BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL! (Part 2)

[Pastor Bayo Afolaranmi]

Dearly Beloved,

BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL! (Part 2)

"Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits?" (Psalm 103:1-2 NKJV).

This is the continuation of the study on Psalms 103 and 104 started last week. We examined who God is especially in His greatness manifested in His creation which made the psalmist to exclaim to his soul to bless or praise the Lord. In this second part of the study, we will examine what God has done, is doing, and will still do for us that make Him deserve our worship, praises and thanksgiving.

The psalmist urged his soul not to forget all the benefits of God. What are these benefits? He enumerated them in this Psalm 103: the Lord forgives all his sins (verse 3a); the Lord heals all his diseases (verse 3b); the Lord redeems his life from destruction (verse 4a); the Lord crowns him with love and compassion (verses 4b, 8, 11, 13, 17); and the Lord satisfies his desires with good things (verse 5).

The psalmist declared that the Lord did all those things to his soul, hence, the exclamation to his soul to bless the Lord. He went further to declare other things that the Lord has done and is doing to him as well as other people: the Lord is just to the oppressed (verse 6); the Lord led the Israelites out of slavery through Moses (verse 7); the Lord is gracious and slow to anger (verses 8-10); and in His compassion and love, He treats us like children (verses 10-14).

Having declared the goodness (or benefits) of God, the psalmist entreated the angels and all the heavenly hosts to join him in blessing the Lord. He even entreated you and me, His works, to also bless the Lord.

Undoubtedly, you also will have many things to praise the Lord for. Think of those things. Do not forget all His benefits. Recount them and praise the Lord. Bless the LORD, O my soul!

In His service,

Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).