Verse of the Day for November 13

David is not talking to God at the start of Psalm 103. He is talking to himself. Bless the LORD, O my soul, he says, twice, like a man shaking his own shoulder.

Sometimes the soul needs instructions. It does not always rise on its own. It drifts, it forgets, it gets discouraged by how slowly things are moving.

Forgetting is exactly the danger he names. Forget not all his benefits. He does not say, look out for new ones. He says, do not lose hold of the ones you already have. Slow seasons are not usually short of benefits. They are short of memory.

Then the list begins, and the first item is not health or provision. It is Who forgiveth all thine iniquities. Forgiveness comes before healing in the order. If nothing else moves forward this month, that one has already been done in full.

If you are tired of how slowly your recovery, your savings or your child's progress at school is going, speak to your soul the way David did. Out loud if you can, perhaps in the car before you go in. Tell yourself what has already been given. Then keep walking at the pace you have.

Your soul sometimes needs to be told what to do, and that is allowed.

Forgiveness is a finished benefit, even when everything else is unfinished.