Bless The Lord - God's Benefit Package - Part 2 Series

Forget not all His Benefits

Psalms 103

Part 2 of a Series

As I mentioned last week, we are spending a little time in Psalms 103. Not only is it one of the most encouraging books of the Bible, its truths will completely transform your life into a more blessed life than you could ever imagine.

The way I am preaching this is a little different that the normal because the way I study and understand this scripture is a little different. When I was a young Christian, first starting my personal spiritual journey, there were a few sections of the Bible that jumped out at me in a really big way. Romans 8 was one of those, Isaiah chapters 43-65, The Sermon on the Mount; and then there was Psalms 103.

As I would study these verses, I was really hungry to know what they really meant and spent some serious time trying to apply and activate their truth and meanings into my lifestyle. And so, I prayed over what I read and then would cross reference these verses to see how they were supported in other places in the Bible.

As I did so, an amazing transformation came over me. My mind began to adjust to the new way of thinking, my heart began to come alive to spiritual mysteries and my body began to obey my heart rather than the carnal flesh.

So, these sermons are just some of the revelations I received while running down everything I could learn; devour really.

Psalms 103:1-5 (New King James Version) Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, 4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, 5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Intro: A young minister was about to deliver his first sermon, and asked a retired minister-friend for advice on how to capture the congregation's attention. "Start with an opening line that's certain to grab them," the older man said. "For example: 'Some of the best years of my life were spent in the arms of a woman who was not my wife.'" He smiled at the younger man's shocked expression before adding, "She was my mother."

The next Sunday the young preacher gets up there and nervously clutched the pulpit. Finally he said, "Some of the best years of my life were spent in the arms of a woman." He was pleased at the instant reaction—then he became all tongue tied and panic-stricken and said. "But for the life of me, I can't remember who she was!"

Forgetfulness can be a tremendous problem, often getting us into terrible predicaments. How many times have you been embarrassed by forgetting someone’s name? How many appointments have been missed or opportunities slipped by simply because we forgot about them? What have you forgotten this morning? Can’t think of anything? Then you may well have forgotten much!

Entire industries are built upon the manufacture and sale of memory aids. My life has been saved numerous times by my calendar and sticky notes ... as long as I remember write stuff down. I once read of a man who went to a training conference where a course was being taught on how to improve one’s memory. He spent nearly $200 on the books, tapes and worksheets for the course and then brought them home, stored them in a convenient location, and then he forgot where he put them.

No matter how hard we try, our memories sometimes fade with time. The treachery of memory is that while it treasures the past, it permits priceless treasures to decay. The raunchy joke is forever etched on our mind, and the painful words from the family member are constantly replayed, but all too often the important truths that should transform our lives leak from us like the water from a rain gutter.

Forgetting to pick up the dry cleaning is inconvenient, forgetting a name is embarrassing, and forgetting the anniversary troubling, but when we forget all God has done for us, that is frightening.

This is the reason Scripture shows that the opposite of forgetfulness is not just recalling truths like the grocery items you need from Albertson’s. Rather, the opposite of forgetfulness is the activity of renewing our minds. Psalm 103 tells us to worship the Lord because of all the benefits he has given us.

So, there are two little words I would like to talk about today. The first word is “Remember.” The second is “Benefits.”

When it comes to the concept of remembering, there is something we all want. We want God to remember us.