January 17

“Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits–who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things!” — Ps 103:2-5

What an enumeration of divine blessings this is! Any one of them is worth more than all earth’s treasures combined!

If we are not forgiven–we must rest forever under the burden of sin, a weight greater than all the Alps! But God forgives–and forgives all our sins–and forgives freely, fully and forever!

If we are not healed–we must be sick forever, sick with the plague and leprosy of sin! But God heals–and heals all our evils, and heals completely!

If we are not saved from the dangers of this ensnaring world–we never can reach heaven! But God keeps, rescues, and saves our life from all impending destructions!

Earth’s crowns are made of thorns, and at the best are only what the children call, ‘play-crowns’, for they are but of leaves that wither, or of gold and gems that will not last. But God crowns His people with crowns of love and compassion, which are real and radiant, which shall never fade–but shall shine forever, becoming crowns of eternal life and glory in heaven!

This world cannot satisfy a heart’s deepest cravings. Its possessions only make the hunger more intense! But God satisfies the souls of His people, and meets all their cravings and hungers with truly good and eternal realities!