I had decided about a week ago that I will write to you about what king David said in Psalm 103:2. Divinely orchestrated, my heart is so in the posture of gratitude more than ever today because my church and I just concluded our annual 70-day fasting and prayer program and God literally saw me through the seventy days. I remember when I started, I asked for a lot of help from the Holy Spirit because it seemed like a lot of struggle initially until it got to a point, my body got so used to it. I am so grateful God helped me through the 70-day fast, super elated to say the least! More so, God did wondrous things for me in the middle of the fast as well.
Therefore, just like king David, “Bless the Lord O my soul, Abimbola, and forget not all his benefits“.
Now that I have shared bits and pieces of my testimony with you, permit me to write to you from my inspiration from the Psalmist’s prayer in Psalm 103:2 – Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. As I read through this verse a couple of weeks ago, it occurred to me that king David perhaps had written this Psalm in the middle of one of his terrible ordeals with life. But he had to call himself in order, remind himself of how good God had been great to him. Hence, a key phrase in the verse is – forget not. Or perhaps I am wrong and king David was in his element and he wrote this particular Psalm.
Nonetheless, I choose to believe that the former was the case because if you look down the chapter, we can see pointers to things God had done in the past. It looks like he was reminding himself of the greatness of Jehovah, our Lord. From David’s life and his lifestyle, we can learn to cultivate the attitude and posture of gratitude towards God regardless of the things that we go through, regardless of the things that we are yet to receive from God but we have prayed for. Asides from making God happy with this posture, maintaining and staying in this posture does our souls, spirit, and bodies a lot of good.
Many times, we allow ourselves to get so overwhelmed by the negatives happening around us. Other times, we allow ourselves to get overwhelmed with the great things that we hope for, things we await to come to us in just a matter of time. Today I am writing to you to take a moment right now to think and marvel at the great things God has done for you while you allow gratitude to well up from the depth of your soul. Let your worship pour out in gratitude to your maker. And as you continue from this present posture of yours, I encourage you to never forget the benefits the good Lord has bestowed on you. How can you do so?
You should have a journal where you write about the seasons of your life: Many times, when I go back to read the things I have written and I reminisce on those seasons, I sometimes can’t help but smile at growth and God’s goodness. I can bet that king David did the same as he always journaled almost all of his dealings through the seasons of his life.
Seek God and See God in every Season of your life: You know I saw three verses this week that blew my mind. Psalms 105 verses 17 through 19 and reads and I paraphrase – God sent someone to Egypt ahead of them(Israelites) – Joseph who was sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with fetters and placed his neck in an iron collar. Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character. It blew my mind because it occurred to me that God allowed Joseph to go through all he went through for a reason. A bigger purpose than he could have imagined- God sent Joseph ahead so that he would save his family and the whole world from famine about thirteen years later on. Also, God allowed Joseph to go through everything he did in order to mold, shape, and define his character. Perhaps Joseph sought God and saw God through his ordeal hence he served as a slave and a prisoner happily and joyously knowing that everything was working out for his good and even the good of his family. Therefore, my dear friend, in all that you go through -seek God, and more than often you would see Him working it all for the greater good. And it only makes sense to joy through the temporal season leading to the season you await.
Focus on God’s word and anchor your entirety to it: God’s word is ever sure and He honors His word above His name- Psal 138:2. Through the Psalms that king David wrote, we can see instances where he is reiterating and reminding himself of God’s word to Him and the nation of Israel. I can also imagine Joseph doing the same as well as he journeyed through his life. Let us imbibe these great men of God as well, let us receive God’s word for our seasons, hold on to it, believe it, pray it, and praise God while you believe it till it comes to fruition.