“Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, 4 Who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, 5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. 7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel. 8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. 9 He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward 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 pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. 14 For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.”
Last week, my family and I, along with 148 or so other people, went to a church camp in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We had a wonderful time with 2 saved, a few others surrendering for baptism, and many others planning to commit more of their lives to the Lord. We had a chance to fellowship with missionaries from Ukraine and love on them for a bit.
But in the midst of all that, my wife and I had the opportunity to spend some time teaching the senior teen class. We were met with wonderful young people who used their talents to praise the Lord, had stood for the truth, and had suffered persecution in various degrees, and others were just getting started on their Jesus follower journey.
The number of broken homes that were represented was astonishing, and one particular young man told me he did not know where he would be sleeping or staying from week to week. One young man had been shot by his brother, and there were other young men who had to go home from camp and face fighting moms and dads and maybe even be called to testify against a parent or a sibling.
Wow, it was heartbreaking! It was truly only by the grace of God that these persons were saved and loved. For a brief moment, just a few days, they could get away, laugh, play, have a bit of peace, and know that Jesus loves them. As I pondered these things in the aftermath of camp, these verses came to mind. I shared them with our church this past Sunday, and I will share with you what we spoke about.
- Bless the Lord, verse 1
There is a chorus associated with this verse. Most of you can sing it in your head. We should have a practice of thanking the Lord and blessing Him for all that He does for us. God’s people should be grateful. It should exude from us in all aspects of our lives. I was challenged this week to be more thankful. I grew up in a solid, male-led, God-fearing home, and I am blessed that none of my siblings ever shot me or even at me.
Our church helps out a missionary in Pakistan, and they tell me of persons who are still sold into slavery; entire families are gone because of debt, and they have to work to pay off the debt. Others, Christians, have no rights. They can have and have had their homes raided by the Muslim communities; they are injured and their stuff taken with no recourse from the law.
Recently, I heard of a man who has begun to use his multi-million fortune to help buy these families out. He has rescued hundreds of families and is trying to raise the money and resources to free others. You and I in North America and even most of the Western hemisphere should see what the rest of the world lives like and be very, very thankful for all that God has blessed us with.
- Our Sins are Forgiven, verses 3, 9-12
If we had nothing else from the Lord – no food, no shelter, no help at all – the mere fact that our sins are forgiven and forgotten should be enough to drive us to a lifetime and lifestyle of gratitude. God not only forgives our sins, but He forgets them as well. He is not angry with us; verse 8 tells us that He is slow to anger. In Jesus, by His shed blood, you and I can have our sins forgiven and our entire sin debt removed by God forever.
This is a reason to be thankful. Not only that, but God has spoken to us via the scriptures (verse 7). We do not live in a vacuum; rather, we are given the information we need to obey God, serve Him, and honor Him. This is how we live out the life of gratitude.
On top of the forgiveness of our sins, God, we are told in verse 8, treats us with mercy, and not just mercy; we have ‘abounding mercy’ from Him. It is rich, full, never-ending, and certainly undeserved. We deserve His wrath and His disdain, BUT in Jesus, we have His mercy.
In verse 5, we are told that God gives us good things. Even the people in Pakistan have a reason to thank Him, and they do. I see their posts on various platforms, and I speak to them often. They are thankful and have smiles, and yet they live in tough situations. We could learn a lot, I think.
- We are Frail, at best, verses 13-14
For all of our bravado, we are just a few dollars’ worth of dust. Our bodies begin to die the moment we are born, and for the next 70 or 80 years, the process just keeps speeding up. Why would God have any concerns for us? We brought death on ourselves when our ancestors rebelled against the Highest.
Yet, Jesus came in this frame of dust to die for us; in Hebrews 12:1-2, we are told that He came ‘joyfully’; no one dragged Him to the cross. I challenged our church folks to make August the gratitude month; maybe get a journal and each day find a reason to thank God in a number corresponding to the date.
On August 1st, find one thing to be thankful for; on August 2nd, two things; onto the 31st, with 31 things on our list. How would that change our mindset? How would that change our outlook on life? How would that change our mental pain and our level of complaining?
Bless the Lord; let all of us Bless Him.
God bless you,
Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church
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