Bless the Lord (Psalm 103-1)
Bless The Lord, O My Soul!
Text: Psalm 103:1
Place Preached - (Mississauga International Baptist Church)
Date Preached - (10/11/03 & 10/09/05 PM)
Place Preached - (Harvest Fellowship Baptist Church)
Date Preached - (10/09/05)
“Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.” — Psalm 103:1.
You see here a man talking to himself.
If any man desires to excite the hearts of others in any given direction, he must first stir up himself upon the same matter.
“Bless the Lord, O my soul,” is the preacher’s preparation in the study, without which he must fail in the pulpit.
ILLUS: You know about the plumber with leaking pipes and the mechanic whose car will not run etc..
1 Timothy 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
I’m sure that an encyclopedia could be written upon the faults of the church, and when it was written it would be wise to burn it!
Matthew 7:3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Begin at home; where the work is to be done.
Say to your own heart, “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”
Now, in a certain sense it is not possible for us to bless God. He blesses us, and in the same sense we cannot bless him. He hath all things, — what can we give to him?
But we bless him by being thankful.
Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
The Psalmist also stirred himself up to bless God’s name, by which is meant his character;
Every name of God is a reason for thankfulness.
- Praise Jehovah, the self-existent one.
- Praise Elohim, which reveals the Trinity & his sacred unity.
- Praise El-Shaddai, the all sufficient God.
Bless the Father, from who loved us with an everlasting love.
Bless the Son, Jesus our Savior, Christ, — anointed to redeem.
And the Holy Ghost, — our Comforter, the heavenly Dove.
Select any attribute of God you will, and it is a reason for our loving him.
- Immutable
- Everlasting Love.
- Infinite
- Omnipotent
- All Wise / All Knowing
- Gracious / Merciful
EMPHASIS NOW - His Holy Name. Only a holy man can delight in holy things.
Even to save his people God would not violate his law; even to deliver his own beloved Son from going down into the pit he would not turn away from the paths of righteousness.
“Holy, holy, holy,” is the cry of the angels!
Notice several attributes of the Exhortation in Psalm 103
I. It is REMARKABLY COMPREHENSIVE.
“Bless the Lord, O my soul:” — there is the unity of our nature,
“and all that is within me,” — there are the diverse powers and faculties which make up the variety of our nature.
A. First, the unity of our nature is to yield its true self to the praise of God.
“Bless the Lord, O my soul,” — he means
Not his lips only, not his hands, not his eyes, but his soul, his very self, his truest self.
1. The soul is our real self.
Never let me present to God the outward and superficial alone,
Let me be true to the core to my God.
2. The soul is our best self.
My real self, my best self, shall bless the Lord.
3. The soul is also our immortal self.
Should we be occupied with any less worthy matters?
4. The soul is our active self.
When we speak of a man’s throwing his soul into a thing, we mean that he does it with all his might.
Vigor or force of character.
ILLUS: If you go to sleep over anything let it be over your money-making, or your buying and selling, but be awake in the service of the Lord.
Either do not pretend to praise God at all, or praise him with all your might.
B. David speaks of the diverse faculties of our nature, and writes,
“All that is within me bless his holy name.”
1. The affections
Whatever your emotional state, let it lead you to bless your Maker’s Holy Name.
2. Your thoughts
ILLUS: Every Christian should read the paper, or digest any information with a view to giving God praise, or not at all.
3. Your knowledge
Even our human learning should be laid at the Lord’s feet.
4.The faculty of wonder
Let your astonishment bless God.
Psalms 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
5. Your fears.
Do you fear because you are weak? He remembereth that we are dust.
6. Your hopes.
Let them not remain silent; as they peer into the future let them sing
Every single mental faculty, each particular power of the soul can praise God.
Whatever faculty you possess in the greatest strength - use it for God!!
Whichever phase your soul is in just now; bless God while you are in that mood, whatever it be. “All that is within me,” says the text, — then let it be all.
A vein of humor? A touch of despondency? A little pensiveness? Praise God as you are.
ILLUS: A Crow cannot stop from singing because she is not a nightingale.
Praise the name of the Lord, each one in his own peculiar note; for we are all needed in the harmony of God’s choir.
Spend all your strength, keep back nothing.
Let your house praise him. Let your table praise him; learn to eat and drink to his glory. Let your bed praise him; — ETC.
Make your life a Psalm!!
Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
II. It is MOST REASONABLE. – Why??
A. God has created all that is within us
...except the sin which mars us; every faculty, susceptibility, power or passion, is of the Lords fashioning.
To whom, then should you render your praise but to him who made you all that you are?
B. The Lord has redeemed our entire manhood.
Christ came into the world and redeemed our entire nature, spirit, soul & body — not a part of the man, but our complete humanity.
Therefore let body and soul praise him who has redeemed both by his most precious blood.
To prove that this is reasonable, let me ask one single question: — if we do not devote all that is within us to the glory of God, which part is it that we should leave unconsecrated?
III. It is NECESSARY.
All the man, with all his might, always occupied in all ways in blessing God, would still be no more than a whisper in comparison with the thunder of praise which the Lord deserves.
Should we insult the Lord with half when the whole is not enough?
If we had ten times as much, we could not magnify him as we should.
How can we afford to let life evaporate in trivial things?
“Oh for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise.”
Jesus Christ will have of us all or nothing!!
Revelation 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
If Baal be God, serve him; but if God be God, serve him truly.
IV. Whole-hearted praise is BENEFICIAL.
A. It is beneficial to ourselves.
1. To be whole-hearted in the praise of God is to elevate our faculties.
We are not living in the intended fullness of our humanity until we praise the One in whose image we are made.
This is the loftiest peak of human attainment.
2. To bless God is also of preventive usefulness to us.
We cannot bless God and at the same time idolise ourselves.
John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
Praise preserves us from being envious of others, for by blessing God for all we have, we learn to bless God for what other people have.
Be thankful to God for making better men than yourself.
Always blessing the Lord will save us from murmuring & discontent.
This will also deliver us from Laziness, for we shall seek the place of service, that we may bring more honor to our Master.
Nothing beautifies a man like praising God.
ILLUS: You know how pleasing landscapes appear when the sun shines upon them.
Praise is the sunlight of life.
B. While whole-hearted praise is beneficial to ourselves, it is also useful to others.
1. I’m convinced many souls are influenced to come to Christ by the cheerful disposition and godly conversation of Christians.
2. Many already saved are greatly strengthened by the holy joy of their brethren.
3. You cannot do good more effectively than by a happy consecrated life, spent in blessing God.
It is truly Christ-like.
Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
This is the way to win souls. You will catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
V. Lastly, all this is PREPARATORY.
If we can attain to constant praise now, it will prepare us for all that awaits us.
The last time you were ill, one of your strings was tuned; the last time you had a bad debt, or trembled at declining business, another string was tuned.
And so, between now & heaven, you will have every string tuned.
ILLUS: Did you ever go to a place where they make pianos, and expect to hear sweet music? The tuning-room is enough to drive a man mad, and in the factory you hear the screeching of saws and the noise of hammers, and you say, ‘I thought this was a place where they made pianos.” Yes, so it is, but it is not the place where they play them.
In heaven, every part of the man will bless God without any difficulty. No need for a preacher there to exhort you, you will do it as naturally as now you breathe.
In heaven you will live in an atmosphere of adoration!!
CONCLUSION:
“Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”
Some of you cannot bless God at all, and it would be idle for me to tell you to do it. You are dead in your sin.
I must tell you something else, It is this: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”
God grant to you that saving faith for Christ’s sake.