The Psalms are a collection of songs and poems for worship and prayer.听They cover the gamut of human emotional responses, struggles and pains.听In the early hundreds, many of the Psalms begin with 鈥淧raise the Lord O my soul鈥�.听
I think it is important not to rush past that, but to stop, engage and look at what follows as it is intended to draw our hearts toward God.听
Psalm 103:2 adds 鈥淔orget not His benefits.鈥澨�
Too often, we are very aware of and focused on our trials and needs, even overwhelmed. We forget to look to the benefits of life, the things for which we can be thankful. The value of reorienting our focus on thankfulness is well-documented, as the Psalmist wrote so long ago.
In depths our trials we may struggle deeply. Do you ever wonder if there really is a God? If there is a purpose or place for life?听 It is not a mere philosophical question; it is a personal question. This question can lead us down a rabbit hole, yet it is crucial to settle.
Psalm 104 calls us to look further past ourselves. Asking us to consider 鈥淲ho is God?鈥� If we are honest and pursue this question the evidence is clear, there is a God! The Psalmist reviews the actions of the great God in creation, in the provision of life and in the course of history. In all these, we see His hand.听God is wrapped in splendour and majesty, clothed in light, very great.听
All life benefits from and relies on His engagement and provision. We also see the brokenness of our world and the Psalmist calls us to orient our hearts toward eternity. God is just and will bring justice to all in due time.
God is also gracious and offers us redemption and relationship with Him, now and into eternity.
Thus, in the 33rd听verse the Psalmist reveals further what it looks like to praise the Lord from my soul; 鈥淚 will sing praise to God as long as I live: may my meditation be pleasing to Him as I rejoice in the Lord.鈥澨�
Praise from my soul arises out of a life of faith and a lifetime of faith, rejoice (resting, revelling, being thankful) in the Lord.听May you know the presence and person of God in your life as you seek to discover, 鈥淧raise the Lord, O my soul.鈥�
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