Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
– Psalm 103:2
And then the Psalm just goes on to describe different benefits of God toward his people, toward each of us. “Bless the Lord, O my soul,” individually, “Forget not all his benefits,” and the list just goes on and on. Who forgives all your iniquity? That’s a benefit. Heals all your diseases that ultimately disease in our lives will not have the last word for all who trust in God, in Jesus. He redeems your life from the pit… Crowns you with steadfast love and mercy. He satisfies you with good. He renews your youth like the eagles. These are all benefits that flow from God. He works righteousness and justice for those who are oppressed. He’s merciful, he’s gracious, he’s slow to anger. He’s abounding in steadfast love.
Psalm 103:2 reminds us it truly is a benefit to know the Lord.
What a benefit to know this God. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities, as high as the heavens are above the earth, as so great as his steadfast love toward those who fear him, he removes our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west, like a father showing compassion to his children, the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
I could keep reading, the whole Psalm is just filled with benefits from knowing God personally, from worshiping God, from walking with God. And I just want to encourage you today to forget not all his benefits, to do Psalm 103:2, to bless the Lord, and remember his benefits. So I’m just going to start praying and lead us to begin doing that. But as this prayer ends, I want to encourage you to make it even more personal and just keep praying for a couple of minutes and just bless God for all his specific benefits in your life.
Let’s pray. Oh God, we praise you for who you are and all the benefits, all the goodness, all the grace, that mercy that flows from a relationship with you, from knowing you, from worshiping you, from walking with you. God, we praise you for all your benefits, for your salvation in our lives. God, thank you. We bless you for the people who shared the gospel with us, for opening our eyes to your glory in the face of Jesus. Lord, we praise you, Jesus, for paying the price for all our sins, for freeing us from the penalty of sin, death.
Psalm 103:2 encourages us to continually praise our Heavenly Benefactor.
We praise you for freeing us from the power of sin in our lives today, for the benefit of your Holy Spirit inside of us right now, leading us, guiding us, protecting us, empowering us as witnesses, empowering us as victors over the temptation. We praise you for your benefits. Lord, we praise you for the benefit of talking to you every day, of hearing from you in your Word of walking with you, of experiencing peace that passes all understanding that keeps us from anxiety and worry in this world.
We praise you for strength in our weakness. We praise you for your comfort in us when our hearts are heavy and hurting. Lord, we praise you for healing that flows from your hand. We praise you for your power to restore and redeem in ways that only are possible by your grace and your mercy. We praise you for new mercy that meets us every morning. Oh God, so many benefits flowing from you.
Prayer for the Kumyk People
And God, we do pray for people who’ve not experienced the benefits in you that flow from faith in Jesus. Specifically, people who’ve never even heard the good news about Jesus. God for the Kumyk people of Russia. For over half a million of them in Dagestan who have not heard the good news of your love for them, of all the benefits that you desire for them, God, we pray that the Kumyk people would be reached with the good news of your love, of all the benefits that flow from your compassion and your steadfast love for them.
God, we pray they would be reached even as we praise you for all your benefits in our lives. And even now as this time in prayer closes as we’re praying together… Lead us by your Spirit in all the different ways in our lives to forget not all your benefits. Help us to live all day long, remembering your benefits as we bless your name. In Jesus’ name, we pray and continue to pray. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” And I’m not even going to say amen. I just want to invite you to continue praising God… Blessing God for all of his benefits in your life specifically.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
