Bless the Lord

Psalm 103:1-5
BLESS the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies;
Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Although that which is written in the Old Testament is not written directly to us as are the New Testament Pauline Epistles, it is written for our learning. To the extent that an Old Testament record agrees with that which is written to us it can be applied by us.

Psalm 103:1-5 can be understood in our day and time and applied as follows:

BLESS the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
What is it that really blesses God?

Acts 2:11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
Acts 10:46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God...
I Corinthians 15:16-17 ...when thou shalt bless with the spirit...thou verily givest thanks well...

When we speak in tongues we speak the wonderful works of God; we magnify God; we give thanks well to God: we bless God! If you want to bless God in our day you SPEAK IN TONGUES.

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
What are the benefits that God wants us to remember?

Ephesians 2:11-19 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles...That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye are... made nigh by the blood of Christ...For through him we ... have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Remember we were without God with no hope in the world, but now we have access to God, are holy [saints], and part of God's household. What benefits to remember! And all because Christ brought us back together with God by his sacrifice, death and resurrection.

Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
Our sins and our sickness are related in God's Word. We have received healing and God's will is health and wholeness. However, consciousness of our sins and shortcomings many times keeps us from receiving that which God gives so freely. God wants us to remember that He has forgiven our sins because of Christ's accomplishments and also healed all our diseases.

Mark 2:9-11 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
Ephesians 1:7 In whom [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
I Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

God forgives all our sins and heals all our sickness because of the sacrifice, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
God has told us to remember that we were without God and that we now have access. We had no hope in this world and via Jesus Christ He has redeemed us from destruction and blessed us by His love, kindness and tender mercy.

Colossians 1:13-14 [God] Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us [made us citizens] into the kingdom [by the work] of his dear Son: In whom [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Ephesians 2:4-7 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
- God showed His kindness toward us via Christ Jesus.
  
  We were dead in sins.
  God saved us.
  God made us alive, raised us, and seated us with Christ.

We have been redeemed from destruction, death, and sin by the work of Jesus Christ and God has crowned us with His mercy, love and kindness.

Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
An eagle of the Bible lands will at one point in its life, when its feathers are old, fly high up into the air and plunge straight down into a body of water. The force of the water rips the old feathers from its body. The eagle climbs out of the water and grows new feathers and its youth is renewed. Like that eagle we too can shed our old feathers and be renewed.

Ephesians 4:22-24 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Colossians 3:5-10 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth...put of all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth...and...put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
Romans 6:4 ... that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

God has satisfied us with the good of His Word via the work of His son. We should bless Him by walking in the greatness of all that He has made available to us. Put off the old way of life and bless the Lord, O my soul!

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As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. Proverbs 25:25

January 1997
URL http://www.cortright.org/bless.htm
Michael Cortright