Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—
Psalm 103:2
Talk to Your Soul
Psalm 103 opens with David doing something a little unusual. He's talking to himself. "Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name." He's not addressing God yet, and he's not addressing us. He's addressing his own soul, telling it what to do. And then in this verse he says it again, adding a warning. "Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits."
Forget not. That's a strange thing to have to tell yourself, until you realize how much of our discouragement is really just forgetting. David knows his own heart. He knows that the soul, left to itself, drifts toward amnesia. It forgets what God has done and remembers only what's wrong right now. So he takes himself in hand and says remember.
And then he lists what not to forget. The very next lines spell out the benefits. God "forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases," "redeems your life from the pit," "crowns you with love and compassion," and "satisfies your desires with good things." Notice these aren't abstractions. Forgiveness, healing, rescue, love, satisfaction. This is a King who does things for his people, in the body and in the soul, and David refuses to let himself forget a single one.
Remember on Purpose
If we're honest, we are all better at forgetting than remembering. We can carry the one criticism from a day full of encouragement, rehearse the one thing that went wrong and skip right over the ten that went right. Our souls tilt toward the negative on their own. Real gratitude almost never happens by accident. It has to be done on purpose, the way David does it here, by turning around and preaching to your own soul.
And notice that God's benefits include healing. In the Vineyard we take that seriously and still expect it, because the God of Psalm 103 hasn't changed. He forgives, and he heals, and he redeems, and he still does these things today. Remembering what he's already done is also how we build the faith to ask him for what he can still do.
Practically, this looks like actually naming God's benefits instead of leaving them vague. It looks like starting your prayers, some days, not with requests but with a list. Here's what you've forgiven. Here's what you've healed. Here's where you rescued me. It looks like talking to your own soul on a hard day, out loud if you have to, and telling it to remember. And it looks like keeping some record, a note in your phone, a line in a journal, so that future-you can't so easily forget.
My encouragement to you today is to remember on purpose. Take your soul in hand, and don't forget all his benefits. You have more of them than you're currently counting.
Prayer
Father, thank you for all your benefits, the ones we remember and the countless ones we've forgotten. You forgive our sins, you heal our diseases, you redeem our lives from the pit, and you crown us with love and compassion. Forgive us for how quickly we forget. Teach us to take our souls in hand and remember on purpose, and build our faith to trust you for what you can still do. Praise your holy name today. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.