Bless The Lord, O My Soul

BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL (PSALM 103)

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A morning prayer:

“So far today, God, I've done alright. I haven't gossiped, I haven't lost my temper, haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or indulgent.

I'm very thankful for that. But in a few minutes God, I'm going to get out of this bed, and from then on, I'm probably going to need a lot more help. Amen”

A new arrival in heaven was surprised to see a suggestion box along Main Street. The heavenly newbie turned to a more seasoned resident and asked, “If everything is perfect and everybody is happy in heaven, why is there a suggestion box?” “Because some people aren’t really happy unless they complain.”

God’s Blessings Must Be Firmly Recognized (1-5)

1 Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm 103:1-5)

One day I asked God for instructions on how to live on this earth...

God brought His voice close to my ear and said…

Be like the sun; Arise early, and do not go to bed late.

Be like the moon; Shine in the darkness, but submit to the greater light.

Be like the birds. Eat, sing, drink, and fly.

Be like the flowers, loving the sun, but faithful to your roots.

Be like the faithful dog, but only to your Lord.

Be like the fruit. Beautiful on the outside, and healthy on the inside.

And above all things, be like the heavens: A home for God.

Psalm 103 and the next psalm Psalm104 are very similar, both beginning with the imperative “BLESS, my soul, the Lord” in Hebrew followed by a list of “who” participles (actually more “how” than “who”) to describe the Lord’s attributes and actions: “who…..” this and that. What is so special about these two psalms? First of all, the verb “bless” is never the first word in a chapter until Psalms 34 (34:1), but Psalms 103 and 104 are two of a kind psalms that upgraded Psalms 34 by not only equaling the verb “bless” as the first word but also in the imperative form, altogether six times imperatively in Psalms 103 (vv 1, 2, 20, 21, 22 twice), also the most verb “bless” in a psalm along with Psalm 115, except that Psalm 115 are not in imperative form. The verb can be used both ways, but the Lord’s blessing us to us is never in the imperative form, unlike our imperatival blessing to the Lord (Ps 66:8, 96:2, 100:4, 104:1, 134:2, 135:19). Shockingly one of the most blessed psalms in the Bible is never digressed and deferred to us, but directed at and designed for God.

What is to praise the Lord, or bless the Lord in KJV? Isn’t blessing the Lord too big and too boastful a task for us? After all we are only humans. This verb is traditionally translated as “bless’ 302 times and twice as “praise.” Literally it should be translated as “kneel (down)” (Ps 95:6) because the verb is taken from the noun “knee.” It corresponds to the Aramaic verb equivalent that twice describes Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar both blessing the Lord twice, but once Daniel translated as “kneeling” upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God (Dan 6:10). The noun for “knee” is always duo or plural, never singular. Kneeling or blessing or praise implies submission, surrender and servanthood.

Another way to understand the verb “bless” is see it as an expression of praise, an eulogy to God, and an exaltation of God. He is the Source, the supply and sender and sharer of all blessings.

When others sneeze we say “Bless you!” to say good things or to speak well of the person, to stand behind and show support for him or her. It is affirming God’s rightful power over your life, His rightful place in your life, and His priority, prerogative possession position permission. To bless is to implore, invite or invoke God’s grace, guidance and goodness upon a person. The impartation, impact and implementation are, of course, up to God. The purpose is not to satisfy God’s ego, but to spend time with Him, share Him with others, to serve Him in testimony. The people invited and involved are “my soul” (vv 1, 2), his angels (v 20), all his heavenly hosts, his servants (v 21) and all his works everywhere in his dominion (v 22).