Don’t Forget His Benefits
Scripture:
“Praise the Lord, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
—Psalm 103:1–5 (NIV)
When was the last time you told your soul what to do? It might sound strange, but sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is talk to ourselves. That’s exactly what David is doing here, stirring up his own heart to worship. Not with a passing “thank you,” but with everything he has: “Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name.” And then he adds something we need to hear just as much: “Forget not all His benefits.” Why? Because it’s easy to forget. Life moves fast. Problems get loud. And if we’re not intentional about remembering, we’ll lose sight of all the ways God has already shown up.
“Gratitude is an offering precious in the sight of God, and it is one that the poorest of us can make and be not poorer but richer for having made it.”1 — A.W. Tozer
And the list David gives us is worth slowing down for. He forgives all our sins, not some, not most, but all. He heals our diseases. He lifts us out of the pit of despair. He crowns us with love and compassion. He satisfies our desires with good things and somehow, in the middle of all of it, renews our strength. That’s not a generic God handing out generic blessings. That’s a personal God who knows exactly what you’ve been through and exactly what you need. He made you, He sees you, and He has been at work in your life in ways you may have already started to forget.
So what has He done for you? Not in a general sense, but personally. What pit did He pull you out of? What did He come through on just in time? What moment of grace showed up when you had nothing left? Sometimes we need to sit our own soul down and say, “Don’t forget. Don’t let that moment pass you by. Don’t take it for granted.” Gratitude isn’t just a feeling, it’s a discipline. And when we practice it intentionally, something shifts. The noise gets a little quieter. The problems feel a little smaller. And the goodness of God comes back into focus.
That’s what praise does. It reorients us. It reminds us who God is and what He has done, and it fills us back up with the kind of hope that circumstances can’t touch. So today, don’t rush past this. Let gratitude rise up from the deepest part of who you are. Praise Him for what He’s done, for what He’s doing, and for who He is.
Reflection
1. What specific benefit from this psalm speaks most personally to you today, and why?
2. Is there a moment of God’s faithfulness in your own life that you’ve allowed yourself to forget? What was it?
3. What would it look like to build a daily rhythm of intentional gratitude and praise into your life?
Prayer
Thank God for His faithfulness and generosity. Ask Him to help you slow down and remember the specific ways He has shown up in your life. Pray that your heart would stay soft, thankful, and full of praise for the God who never stops blessing you.
Footnote
¹ A.W. Tozer, “Signposts,” Christianity Today, Vol. 39, No. 13.