Have you ever regretted asking someone how their new job is going and whether they are satisfied with the perks and benefits the employer offers? It’s like unplugging a clogged pipe. With considerable force, it spews out. There aren’t enough words to describe the intensity of their pent-up feelings. “Sickeningly stingy! Pathetically mean! Downright cheap!”
Often people aren’t thrilled with their employer’s benefits package. To call it ‘bare bones’ would be an understatement. Others get four weeks paid vacation; generous sick time; medical and dental benefits; a rich pension plan; job security; severance, etc. –but they don’t. When they think about it, bitterness rages in their mind. All they can think of are their puny and stingy benefits.
The Psalmist David was thinking about his benefits package – if I can call it that respectfully, and he could hardly contain himself. He erupted – but it wasn’t dirt and sludge that spewed out. When the cap was taken off, David erupted in a fountain of thankful praise.
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 iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103:1-5
Too often, we are focused on the bad things in life – the disappointments; the family problems; the hurts and emotional wounds; the hard times and the financial distress; the issues in the local assembly; illness and everything else. Of course, all those things are painfully real.
David had his share of problems too, but when he got alone with God, it seemed his spirits were lifted. Perhaps he was taking a stroll beside a flowing river, resting at an ancient well, or sitting on a hill overlooking a picturesque valley. Maybe he was on his knees beside his bed at the crack of dawn – alone with his God.
Quiet. Alone. Reflective. Thinking and communing with the Lord. Breathing out a line here and there. One minute a confession of his failures, and the next, a confession of his love for the Lord. Perhaps his thoughts were scattered. Maybe it was not an orderly prayer at the start. Sometimes our minds can be incredibly scrambled when we start to pray. But then, as we call out to the Lord and have our spirits renewed in His presence, we begin to focus.
Have you ever started to pray, and for the first little while, all you do is keep wiping the tears from your eyes, but by the time you’re finished, you can’t wipe the smile away?
David was basically saying: “With every ounce of energy and every fibre of my being and every faculty of my person – I want to bless and praise You, Lord, for ALL Your benefits! The benefits of which I am aware, such as the forgiveness of my sins and Your ability to heal my sicknesses, but also the umpteen dozen times You have preserved me from injury, accident and death. And, how can I calculate the debt I owe when I think of my life being redeemed from the pit?”
Most of the time, we aren’t even aware of the calamities, the accidents and the illnesses from which He has preserved us. We only know about the obvious close calls. And is that all? What about the other innumerable blessings and benefits of having an eternal relationship with the Almighty?! When David mentions the redemption of his life from the pit, it is highly likely he was thinking of the glorious expectation of a future resurrection to eternal life.
The Apostle Paul not only wrote about what we experientially enjoy here and now but what awaits us in the future: “that in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:7.
Dear Christian, as you move on with the rest of your day, don’t forget ALL His benefits – now and forever.
Don’t hesitate to share a thought from your personal experience in the comment section below. Or, if you would like to reach out privately, click below.
