Praise the Lord, My Soul

On Sunday we opened the service with Psalm 103:

"Praise the Lord, my soul;

all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, my soul,

and forget not all his benefits—" (v. 1-2)

Isn't it interesting that David, who has followed God since he was young, first must rouse his soul to praise God? He prompts himself to worship. He attends to his inner life and exhorts himself to praise God. I don't think he's revealing a heart that doesn't praise God in any way. After all, he's writing the music, he's playing the song. Instead, I think he's meditating and preparing his heart, encouraging himself to praise God in every way. David wants to make sure he is wholly focused on praising/blessing the Lord.

David does this often: he prepares himself to worship. It makes me feel more comfortable, because there are times when I'm not ready to sing God's praise at the start of service. My mind, or my heart, or my soul is elsewhere. It takes intention and sometimes a laying aside of myself in order to fully praise God. If I'm focused on how my coffee is too cold, or what I'm doing later in the day, or my family, or my friends, or anything other than Him, then I'm not fully engaged in worship. Praise the Lord, my soul. Put your attention and your hope in God.

Then David gives himself a little more direction, pointing to all the ways God blesses him:

"who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's." (v. 3-5)

Every day, every moment, we are reaping the benefits of a loving God. In Christ, we know complete forgiveness of sin: past, present, and future. In Christ we know redemption; more than that, we are crowned in Christ with love and compassion. In Christ we have our needs and even our desires satisfied with good things. God is so good to us! Praise the Lord, my soul.

He goes on to recount God's deeds of the past, God's character. And then, with the fullness of what God does and who God is resonating throughout his whole self, David turns to the rest of creation, exhorting everything to praise God:

"Praise the Lord, you his angels,

you mighty ones who do his bidding,

who obey his word.

Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,

you his servants who do his will.

Praise the Lord, all his works

everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul." (v. 20-22)

David attends to himself before he calls on creation to worship God. If we want the world to change, we must first work to change ourselves. If we want every nation, tribe and tongue to worship God, we must first attend to our own worship. Are we going to live a life that is half-heartedly following Jesus? How will this be seen in the world? We must drink of the living water and remember how Jesus satisfies. Then, from the deep well of knowing God's goodness ourselves, we can give a drink to those around us. Praise the Lord, my soul.