Psalm 103:1, “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”

 

What does “Bless the Lord” mean? It means to speak well of His greatness and goodness. It is synonymous with praise. Psalm 34:1 puts them together like this: “I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Notice the word mouth. To “Bless the Lord” is to speak, sing, and live according to His goodness and greatness. Psalm 103 is a personal, public, and pervasive exhortation to bless God. The psalm is stuffed with reason after reason why God should be blessed, honored, praised, and treasured.

Psalm 103 is the wellspring for so many hymns and songs of praise from far back in the past right up to the present because the psalm is pure praise and worship from start to finish. These twenty-two verses are focused on one person: Yahweh. That is the tetragrammaton, the covenant making and never breaking name of God. This is the only name of God used in the 103^rd and it is not a descriptive name like Jehovah-jireh (Genesis 22:14) or Jehovah-shalom (Judges 6:23-24, “Peace be unto thee, fear not). Yahweh is His own name – the I AM. The One who eternally exists. No beginning. No ending. He is constant and independent and sovereign. God is truth, love, light, life, beauty, perfection, holiness, and joy. He is everything, and He alone is worthy of worship. All praise is riveted on the Eternal God and His gospel truth.

The 103rd Psalm will be our text this morning, our first one back since March 15. Follow this link for information about today’s service. We look forward to worshipping together, up on the hill once again. If you do not feel comfortable gathering, or if you do not feel well, please remain at home and follow along on the live-steam.

 

Following the time of worship we will honor our 2020 graduates: Bailee Allen, Kylee Fain, Jesse Eaton, and Will Isaacs. That will also be live-streamed.