“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”
“Bless the Lord,” means “praise the Lord.” Praising the Lord is one of the greatest benefits and privileges that we have, and Psalm 103:2 gives us a good definition of praise. It tells us that it is praise to the Lord. It is the Lord who gives life and sustains it. Paul reminded the Athenians in Acts 17:28 that it is in the Lord that “we live and move and have our being.” The Lord created us. The Lord loves us. The Lord cares for us to the point that even the hairs of our heads are numbered. He is aware of everything that goes on in our lives and is always concerned for our lives. James wrote that the Lord gives us “every good and perfect gift.” Indeed, the Lord is worthy of our praise, but do we really praise Him? When we sing in church are we really and truly praising the Lord? When we read the Bible, or hear it read, do we really and truly praise the Lord for His word? Better yet, when we drop our tithes and offerings into the collection plate, are we really and truly praising the Lord? Do we praise the Lord on a daily basis? For example, when we get up in the morning do we praise the Lord? When we go to bed at night, do we praise the Lord? Understand that praise is not the noise we make. We can make a lot of noise in church, or in private worship, but that doesn’t mean that we are really praising the Lord. The text also tells us that praise is from the soul: “Bless the Lord, O my soul…” Our souls are who we are in our hearts. Our souls are the deepest part of ourselves, where real worship and praise take place. This kind of praise comes from all of the faculties and powers of our being. To praise the Lord from the soul is to praise Him with all that we have and all that we are. Psalm 103:1 actually describes what takes place when we praise the Lord from our souls: “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me bless His holy name.” The best way that I can describe this worship and praise is that when we worship from our souls, we worship the Lord with all of the positives and negatives within us. We pour it all out in praise of Him! In other words, praise from the soul is honest. The text further tells us that we praise the Lord for His benefits: “Forget not all His benefits.” How do we remember all of the benefits of the Lord in our lives? We remember through praise. It is possible that the reason many people are not grateful for the Lord’s benefits is because they do not praise Him as they should, or as often as they should. How can we not praise Him, for example, for the benefit of salvation? After all salvation is a gift of God. We could never have earned salvation. We are saved because of God’s grace and love for us. How could we not praise Him for the benefit of the indwelling Holy Spirit? There are many more benefits that we have from the Lord than we do not have room for here. Suffice it to say that we need to praise the Lord for all of His benefits. Praise the Lord from your soul, and do not forget all that He has done for and will continue to do for you. Remember your utter dependence on Him and you will have no problem praising Him. Decide today that you are going to make it a practice to praise the Lord wherever you are. You do not have to do it with words; you can just praise Him from your heart. Do it! Bro. Joe
1 Comment
Tommie L Collins
12/16/2018 06:33:44 pm
This is Absolutely the Truth!!! Happy Holidays!!!
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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