“Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name.” Psalm 103:1
“Bless the LORD, o my soul is a simple statement that is easy to remember and easy to sing, but what exactly does it mean to “Bless the LORD?” We are used to asking God to bless US, and there are many recorded instances especially in the Old Testament where God blessed those who pleased Him by their love and obedience to Him. When we realize that blessing is praise given with gratitude for what has been received and is given with love and affection it adds to our understanding of what a ‘blessing’ really is.
As His children, blessing the Lord is for us an expression of gratitude that He has redeemed us and His desire is for us to know Him through a personal relationship! Think of all the spiritual blessings that have come to us because God has called us to be His children, but it doesn’t stop there. We love Him for the kind of God He is…a God whose sovereignty and character can leave us speechless! The longer we know Him and have dealings with Him we barely begin to understand how perfect and holy and infinite He is, and as He graciously and mercifully moves through our lives and shapes us (with tests that grow our faith and trust) into the kind of people we never could be on our own, how can we not praise our heavenly Father with gratitude, love, and yes, a warm and caring affection?
The second phrase of that verse says; “All that is within me, bless His holy name!” Does it literally mean “all”? We would probably agree that ‘all’ means all. So, exactly what does “all” include? All that is within a person would surely be his whole nature: body, soul, spirit… intellect, emotion, will. That is not a small thing! If all that is within me is to bless God, doesn’t it follow that all that is within me should heed the Apostle Paul’s advice in Philippians 4:7;
“Finally, my brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of a good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” That this is easier said than done goes without saying! We all struggle to control our thinking. No one has ever lived a godly life perfectly except the Son of God, Jesus. God understands our humanity. If He demanded perfection there would be no such thing as forgiveness from Him. But we are His work in progress and as time goes by and our inner man grows spiritually stronger and a little bit wiser thanks to the work of the Spirit of God, we can truthfully say that our desire is with David, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations (thoughts) of my heart be acceptable (pleasing) in Thy sight, my Strength (Rock) and my Redeemer.”
P.S. If your joy needs rejuvenating, set aside some time not asking for anything, just meditating and reflecting on what you know about God from Psalm 103. Guaranteed!