Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalms 103:1-5 (NKJV)
David is speaking to his own soul. Notice the wording - He is talking to everything that is IN HIM. And he begins to speak to his inner being in the second person form. David is talking to himself. Today I want to talk to you about what God wants you to say when you talk to yourself!
I’m reminded of a time when David had made a mistake. He had led his men into battle, and left the women and children behind defenseless. When they returned, they found that their homes had been destroyed and their families carried away captive. They all wept at the tragedy. The men began to point their fingers at David…
And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God. 1 Sam 30:6 (KJV)
There is not a one of us that has not made some grave mistakes in our lives. We have regrets. Regrets are natural. When you think of it – regret is a very good thing. What if you did not feel regret?
It’s sort of like pain. We tend to look at pain as a negative thing. But really, it’s not. Pain is our friend. Why, you say? It is pain that tells you that something is wrong. It is pain that gets your attention, and drives you to change.
I’m reminded of my cousin, Stanley. He had a little finger that had nerve damage – and had no feeling. He challenged a guy at school to a contest. They would see who was tougher, by seeing who could handle the heat. This would be determined by both of them sticking their finger in boiling water, and seeing who can hold it the longest.
Well – Stanley won the contest. But he almost lost the finger! You see – pain is a good thing!
In 1999 Dr Paul Brand and Philip Yancey co-wrote a book called Pain: the Gift Nobody Wants. Dr Brand was born in India to missionary parents, and has spent most of his life caring for people with leprosy.
One of Dr Brand’s greatest discoveries was that people with leprosy do not have "bad flesh" that just rots away. Actually, their flesh is as healthy as yours, or mine. The problem is that blood flow is restricted to certain parts of their body, and their nerve endings die. With this death of their nerve endings comes the inability to sense danger to their bodies. Lepers live pain free.
Don’t you wish you could live pain free? Not when you realize that this absence of pain is the greatest enemy of the leper. Again and again they harm their bodies, without even knowing it. They feel no pain.
Dr Brand knew that lepers often went blind. Why? Because they didn’t blink. They didn’t blink because they didn’t feel the pain that we feel when our eyes dry out. Dr Brand solved this problem by surgically attaching the chewing muscle to their eyelid – and then teaching them to chew gum.
Dr Brand was puzzled by the fact that lepers often lost fingers and toes overnight. He knew that they weren’t simply disappearing into thin air, so he commissioned workers to observe the lepers sleeping. To the surprise of the workers, they found that rats would come in and nibble the exposed fingers and toes. The lepers, who did not feel pain, never awoke to brush away the rats.
And so – as the title of the book says, "Pain is the gift that nobody wants". And so is regret. You know what we call someone that has no regrets? We call them psychopaths! Without remorse, nothing leads them to change.
God gave us the ability to feel pain – but he had no intention of us living in it. God gave us the ability to feel remorse, or regret – but he has no intention of us living in it! Regret is the gift to our soul, just as pain is the gift to our flesh. But it is designed to serve a temporary purpose! God does not intend for us to wallow in it. He does not want us to feel it any longer than necessary to deal with the cause…
When we wallow in regret – it becomes shame. And this is exactly what the Lord wants to deliver us from.
In 1 Sam 30, David had reason to feel regret. He blamed himself for what had happened. What was worse – everyone else started blaming him for what had happened as well.
You know – sometimes friends and family can be complicit in our shame. They are closest to you, and know the story. Often family and friends are less forgiving, even. That may be natural, because it is family and friends that feel the pain of the sin in your life. But unfortunately, we tend to speak words of condemnation instead of words of encouragement.
Jesus did not come to condemn.
"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. John 3:17 (NKJV)
I am not encouraging a blind acceptance of sin. Jesus spoke more harshly against sin than anyone. But he did not condemn. Condemnation focuses on how bad the person is, as opposed to how bad the sin is. Condemnation causes a healthy regret to turn into an unhealthy shame.
Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame. Romans 10:11 (NKJV)
Jesus came to give us a far different message. He says, "I know what I placed in you. I see the potential in your life. And I want to deal with this sin, so you can become who I planned for you to be!"
Oh – how we need to learn to talk like Jesus!
Fortunately – David found the solution for his regret. Even when nobody else was encouraging him – as a matter of fact they were talking about stoning him… He began to encourage himself in the Lord.
David found himself a quiet corner of a burned-out building and began to talk to himself. Now – I’m not sure what he said that terrible day in Ziklag. But I can imagine it was something like he wrote in Psalms 103…
"Oh, soul… Bless the Lord… Don’t forget all of his benefits… He forgives you... He heals you… He loves you, and he gives you a fresh start…"
What God wants you to tell your soul…
GOD’S RECIPE FOR YOUR REGRETS
FORGIVENESS - Who forgives all your iniquities (v 3)
I must note that he forgives iniquities – not just mistakes. Iniquity is rebellion… It is wickedness with intent. Dictionary: gross injustice or wickedness.
We have a tendency to put levels on sin. The church is complicit in this tendency. I remember early in my ministry discussing a young man that felt a call to preach with my pastor at the time. In his mid-teens, this young man had struggled with some sexual sins. The pastor thought that never in this young man’s life would he be able to preach. His question to me was this – "Is that all the higher opinion you have of the ministry?" I was appalled by what that statement inferred, honestly. It was to say "I’m in ministry because I deserve to be here…"
There is indeed a social stigma associated with some sin that makes it difficult for us to forgive. But it is not difficult for God! The truth is – we are all sinners. Not just good people that make unintentional mistakes.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Psalms 103:10-12 (NKJV)
HEALING – Who heals all your diseases (v 3)
Sickness is only a result of sin. And God came to reverse the effects of sin in our lives. That includes healing. He does heal our bodies – but remember in this passage David is speaking to his soul. This is the healing that God is most interested in. To heal the diseases of the soul.
Bitterness – envy – pride… These things are like cancers. They are rooted in sin, but once started begin to eat away at the fiber of our souls, and give birth to greater sin… Sin becomes self-perpetuating in our life. But the Lord promises not only to forgive you, but to stop, and even reverse, the damage that sin has caused in your soul.
If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chron 7:14 (NKJV)
REDEMPTION – Who redeems your life from destruction (v 4)
In healing us – he stops the course of death in our life.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NKJV)
AFFIRMATION – Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies (v 4)
Return to your rest, O my soul, For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. Psalms 116:7 (NKJV)
Example is the prodigal son, in Luke 15. He was not just accepted back – he was given a robe and a ring.
BLESSING – Who satisfies your mouth with good things (v 5)
Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalms 37:4 (NKJV)
RENEWAL – So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s (v 5)
What we have been talking about so far is the Benefit of a Fresh Start. We have shown how God has a recipe for your regret. There are some things that he wants you to say to your soul. And it is summed up with – I can regain the innocence of my youth! I can have a fresh start!
He forgives, heals, and saves. He affirms out status as children, and restores our authority. He feeds us good things, and causes us to be healthy, to be happy, to be vibrant and passionate again.
Eagle – Once it reaches maturity, it molts each year. It’s beak keeps growing, so even if damaged soon it is as good as know. I was reading that you cannot tell the age of an eagle once it has reached an adult stage. It seems their strength does not diminish. Their color does not fade. They are one of the longest-living of all birds, with a life expectancy of over 25 years in the wild, and having been known to live 50 years in captivity.
You see – the Lord has a recipe for your regrets. He wants you to tell your soul some things. He wants you to say, "Soul – it’s time for a fresh start!"
