My Dear Shepherds,
John Bunyan, author of The Pilgrim’s Progress, wrote, “The soul is such a thing, so rich and valuable in its nature, that scarce one in twenty thousand counts of it as they should.” It is our job as pastors to know and nurture our own souls and the souls of those entrusted to us. David tutors us this way:
Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. (Ps. 103:1)
In my experience, it takes some doing to burrow into “my inmost being,” to get my soul’s attention amid all the clutter and noise in my head. And what am I to do once my soul is listening? Summon my heart to praise the LORD’s holy name—a privilege I too easily neglect.
If that isn’t challenging enough, pastors must help a whole congregation of souls to praise God deeply, thoughtfully, and truly. To help us all focus, David rejoices over five salvation benefits, beginning with this:
Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins . . . (Ps. 103:2–3)
Believers can begin to take forgiven sins for granted. After all, we hear about forgiveness all the time and sing about it every Sunday. On the other hand, Christians can be so sensitized to sin that guilt becomes a shadowy companion, parroting the accusations of Satan, and distracting us from the Lord’s open-ended invitation to his throne of grace.
So Scripture bids us to take up the matter with our souls, summoning our inmost beings to praise our covenant-keeping God for all the benefits of his salvation, beginning with forgiveness for all our sins. David’s psalm also says,
He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (Ps. 103:9–12)
Do you remember the woman “who had lived a sinful life” and slipped uninvited into a dinner hosted by a Pharisee for Jesus? “As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them” (Luke 7:38). Jesus told his aghast host, “I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven, as her great love has shown.”
There was a woman whose praise rose up from her inmost being. She must’ve sobbed deeply for tears enough to wash Jesus’ feet. The perfume from her alabaster jar couldn’t match the incense of her worship. That’s what it’s like when forgiveness reaches deep into our souls.
Not long ago I was asked to hurry to the hospital bedside of a former parishioner who lay dying. After a weak greeting, her next heavy-hearted words were, “I have so many sins.” I replied, “We sing a song that I love. One line is, ‘My sins, they are many; his mercy is more.’” I read to her of the white robe awaiting her. Then I prayed, asking God to assure her of his forgiveness. He did, and a day later she died in peace.
It is not always easy to raise God’s praise from deep within. Songs, testimonies, and sermons are certainly on-ramps, but our greatest help is the Holy Spirit, who resides in our souls. How eagerly he waits to help us remember the benefit of the LORD’s constant and deep forgiveness.
Be ye glad!
