Psalm 103 - “Bless the Lord, O My Soul”

This section of the collection of Psalms is such a refreshing read every day.  It is glorious each day to come to the text and glorify the Lord in a precious new way with a helpful nudge to expand our normal praise and worship in one way or another.  I especially have found these last several Psalms refreshing after coming out of several that focused on times of difficulty, times of hardship, times of God’s confrontation, and times of yearning for the Lord to hear the cry of His children in their time of need.  Now we are ushered into these praise Psalms, while still desiring His closeness and calling on His activity in their (our) lives, bring our attention repeatedly on the praise that is rightly to be given to Him.

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to Your name” - 92:1
“O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.” - 95:1
“Sing to the Lord a new song; Sing to the Lord, all the earth.  Sing to the Lord, bless His name;” - 96:1-2
“O sing to the Lord a new song” - 98:1
“Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.” - 100:1

While not every part of all of the Psalms of this section are consistently about praise, it certainly is the theme.

As we come to Psalm 103, I am pushed a bit more than the refreshing reading that has been the course of the previous passages.   As it begins, it immediately calls me to “Bless the Lord” with “all that is within me.”  I have no problem singing joyfully of His love and mercy or shouting about His greatness and power.  In fact, I love doing those things, but when you ask me to bring honor to Him with ALL OF ME, now you’re really meddling in my easy-follower life.  

THIS is why I need Psalms.  Passages like this grab me and push me outside of my normal, beyond my ordinary, and toward an end that is much more appropriate before my almighty, righteous, merciful, gracious, … Heaven Father.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.”