Bless the Lord O my soul...worship in spirit and truth

⁶ The Lord performs righteous deeds
And judgments for all who are oppressed.
⁷ He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the sons of Israel.
⁸ The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
⁹ He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
¹⁰ He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
¹² As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
¹³ Just as a father has compassion on his children,
So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.
¹⁴ For He Himself knows our frame;
He is mindful that we are but dust.

¹⁵ As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
¹⁶ When the wind has passed over it, it is no more,
And its place acknowledges it no longer.
¹⁷ But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
¹⁸ To those who keep His covenant
And remember His precepts to do them.

¹⁹ The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,
And His sovereignty rules over all.
²⁰ Bless the Lord, you His angels,
Mighty in strength, who perform His word,
Obeying the voice of His word!
²¹ Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
You who serve Him, doing His will.
²² Bless the Lord, all you works of His,
In all places of His dominion;
Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Bless the Lord O my soul. When we look at the triune make up of man we look at body, spirit and soul. Our soul then would include our will, our mind and our emotions. It is significant that this is where the psalmists blessing and praise comes from. To praise and bless God with our spirit is a much more natural thing to do. If we are in Christ then we have the Holy Spirit within us so spiritual worship is a matter of yielding. That is an important matter as Jesus says

John 4:23-24   But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. ²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

So true worship is spirit worship. It says also that the worship is to be not only in spirit but in truth. Soul worship can be artificial or even deceitful.

Isaiah 29:13 The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.

Jesus restates this in Matthew 15:8-9   ‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
⁹ ‘But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’”

Yet the psalmist exhorts himself and us to bless the Lord O my soul. This soul worship is important because that is where we begin. It is there that we have the ability to decide or choose to worship God. It begins with the choice of worship and continues with a heart of thanksgiving remembering all His benefits. Acknowledging His love, His compassion, His forgiveness, His healing of our diseases. All of this is the begining of worshiping God. It is what brings us to true worship. Choosing to worship God with our soul, declaring our praise with our voice is the begining. It brings our soul to the place of yeilding to the spirit. Once we have yeilded our soul, our heart, our mind our will to our spirit. We worship in spirit and truth. 

So join with me and the psalmist today and : Bless the Lord O my soul!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtwIT8JjddM Here's a link to a powerful worship song by Matt Redman, hope you enjoy and are blessed.