Psalm 103 -Praise the Lord, O My Soul (Part 1)

Psalm 103

Of David.

1 Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

2 Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-

3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,

4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,

5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

6 The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.

7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:

8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.

9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;

10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;

12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.

15 As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;

16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.

17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD's love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children's children-

18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.

19 The LORD has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.

20 Praise the LORD, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.

21 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.

22 Praise the LORD, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.

I would have chosen Hebrews 12 to blog on but I'll leave that to a later date. The reason is, I've got this Psalm to share. This has to be one of my favourite Psalm and verses in the Bible and constantly strike me. Yet just this few weeks I've been pondering a lot about it and thought I'd have too write it down "by hook or by crook". And "at just the right time" (quoting Paul), it's new year, and we need to praise the Lord for what He had done for us in 2006 and start praising Him for what He is about to accomplish through us in 2007.

The first time I ever heard or know Psalm 103 (or at least part of it) goes way bac kwhere we had this cassete on Mr Donut Man. These were series of kids tapes (were yellow) that were biblical in nature. I can't remember exactly whether "Praise the Lord, O my Soul" was a catch phrase or song but it struck me and it got stuck in my brain ever since. Yet it was just recently I really get to know what it truly means.

Praise the Lord, O my Soul - this is simple and practical. In fact, it is great news for those of us who always travel alone or work alone or like to do something when they are in toilet or bathing. Talk to yourself. Rather tell yourself something. ACTUALLY tell yourself to praise the Lord! 1 Thesselonians 5:16 says "...give thanks in all circumstances..." and really in every moment of our lives whenever we are not concentrating in doing our work or something that requires attention, we should praise the Lord. Recently, there are several minor "issues" in my life that consistently bug me and disturbs me, I mean all of us have these things, but in particular this person who without any good reason is picking on me and hates me. That is not good because it makes me feel insecure- wondering what went wrong and all. Yet, at this juncture of my life, I am reminded and I "force" myself to focus on this "Praise the Lord, Oh My Soul". So when this person and the nasty things he say and do to me pops up in my mind, I "ask" myself to praise the Lord, and start to pray. Not just that, but praising the Lord from the soul necessary requires the remembering of all that He has done for us - the blessing, the parents, the partner, the friends, the life. Hence, remember to "forget not His benefits". But benefits are manifold and has many aspects. I will spend some time reflecting on my thoughts on the "benefits" in Part 2 of this series. But right now, I'm off to some praising.

I will praise you all the days of my life, Lord.
I will praise you for what you've done- and most of all- for who You are.

Praise the Lord