Yahweh's Benefits

Psalm 103:1-2 “Bless Yahweh, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless Yahweh, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits”

Did you know that serving God has benefits? Did you know that it pays to be on God’s side? Too many people have a negative view of the Christian’s life. They believe that serving God means cutting all the good things out of life. Their motto can be found in Malachi 3:14 - “It is useless to serve God. What did we gain by obeying his laws?”

Sadly, there are even a lot of Christians out there who have forgotten the joy that comes with salvation. They’ve forgotten the benefits that their God provides! They have adopted the mindset that God doesn’t give them anything...how sad! I believe Psalm 103 was written for joyless believers - people who have forgotten how good it is to be on God’s side! Why else would David say, “Don’t forget these things!”

What are His benefits? Without looking up Psalm 103, can you name any? Are the things in this list at the front of your mind - or have you forgotten them? If you’re like most Christians, you’ve lost sight of these things, and you’re probably struggling with the lack of joy and  peace in your life. It’s time to get back to the benefits of Yahweh!

1. "...Who forgives all your sins..."

Do you understand that every lawless, rebellious, sinful, death-deserving thing that you've ever done has been washed away? Do you understand that you're not guilty anymore? You're not an "old sinner, saved by grace"! You were and old sinner, now you are saved by grace!

Pay attention to what Hebrews 8:12 says: "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." God chose to forget every sin you've ever committed. If He sees you as sinless, why are you still behaving like a sinner? Why are you still letting guilt and shame keep you from your prayer time? Why are you  wondering if God will forgive you?

Why aren't Christians the happiest people on earth? We should be - look at what David said in Psalm 32:1. "Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!"

But forgiveness isn't the only benefit!

2. "...Who heals all your diseases..." 

Healing is a benefit of serving God! Did you know this? Do you understand that it isn't God's plan for you to be sick? God believes in healing so much that He named Himself Yahweh Rapha - The LORD your Healer. Shouldn't that convince you that He's interested in the well-being of our physical body? If that doesn't convince you, maybe this will...

Jesus paid a tremendous price for our healing. Isaiah 53:5 says: "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." If Jesus only wanted us forgiven, He would have gone straight for the cross. After all, it was His death that forgave our sin. So why did He endure the Roman whip? It was for our healing! If you want to understand how much God wants us healed, look at the price He paid for it!


Healing is a benefit  of serving God!

3.  "...Who redeems your life from destruction..."

Do you remember the promise of John 3:16? That's not just a salvation verse - it's a promise for believers too! "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." 

Death has no power over us anymore! We should have no fear of leaving this world. We pay homage to this promise at funerals - but do we really believe it? Do we really understand what Paul said, "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord"?

Our body may lay down and decay like the rest of the world - but we will never die! When we lay down this earthly body, we simply pick up a Heavenly one! Our life has been redeemed from destruction. We will never face the death we once had to face. Jesus paid for our eternal life!

These are just half of the benefits that we are supposed to remember. When was the last time you focused on these? I'm convinced this will eliminate sorrow and sadness and will infuse every believer with new joy!  Remembering these benefits is how you get your soul to "Bless the Lord!"

 

Yahweh Rapha - Willing To Heal

Exodus 15:26 “He said, ‘If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the lord who heals you (Yahweh Rapha).’”

God is a Healer. Even in the Old Testament, even when His people were bound up in religious rites and ceremonies, He still healed them. Often, their rebellion limited what He could do; but whenever they would turn to Him in faith, He was always there with healing “in His wings.”

Many people in the church have been duped into believing that God doesn’t want us healed. Some ministers preach that sickness is something we just endure. The majority of ministers will simply ignore the topic altogether. I have even heard a minister say that sickness is a blessing! This man asked why God would take our sickness away when it “makes us look forward to Heaven?” It is claimed that the healing scriptures are referring to internal healing, not physical health.

But this teaching is in direct opposition to what God has already revealed about Himself! God was talking about physical diseases in Exodus 15:26. Then why wouldn’t he be talking about physical healing too? When David wrote Psalm 103 - he was also writing about physical healing: “Bless Yahweh, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases...” Healing from physical diseases is a benefit that Yahweh gives us!

God is able to heal any sickness or disease that could ever attack our bodies. We know that. We don’t have any issues with God’s ability. Our problem isn’t whether He can heal us, it’s whether He wants to heal us. How many preacher have you heard pray, “God, if it’s Your will, please heal this person.” Do we really think God wants us to be riddled with sickness?

There was a man in Matthew chapter 8 who faced the same question. He was a leper, an outcast because of his disease. The highly contagious illness that plagued his body meant that he wasn’t allowed to touch, talk to, or be near anyone. He was completely alone - and he was told that God wanted it that way. All that the religious law could do for him was keep him alone in his suffering so the disease wouldn’t spread to others.

Then he heard about Jesus, a man that was healing all kinds of sicknesses - including other lepers. When this man approached Jesus in 8:2, he said: “Lord, if You are willing, You can heal me and make me clean.” He knew that Jesus could heal his leprosy, but he didn’t know if He wanted to heal him. Jesus’ response was simply to put His hand on the man and say, “I am willing, be healed.” From that day forward, the man was healed. This man was healed because he found out that Jesus’ willingness matched His ability.

You see, this is the reason Jesus spent a lot of His time healing people. He wanted to plainly reveal to us what God’s will had been all along. Matthew 4:23-24 is one of many verses that shows Jesus’ heart to heal: “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.” It didn’t matter who was sick, why they were sick, or what they were sick with - if they came to Jesus, He healed them!

This is still true today! It doesn’t matter who you are. It doesn’t matter why you’re sick or whether you did it to yourself. It doesn’t matter whether you have a head that hurts or a heart that’s about to stop - Jesus wants to heal you!

Think about this; if Jesus didn’t want us healed, why did He endure the Roman whip? 1 Peter 2:24 says, “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by Whose stripes you were healed.” If His goal was only our salvation, He would’ve gone straight to the cross. Jesus died to save us from our sin - but He was whipped to save us from our sickness!

It doesn’t matter that they told you God doesn’t want to heal anymore. It doesn’t matter what your experiences have taught you. It doesn’t matter if you had friends and relatives that never got their healing. I’m telling you now - the Bible declares to us that God is a Healer! He named Himself Yahweh Rapha - don’t you think He knew what He was saying? So forget everything you’ve ever learned or thought about sickness, and listen to Jesus’ own words - “I am willing, be healed!”