By Alan Dean,
retired Seventh-day Adventist pastor
Psalms 103:2 says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.” This year may be a more difficult year to be thankful if you’ve been in a lockdown, or lost a job, or lost a loved one, or suffered from sickness. But a thankful person still remembers all God’s benefits toward him. Psalms 103 lists some benefits we often forget: forgiveness of our sins, healing from disease, our redemption from destruction, God’s great love and mercy, and God’s compassion toward us. If we read God’s Word every day, we will be reminded of these less-tangible blessings that will help us to be thankful.
Psalm 103 was written by David. David had a rather hard life in general, but he was remembering God’s benefits as he wrote this psalm. This attitude of thankfulness in difficult times is what made David “a man after God’s own heart.”
Sometimes we have to experience difficulties that people experience elsewhere before we appreciate the benefits we have at home. For example, at a young age I spent 2 years in the Peace Corps working with the Peruvian Forest Service, helping to plant trees in poor Indian communities in the high country of the Andes. I traveled a fair amount in my work to the various communities. The dirt roads there were poorly maintained and had ruts and holes all along. Meeting a car or pickup was risky on the narrow, sharp, blind curves. Accidents were common.
When I arrived back in the United States, the roads seemed so smooth and wide. My mother was complaining once about some post-winter potholes, but I assured her that the road we were traveling would be considered a high quality one where I had worked. I was thankful for our roads.
In our current pandemic we can be thankful for not only good roads, but good autos, nice homes, our families, our many conveniences, and, as David wrote, the many benefits that our Lord provides us daily and for our future life. Recounting our blessings will lead to a more positive attitude and help us live more contented lives.
