All God’s Benefits
Psalm 103:1–22
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Psalm 103:2
Why should a person bless (praise) God? Because of “all his benefits.” David lists what he means by God’s benefits in verses 3–5.
1. Forgiveness of sins (v. 3). This is the greatest of all gifts that we can receive from God, and the first we need to have. It is true that we need to remember to thank God for our homes and jobs and wealth and all our material possessions. But where would we be if we were to acquire all these things and lose our souls? The forgiveness of our sins is the greatest benefit any of us can ever receive from God, and we can receive it only because God gave his Son over to death on the cross to procure it for us.
2. Healing (v. 3). The second thing the writer is thankful for is healing, indeed healing of “all” his diseases. This verse has played an important but unwarranted role in some systems of theology that stress what is called “healing in the atonement,” meaning that if we have been saved from sin by Christ, we have been healed or have a right to be healed of any physical affliction too. This is bad theology, because it is simply not true that those who have been forgiven for sin are spared or have a right to be spared all diseases. Believers do get sick, and many passages teach that God has his purposes in the sicknesses.
What does the sentence mean then? David is saying that when we are healed, as we often are, it is God who has done it. He is the healer of the body as well as of the soul. Therefore, such health as we have been given is a sure gift from God. God should be praised for it.
3. Redemption from the pit (v. 4). When David says that God redeems our lives from the pit, he is saying that God brings us back from the very brink of death. The “pit” is Sheol, where the dead go when they die. As far as he himself is concerned, he does not mean that God has rescued him from Sheol by taking him to heaven, for he is not in heaven yet. He means that God has redeemed him by sparing him from death, presumably by healing his diseases.
4. Satisfaction with good things (v. 5). And it is not a matter of a mere rescue either, as if our lives are spared but, so far as anything else is concerned, our lives are miserable. No. God satisfies us with good things “so that [our] youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Hasn’t that been your experience? Can’t you praise God for an abundance of good things that he has graciously brought into your life?
Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865
Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.