The Benefits of God

This article "The Benefits of God" was taken from the Heart Magazine, April/May 1980.

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THE BENEFITS OF GOD

To claim and manifest God’s healing,
We must believe on the positives of His Word,
Not the negatives of the world.

Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille
HEART Magazine – April/May 1980, Volume 4, No. 2 – page 4 and 5

Psalm 103 is a tremendous example of knowledge and praise. Just reading it thrills the
heart of anyone who loves God. The beauty with which this psalm is set just from a human
point of view, without even thinking of its spiritual impact, should set at peace the soul of
any man or woman. For us as born-again believers, there are tremendous spiritual truths
hidden in this psalm that will elevate and enrich our lives as we learn them.
To understand the richness of this psalm, let’s look at it verse by verse.
Verses 1 and 2:
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

With my whole being I want to bless the Lord and bless His holy name. And let me know
forget all His benefits. Wouldn’t it be too overwhelming if verse 2 said, “Bless the Lord, O
my soul, and remember all His benefits?” Which one of us could possibly begin to remember
and then enumerate all the blessings, all the benefits, that we have received from God
through the years? None of us could. Therefore, in this tremendous psalm, God does not tell
us to remember all the benefits’ He simply asks us not to forget them all. “Bless the Lord, O
my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”

There are certainly some times that we can remember when He has benefited us. He has
called us out of darkness into the marvelous light of the gospel of redemption and salvation;
He has made His Word living and real to us; He has taught us the keys that are so beautifully
written in His Word, such as His Word is His will. How tremendous it is to just not forget
what we were at one time and what He has made us today. What joy it is to realize the grace
with which God has cared for us; He has loved us with an everlasting love, putting his hand
on us to somehow bring us into a life that many of us would have considered impossible. We
have had answers to prayer; we have had the privilege of ministering to people and seeing
God’s mighty deliverance performed in their lives; we have seen people’s lives changed
when we have taught them the Word of God, when this Word of God started to make sense
to them and they saw how beautifully it fits together.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” Just think of a few of them
and your heart will bubble with thanksgiving. The enthusiasm within your soul from
knowing that God has wrought these things within your life will indeed inspire you to “bless
his holy name.” How blessed we are!

Verse 3:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities [sins]…
Now there are many people who believe the first part of this verse but somehow, when
they get to the second part, they begin to doubt.
…who healeth all thy diseases.

Now logically, if any one person has a right to scratch out a part of a verse in the Word of
God, then every person has a right to scratch out whatever he chooses. But when one person
deletes or negates one verse and someone else deletes another verse, we no longer have the
Word of God. It is either all God’s Word or it isn’t. It is as simple as that. Just because one
verse or passage does not agree with your or my theology does not invalidate it or make it
any less God’s Word. It is not a question of whether the truth of God’s Word agrees with our
theology; it is a question of whether or not we agree with God’s Word.

Verse 3 of Psalm 103 very plainly says, “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth
all [without exception] thy diseases.” Does God forgive your sins? Of course He does. Well
then, can God also heal you? He must or He is a liar; but God is no liar. People may then
question, “Well, why doesn’t God heal everybody?” Healing for all is God’s will. But when
we failt o rise up to our rightful and legal privileges due to a variety of causes – the greatest
cause being a negative society where people talk about, expect and cope with negative things
– we fail to be healed. To claim and manifest God’s healing we must believe on the positives
of His Word, not the negatives of the world. If we would become immersed in the Word and
start living, we would find that God is still able to quiet down the nerves God is still able to
bring health and peace without antibiotics, sedatives, or alcohol.

Verse 4:
Who redeemeth thy life from destruction…

God redeems us from the destruction that is constantly around us – that which surrounds
us every day, that which endeavors to cut out lives short – God has redeemed our lives from
that type of destruction. And He adds to this safeness the warmth and love which makes life
enjoyable.

Verses 4 and 5:
4 …who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things;…

We are redeemed from a life of destruction, from a life of negatives – the frustrations, the
fears, the anxieties, He redeems us from these. Then He crowns us with loving kindness and
tender mercies and satisfies our mouths with good things.
…so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Here God’s Word is not talking about the fountain of youth Ponce de Leon was looking
for in Florida. If you are seventy-five, you cannot believe to be twenty. God set up the laws
of time. Therefore, once you are twenty-one, you cannot go back to being twenty in the
physical sense. He established the natural law of time, but He also set spiritual laws. In the
context of this tremendous psalm, the wonderful spiritual truth that “thy youth is renewed
like the eagle’s” means that no matter how old you are, you can constantly have the youthful
vigor and maintain that mental aliveness; you are not burdened down with the negatives of
other people of the same age. Young people are vivacious; they feel as though they can
conquer the world, as though they can trounce on any problem.

Until Bishop K.C. Pillai from India taught me the greatness of this figure of speech, to
have “thy youth renewed like the eagle’s” didn’t make sense to me. What does the eagle have
which renews his strength, and how does that relate to us? Well, this passage refers to an
Eastern belief regarding eagles. This belief is that this kind of eagle will periodically soar to
tremendous heights; and then, suddenly it will fold its wings under, head straight down, and
bomb into the sea with as much speed as it can generate. When the eagle surfaces it hasn’t
any feathers on its back so it must float back to shore and crawl in among the bushes until its
feathers grow out. Isn’t that something!

God renews our youth like the eagle’s. He renews our youth by enabling us to get rid of
anything that has held us back – all those old, dirty feathers: all those negatives, those fears,
those worries, those anxieties, all of the things that have burdened us down.
This renewal like an eagle’s is a benefit we should not forget. “…Forget not all his
benefits…” Think about how God has enabled us to drop off those things that at one time
disturbed us and, in many cases, overcame us. It must be as the Apostle Paul wrote in
Philippians 3:13 and 14: “…Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth
unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark…” Forgetting all the things
which are behind is the same general truth written in this psalm: “…so that thy youth is
renewed like the eagle’s.

”
Verses 6 and 7:
6 The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

Isn’t that terrific! Have you read in the Old Testament how God worked with Moses?
Aaron was given to Moses to be Moses’ mouthpiece. So God gave information to Moses,
who in turn told Aaron, who in turn told Pharaoh and the children of Israel. “He [God] made
known his ways unto Moses…” With a careful reading of the Old Testament, we note that
God told Moses why He did certain things, what His purposes, His intents, were. But God
never fully explained Himself to the children of Israel. He made known His ways unto
Moses, but all that the children of Israel ever saw were the acts of God. They believed God
because of the acts they saw and not because God went around explaining His actions to
them.

Verse 8-10:
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. [The figure of
speech here is anthropopatheia, attributing to God the human characteristic of anger.]
10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our
iniquities.

Verse 10 contains another figure of speech, exergasia. The same expression is stated two
different ways, which establishes the truth as unchangeable. That God does not deal with us
according to our sins includes the truth that He does not reward us according to our
iniquities. That truth is established.

Verse 11 and 12:
11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that
fear him [who have respect for Him, who love Him, who have awe for Him].
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions [sins,
iniquities] from us.

How far is the east from the west? Do you know that the east never meets the west? That
cannot be said of north and south. People, when we begin to see the greatness of God’s Word
and understand the way in which God dealt with us when He gave us remission and
forgiveness of sins, then we cannot help but be thankful to be alive and to be a part of God’s
love and wonderful power today. God is merciful beyond measure to those who respect Him.

Verse 13 and 14:
13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth [loveth] them that fear
[have awe or respect for] him.
14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

Thank God He does remember we are dust. It would be miserable if He didn’t remember
and understand us. Had God not known us, He never would have instituted the means by
which Christ came to redeem us and give us victory in our lives. God knows our frame. He
knows that our days are as grass. He knows that the wind passes over it and the place thereof
remembers it no more.

Verse 15-19:
15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no
more.
17But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear
him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;
18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do
them.
19 The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom [God’s
kingdom] ruleth over all.
God will have the ultimate say, He is the one who will have the final pronouncement.
And His mercy abounds to those that keep His commandments, His Word.
Then comes this powerful twentieth verse.
Verse 20:
Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments,
hearkening unto the voice of his word.

These verses talk about how God has redeemed us, how He has cast our sins from us as
far as the east is from the west, and that He has prepared His throne. His kingdom rules over
all. Therefore, “Bless the Lord, ye his angels [messengers; not angels, but people who speak
His Word], that excel in strength…” Our excelling in strength comes with our having cast off
all those things which have held us back, then setting our sights on the things of God with
singleness of mind and moving forth with the greatness of His Word. That is why we excel in
strength. It is His strength in us. Another scripture, Philippians 4:13, corroborates this by
saying, “I can do all things through Christ which [who] strengtheneth me.” God’s strength in
Christ in us is our strength.

Verse 21 and 22:
21Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.
22Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my
soul.

When we know the greatness of God’s Word and of His works, when we know that this
Word of God is accurate and life-giving, there is nothing to do but to say, “Bless the Lord for
His incomparable greatness. I have not forgotten all His benefits to me. I thank Him for
forgiving my shortcomings and for healing all my diseases. It is God who has crowned me
with lovingkindness and tender mercies in place of the world’s destruction; it is God who has
satisfied my mouth with good things and given me the renewed life of a youth. All God’s
messengers, all God’s ministers, all God’s hosts, all God’s works in all places of God’s
dominion praise His name. Bless the Lord, O my soul.” What a positive, uplifting psalm.
How thankful and blessed we are when we consider God as the great psalmist did.