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Psalm 103:
1. 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 not all his benefits,
3. Who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
4. Who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5. Who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.
6. The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
7. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.
8. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.
10. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
14. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
15. As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16. for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.
17. But the steadfast love 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 to do his commandments.
19. The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.
20. Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word!
21. Bless the LORD, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will!
22. Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of his dominion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
As I was studying these verses today some things were highlighted in my spirit by Holy Spirit and I would like to share some of those things with you.
Beginning at verse one. We read this but don’t realize exactly what it says. When it says bless the Lord we have this idea that it just means to say “bless you” like we do when someone sneezes. That is not what it means at all. The word bless means to bow down and worship, but how many time a day do we really take time to bend our knees and honor him with our hearts?
Also to bless the Lord with our soul means that we bow down our thoughts and intents and all of our preconceived ideas about our Loving Father and we see him as he is described later in this chapter.
For example. When I am hurting I don’t concentrate on the pain. I concentrate on bowing before the Lord and telling him how wonderful he is. We must learn to rehearse all the benefits in our time of praise. We must force our soul or our mind to bow before him and submit our thought patterns, worries and cares to his goodness.
When I do this I don’t look at the pit that I am in. I look to the one who redeems me from it. I don’t look at the disease in my body. I look to the one who heals my diseases. I don’t look at lack, I look at the one who satisfies me with good things. I don’t look at my age and my weariness, I look at the one who renews my youth like an eagle.
Another way we bless him is when we see just like the psalmist saw. Our Father does not judge us for our iniquities as it says in verse ten. He deals with us as a loving Father who is tender toward us and He redeems us from our sins. He takes them away as far as the east from the west and he shows compassion on us. It also says that his ways are higher than ours and that is what he is showing us. On earth we judge each other by our faults. We deal with each other according to our shortcomings and Father is not like that.
Sometimes this is the hardest part because every time we have difficulty our enemy accuses us and tells us our Father is punishing us for our sins. Our enemy fill our minds with thoughts about how we deserve to be sick or deserve to be poor because we failed.
This is not how our Father treats us and the reason for it is in verse fourteen. He knows that we are just dust. He knows our weakness and he understands that we are just children trying to learn in a few short years about a God who has existed for eternity. He understands we were born into a fallen world that was broken long before we arrived. He knows that we are like little babies just learning to walk and he will not be angry towards us for what we don’t know.
I absolutely love verses seventeen and eighteen.
17. But the steadfast love 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 to do his commandments.
This is a wonderful promise for those of us with children. Our grandchildren will know his love because we choose to live in his righteousness and keep his commandments.
His love doesn’t rise when we succeed or fall when we fail. It is for everlasting. He is good and he is always good and we should never forget that. If I fly God is good. If I fall God is good. My successes and failures have nothing to do with how good he is. If I fail it’s not because of a lack of goodness towards me from God. If I fail it’s because I am just learning to walk and sometimes I trip over my own feet because I am still in the clumsy stage.
So please my loved ones. Take time today and wrap up all your worries and cares into a nice little bundle. Bow down before him and tell him how small your problems are compared to the greatness of his glory. How does a temporary problem compare to an eternal God who is higher than the heavens? Force your mind to look away from your cares and look into his loving eyes.
Remember my beloved brothers and sisters, bless the Lord at all times and don’t forget how much he loves you. Your circumstances don’t prove how much he loves you. The cross stained by the blood of his only son is the proof of that love.
I hope you are encouraged by these words.
Until next time,
Grow Rich in His Grace,
I love you all,
michael
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