“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all the benefits:” (Psalm 103:2 NKJV)
“Yahweh, you are my soul’s celebration. How could I ever forget the miracles of kindness you’ve done for me.” (Psalm 103:2 TPT)
“Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me.” (Psalm 103:2 NLT)
“Bless and affectionately praise the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget any of His benefits.” (Psalm 103:2 AMP)
“My soul, praise the LORD, and do not forget all His benefits.” (Psalm 103:2 HCSB)
“Bless, LORD JEHOVAH, my soul, and do not forget all his rewards.” (Psalm 103:2 ABIPE)
David continues in his self-talk in verse 2 of Psalm 103. First, he reminds himself of the position that Yahweh holds in his life. He is David’s soul’s “celebration.” Again we can see the depth of the passion that David has for his Father (Yahweh, JEHOVAH, LORD) as he directs his soul (mind) to “Let all that I am praise (celebrate, bless, affectionately praise) the LORD.” After he recognized his Father’s preeminence in his life he moved to the next step in this Psalm – remembering the benefits.
There is a religious spirit that disguises itself as “humility” that fights desperately to keep us from moving to the second part of verse 2. My experience has been that when I boldly claim the “benefits” of living in the Kingdom of Heaven someone is going to take it on themselves to “humble” me. In the book of James I am told that when I humble myself before the Lord He will exalt me. It seems that religious people love it when I humble myself, but don’t know how to handle it when the Lord exalts me. It is time to get past this false humility, and with thankful hearts take hold of what our Daddy has given us.
David clearly instructed himself to make sure that he did not forget “ALL” of the benefits (miracles of kindness, good things, rewards) that belonged to him. There are not levels of benefits. Much of the Body of Christ has been taught to believe that being forgiven of sin is the only “benefit” that really matters. Somehow we believe that all of the rest of the benefits are optional. David didn’t see it that way. Jesus didn’t see it that way. My Daddy wants for me to embrace, and enjoy, all that He has blessed me with. He wants me to experience ALL of these benefits even more than I do. All of the benefits that we are going to look at were included in the redemptive work of Christ. It was so important to my Daddy that I receive them that He sacrificed His Son so that nothing could stop me from possessing them fully. Jesus died to free me from sin, sickness, poverty, depression, everything that the enemy brought into this earth in order to steal, kill, and destroy. Jesus was resurrected into newness of life so that He could fill me with all of the benefits of the Kingdom of Heaven!
Hebrews 11:6 shows me just how deeply my Daddy desires that I live in the fullness of the Kingdom benefits/rewards/ miracles of kindness that He has provided for me…
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
The religious spirit that is so widespread in it’s influence has no problem with me believing that God exists. According to James, even the demons believe there is a God. What the enemy wants desperately to stop is that I take the Word seriously when it comes to the second half of Hebrews 11:6. Daddy has made it clear that if I do not boldly proclaim Him as my “Rewarder” then I am not pleasing Him. It is not faith to go around proclaiming that I do not desire anything from the Lord. This idea that “all I want is Jesus” sounds so good to the religious mind, however it goes directly against what David is proclaiming in Psalm 103, and it is contrary to what James said God requires of my faith in order to please Him. I am to recognize Him for “what He does” in the same degree that I recognize Him for “Who He is.”
I can’t imagine thanking Jesus for giving His life to forgive me, and then telling Him, “Oh, but the rest of the stuff you suffered, bled, and died for, it really wasn’t important to me.”
I will not overlook the Rewarder, and His rewards, as I ponder…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 229: Kingdom Living (Psalm 103) Part 3 – Verse 2