Blessing the Lord

Psalm 103:1  ‘Bless the Lord O my soul: and all that is within me bless His Holy Name.’

This is the first verse of a psalm of praise and thanksgiving to God for His numberless blessings to us.  We are often encouraged to sing songs such as ‘Count your blessings’, and to reflect on the multitude of blessings we receive from God.  We should never forget that all that we are and have we owe to our gracious and beneficent God.  But how often do we consider how we can and ought to ‘bless God’?  God is blessed when we acknowledge Him for Who He is and for what He has done for us.  When we live each day in an ‘attitude of gratitude’ God is blessed.  The psalmist goes on to say that we should bless God for all His benefits, for forgiving all our sins, and for healing our diseases.   We are urged to bless God with our soul, or from the very depth of our being.  God alone is worthy of our sacrifice of praise.  Hebrews 13:15 says that we should ‘offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually…giving thanks to His name.’

In today’s verse we notice that David is speaking to himself, and encouraging himself to offer praises and thanksgiving to God.  We too should endeavour to ensure that we bless the Lord with ‘all that is within’ us.  Only praise and thanksgiving, like ‘worship that is in spirit and in truth’, will be acceptable to God.  When we bless God, the blessing returns to us and we are strengthened and uplifted in our faith.

Are we truly thankful for all of God’s blessings?

Do we even believe that we can be a blessing to God?

Blessed Be Your Name

Here I Am To Worship