FORGET NOT ALL HIS BENEFITS 

By: Carole L. Haines 

I will be spending the next several posts focusing on a Psalm the Lord has brought forward to my heart as the perfect prayer. It is Psalm 103. It’s form and content are beautifully laid out to pray back to God. Praying His Word is always one way we can know that we are praying rightly. Let’s spend today reading through the whole Psalm out loud together.  

Psalm 103 

¹ Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 
2 Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— 
3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 
4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 
5 who satisfies your desires with good things  
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 
⁶ The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. 

⁷ He made known his ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel: 
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. 
9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever. 
10 He does not treat us as our sins deserve 
    or repay us according to our iniquities. 
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, 
    so great is his love for those who fear him. 
12 as far as the east is from the west,  
so far has he removed our transgressions from us. 

¹³ As a father has compassion on his children, 
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. 
14 For He knows how we are formed; He remembers that we are dust. 
15 The life of mortals is like grass; they flourish like a flower of the field. 
16 The wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. 
17 But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, 
    and his righteousness with their children’s children— 
18 with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. 

¹⁹ The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. 

²⁰ Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones  

who do his bidding, who obey his word. 
21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. 
22 Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion. 

Praise the Lord, my soul. 

This Psalm begins and ends with worship. In between we are given great details of God’s Character, His benefits and work in our lives. We are brought to humility in our understanding of His love and of our own frailty. Let us spend the end of this Year with Him in this Psalm and carry it into our New Year, our new beginnings.  Have a Blessed Day