Jump Start # 2915
Psalms 103:2 “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits.”
Our verse today is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, from a technical sense, it is the middle verse in the King James Bible. There are 15,550 verses before this and 15,550 verses after this. Knowing that is interesting and might get you a few points in a game of trivia. However, knowing that won’t give you a leg up into getting into Heaven. I wonder sometimes if we have filled our heads with all kinds of fascinating tidbits about the Bible, but have failed to have our hearts touched and changed by the Lord.
This leads to the more important and interesting aspect of this verse. This verse is pointed towards the Lord. He wanted to remember all the benefits of God. He wanted to remember how God had been there for Him. He wanted to remember the blessings of the Lord. And, remembering these things would cause his heart to “bless” the Lord. Blessings do not only come from Heaven. They come from our soul as well. To bless the Lord is to praise Him. To bless the Lord is to honor and exalt Him.
Forget none of His benefits. Let’s run through a list of them:
· The gift of today. That is a blessing from the Lord. Use it well.
· The gift of health.
· The honor of being loved by God.
· The privilege of grace and forgiveness.
· The promises that God has made.
· The wonderful fellowship with God’s people.
· The joy of family and friends.
· The blessing of living in this country.
· The treasure of the Bible.
· The beauty of prayer.
· The blessing of having godly shepherds watching over us.
· The delight of worship.
· The honor of being called a child of God.
· The beauty of nature.
· The trust that God places upon us.
· The enduring nature of God’s kingdom.
· The powerful way God’s word works on our hearts.
· The beauty of how we have changed through Jesus Christ.
· The wonderful way forgiveness works among us.
· The kindness of the Lord.
· Prayers answered.
· Blessings we have not asked for such as rain and sunshine.
· The patience of God.
· The joy of singing hymns.
· The clear example and patterns God has left for us to follow.
· How God drives out fear, worry and doubt from our hearts.
· The resurrection of Jesus.
· What Heaven must be like.
Running through that list ought to put smiles upon our faces and a prayer of gratitude on our lips. God has been good to us. White or black, young or old, male or female, rich or poor—these truths and these blessings belong to us. God has been good to us.
Lists like this remind us. Lists like this takes us to deeper thoughts and longer lists and forgotten blessings. And, from this ought to arise a couple of things.
First, we ought to complain less. Look what the Lord has done for you! Stop looking at the other guy and lift your eyes heavenward. You are blessed. You are cared for. You are loved. Ancient Israel took their eyes off the Lord and started looking back to Egypt. They believed life in Egypt was better. They were the first revisionist of history. Had they forgotten? They were crying to get out of Egypt. Bricks made without straw. Oppressive labor. Slaves. And, they wanted to go back to that?
Second, we ought to worship God more. Not just on Sunday with others, but everyday. We ought to be thankful to the Lord. We ought to be submissive and obedient to the Lord. Our lives need to reflect hearts that love the Lord.
The middle verse—a great reminder of something that we ought never to forget.
Roger