Friday, October 21, 2011

Bless the Lord (Ps. 103:20-22)

Bless the LORD, you His angels,
Who excel in strength, who do His word,
Heeding the voice of His word.
Bless the LORD, all you His hosts,
You ministers of His, who do His pleasure.
Bless the LORD, all His works,
In all places of His dominion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!

(Psalm 103:20-22, NKJV)

Today’s verses offer praise to the only One who really deserves it. The psalmist calls to the angels and to God’s ministers to bless the Lord.

And he calls to us to do the same.

To bless means “to hallow or consecrate by religious rite or word.” We use that same word “hallow” when we recite what we call the Lord’s Prayer—at least that’s the word we use if we memorized it in the King James Version. Hallow means “to make holy or set apart for holy use” or “to respect greatly.”

Our God is holy. He is worthy of our utmost respect and honor.

To bless also means giving praise. And that’s what we are privileged to do. Praising the Lord. When we awake in the morning. When we go through our day. When we lie down at night. We should praise Him and bless His holy name.

Psalm 34:1 reminds us of how we should bless the Lord: “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”

Continually. Constantly. At all times. I fail so often with this. He truly deserves all my honor, all my worship, all my praise.

Lord God, forgive me when I neglect to bless Your name. Forgive me when I neglect to praise You continually. For You alone deserve all the glory. May all praise, honor, glory, and blessing be Yours. Amen.

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