Establish Deep, Be Overtaken
Psalm 103:2-5 KJV
Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who health all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; So that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
If you are like me, I want all that the Word of God promises me in these verses. Who wouldn’t? These are the redemptive realities provided for us in Christ Jesus. All the wonderful and unmerited blessings belong to us because of Jesus, and what He carried out on the cross. When, in times that I do not seem to be enjoying to the fullness all these blessings, I check myself not God. When things begin to go sideways from this 103 rd Psalm, I have a spiritual checklist, just as pilots have when they experience a malfunction. I start by asking the Holy Spirit if there is something I need to repent of? I consider how I have been treating and speaking toward others.
All too often I have found, as others who I have talked to about this, we forget about the blessings that belong to us because of our union with Christ. Those two words, “forget not” is encouragement by the psalmist, and a call to action by God. Debra Gaskill in her 66-day devotional “The Chocolate Morning” brings this out so practically on day one concerning healing.
“In the same way that cacao beans do not fall off the tree and magically turn into a cup of cocoa before they hit the ground, healing does not fall from Heaven without someone taking action. When it comes to healing, Jesus has already done it all, and our part is to appropriate-take exclusive possession of-this benefit…”
This taking action or appropriating is the taking advantage of all the benefits found in God’s Word. We must continually “forget not” or remember and act on them by believing, trusting, and obeying. But the only way we can do this is to know what they are and believe that His promises are true.
Francis Bacon, the Lord Chancellor of England said that “Knowledge is Power” and Anton Chekhov is quoted as saying that “Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.” Worldly ideas that have Truth in them.
John 8:31,32 NKJV
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed in Him, “If you abide in My word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
James 1:22-24 NLT
But don’t listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.
In the words of Jesus, we see His instruction to abide in His words. This word abide tells me that I am to remain and dwell in a deep unwavering and continuous relationship with Him and His words. Doing so I will come to the knowing of the truth which brings freedom. James urges me to not just listen but to obey. Not doing either will bring me to the forgetting.
Back to the Psalm, what are the benefits or blessings that we are not to forget?
Who forgives all our iniquities.
Seeing that David listed this benefit first tells me just how sensitive he was towards God’s heart. It also caused me to put both mine hands in the air and cry out “Me too Lord.” There was a time when I lived my life dwelling on past sins and failures. Condemnation reminded me of everything, and frustration added that I couldn’t change it. Then praying one morning on the catwalk of a Navy ship as I looked out over the Atlantic Ocean, I heard inside, “I remember those sins no more.” Over the next few days scriptures came to me that changed me from forgetting not my mistakes to forget not Who forgives all our iniquities! (Jeremiah 31:34, 1 John 1:9, 2 Cor. 5:17)
Who heals all our diseases.
I believe wrong teaching has led to so many Christians forgetting this benefit. Choosing to listen to Dr. So and So, who says that healing is not for today, they are ignoring God’s Word that says it is! So, they can’t enjoy healing even though it belongs to them. For others they are watering down the Word of God to match their experiences. They prayed once with little to no faith behind it and because nothing happened to their expectation or timing, they gave up and forgot that benefit.
Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion.
Romans 10:9,10 NLT
If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.
Let us match David’s praise by focusing on the good things that God has already done for us. No matter how tough or difficult life gets, no matter what comes our way, let His promises be continually in our mouths. We can always count on the blessings that He has already provided for us through our Lord Jesus Christ. All He asks us to do is establish them firmly in our hearts by choosing to believe Him. We do this by meditating on the Word of God, day, and night.
Keeping them before your eyes and their sound in your ears.
By doing this you will settle with all finality God’s faithfulness in your heart. You will find that not only will you begin to reap, but the blessings of God will overtake you as you forget not all His blessings!