"Forget Me Not"- A Thanksgiving Reflection

"Bless the LORD oh my soul, and forget not all of his benefits! (vs. 2)" I am certain that the only reason David is reminding himself to "forget not" is because he is aware of his natural tendency to "forget" who God is and all He has done.  Ahhh how I can relate to David! How quickly I forget who God is to me and what He has done for me!  THREE times David tells his soul to BLESS God on the basis of his benefits.  He is urging his soul to NEVER forget.  He is commanding his innermost being to GIVE THANKS and relish in the goodness and grace of God.  As I am studying through these verses I can't help but be reminded that we are approaching Thanksgiving, the one day marked on our entire calendar year that we are supposed to "give thanks".  I wonder what our lives as Christians would look like if EVERYDAY was a day of Thanksgiving.  Would not our moods be better, our outlooks be brighter, our perceptions be clearer, and our great God be lifted higher?  Ok, have you ever noticed that David can tend to be somewhat of a "complainer" throughout his Psalms but that in Psalm 103 there is not a single complaint?  I believe that when we go on and on and on about the goodness and benefits of God, we simply can't complain! When we talk about how he is our healer, it's harder to complain about our sickness (vs.3)!  When we acknowledge his forgiveness, we won't sulk in our shame (vs.3)! When we are constantly acknowledging and reminding ourselves  of who God is and what He has done for us, thanksgiving will naturally begin to flow out of us!  The mile long list of everything that is "wrong" or "sub-par" in our lives will slowly begin to fade into the backdrop and joy, peace and hope will begin to spring up in our hearts. 

Thanksgiving shouldn't be the only day that we choose to reflect on the evidence of God's love and faithfulness in our lives.  We should DAILY say, "Bless the LORD oh my soul, and forget not all of His benefits!" If you are like me, giving genuine praise and thanks to God will STILL be a challenge even on the day that is specifically dedicated to doing so.   But my prayer is that I will follow in David's footsteps and command my soul to bless Him and "Forget him not".