Let all that I am praise the Lord;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
Let all that I am praise the Lord;
may I never forget the good things he does for me.
He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
He redeems me from death
and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
He fills my life with good things.
My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

Psalm 103:1-5 NLT

In this Psalm, David commands his soul (his mind, his will and his emotions) to line up with his spirit and bless the Lord. To bless the Lord is to adore and thank Him for all His benefits. To recognize His rightful place as Lord over all, including me and every aspect of my life. It is to gratefully acknowledge Him for who He is and receive all that He has provided for me and chosen to bestow upon me. It’s a way of saying “YES” and “AMEN” to the promises of God and the kingdom benefits He offers.

What are His benefits? Just in these verses we see that His benefits include forgiving me of my sins, healing me of my diseases, redeeming me from death, crowning me with love and tender mercies, filling my life with good things and renewing my youth like the eagle’s. Wow! Where else can you get benefits like that?

That list of benefits is huge and it seems like blessing God isn’t something I should have to command my mind, will and emotions to do. But, often, I forget. I forget the benefits. I forget how awesome it is to have Him as Lord over my life. Sometimes, can I just say this, sometimes, I forget to even think about Him, much less bless Him. Ugh! There I’ve said it. I’m not proud of that. Like David, sometimes, I have to command my mind to bless God; I have to put a halt to self-regarding thoughts and purposefully think on God-blessing thoughts. Sometimes I have to command my emotions to line up with the word of God and not be swayed to and fro because of my lack of awareness of evidence of His provision and sometimes I have to command my will to line up with His because, quite frankly, I like to have things my way. A lot.

Amazing God, how wonderful You are to us.  How gracious and giving. Thank You for all the benefits You so freely offer.  Forgive me please for the times I take You for granted. Enlarge my capacity to receive, I pray, enlarge my faith and enlarge my sphere of influence so that I can share You with others.  May Your will be done in my life.  Bless You Lord, in Jesus’ name, amen.

I would love to hear from you. Please let me know if I can be praying for you as well.