“Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!” (Psalm 103:1 NKJV)
“With my whole heart, with my whole life, and with my innermost being, I bow in wonder and love before you, the holy God!” (Psalm 103:1 TPT)
“Let all that I am praise the LORD; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.” (Psalm 103:1 NLT)
“Bless and affectionately praise the LORD, O my soul, and all that is [deep] within me, bless His holy name.” (Psalm 103:1 AMP)
“My soul, praise Yahweh, and all that is within me, praise His holy name.” (Psalm 103:1 HCSB)
“Bless LORD JEHOVAH, my soul, and all my bones, bless his holy name!” (Psalm 103:1 ABIPE)
Psalm 103 has been a Psalm that my Daddy has brought me back to many times throughout my life. When my kids were very young (back in the early to mid 90’s) we used this Psalm for devotions. Most recently, Daddy had me work on memorizing this Psalm about two years ago. I had already selected another Pslam to move into after Psalm 91, but as I was completing it Daddy impressed upon my heart that I was to spend more time in Psalm 103. So here we go.
David was doing what we refer to as “self – talk” as he opened this Psalm. According to the Apostle Paul’s writings to the Thessalonians, I am a 3 part being. I am a spirit, that has a soul, and lives in a body. David (the real man that lives on the inside) was speaking to his soul (his mind) and telling himself to “bless” (affectioately praise, bow in wonder and love – worship) the LORD (Yahweh, LORD JEHOVAH, Daddy – Abba Father according to other passages). He was directing his actions by making a decision to start with recognizing his Heavenly Father through praise and worship.
David was passionate about worship. Under his leadership the Nation of Israel worshipped the LORD prophetically as they moved from worship consisting of sacrifices and offerings to praise and worship proclaimed in song and dance. He was instrumental in bringing worship to a new level of participation throughout the entire nation versus the traditional priest focused system. David brought in New Covenant style worship during the midst of the Old Covenant.
In one instance it is recorded that David got so lost in passionate praise and worship that he publicly threw off his outer garments as he was dancing in complete abandon to the LORD. Worship starts in my spirit and moves to my soul, and can be seen in my body. Throughout scripture there are many outward expressions described (raising of hands, bowing down, clapping, dancing, jumping, running, falling flat on the ground, humbly lowering the head, shouting, singing, crying out, laughing, etc.). Praise and worship will get right down into my bones.
Before I can truly recognize who I am, and what I have been blessed with; I need to recognize who my Daddy is, and what He has given me. It starts with making the decision to take my focus away from myself and place it on Yahweh through praise and worship.
I need to tell my self to get involved with…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 228: Kingdom Living (Psalm 103) Part 2 – Verse 1