Bless the Lord, O my soul

Psalm 103 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Praise for the Lord’s Mercies.  A Psalm of David.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
² Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
³ Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
⁴ Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
⁵ Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

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!

In Matthew 22:37-38 Jesus says:  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the first and great commandment.”  That we should love Him with our whole heart is an emotional love, something we feel. That we love Him with our mind is an intellectual love, a decision we make. That we love Him with our soul combines the emotional and the intellectual and means then that we love Him with our very being; with all that we are.  In today’s text, the psalmist says:  Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul.   That we would bless the Lord with our soul is more than a verbal declaration.  The psalmist says:  The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all. Bless the Lord, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word! Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will. Bless the Lord, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the Lord, O my soul! If we would bless the Lord with our soul, then not only would we say it, but all that is within us; all that we do, would be a blessing to the Lord, we would be obedient to Him and serve Him. We would do His will.

Look again, the psalmist says:  The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all. See though what the result of His sovereignty and rule is.    He is almighty and none could stand against Him, but rather than oppress us, the psalmist says: The Lord performs righteous deeds And judgments for all who are oppressed.   Rather than being oppressive, God favors the oppressed. The psalmist says:  The Lord is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.  He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.   Rather than deal with us according to our sins, God dealt with our sin according to His love, His compassion and His grace. Romans 5:8 says: God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The psalmist says:   Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.  As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer.  But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children,  To those who keep His covenant And remember His precepts to do them.  In John 3:16 Jesus says: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”   We too then, even though these lives are temporary and we are like dust; believing in Christ, can abide in the everlasting love of God. We must though be those who: keep His covenant And remember His precepts to do them.

Like the psalmist we should say: Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; may my words and my life; everything within me, indeed be a blessing to You.  Amen.