Focus Passage: Psalm 103

‘Bless Jehovah, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name.’

One has well written with regard to the uncommon expression employed here by the sweet Psalmist of Israel, ‘all that is within me,’ which, in itself suggests that there should be absolutely nothing left out of use in our praise of God;

‘“All that is within me,” etc. Let your conscience “bless the Lord” by unvarying fidelity. Let your judgment bless him, by decisions in accordance with his word. Let your imagination bless him, by pure and holy musings. Let your affections praise him, by loving whatsoever he loves. Let your desires bless him, by seeking only his glory. Let your memory bless him, by not forgetting any of his benefits. Let your thoughts bless him, by meditating on his excellencies. Let your hope praise him, by longing and looking for the glory that is to be revealed. Let your every sense bless him by its fealty, your every word by its truth, and your every act by its integrity.’—John Stevenson.

We surely stand in great need of grace upon grace in order to accomplish anything at all approaching, in these poor tabernacles, that worship which we shall render one day, an eternal day, unto our Lord and our God in our heavenly abode. We never cry as heartily nor as often as we ought for an increase and strengthening of our faith. Why we fail to follow the example of the disciples in this demonstrates, or should demonstrate to us, how easily we fall into a lethargy. This would commonly also involve our taking our faith for granted. How amazing that it should ever be so. Yet it reveals to us our continuing dependence upon the grace of God to cause us even to cry unto Him for more grace. We are reminded of the story told regarding the response of D. L. Moody, the famed evangelist, upon his being asked what passage of Scripture he might desire to have inscribed on his tombstone. Without any hesitation whatever, he responded that it would be Luke 16:22, ‘And it came to pass, that the beggar died.’

D. L. Moody knew himself to be a suppliant at the throne of his God for all things, and wished to praise God with his entire being, ‘all that is within me.’ We strongly believe that in the same manner, and for the same reasons, David knew himself to be a beggar at the table of his Lord. He would, therefore, have that desire to ‘Bless Jehovah, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.’ He would, moreover, wish to ‘teach transgressors thy ways’ in directing us to follow his lead in blessing our God and Savior. May we ever and again sit under this prophet’s instructions as he encourages us through so great a number of psalms to praise God with every fiber of our being? In order to the accomplishment of this hoped for longing to be found in our hearts, minds, soul, and strength, let us be seriously diligent in the use of the many means of grace that the great Prophet of the church has bestowed upon His church, His bride. He has given His bride what may be looked upon as a dowry; an engagement present in order that she might be learning anticipatively the greatness of the love of her dear Bridegroom. That she might be studying in order to discover every particle of her being with which she may praise and bless Him with all that is within her. The heart of this longing of the bride to please the Bridegroom seems to be very well expressed by the psalmist in the 123rd psalm and the first two verses in particular:

Unto thee do I lift up mine eyes, O thou that sittest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes look unto Jehovah our God.

How wonderfully grand it would be if we personified those servants in looking unto the hand of our Master; looking into His Word; sitting under His Word taught and preached; praying over the reading of His Word; praying over the praying of His Word that we might come more and more to learn all that is within us wherewith we may bless our Lord and His most holy Name which is both holy and reverend according to Psalm 111:9.

Perhaps through the use of the means which God has provided, we would come to know what it is to reverence the Name of our God; it is Holy. While there are various other translations of the Hebrew which our version has rendered ‘Holy and Reverend,’ nonetheless they all point out the same reality. The word speaks of ‘reverence; to fear; to venerate.’ As it is connected with his Name, Holy, surely we are here called to reverence Him for His absolute and perfect holiness; the holiness of His every attribute. His love is a holy love. His mercy is a holy mercy. His righteousness is a holy righteousness. And, yes, His wrath is a holy wrath even, we might well say, because His righteousness is holy. If we could correspond ‘all that is within us’ to the grandeur of all His glorious attributes, we might at least have a good beginning in an attempt to bless Him from all that is within us. If we were to strive and study to know better all that is within Him, we would have at the very least, something of a starting point from which to more accurately bless Him. Paul has given us, we may suggest, that which may be a starting-gun for this race. In his epistle to the church at Rome, he has set before us an inspired doxology which is, surely because inspired by the Holy Spirit Himself, incomparable in its blessing God in language most beautiful as He is Beautiful:

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom of God and the knowledge of God: how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past tracing out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and unto him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen.

We would only, with reservation about adding anything to the Word of God, be tempted to say, ‘To him be the glory for ever AND EVER, unto the ages of ages.’

David Farmer, elder

Fellowship Bible Church