| #93 "All His Benefits #2" April 24, 2007 "Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits -- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases..." (Psalm 103: 2-3) Last week we began our study of Psalm 103. We learned that we must praise God for who He is and for all that He has done for us. We learned that we are to praise Him with our entire beings. Remember entering His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise? Did you get into the throne room of the King this week? Did you remember all that He has done for you, thank Him for it and get in the gates? Did you praise Him, wholeheartedly, and receive entrance into His courts? I hope so. I left you last week with the command of God's word to "forget not all His benefits." To review, the Hebrew meaning of "benefits" are the dealings of God's hand to you. Well, my friend, that was the appetizer. I pray that you're hungry for more. Let's get into the next course of our spiritual meal and see just what some of those benefits are. Verse 3 tells us that God, "forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases." Right here, David begins to praise God for his personal blessings. Let's look at these benefits one at a time. "Who forgives all your sins"--- Take a look at three other translations: "[God] who is forgiving all thine iniquities." (Young's Literal Translation); "Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities". (Amplified Bible); and "He forgives your sins - every one." (The Message) The Hebrew word used for "forgives" is "calach". It means to pardon, to spare. God forgives you. He pardons you. He spares you from the just penalty that your sins deserve. Isn't that the essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Our sins demand judgement and punishment before a holy God, but we learn that we are forgiven in Christ. Isaiah 53: 5 says this, "But He was pierced for our transgressions (pesa-rebellion), He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him.." Notice two things with me. First, notice that it says "all your sins". It does not say, "some of your sins" or "most of your sins" or "all of them except that big one" or even not "all of them but the one you're in now." The Bible says, ALL. That's every last one. "All" means the whole amount or quantity of. This may seem like the milk of the Word, but until we grab a hold of this truth, we will never be ready for the solid food of the mature believer. (see Hebrews 5: 13-14) If you are still allowing the devil to beat you up over your sins, or if you are still beating yourself up....live on this verse of Scripture until it becomes real to you. I don't care what you've done. I don't care what you may be doing right now. The Word says that He forgives it all. I believe that there is someone out there, right now, that needs to hear those words. You are forgiven!! I love the Young's Literal Translation above. It says, God "is forgiving all thine iniquities." That's the present tense. We know that our sins were forgiven on the Cross at Calvary. One of my commentaries says this, "God is still forgiving-as we are still sinning and repenting." It's a continual process and God is faithful. He will continue to forgive until we go home to Glory. "...and heals all your diseases" : Again, let's look at the other translations. "Who is healing all thy diseases" (Young's Literal Translation); "Who heals [each one of] your diseases." (Amplified Bible); and "He heals your diseases - every one." (The Message) Again, remember "ALL". The whole amount or quantity of. The Hebrew word for "heals" is "raphah" from which we get one of the names of God, "Jehovah Raphah". "Raphah" means to cure, cause to heal, repair, make whole. It pictures a physician. The verb root expresses the thought emphatically...God heals thoroughly! It is also a picture of mending by stitching. God, the Divine physician, stitching and mending YOU back together again. Taking what is sick, what is broken, what is shattered, what is diseased and mending you into wholeness and perfect health. Dr. Arthur T. Pierson once said in a sermon preached in London, England, that one of the marked proofs of our failure to live up to the light we have, is found in our failure to obey the commandment in James' epistle, "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and pray over him." We rush at once to secure human aid, forgetting even to pray as we go, or that He who formed us and through whose blessing alone the human means can be effective, is "OUR PHYSICIAN." That leads me to the next thing that I want to say. This healing thing is where it gets tricky. Maybe it's because of the bad rap "healing ministries" have gotten in the last few years. The way that I see it is that we readily believe that all of our sins are forgiven. We have no problem believing that God will supply our material needs. We believe for salvation for our loved one. We believe for deliverance from addictions. We believe for all kinds of things, but we fail to believe that God really is a God who heals ALL of our diseases. Did you agree with the Word spoken above that says God forgives ALL of your sins? Do you shout Amen! and Hallelujah! to that? Well, the same Bible, the same Word of God, follows that statement with "[He] heals ALL your diseases." You either believe the Bible or you don't. Does God heal or doesn't He? The Bible says that He does. God says it....to me that settles it! Isaiah 53: 4 says, "Surely He took up [carried] our infirmities." Literally, the infirmities were our sickness. Later in verse 5, it says, "by His wounds we are healed." Psalm 107 tells us that God sends forth His Word and heals us. He delivers the sick from death and restores us to health. In Exodus 15: 26, God Himself says, "I am the Lord, who heals you." I don't think the problem lies in God's word. I think it lies in our inability, for some reason, to not believe His Word! I am not here to debate the question of why some folks don't get healed. I am just saying that God in His Word, by His Holy Spirit, says that He heals all of our diseases and He calls Himself my Healer. I must choose to believe that and not waver from that truth. It is my responsibility to believe and obey the Word of God. It is God who is responsible for the consequences of my belief and obedience. I hope that you're enjoying the main course of your meal. Now rest between bites. Don't gulp it down too fast just because it tastes delicious. Allow the nutrients and nourishment of what you've just read to be absorbed into your spirit this week. Rest in these truths a little before next week when we feed some more on God's wonderful benefits. Yes, there are more! In a few weeks, I promise you, you are going to be so full. This is manna from heaven that you're eating. If your spirit is denied this heavenly food, you will become spiritually weak. Let's eat this manna, be strong, and live! Hungrier than ever, Donna Schultz See www.tuesdayswithjesus.blogspot.com for archives. If you would prefer to not receive these e-mails, please let me know at savemom@aol.com. Feel free to forward them as the Lord leads you and if others would like to receive it, e- mail savemom@aol.com to be added to the list. If you are viewing this on Blogger.com and would like to receive "Tuesday's with Jesus" in your e-mail box each Tuesday, please e-mail Savemom@aol.com and you will be added to the list. |
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