Psalm 103 begins “Bless the Lord, oh my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, oh my soul and forget not all His benefits.”
Why does the psalmist tell us to ‘forget not’? Why not just say Remember all His benefits?
There can’t be much difference between an injunction to remember and one to “forget not.”
I would contend that in order to not forget something, it has to be available to remember. In other words, we have to have something in our minds in order to not forget it. It is similar to a call to remember something, but in a more forceful, pointed way.
We are told to not forget all the benefits of the Lord, but do we even know the benefits? Have we stored them in our memories so that we can recall them and not forget? And where can we learn all the benefits of the Lord? If the psalmist tells us there are benefits for us from God, we can be certain that God will show us what those benefits are.
Since God has chosen to reveal Himself in the scriptures, that is the place to find the accounting of all He has given us. Think of it as His letter to the creatures He has made and read it as such. Avoid the trap of imagining what He has done for us and read His own account. There is no substitute for hearing about Someone from their own lips.
Do you find it amazing that God has given us benefits? In fact this psalm goes on to list at least five things which are to our benefit from the hand of God. The amazing undertaking of God to aid His creation, to work for the good of it is astonishing especially in light of the great gap that is between us and our maker.
Yet that is just what God has done. We can know and appreciate these benefits, but it will take both our time and our effort.
If you take the opportunity to get to know God and all that He has done for us, a second step is to put those benefits from God into your memory, to commit to memory all the benefits. Memorize the scriptures, read them over and over, repeat them out loud. Don’t place yourself in a position where you might forget. To work on remembering what God has said and the benefits He has given you is to fill your heart and mind with all that is good and beautiful. It will only build you up in the faith and give you the peace of knowing that you can “forget not all His benefits.”