Who healeth all 3 A Slave in the Slave-market who has been redeemed Who redeemeth thy life 4 A Shepherd in the Throne Room who has been made king Who crowneth thee 5 A Guest in the Banquet Hall who has been redeemed Who satisfieth thy mouth
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