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Among the most important verbs to put into practice in the Christian life is remembering. The call for us to “remember” shows up throughout the entirety of the Scriptures. As early as Exodus, we are commanded to “remember this day in which you came out from Egypt” (Ex. 13:3). We are told to remember the word of Moses (Josh. 1:13; Mal. 4:4). Repeated is the command to “remember the wondrous works” of the Lord (1 Chron. 16:12). In the new covenant, we are told to remember Jesus’ words (Luke 24:6–8; John 15:20; Acts 20:35). When we partake of the new covenant sacrament of communion, we are told to do it in remembrance of Jesus (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24).
These are but a few of the many times that we are called to “remember” from Genesis to Revelation. The repetition of the command is instructive. This repetition tells us that we are a forgetful people who need to discipline our minds to stay on God, His works, and His ways. Our minds do not naturally drift toward a faithful recalling of God’s glory and grace but need purposeful training. We must devote ourselves to bringing to mind the good, the true, and the beautiful with each passing day.
Numbered among Scripture’s frequent calls for God’s people to remember is Psalm 103. In this psalm of David, we read, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (v. 2, emphasis added). The rest of the psalm walks through many of these “benefits,” those blessings that the Lord has given in Himself and through His work. While these categories do not perfectly capture all the benefits listed in this psalm, the blessings that we are called to remember could be summarized by the call to (1) remember God’s salvation (vv. 3–5), (2) remember God’s fatherly care (vv. 6–14), and (3) remember God’s sovereignty (vv. 15–19). The psalm ends with a final call to “Bless the Lord” directed at His angels, His hosts, His works, and oneself.
Remember His salvation
David first takes our minds toward the fact that in the Lord there is redemption undeserved. This is the Lord who forgives iniquity, heals diseases, and redeems our life from the pit. The Lord is the One who saw our helpless estate and moved us from ruin to riches—who “redeems your life from the pit” and instead “crowns you with steadfast love and mercy” (v. 4). It is no wonder, then, that David climaxes this poetic section with the concluding remark that it is the Lord who satisfies us with that which is good.
Remember His fatherly care
David draws our attention from the way that the Father has redeemed us as His people to the way that He continually cares for us as a loving father would care for his children. Verse 13 serves as a summary of this section: “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.” God, our Father, knows “our frame,” and He Himself “remembers that we are dust” (v. 14). It is God’s familiarity with our fickleness and frailty that makes it grace upon grace that He “works righteousness” in our direction (v. 6).
Remember His sovereignty
The reason that God can bring us out from the pit of our misery that we have made of our lives and the reason that He can have the grace not to deal with us according to our iniquities is that “the Lord has established his throne in the heavens” and that “his kingdom rules over all” (v. 19). While the days of man are like grass (v. 15), the Lord and His love are “from everlasting to everlasting” (v. 17).
As readers considering Psalm 103 on this side of the cross, we should recognize that all three of these benefits reach their climax in the person and work of Christ. If David points our attention to the benefits of God’s salvation, His fatherly care and His sovereignty reflect how these benefits culminate in Christ.
As for salvation, in verse 10, David tells us that God “does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.” What David knew in part, we now know in whole: the imputed righteousness of Christ and His life in place of ours that show in full that God truly deals with us not according to our sins but according to His Son’s righteousness.
As for God’s fatherly care: In verse 13 David calls us God’s children—a title that reaches its fullest beauty as we, Paul says, receive the Spirit of adoption in the Son (Rom. 8:15–17; Gal. 4:4–7). As the Spirit unites us to the Son, the script of the Son—“Abba! Father!”—now belongs on our lips, for in the union with our Elder Brother Jesus, we now have bold access to the Father through adoption as His children.
As for His sovereignty, in Psalm 103:19, David proclaims that God’s “kingdom rules over all.” John tells us that the kingdom of the Lord “shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15). Not only is Christ sovereign over every nation and inferior kingdom, but He has also put even death, sin, and hell itself under His feet in defeating each.
The result of remembering the Lord and all His benefits is the heart of Psalm 103:20–22—a heart that is eager to say, “Bless the Lord.” In recalling the infinite riches we get in Christ, we will join the chorus of all creation—visible and invisible alike—saying, “Bless the Lord, O my soul!” (v. 22). This song springs most fervently within our soul when we realize that the greatest benefit we get in the Lord is the Lord Himself.