We often are not thankful for ALL the things, and situations that God has given to us.
David starts Ps 103 by saying,
Ps. 103:1 Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Many commentators feel that David wrote this Psalm later in his life. The reason for this thought process is because the older we get the more it seems we appreciate what we have. He is exhorting his very soul to praise the Lord because as Spurgeon says, “Soul music is the very soul of music”. In all praise there is an element of joy. David doesn’t want to forget to be thankful to God for all he has been given. “Half-hearted, ill-conceived, unintelligent praises are not such as we should render to our loving Lord” Says Spurgeon. We must praise the Lord with all of our souls and minds.
2 Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-
It’s interesting that David writes 2 times “Praise the Lord, O my souls”. Since the Bible tells us not to be repetitive David is not just saying this to repeat it w/o meaning, but to remind him doubly to Praise the Lord.
Then he says “Forget not all His benefits”. Thinking about all of God’s benefits to us is daunting task. Spurgeon said “Memory is very treacherous, or unfaithful, about the best things; by a strange perversity, engendered by the fall, it treasures up the refuse, or garbage, of the past and permits priceless treasures to lie neglected, it is tenacious of grievances and holds benefits all too loosely. It needs spurring to its duty, though that duty ought to be its delight”.
How true this is. We forget the very best moments of our lives right after they happen and then when someone mistreats us we remember that for days. It should be our delight, our ultimate joy, to recount the benefits of God, but instead it is work because of the fall. We must do this great work and this will take exercise. We need to write down the goodness of God and then go back and reread it later that day. This is what the OT was to the Jews, a reminder of the goodness and faithfulness of God; they had markers.
Do you have markers? Do you look at them? There is almost no more shameful name that someone can call you than “ingrate”. Are you and ingrate? Or are you thankful, truly thankful?
Let us all be joyful in whatever circumstance we are in.
Everything, by Chris Tomlin
With rain, with sun
With much, with less
With joy, with pain
With life, with death
The only things that satisfy come from You
They come from You
Everything that's beautiful
Everything that's wonderful
Every perfect gift comes from You
Your grace, Your heart
Your voice, Your touch
Your word, Your peace
Your hope, Your love
A thousand words could not explain
A thousand worlds could not contain
Every perfect gift comes from You
It comes from the Father of Lights
It comes from the Giver of Life
It comes from the Heavens above
It's coming straight from Your heart
To the people You love
Click here to read the next part, "How's Your Connectivity?"
David starts Ps 103 by saying,
Ps. 103:1 Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Many commentators feel that David wrote this Psalm later in his life. The reason for this thought process is because the older we get the more it seems we appreciate what we have. He is exhorting his very soul to praise the Lord because as Spurgeon says, “Soul music is the very soul of music”. In all praise there is an element of joy. David doesn’t want to forget to be thankful to God for all he has been given. “Half-hearted, ill-conceived, unintelligent praises are not such as we should render to our loving Lord” Says Spurgeon. We must praise the Lord with all of our souls and minds.
2 Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-
It’s interesting that David writes 2 times “Praise the Lord, O my souls”. Since the Bible tells us not to be repetitive David is not just saying this to repeat it w/o meaning, but to remind him doubly to Praise the Lord.
Then he says “Forget not all His benefits”. Thinking about all of God’s benefits to us is daunting task. Spurgeon said “Memory is very treacherous, or unfaithful, about the best things; by a strange perversity, engendered by the fall, it treasures up the refuse, or garbage, of the past and permits priceless treasures to lie neglected, it is tenacious of grievances and holds benefits all too loosely. It needs spurring to its duty, though that duty ought to be its delight”.
How true this is. We forget the very best moments of our lives right after they happen and then when someone mistreats us we remember that for days. It should be our delight, our ultimate joy, to recount the benefits of God, but instead it is work because of the fall. We must do this great work and this will take exercise. We need to write down the goodness of God and then go back and reread it later that day. This is what the OT was to the Jews, a reminder of the goodness and faithfulness of God; they had markers.
Do you have markers? Do you look at them? There is almost no more shameful name that someone can call you than “ingrate”. Are you and ingrate? Or are you thankful, truly thankful?
Let us all be joyful in whatever circumstance we are in.
Everything, by Chris Tomlin
With rain, with sun
With much, with less
With joy, with pain
With life, with death
The only things that satisfy come from You
They come from You
Everything that's beautiful
Everything that's wonderful
Every perfect gift comes from You
Your grace, Your heart
Your voice, Your touch
Your word, Your peace
Your hope, Your love
A thousand words could not explain
A thousand worlds could not contain
Every perfect gift comes from You
It comes from the Father of Lights
It comes from the Giver of Life
It comes from the Heavens above
It's coming straight from Your heart
To the people You love
Click here to read the next part, "How's Your Connectivity?"
No comments:
Post a Comment