Psalm 103:1-14

103:1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.

Bless the Lord. That is a funny phrase. To think that I can give something to God, for me is hard. Isn't the nature of God that he doesn't need anything, yet he can be blessed by me? Well, yes. When my heart is in line with who he is and what he is doing, we call that worship, he is blessed. There are good reasons for doing this: 1. he forgives our iniquity, 2. he heals our disease, 3. he redeems our lives from death, 4. crowns us with love and mercy, 5. Satisfies us with good, and 6. he renews our youth.

The list continues to go on, but shift into what he does and what he has done. 7. Works righteousness, 8. justices for oppressed, 9. made known his way to Moses. 8. merciful and gracious abounding in steadfast love. This is one that I like to camp out on. That God does not give us what we deserve, but gives us blessing and that blessing is his love. Knowing that you are loved is one of the most important things in this life. If the love is perverse and calls you to do crazy things, okay, that's bad. But then that isn't love it is manipulation. Love is the key. Everything in this list and the rest of it is based on God's love for us. He knows who we are, where we come from, and he is loving and gentle with such fragile frames like ours.