Tag: Praise

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Bless the Lord

Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases . . . The Lord performs righteous deeds And judgments for all who are oppressed . . . The Lord is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness . . . For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him . . .  Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will. Bless the Lord, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the Lord, O my soul  (!Psalm 103:1-3, 6, 8, 11-13, 21-22, NASB)

Psalm 103 is a psalm of King David, “Praise for the Lord’s Mercies.”  It’s a wonderful poem, and it’s inspired many songs and hymns.  David pours his heart out, expressing his love for the Lord.  It also mentions many of God’s attributes. 

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me . . . ”  King David knew the Law of Moses, which commanded the Israelites to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, and might.  David’s descendant Jesus later repeated this instruction as the greatest commandment.  

Bless the Lord , O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Psalms 103:1 NKJV https://bible.com/bible/114/psa.103.1.NKJV
Psalm 103:1 image.  Found at I Live for Jesus, https://iliveforjesus.in/bless-the-lord/. 

God’s attributes as recorded by David in this psalm:  God is merciful; He is Healer; He is righteous; He’s the supreme Judge Who frees the oppressed; He is compassionate and gracious; He’s slow to anger, but overpouring in His love for those who fear Him; He forgives our transgressions; and He’s compassionate. 

How much does God love us?  “As high as the heavens are above the earth.”  That’s really high!  How far has God removed our sins from us?  “As far as the east is from the west.”  That’s an infinite distance!  How much compassion does the Lord have for those who have the utmost respect for Him?  “Just as a father has compassion on his children.”  This makes me want to say, “Abba!  Father!”  

This is a wonderful love poem by King David to our God! 

Worship:  Psalm 103:1-6 song:  “Bless the Lord, O My Soul,” by Esther Mui
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Praise God in All the Earth!

God be gracious to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us— Selah. That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations.  Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy; For You will judge the peoples with uprightness And guide the nations on the earth. Selah. Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. The earth has yielded its produce; God, our God, blesses us. God blesses us, That all the ends of the earth may fear Him.  (Psalm 67, NASB)

Psalm 67 is so interesting to me that I highlighted the entire psalm.  It’s titled “The Nations Exhorted to Praise God.”  The author is not known, and it’s meant to be a song.  

What stands out most for me in this psalm is the desire to make known to the world of God’s salvation, and that the whole earth should sing His praises.  

No photo description available.
Psalm 67:3-4 image.  Found at Bible Answer Man, https://www.facebook.com/BibleAnswerManBroadcast/posts/let-the-nations-be-glad-and-sing-for-joy-psalm-673-4/10154992120677852/.

In the Great Commission, Jesus commanded His disciples to go out to the world and spread His gospel.  We’re taught that Jesus will not return to His earth to gather His elect until all people groups hear the message of salvation.  This psalm is prescient to me in explaining these things. 

Worship:  “Psalm 67–O God, Let All the Nations Praise You,” by Francesca LaRosa
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Glorious Praise

Shout joyfully to God, all the earth; Sing the glory of His name; Make His praise glorious . . . “All the earth will worship You, And will sing praises to You; They will sing praises to Your name.” Selah. Come and see the works of God, Who is awesome in His deeds toward the sons of men . . . Come and hear, all who fear God, And I will tell of what He has done for my soul. I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue . . . But certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer Nor His lovingkindness from me.  (Psalm 66:1-2, 4-5, 16-17, 19-20, NASB)

Psalm 66 is titled “Praise for God’s Mighty Deeds and for His Answer to Prayer.”  There is no author listed in this psalm in my bible.com edition.  According to Bible Hub, “The name of the author of this psalm is unknown. There is no certain evidence that it was composed by David, yet there is nothing in the psalm itself which is inconsistent with the supposition that he was the author. Perhaps the most natural and obvious interpretation of Psalm 66:13-15, would be that there is reference there to the temple; and if so, of course, the psalm must have been written by someone else. But it is not absolutely necessary to suppose that the temple is there referred to, for the language might be applied to the tabernacle as the “house” or the place of the worship of God. There is, however, no positive evidence that it was composed by David, and it is impossible now to determine its authorship.” (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/psalms/66.https://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/psalms/66.htm)

“Make His Praise Glorious,” found at Balanced Life Christian Center, https://theblcc.org/make-his-praise-glorious/

In the first section of the excerpts above, the author tells of his praises to God.  The Bible says that God inhabits the praises of His people, so we should praise the Lord when we pray.  Indeed, the psalmist says to “shout joyfully to God, all the earth . . . make His praise glorious!”  (the exclamation point is mine!)  All the earth is not shouting joyfully to God, as the author had hoped, so His people need to pick up the slack! 

In the second part, he tells us “what [God] has done for [his] soul.”  The psalmist recounts that God has heard, and answered, his prayers.  He has no doubt that God has shown “lovingkindness” to him. 

Despite my illness, I still feel like praising God.  He has blessed me with a great life, and He has not broken any of His good promises to me.  He doesn’t guarantee that this life will be easy.  My hope and my trust is in what’s ahead.  The best is yet to come! 

Worship:  “Make His Praise Glorious,” by Sandi Patty 
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Psalm 34

I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul will make its boast in the LORD; The humble will hear it and rejoice. O magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together. I sought the LORD, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears.  (Psalm 34:1-4, NASB)

Psalm 34 was written by David before he became King of Israel.  He had been anointed King by Samuel the judge, and was evading capture and execution at the hands of King Saul.  David fled to Abimelech, king of an enemy of Israel, and feigned insanity to get away from him.  The title of this psalm is “The LORD, a Provider and Deliverer.”  I’ve highlighted several passages from this psalm, so I’ll cover it more than once. 

What strikes me is David’s steadfastness:  “I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”  This is what followers of Jesus are called to do, and with God’s help, we should strive to do.  God inhabits the praises of His people, and we should praise Him as often as possible. 

“Magnify the Lord.”  Found at https://blog.josephprince.com/magnify-the-lord/

David continues:  “My soul will make its boast in the Lord; The humble will hear it and rejoice.”  The Apostle Paul writes often of boasting in Lord .  Salvation cannot be earned.  It’s a gift from God, and therefore no one can brag about it, except in the Lord!  If one boasts in the Lord, the proud and haughty will ignore it, or deride.  Only the humble will rejoice. 

Further, “O magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together.”  Praise God for Who He is, and praise His holy Name! 

And finally, “I sought the Lord, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears.”  David prayed, and God answered him.  David feared for his life, for the King of Israel was seeking his head.  But God answered his prayers, and by faith, his fears were relieved.

What a psalm!  David, in the midst of pursuit by King Saul and thousands of soldiers, takes time to praise God!  He praises God CONTINUOUSLY; he boasts ONLY in God, not in himself; he asks others to praise the Lord with him; and his steadfast faith eliminated all his fears.  David is a model for Jesus followers to emulate.  By being continually in an attitude of prayer and thanksgiving, may our fears be erased! 

Worship: “O Magnify the Lord” by Sandi Patti

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Praise

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.  My soul will make its boast in the Lord; The humble will hear it and rejoice.  O magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together.  I sought the Lord, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears.  (Psalm 34:1-4, NASB)

Psalm 34 has become one of my favorites among the Psalms.  The reason is the song below (Is that backwards?  Does it matter?)  Two of my Air Force Academy classmates, Joe Shirey and Roy Mattson, sent me the link to the song on separate occasions.  It was already in my mix of YouTube songs, but I appreciate my classmates’ sharing it with me.  That means so much!
The title of this Psalm is “The Lord, a Provider and Deliverer.”  David wrote this Psalm (one of many) as he was evading capture and execution at the hands of King Saul.  There’s a lot more to the Psalm than these four verses.  I recommend you read the whole thing (and listen to the song!).
David calls us to “praise the Lord at all times.”  While sitting on my bed with my ALS, I ponder this a lot, and I take every opportunity I can to praise God.  I praise Him when I wake up in the morning; when Sue comes in my room in the morning; when we talk to our kids on the phone; when I hear from friends or family via email or text message; when people visit.  Sometimes I wish I could raise my hands in praise, but I’m unable.  Praise the Lord anyway!

Psalm 34:1, found at DailyVerses.net


He is my Deliverer!  I’ve found that trusting in God truly does deliver me from all my fears.  I’m secure in my future because of the promises from my Deliverer.  His mercies and blessings are new every day.  Is He your Deliverer?  Have you accepted God’s gift of Jesus?


Worship:  “Psalm 34,” The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir 

I was watching this video of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir one day with Joe Shirey.  His comment: “I think this is what heaven will be like.”  I concur!  Praise the Lord!