Bless The Lord, O My Soul

Meditations on Christ in the Psalms 

November 24, 2022

Happy Thanksgiving 

Bless The Lord, O My Soul

“Bless the Lord, O my soul,

   and all that is within me,

   bless his holy name.”

Psalm 103:1 (NRSV)

Most often I think of God as the one who blesses, or extends favor, affirmation, and approval. However, the word bless can also mean to praise, to glorify, and to call holy. The psalmist blesses God by praising, glorifying, and calling God holy because of all that God is, all that God has done and is doing in the life of the psalmist, and all that he believes God will continue to do. (There are some interesting similarities in the construction of God’s attributes between Psalm 103 and Isaiah 40, especially in the affirmation that the LORD has no equal in Isaiah 40:12-31.)

The psalmist is embracing the entire history of God’s people as his own history. Because our “real life is hidden with Christ in God,” we are invited to embrace the many expressions of God’s mercy throughout the Bible as our own experience of God. (Colossians 3:3)

I have two thoughts to ponder after reading Psalm 103. First, the Christian ideal is that all the followers of Christ can write their own psalm of praise, with Psalm 103 as their model. The psalmist not only owned all that God had done in history, but also claimed what God was doing in the present and what he trusted God will do in the future. Second, we remember that authentic praise of God is not in our words, but in the way we lead our lives.

“He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

   and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

   and to walk humbly with your God?”

Micah 6:8 (NRSV) 

My Takeaway: On this Thanksgiving Day, let us begin our prayers with,

“Bless the Lord, O my soul,

   and all that is within me,

   bless his holy name.”

Psalm 103:1 (NRSV)

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2022 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.