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.
Actually, there is quite an inner cry in the heart of every person; a desperation if you will, that God would not forget us. Because we know that if God will just remember us, he will not abandon us and will do something about whatever we are facing.
Here are three scriptures dealing with God remembering us. The first concerns the thief that was crucified next to Jesus. Luke 23:42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
In his most desperate hour, understanding that his sin nailed him to the cross, this repentant thief cried out for Christ to remember him. You see, when God remembers, he does more than just recall information. For God to remember something, means for God to act on someone’s behalf, and to be favorable to them.
Sampson was blind and enslaved by the Philistines. Yes, he had sinned and had fallen from grace. But now he is asking God for one more touch, one more moment of anointing, and one more opportunity. He does so by asking the Lord to Remember him; and that by remembering him, the Lord would allow his strength to return.
Judges 16:28 And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
Hannah was in a fix and wanted a child really bad. In the affliction of her inner struggle, she asked the Lord to remember her and not forget her.
1 Samuel 1:11 And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life,
Also, here are three scriptures that deal with the importance of us remembering the Lord.
Psalms 42:5-6 NLT “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again — my Savior and 6 my God! Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you— even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan, from the land of Mount Mizar.
Psalms 63:5-7 NKJV “My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. 6 When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. 7 Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
And, here is one for the young people….
Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
The Bible actually has a lot to say about remembering and about not forgetting. And now back to Psalms 103:2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:” I want us to now spend a little time looking at the importance of that second word.
This morning, instead of forgetfulness, we are focusing on this verse to remember all we have.
That word “Benefit” is a very interesting word.
According to Dictionary.com, the word “Benefit” means something that is advantageous or good; an advantage: a payment or gift, as one made to help someone; an act of kindness; good deed; benefaction.
When a person gets a job, they want to know what benefits come along with the job. You know, things like health insurance, paid vacations, retirement investments, and scholarships and so forth.
That’s something I want to bring out today. What are the benefits or the advantages of being a dedicated Christian?
*Ask the congregation for some feedback……… what are the benefits of having Christ in your life?
Ephesians 2:12-13 NLT “In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.”
When King David was writing Psalm 103, he was telling us not to forget all the benefits, all the advantages, all the special things that go along with being a child of God. But for many of us, it’s far too easy to forget, or to get our eyes off the potential blessing because of distractions or sometimes by simply not knowing what is ours to start with.
I have shared this illustration before but I think it bears repeating again as it related to this message.
I remember some time back that I took a motorcycle safety course that was required before I could get my endorsement. On the course itself, we were supposed to make this super tight turn at a very slow speed. After the first attempt, none of the dozen of us taking the course could do it; we all deemed it impossible and the course needed to be adjusted.
The instructors just laughed at us and began to tell all of us just how bad we were doing and he would not adjust the course; instead he would adjust us. Then he told us what we were doing wrong. He told us what we needed to do was simply turn our heads and look into the direction we were supposed to turn. He informed us that when we came to the turning point, we were all continuing to mostly look ahead, to the place straight ahead where we were not going and therefore were not able to make the turn properly. And sure enough, when we tried it again by turning our head and “Looking into the Turn” we all made it just fine.
The lesson here is that we need to spend more time looking into the direction where God wanting us to go rather than spend all our time looking where we are not going.
The Bible says is this way, Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:” and 2 Timothy 3:7 “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Folks, there is a big difference between amassing knowledge and putting that knowledge to work. I know a lot of people who are filled with useless information; or maybe I should reword that and say; I know a lot of people who do not use or apply the knowledge they do have.
Church, the Bible is stuffed full of blessings, promises and the goodness of God. And lots of people know it’s true … but.
Remember the Parable of the Sower?
Mark 4:13-20 NLT “Then Jesus said to them, "If you can't understand the meaning of this parable, how will you understand all the other parables? 14 The farmer plants seed by taking God's word to others.
15 The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away.
16 The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. 17 But since they don't have deep roots, they don't last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God's word.
18 The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God's word, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.
20 And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God's word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!"
The thing about all this is, we choose. We do have a choice about what kind of seed we are.
We can choose to be footpath seeds that allow the devil to steal the Word from us.
We can chose to be rocky soil that doesn’t have the Word deeply rooted and fall away as soon as the pressures of life comes your way.
We can chose to be thorny soil that can have the Word crowded out or choked out by the worries of this life, or the desire for other things so that no fruit is produced.
Or, we can chose to be good soil that hears the Word, chose to buy into God’s alternative life style and way of living; and produce a huge harvest.
There are hundreds of benefits I could point out to you as you navigate your life down God’s path. And as we continue to walk down the Psalms 103 path, we will pick some out and talk about them.
But I want to end this by speaking about God’s personal promises to you.
2 Corinthians 1:20 says “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
2 Peter 1:4 “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
Conclusion: Every one of us has personal promises which the Lord has spoken over our lives based on our individual purposes and destiny. Those promises are consistent with the way God wants to bless and interact with us along the way.
I am here to tell you, don’t give up on God.
Don’t settle for second best
Don’t sale your birthright
I know it’s hard but you can do it
It may be too big for you, but is it too big for God?
Yes, I know we have to deal with setbacks
Yes, I know we have to deal with disappointments
Yes, I know we have to deal with reversals
Yes, I know we have to deal with heartache
Yes, I know we have to deal with storms and uncertainties
Yes, I know we have to deal with even our own failures, mistakes and sin issues.
But God is seeing us through and is setting us up on a solid rock.
God has not given up on you
God hasn’t fallen asleep
God hasn’t made a mistake by making a promise to you
God wants to remember you
He wants to remember you in your sickness
He wants to remember you in your poverty
He wants to remember you in your weakness
He wants to remember you in your troubles
He wants to remember you in your confusion
He wants to remember you in your struggles
He wants to remember you in your failing fight with sin
He wants to remember you in your storms of life.
He Remembers You!
God also wants you to remember him!
God also wants you to remember his benefits
God wants you to remember his benefit of Mercy
God wants you to remember his benefit of Forgiveness
God wants you to remember his benefit of Grace
God wants you to remember his benefit of Healing
God wants you to remember his benefit of Empowerment
God wants you to remember his benefit of overwhelming Joy
God wants you to remember his benefit of Everlasting Peace
God wants you to remember his benefit of Supernatural Fellowship
God wants you to remember his benefit of Spiritual Wisdom
God wants you to remember his benefit of Renewal
God wants you to remember his benefit of acceptance
God wants you to remember his benefit of power and purpose
And I am just getting started……..
