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:

To "bless" is more than to praise. It is to praise with affection and gratitude.

all that is within me....

David did not want to give God a half-hearted praise. He must give God all with all that he is. He must praise God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength.

He must praise God with his intellect, emotion, feeling, sentiment, etc.

1: Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, (all that I am) bless his holy name.

Then he ends this Psalm by calling all to join him and bless the Lord with him.

20: Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. 21: Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. 22: Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.

But in order to do that, David says, we must remember all the benefits or blessings God has so freely and abundantly showered upon us.

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:

Let all that I am praise the LORD and never forget the good things He does for me.

Psalm 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

He speaks to us of the central benefit of the forgiveness of our sins.

3: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; 4: Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; 5: Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. 6: The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.

David explains here what he means by benefits, and enumerates them. He begins with the blessing of forgiveness. It is the first thing he is thankful for, since without forgiveness all other blessings will mean nothing.

David goes on to explain to us that this forgiveness is rooted in God's tender mercy

8: The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. 9: He will not always chide: (scold, rebuke, find fault) neither will he keep his anger for ever. 10: He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

Forgiveness is rightly ascribed to God; for none can forgive sins but God.

Luke 5:21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?

What kind of forgiveness does God give?

1. It is an ongoing forgiveness

It is not said who has forgiven, and will forgive, though both are true; but "forgiveth", continues to forgive.

John 1:29 ... Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

There is a continual virtue and power in the sacrifice of the Lamb of God and the blood that He shed to take away the sin of the world, and to cleanse from all sin. The Blood will never lose its power. This is a blessing to be thankful for.

2. It is a great forgiveness

It is not a small forgiveness.

3: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

What God forgives are not simple mistakes, typos, blundered, bloopers we make in life. God forgives our iniquities.

Psalm 25:11 For thy name's sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.

In the Bible, especially the Old Testament, iniquity is used many times along with the word sin. They often appear in parallel to each other. A good example of this is in ...

10: He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

Psalms 38:18 For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.

The word iniquity comes from the word in-equity which refers to something that is unequal, unfair or unjust.

The difference between iniquity and sin

When the Bible speaks of sin it is referring to the act of wrong doing and the physical crime that has been committed. But, when iniquity is referred to, it is describing is the character or nature of the act rather than simply committing the act. The perverseness and crookedness of the act or the wrong doing or the sin.

3. It is a complete forgiveness

It is full and complete

3: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

David tells us further that the forgiveness that God has given to us in His Son is a complete forgiveness.

All not some, not just the small, not just the grosser...

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

All of them, though they are many, more than the hairs of a man's head, God forgives them all. Sins of commission, sins of omission. Sins in words, thought and deeds. Sins committed privately and sins committed publicly. Sins of your youth and the sins of your old age. All are forgiven for Christ's sake.

He forgives not just some of our sins, but for all of them and all at once!

4. It is an everlasting forgiveness

11: For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. 12: As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

But we are not done yet, there is more, and it gets better. The forgiveness that God gives is an everlasting forgiveness. It will last forever.

Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

Hebrews 10:17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

Oh! to be forgiven and to know that we are forgiven for ever, without the fear of being cast away!

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Closing Thoughts

The only reasonable response for being forgiven is to bless the Lord

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:

The forgiveness that God gives which is proclaimed today is ongoing, great, complete and everlasting forgiveness.

Don't we have a good reason to bless His name today and to bless Him with all that is within us?

The gospel we preached is a gospel of forgiveness and pardon to sinners through Jesus Christ's atoning blood.

While we all have sinned, while we all deserved to be punished, Christ has made the sacrifice. He took our place and died for us. And to all who humble themselves and confess and willing to forsake their sins and put their trust in Christ, there is free forgiveness - free in this respect, that you have nothing to do in order to get it.

1 Timothy 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

The worst sinner has already been saved and forgiven. Don't wait till your worthy of His forgiveness. No one is worthy. No one will ever be worthy. It is grace. It is mercy. It is free. He simply gives it to those who ask forgiveness for Jesus' sake.

All the fitness he requireth,

Is to feel your need of him:

This he gives you;

'Tis His Spirit's rising beam.

He is willing, ready and able today to remove every sin and to cleanse you from every iniquity if you will just ask Him. He is able to do that because of who Christ is and what He has done on the cross of Calvary.

You can have this forgiveness now, while you are still alive and once you have God's forgiveness you have it forever.

Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19: If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,

Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt,

Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured,

There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt

CHORUS

Grace, grace, God's grace,

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within

Grace, grace, God's grace,

Grace that is greater than all our sin

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide;

What can avail to wash it away?

Look! There is flowing a crimson tide;

Whiter than snow you may be today.

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,

Freely bestowed on all who believe,

All who are longing to see His face,