Bless the Lord
Psalms 103
Psalms 103:1-5 (New King James Version) 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 iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, 4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, 5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
INTRO: Today I am beginning a message; perhaps even a series of messages based upon my own personal studies. The thoughts and revelations are extensive, methodical and systematic; based upon Psalms 103. And, they are personal. I know that anything a preacher preaches should come from a personal place. But this is different…. This chapter of the Bible holds the foundation of some of my most personal and private devotions to the Lord. And even though I have preached out of Psalms 103 many times; never have I walked a church or even a Bible Study Group through it the way I am bringing this to you. So, over the next few weeks, you are going to get it the way it sits in my heart. You are going to get Systematic Theology of Psalms 103 according to Larry.
So, there is a lot to be said about this Psalm of David. It reveals so much about our covenant and my/our personal relationship with God that it completely overwhelms me. I do mean it goes as deep as it gets in my spirit.
And besides just me, this chapter of the Bible is so anointed that countless people are healed, delivered and set free of their present issues and their painful past just by reading it.
It starts out by saying, “Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul.”
Our relationship with God is both corporate and personal.
It is corporate in the sense that we serve the Lord together. That means we come together in unity on a regular basis and blend our hearts and singing and serving together. When we do, there is a very special anointing that comes with it.
Psalms 139 says, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; 3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.”
When we come together with no other agenda than to lift up the Lord and to encourage and support one another, the anointing that accompanies our worship moves mountains and causes miracles to happen in our midst.
There is something special about faith joined to faith; hearts joined to hearts; having the same mind. It creates a spiritual energy that shifts dimensions and opens the portals of heavenly glory.
But listen up, if we don’t have any depth in our personal relationship with the Lord, we don’t have any business putting on the act when we get together like you are some kind of super-saint or something.
Look at it like this, in the Bible Jesus tells this story In Luke 18:10-14 “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
(The Pharisees were a sect that seems to have started after the Jewish exile. In addition to OT books the Pharisees recognized in oral tradition a standard of belief and life. They sought for distinction and praise by outward observance of external rites and by outward forms of piety such as ceremonial washings, fasting, prayers, and alms giving; and, comparatively negligent of genuine piety, they prided themselves on their fancied good works.)
(A publican was a tax gatherer, collector of taxes or tolls, one employed by a publican or farmer general in the collection of taxes. The tax collectors were as a class, detested not only by the Jews, but by other nations also, both on account of their employment and of the harshness, greed, and deception, with which they did their job.)
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
You may have heard the term “Religious Spirit” before. Perhaps you understand what this means or maybe not. Someone with a Religious Spirit is someone who has a form of Godliness but no spiritual power and in order to mask or deceive others into thinking they are indeed spiritual, they will deceive others and even themselves to adopt an outer cloak of spirituality.
Usually there is a level of control that’s leveraged through manipulating the emotions of others. Legalism always accompanies a Religious Spirit. It takes people backwards.
Now please understand I am not talking about abandoning or reviling against certain Christian traditions. For example: Hymn Books. I literally cut my baby teeth on an old Red Backed Hymnal and have sung most every song printed in its pages. I grew up with those old songs and part of me still likes them. But…. Everyone say “but”…. They are mostly songs of old, from a different generation, when the world was a very different place with different types of culture and people than we have today.
So, I honor those old songs. They served their purpose for their day and have helped open the door to what we do with church music today. But, do I want to go back to them? Not too much, because they were yesterday’s Manna.
And, a Religious Spirit has nothing in the present or future to grab a hold of, so the only thing it can grab a hold of, is what’s behind. There is no vision in a Religious Spirit; except to restore the past where there was more control and influence.
Having a Pharisaical or Religious Spirit will take you right out of your blessings and keep you from truly being able to worship the Lord. And that means to strip yourself of everything that is self -made, self-produced, self-projected and self-motivated. It may even require you to humble yourself and repent for some sins of the spirit.
I promise you, God is not impressed by your abilities, skills and talents. He doesn’t care how well you play your instruments, or how well you command the sound board or electronics. He is not moved by the quality of your singing voice.
You want to know what moves God? What melts his heart? It’s when you lay it all down and simply come to him. It’s when you “bless the Lord with all your soul and all that is within you.” That is what really matters to him!
John 4:23-24 KJV “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
The word for “Worship” used here means to kiss the hand, in token of reverence; to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence; kneeling or prostration to do honor or bow before, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication.
John 4:23 The Message, “But the time is coming — it has, in fact, come — when what you're called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter. "It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship.”
There is a worship song written by this British guy named Matt Redmond that most of us know called “Heart of Worship.” I think we have even sang it here before.
Play https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVaF353dVSQ
We must worship with the highest quality music we can have; but we cannot call skill “the anointing.” They are not the same. Worship becomes stale when it is no longer about God.
In order to properly enter in, we must be clean and pure in spirit, soul and body. It’s all about the heart of worship and the heart of the worshipper.
Psalms 24:3-6 “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.”
Back to our opening scripture in Psalms 103, verse 1 says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul.”
Church, there is something about the way God made us that causes us to worship. Its ingrained into the DNA of who we are. I remember an old Bob Dylan song that said, “It might be the devil or it might be the Lord, but you’ve got to serve somebody.”
Check this out, the soul of man was "made" to praise and bless God; to enjoy his friendship; to delight in his favor; to contemplate the beauty of God’s holiness. The spirit and soul of man could never be engaged in a more appropriate or a more elevated act than when actively involved in his praise.
And that phrase…. “And all that is within me ...” That means all my powers and faculties; all that can be employed in his praise: the heart, the will, the affections, the emotions. The idea is, that God is worthy of all the praise and adoration which the entirety of a person can deliver. Nothing should be held back; but all of a person’s strength and energy should be engaged in the duty and the privilege of praise.
Question: "What is true worship?"
Answer: The Apostle Paul described true worship perfectly in Romans 12:1-2 NASB, “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
This familiar passage contains all the elements of true worship. First, there is the motivation to worship: “the mercies of God.” God’s mercies are everything He has given us that we don’t deserve: eternal love, eternal grace, the Holy Spirit, everlasting peace, eternal joy, saving faith, comfort, strength, wisdom, hope, patience, kindness, honor, glory, righteousness, security, eternal life, forgiveness, reconciliation, justification, sanctification, freedom, intercession and much more.
The knowledge and understanding of these incredible gifts motivate us to pour forth praise and thanksgiving—in other words, worship!
In my mind, this is more than just singing; this is way better than just singing a song. This is something we can bring up from the very depths of our souls. We often say that, “God is good” but when it really means something to you….. well then it’s starting to roll over into something meaningful, something worshipful.
Also in this passage is a description of the manner of our worship: “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice.” There is a presentation involved. Presenting our bodies means giving to God all of ourselves. The reference to our bodies here means all our human faculties, all of our humanness—our hearts, minds, hands, thoughts, attitudes—are to be presented to God. In other words, we are to give up control of these things and turn them over to Him, just as a literal sacrifice was given totally to God on the altar. But how? Again, the passage is clear: “by the renewing of your mind.”
We renew our minds daily by cleansing them of the world’s “wisdom” and replacing it with true wisdom that comes from God. Church, we need cleaner minds.
We worship Him with our renewed and cleansed minds, not with our emotions. Emotions are wonderful things, but unless they are shaped by a mind saturated in Truth, they can be destructive, out-of-control forces.
And so, having said all this; we can bless the Lord with all our souls and all that is within us and bless his holy name by the words we speak, and the songs we sing. But unless it is backed up by a life that is totally honoring God by the lifestyle and choices we make, it’s not really true and complete worship.
Conclusion: Sing the Song “Heart of Worship”
