F.E. Marsh :: 7. A Golden Chain of Blessing

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“BLESS the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103:1-5). Notice seven things in these verses that the Psalmist blesses God for:―

1. Forgiveness. All, not some of, the past sins forgiven, and not only so, but forgotten. In the eleventh of Hebrews, where we have recorded what faith has done, there is not a single word about the failures of these Old Testament saints. Why is this? Because, in the tenth chapter, God had said, “Your sins and iniquities I will remember no more.”
2. Healing. It is the privilege of the child of God to know, that He can, if He wills, heal us of all our bodily as well as spiritual diseases.
3. Redemption. Not only past sins forgiven, but deliverance from the power of sin, and soon from its presence.
4. Lovingkindness. Some people will do a kindness out of mere benevolence, but there is no love with it; not so with our Father. Recently, we saw an advertisement of a certain paper, which said it was the brightest, biggest, and best. Whether that is so or not, it is not for us to say; but we do know this, that our Heavenly Father gives the brightest, biggest, and the very best He has to give to us. Hence, in speaking, we have to get all the adjectives we can to express in some measure what He gives. His love is great love; His kindness is lovingkindness; His mercy is tender, great, plenteous, and everlasting.
5. Tender Mercies. Not doles of charity, but mercies given out of His loving, Fatherly heart, by virtue of His Son’s work, and enjoyed in the Spirit.
6. Satisfaction. One of the Puritans has said that “man’s heart is a triangle, so that if the whole world were in it, there would be still three corners left unfilled.” But the believer has the work of Christ to satisfy his conscience, the word of the Father to assure his mind, and the presence of the Holy Spirit to fill his heart, so that there is not a single corner unoccupied.
7. Renewing. I remember a friend saying once, when going to a place to hold special meetings, “We are looking for a revival;” and I replied that it showed they were in a bad state, as the Christian should live in a revival. Our inward man is, or should be, renewed day by day, not only when an evangelist is holding special meetings.