“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:” -Psalm 103:2
“Habits of complaint tend to beat down the growth of hope. Counting your blessings encourages hope, numbering your complaints deflates it. –Paul Tripp
“Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.” -Deuteronomy 28:6
The blessings of the law are not canceled. Jesus confirmed the promise when He bore the penalty. If I keep the commands of my Lord, I may appropriate this promise without question.
This day I will come in to my house without fear of evil tidings, and I will come in to my closet expecting to hear good news from my Lord. I will not be afraid to come in unto myself by self-examination, nor to come in to my affairs by a diligent inspection of my business. I have a good deal of work to do indoors, within my own soul; oh, for a blessing upon it all, the blessing of the Lord Jesus, who has promised to abide with me.
I must also go out. Timidity makes me wish that I could stay within doors and never go into the sinful world again. But I must go out in my calling, and I must go out that I may be helpful to my brethren and useful to the ungodly. I must be a defender of the faith and an assailant of evil. Oh, for a blessing upon my going out this day! Lord, let me go where Thou leadest, on Thy errands, under Thy command, and in the power of Thy Spirit.
Lord Jesus, turn in with me and be my guest; and then walk out with me and cause my heart to burn while You speak with me by the way.
[from Faith’s Checkbook by Charles H. Spurgeon]
“Observe and hear all these words, which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God.” -Deuteronomy 12:28
Though salvation is not by the works of the law, yet the blessings which are promised to obedience are not denied to the faithful servants of God. The curses our Lord took away when He was made a curse for us, but no clause of blessing has been abrogated.
We are to note and listen to the revealed will of the Lord, giving our attention not to portions of it but to “all these words.” There must be no picking and choosing but an impartial respect to all that God has commanded. This is the road of blessedness for the Father and for His children. The Lord’s blessing is upon His chosen to the third and fourth generation. If they walk uprightly before Him, He will make all men know that they are a seed which the Lord has blessed. No blessing can come to us or ours through dishonesty or double dealing. The ways of worldly conformity and unholiness cannot bring good to us or ours. It will go well with us when we go well before God. If integrity does not make us prosper, knavery will not. That which gives pleasure to God will bring pleasure to us.
[from Faith’s Checkbook by Charles H. Spurgeon]
“I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations.” -Psalm 89:1
We tend to exaggerate our trials and minimize our blessings. We exaggerate our problems and minimize the mercies of God. -Steve Wainright in 1.2.2019 Sermon from Jeremiah 29:11-14 (Listen here)
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits…” -Psalm 103:2
Today you can choose to permit your heart to complain or you can give yourself to consider the amazing catalog of blessings, which you could not have earned or deserved, that are yours by grace. -Paul Tripp via Twitter
Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. -Psalm 81:10
What an encouragement to pray! Our human notions would lead us to ask small things because our deservings are so small; but the Lord would have us request great blessings. Prayer should be as simple a matter as the opening of the mouth; it should be a natural, unconstrained utterance. When a man is earnest he opens his mouth wide, and our text urges us to be fervent in our supplications.
Yet it also means that we may make bold with God and ask many and large blessings at His hands, Read the whole verse, and see the argument: “I am Jehovah, thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.” Because the Lord has given us so much He invites us to ask for more, yea, to expect more.
See how the little birds in their nests seem to be all mouth when the mother comes to feed them. Let it be the same with us. Let us take in grace at every door. Let us drink it in as a sponge sucks up the water in which it lies. God is ready to fill us if we are only ready to be filled. Let our needs make us open our mouths; let our faintness cause us to open our mouths and pant; yea, let our alarm make us open our mouths with a child’s cry. The opened mouth shall be filled by the Lord Himself. So be it unto us, O Lord, this day.
[from Faith’s Checkbook by Charles H. Spurgeon]
New Life Baptist Church 