Hey there, it’s been a while since I have shared on the blog… and honestly, I’m not too happy about that, but life has a way of passing the days quickly by, and lately that has seemed especially true for me.
But as the days have been zooming past, there has been this passage firmly stationed in the backdrop… calling out, speaking, guiding, correcting, comforting…
And I have known that at some point, pen would find paper and I would stop long enough to write about it. Today is that day.
Psalm 103.
Perhaps you’ve read it. Perhaps not. Either way, it deserves to be read again and again because it is 22 verses of soul filling Truth! Truth that speaks to the past, to the present, to the future. It speaks of the Lords work, of His character, His heart and His purpose. It speaks of man’s nature and privilege to know God and His blessings. And most stirring of all to me in this season, is that at beginning and end, it calls us to our purpose… our great purpose… “to bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me, bless His holy name!”
In recent days these words have called out to me again and again, causing me to ponder 2 things:
One: the many many reasons why I should be blessing the Lord! Two: what it looks like to really do it… I mean to genuinely “bless the Lord” … especially in times like these.
In these kinds of days, what does that look like? I keep asking myself because I truly want to know. I really do.
See, because in the pondering of this passage, I have become more and more convinced that is why we were created in the first place…
“to bless Him!”
I haven’t arrived at all the answers, and that might be one of the reasons I have put off writing… but today I decided even amidst my learning and seeking, these things that have been rumbling around in my heart should be shared.
So here we go…
FIRST… THE MANY REASONS WE SHOULD BE BLESSING THE LORD… In this year 2021, where life is zooming by, politics are polarizing, Truth is being attacked, and disappointment continues to strike, it is easy to become disillusioned, ungrateful, cynical, sarcastic and more.
Amidst all this, we can lose sight of our purpose to bless God.
But Psalm 103 gives a beautiful view that reaches beyond the challenges of our day and into the glory of God. In fact, it starts off with a list of the benefits He brings into our lives.
I’ll share the list here:
“He pardons our iniquities… He heals all our diseases… He redeems us our life from the pit… He crowns us with lovingkindness and compassion… He satisfies our years with good things… He renews our youth like the eagle… He performs righteous deeds… He brings justice for the oppressed.”
Quite the list! Don’t you just feel better after reading that? Don’t you just have a little more clarity and hope? This list has literally given me breath over the last couple of months.
And that’s not all! Psalm 103 goes on to describe the abounding lovingkindness of the Lord in regard to our sin. Here are some of the highlights of what He won’t do, and the even better, of what He will…
HE WON’T:
- Always strive with us about our sin
- Keep His anger forever
- Deal with us according to our sins
- Pay us back according to our iniquities
BUT HE WILL:
- Be compassionate and gracious
- Abound in lovingkindness toward us in ways described as great as the distance is from heaven to earth
- Remove our transgressions from us as far as east is from the west
- Relate to us as a loving Father
- Be aware of our frailty
- Extend His lovingkindness and His righteousness to us and to our children and their children…
Wow, that gives me breath too!
It is so good to know from God Himself what His heart posture is toward me, because left to my own thoughts, I can get that all messed up in my mind for sure. And because, our relationships with people are often muddy in comparison.
Just keeping it real here… Recently I have had some hard moments with some people I love dearly. I’ve definitely sensed a “payback” posture from them toward me and it has deeply hurt and caused separation and brokenness. I’ve done my best to fix it, and have left it in the Lord’s hands, but we all know not all relationships get fixed this side of heaven. Sigh.
BUT… that experience has given me even more gratefulness to know that my Heavenly Father doesn’t relate to me like that. He has every right to, and He definitely could and should,
but He hasn’t, He doesn’t and He won’t.
Psalm 103 very clearly describes a totally different kind of heart posture toward us from God and I am so grateful for that. Just another reason to bless His Name!
Which takes me to the second thing I’ve been pondering from Psalm 103 which is…
SECOND: WHAT DOES IT GENUINELY LOOK LIKE TO “BLESS THE LORD?”
I imagine I’ll spend a lifetime figuring that out… but let me share 8 things I’ve been landing on lately… which actually come right from Psalm 103 itself…
- Blessing the Lord involves my soul…
The first part of verse 1 says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul…”
One of the best things I have ever learned is the definition of my soul. See it is easy to leave the word, “soul” in a mystical place, but it is actually very practical. Our soul is defined as our mind, will and emotions. In other words, our soul is comprised of the way we think, act and feel. When I understand what my soul is and then read Psalm 103:1, I understand I can bless God with t all three… my thoughts, my choices and my feelings.
2. Blessings the Lord involves it all…
See verse 1 continues… “Bless the Lord, O my soul and ALL that is within me, bless His holy name.”
My soul… my mind will and emotions… ALL three are involved in blessing the Lord, but also “ALL that is within me’…my motives, my desires, my dreams, my plans, my hurts, my disappointments, my memories… anything on the inside of me has the capacity to bless the Lord… or not.
3. Blessing the Lord involves fear…
Both verses 13 and 17 of Psalm 103 acknowledge the value of fearing the Lord… and how lovingly He responds to those who do. Take a moment to read them and you will see what I mean.
And as you read, be aware that this is a reverential fear… an honor, awe and respect. Without a fear before the Lord, we will simply not engage in blessing Him. Really the two go together.
4. Blessing the Lord is an opportunity…
Verse 15 captures the brevity of our life and impact. Our life on this earth is a short season. What will we do with it? Bless the Lord or live to bless ourselves?
5. Blessing the Lord involves keeping His covenant…
Verse 18 describes the one who “keeps His covenant…” Through Christ God has made covenant of love and relationship with us. When Psalm 103 was written, Christ had not enacted this covenant yet, but God had already established it. And the reality is, He will never break covenant with us, but we will with Him. How loving is He to always remain true in love to us. But this reveals to us as well how much it blesses God when we also choose to keep His covenant of loving relationship. It definitely moves His heart!
6. Blessing the Lord involves, “remembering His precepts and doing them…”
Verse 18 also describes the one who lives by the precepts of God. It is obvious that this kind of living blesses the Lord. But how often we are distracted? Not only do we neglect to live out His precepts, we often forget them all together. But O how it blesses God when we intentionally remember His ways, and then actually live them out!
7. Blessing the Lord is for every part of creation…
The last three verses of Psalm 103 establish the dominion and sovereignty of God over all things. His angels are called to bless Him. His servants are called to bless Him. Every work of creation is called to bless Him…
no one and nothing are left out of this high calling to bless the LORD!
8. Blessing the Lord involves performing and obeying His Word…
Verse 20 describes the way His angels bless Him… by “performing His Word and obeying it.” Interesting, the word, “angels” here is not what we would first think… see these angels are not heavenly beings with wings, this is identifying God’s messengers… any person who would speak for Him, about Him, or for Him. God reveals to us here, My messengers bless Me when they perform and obey My Word.
Now… these 8 descriptives are not an exhaustive list of how we bless the Lord, but they are a great place to start. In fact, we could spend our whole lifetime blessing the Lord in these described ways and have plenty to attend to. But the Bible as a whole gives reveals many more ways that our lives can bless God.
Blessing God takes a lifetime of learning and growing, but most of all blessing God involves loving God deeply enough that our hearts to desire to bless Him!
My parents recently celebrated 60 years of marriage… wow! They’ve spent all these years learning how to bless one another. That comprises many moments of paying attention to what does bless and what doesn’t… and loving enough to find out.
Even after 60 years they are still learning, and I imagine they will be til they take their last breaths. I often hear them speak words of love, but living out that love in ways that mean blessing to one another are the acts that truly touch each others hearts.
Because I love God, I also want to bless Him… but it takes time and intention and practice and learning to know what really blesses Him. Psalm 103 gives me a deep dive into that knowing… which is another reason why I love this chapter so. We can sing blessing to God and yes He loves to hear that… but living out these ways from Psalm 103 that speak blessing to Him are the ways that I can know that I can truly touch His heart.
“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name!“
I pray the Lord continues to use this amazing chapter as the backdrop of my days… that He continues to whisper its Truths to me and draw me into its depths.
And I encourage you to explore them too…
Wow! Praise the Lord! Bless His holy name. Thank you for drawing the word pictures that help the Word to make sense to “us normal” people. Thank you Sharon!!
Yes, bless His name!
I truly loved this and I copied your clip art to use with our SS Class send outs. “Perhaps you’ve read it. Perhaps not. Either way, it deserves to be read again and again because it is 22 verses of soul filling Truth! Truth that speaks to the past, to the present, to the future. It speaks of the Lords work, of His character, His heart and His purpose. It speaks of man’s nature and privilege to know God and His blessings. And most stirring of all to me in this season, is that at beginning and end, it calls us to our purpose… our great purpose”… “to bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me, bless His holy name!”
Yes, please use it as you like!