“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” (Psalm 103:1, 2).
Heavenly Father, during this week, when people from every walk of life in this country, and perhaps, other places in the world, have set aside a special day to express their thanks, we are reminded, that within every 24 hour period, there is so much, for which to be grateful, that an entire lifetime would not be enough to praise You for everything You have done for us! So from the depth of our heart we say, “Thank You Father for being so good! In Jesus Christ, we humbly pray. Amen.
During this week our devotionals will be based on Psalm 103. I believe this Psalm, in a very comprehensive and complete manner, speaks of many areas in our lives, where we have been blessed, and therefore, it overflows with thankfulness!
As an introduction, David begins by going from being deductive to inductive in his praises. He praises God for ALL His benefits to get his praise going! Benefits which he will later mention specifically!
Because he considers all of the greatness of the Lord, he calls on everything within himself, to bless God’s holy name! David was not stingy in his praises to God! That got him into trouble with Michal his wife (2 Samuel 6:14-23)! But it did not put an end to his vivacious worship to God!
It is puzzling to me how the praise that is offered to God and God alone, can anger some, who have nothing to do in an individual’s worship to God! Praise God that He sees hearts and is able to judge our worship by what He sees!
David’s love for God, even when he had hit rock bottom, never faltered! His words of repentance are filled with a love made sad, by the knowledge that he had failed the God he loved with all his heart,
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation, O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise” (vv.10-14).
Just reading these words bring tears to one’s eyes as you imagine the depth of his pain! Pain caused by a love that is gut deep! It is this kind of love that calls forth our praise of gratitude that only the individual and God knows where it is coming from!
From the lyrics of Alabaster Box, you hear it, “You weren’t there the night Jesus found me You did not feel what i felt when He wrapped His loving arms around me and you don’t know the cost of the oil in my alabaster box” (Janice Sjostrand).
So this week, as we pour our oil of Thankfulness at the feet of Jesus, let us keep our focus. The thankfulness is for Jesus, the Lord and Love of our lives, so is the praise! So let it rise! Let it rise! Let it rise!