Bless the Lord, O My Soul – Ps 103
Psalm 103 is a psalm of pure praise from beginning to end. It focuses on praising the Lord for who He is. David’s goal in describing the Lord’s attributes is to remind himself of all the Lord’s benefits and to cause himself to bless (praise) the Lord. He want to stir himself up to bless and magnify the Lord (v.1-2).
The list of all the things the Lord is and does is amazing – forgiving sin, healing diseases, redeeming from destruction, crowning with lovingkindness, satisfying with good things, renewing strength, executing righteousness. The Lord is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, plenteous in mercy, forgiving, pitying. After such an amazing list and a time of meditating on the Lord, David responds with more praise and blessing (v.20-22).
Few things we can learn from this Psalm:
- We need to work at developing a life of praise to the Lord. In this Psalm, David is speaking to Himself.
- We do this through renewing our minds with truths about God and His grace.
- Genuine understanding and reflection on the Lord’s attributes and works should produce praise and blessing.
- Rather than seeking more blessing from the Lord, we should realise that in Christ we are already greatly blessed. Instead, we should be blessing the Lord and doing what we can to magnify and honour Him.