October 7.
A Psalm Of Perfect Praise

Psalms 103

Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

If you were taking a course in Hebrew, this would, be called an “Envelope Psalm” An envelope is known for the stuff that’s on the inside. An envelope Psalm begins and ends the same. The first verse says bless the Lord and verse twenty-two says bless the Lord. It contains twenty-two verses, the same number of the Hebrew alphabet. In the twenty-two verses of the text you will find the word Lord mentioned eleven times, That’s exactly half of the number of the verses. In each of these verses you will find exactly two lines. He seemed to even out the number of the verses.

Most of the verses in the Bible that we seek out are passages that have us in mind. We look for one that’s going to be a blessing for me. But this passage opens with, “Bless the Lord.” How often do we say to someone, “Look you’ve been such a blessing; what can I do for you?” The Psalmist says every now and then the Lord seeks and searches for somebody that will bless Him. But how do you bless a person that has everything? Well you look for something that will give him glory. You look for something that will give him honor. Living a holy life brings honor to God. If you want to grieve God’s heart, give him a child that is contrary. If you want to make God feel bad let him find a child that’s going opposite of his will. But if you want to make him happy and bless him, let him run into a child that’s striving to live for him, one who is striving to walk up right for him. Find a child that is striving to please him. Instead of taking all the credit yourself, give it all to him.

Oh my soul and all that is within me. This speaks of the inside of a person. It’s not the outside God is so concerned about. He’s more concerned about what’s on the inside. Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks in the heart. Bless His Holy Name!