Theological Commentary: Click Here
I love
psalms like this one. It is far more
easy for me to talk about psalms focusing on the character and nature of God
than it is on a human psalmist and their need for God’s intervention. Both psalm types are valid, one is easier for
me to approach.
The psalm
repeats the phrase, “Bless the Lord, oh my soul.” I find
a few things interesting about this. The
human soul is the part of humanity that comes from God. The soul is that which separates us from the
animals. All creation has biology. All creation even has life. But only human beings have a soul. The psalmist is reminding us that we should
take the part of us that is directly connected to God and use that as the basis
for our giving Him praise.
Why are we
to look to the Lord with blessing?
First, He is gracious to us. He
bestows us with favor. He looks upon us
and treats us differently than we deserve.
He heals our past. He forgives
our transgressions. He is gracious; He
deserves our blessing.
Why else should
we bless Him? We bless Him because He is
eternal. He goes from age to age. He always was, is, and will be. He transcends time. In that respect He is so utterly unlike us
that we should bless Him.
There is a
third reason. He is in charge. He rules over creation. Naturally, creation is His to make so it is
also His to rule. But He also rules over
the heavens. He rules over the angels. His dominion is both creation and
heaven. He is the omnipotent one. Both worlds submit to His will.
We bless Him
because He is so utterly unlike us that He is deserving of that blessing. We bless Him because of who He is. We bless Him because of what He does.
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