Tuesday, 1 September 2020
Title: Forget Not All His Benefits
By: Pastor Isaac Yim

Psalm 103: 1-5 (ESV)
1 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 iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Love brings out the best of each other but anger and hate bring out the worst of each other. A married couple came to talk to me about their marriage, which is about to fall apart. They hardly sat down. They started to attack each other. This went on for a good 30 to 40 minutes. “Can we just pause for a moment?” I requested. After a few quiet moments, I then asked, “Can you think of just one thing that is worthy of praise, or appreciation of each other?” There was complete silence for a good while. They had difficulty verbalizing words of praise for each other.

The Psalmist David in this Psalm was talking to himself. He was reminding himself to “Bless the Lord” and to “…forget not all his benefits.” Most of us are better at criticism than at praise. Normally, we ask God to bless us. But here when the Psalmist says “Bless the Lord”, the verb “bless” applied at this point to God, means to praise God with a strong sense of affection, as well as with gratitude. David is summoning his “soul” – his mind, his heart or his total being – to bless and praise God. “All that is within me” – David is saying, “I will give all that is within me to bless and praise God. I will give my heart, my will, my emotion and my affection literally to sing praises to the Almighty God”. The reason to do this is that God is worthy of all the praise and adoration that one can render with one’s total being.

I am reminded of Jesus’ healing of the ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19. Jesus tells them to go and show themselves to the priests. As they went, they were healed. “One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.” (Luke17: 15,16). This leper, so grateful for his healing, is enough to teach us about blessing the Lord.

David continues to talk to himself, “Whatever you do, don’t forget what God has done for you and the favours you have received from God.”

“Forget not all his benefits”; these earthly gifts from God include the following:

(1) Forgiveness of sin (v3)
(2) Recovery from sickness (v3)
(3) Deliverance from death (v4)
(4) Abundant lovingkindness and mercy (v4) (5) Food to sustain life (v5)

I encourage you to just stop, and take a few moments to bless the Lord for what He has done in your life. What about your relationship with your spouse, parents, and siblings? Can you find one thing that show your appreciation for them, instead of criticism?

Worship the Lord by listening to “10,000 Reasons” (Bless the Lord) by Matt Redman. https://youtu.be/DXDGE_lRI0E.

Prayer for Today

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for loving us, forgiving us, healing us, and delivering us from our difficult situation. Lord, sin has broken our relationship with you and with people closest to us. We ask for your forgiveness, and the forgiveness from those whom we have intentionally or unintentional hurt. Restore our relationship with you and with one another. Teach us to learn to look for opportunities to appreciate each other. Help us daily to count your blessings. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

星期二， 2020年9月1号
标题：不要忘记上帝的恩惠
作者：严以撒牧师
翻译：陈晓佩姐妹

诗篇 103:1-5〔大卫的诗。〕1我的心哪、你要称颂耶和华．凡在我里面的、也要称颂他的圣名。2我的心哪、你要称颂耶和华、不可忘记他的一切恩惠。3他赦免你的一切罪孽、医治你的一切疾病。4他救赎你的命脱离死亡、以仁爱和慈悲为你的冠冕。5他用美物、使你所愿的得以知足、以致你如鹰返老还童。

爱突显彼此最好的一面而愤怒和仇恨却突显了彼此最丑陋的一面。有一对夫妇找我谈关于他们几乎要破裂的婚姻。他们几乎未坐下就开始用言语彼此攻击。这情形持续了大概三十到四十分钟。“我们可以停一停吗？”我问。静默一段时刻后，我就问，“你们能想到一件值得彼此赞美或赞赏的事情吗？”有好一阵子他们完全沉默了。他们显得有点不善言辞去赞美对方。

诗人大卫在这诗篇里与自己对话。他提醒自己要 “称颂耶和华”和“…不可忘记祂的一切恩惠”。我们大部分人都善于批评多过赞美。通常，我们会求上帝祝福我们。可是这里当诗人说“你要称颂耶和华”，这个动词“称颂”此时是向着上帝，意思是带着深厚的感情和感恩来赞美上帝。大卫在呼唤他的“心灵” – 他的思想与内心或他的全人 – 去称颂和赞美上帝。“凡在我里面的”- 大卫的意思是说，“我把我内里的全掏出来称颂和赞美上帝。我奉上我的心、我的意志、我的情绪和我的情感全然地赞美全能神”。这么做是因为上帝配得人全心全意地给予祂一切的赞美和敬拜。

我想起了路加福音 17:11-19 提到耶稣医治十个长大痲疯的人。耶稣叫他们去把身体给祭司察看，他们去的时候就洁净了。内中有一个见自己已经好了、就回来大声归荣耀与上帝。又俯伏在耶稣脚前感谢他．这人是撒玛利亚人。（路17:15，16）这位长大麻疯的人，他充满感恩因为他得医治，这已经足够教导我们要称颂上帝。大卫继续对自己说，“无论做什么，不要忘记上帝为你所做的和从上帝领受的一切恩惠。”
“不可忘记祂的一切恩惠”；这些从上帝而得世上的好处包括：
(1) 罪孽得到赦免(v3)
(2) 疾病得到医治(v3)
(3) 从死亡得到拯救(v4)
(4) 丰盛的仁爱和慈悲(v4)
(5) 维持生命的食物供应(v5)

我鼓励你稍停下来，花一些时间去称颂上帝为你所成就的。你和你的伴侣、父母和兄弟姐妹的关系又如何呢？你能否找到一件事去表达你对他们的感激而不是批评？

聆听“一万个理由”来敬拜上帝（Bless the Lord）麦特瑞雷德曼 著

亲爱的天父，感谢祢爱我们、赦免我们、医治我们并帮助我们脱离困境。主啊，罪破坏了我们与祢的关系，以及我们与至亲的人的关系。我们求主的赦免，也求得到那些我们有意或无意伤害到的人的宽恕。恢复我们与祢的关系和我们与别人的关系。教导我们学习去寻找彼此欣赏的机会。帮助我们天天都数算祢的恩典。奉主耶稣的名求。阿们。