The God of Who
By Kent Heaton
“Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103:1-5; A Psalm of David).
David knew the power of God’s presence. He had history with the Lord God. As a young man he learned to trust in his heavenly Father to protect, guide and bless him. Standing before Goliath was not the first giant he destroyed. The son of Jesse was a man of courage knowing the infinite blessings of the relationship he shared with the Lord from an early age. His whole being was fully devoted to the grace of God in revering the holy name of the Lord. In many of his prayers, David did not want to forget the benefits or blessings of what God had done for him. There are five things David praised his God for knowing that without the blessings from the Father he would be nothing.
“WHO forgives all your iniquities.” God forgives sin. David begins at the basic need of all men. The mercy of God to forgive the iniquities of the heart was difficult for David understand as it is for any man. He was a man after the heart of God but he battled with sin as the wretched man that he was. His deliverance came from the knowledge of the grace of God allowing a sinful creature to come into the presence of an Almighty God seeking forgiveness from sin. David not only begged for God’s kindness to be shown to remove his sin; he acknowledged the power of the Lord’s grace with a prayer of thanksgiving. Seeking to remove sin is essential and we should always be thankful that God hears our prayers. We praise the Lord because He is willing and just to forgive our transgressions and we glorify His name because of that benefit or blessing. Thank you God for Your forgiveness.
“WHO heals all your diseases.” The Lord God heals the body. David knew in the long ago the power of prayer. It was never a guarantee the children of God would live healthy lives without the pains of physical suffering. But David was not unaware the Lord promised to answer prayers for healing of diseases. He was thankful for the times of illness that prayer manifested itself in bringing about the healing power of the Creator. Prayer is pleading the promises of God and the Lord has promised to care for His children as He sees fit. Part of those promises is to believe He will grant the request of mortal man to receive a portion of health in the healing of the body. David was thankful for the answered prayers of the Lord as disease wracked the body bringing sorrow and pain. Prayer must be a petition for healing and it must also include a prayer of thanksgiving to bless the Lord for His kindness to heal the body. Thank you God for Your healing hand.
“WHO redeems your life from destruction.” Only from the hand of God will deliverance come. There is no God like Jehovah God. Standing before Goliath, David knew if victory was to come it would be by the hand of the Lord and not by his hand. He understood his feeble part was for the glory of God. The Lord used David as an instrument against those who oppose the glory of God. It would never enter the mind of David to brag about how by his own power he was able to destroy the giant. He told Goliath he was coming in the name of the Lord and that all Israel would know there was a true God to worship. The child of God must be thankful the Father is willing to fight the battles against Satan and defeat the works of wickedness through His own power. The Lord redeems His children from the wiles of the devil. He will not allow the temptations of the flesh to conquer His saints and by His grace offers a way of escape. Sin comes about when the path of escape is ignored. God is willing to redeem the soul from destruction because He has all power and authority to rule over sin. Only by His grace are we saved. Thank you God for saving us.
“WHO crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies.” God’s grace is so abundant and full. The Lord not only bestows His blessings on His children, He crowns them with His love. No father has shown parental love to his children like the Lord God Almighty. The joy of being a child of God is to be crowned with all of the love of God to forgive sins, bless the soul, rejoice the heart and instill in the mind of His children the eternal promise of life with Him. Love is the central theme of God sending His Son to die for man and that same love expresses itself in the lives of His children through forgiveness and grace. David was so thankful the relationship he shared with God was filled with the kindness of God and willingness to remove the stain of sin from his life. There is no father like the heavenly Father who loves His children so incredibly and the glory of showing that love through His Son. Thank you God for your lovingkindness and mercy.
“WHO satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” There is great satisfaction from the Lord of good things that strengthen the aging spirit with youthful energy. If the skies above were parchment and the ocean a well of ink unending, it would be impossible to write the story of God’s blessings for men in a thousand lifetimes. David exalted in the praise of what his Lord had done for him in his life. He knew how the Lord was working in his life and he understood his heavenly Father would never leave him or fail him. There were no words to describe how he felt. It invigorated the spirit of David to ponder the blessings of God. The Lord forgave his sins, healed his body from disease, redeemed his life from destruction, crowned him with His loving kindness and tender mercies; and all David could do was to praise, praise and praise the Lord more and more and more. Nothing could compare to the love David had for God. His God was a God of WHO – who did so many things for him. Bless the Lord, all His works, in all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul.
All Along
By Stephen Auman
When it seems that I’m in
A nighttime of darkness
From God
Or a winter of cold
From Him,
I probably only need to change
My position
Or my attitude,
As the Earth does,
To find that light
And warmth
Have been streaming over me
All along.
“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. (Helen Keller)