Bless the LORD, O my soul
Psalm 103:1,2 – Psalm 103:22 – Psalm 104:1,35
Does your mind ever wander? Sometimes it happens in the middle of what might be an important presentation or conversation. It happens exactly when we should be concentrating. At these times we find our mind churning through “to do” lists, future plans or even holiday destinations. We’re often embarrassingly snapped back when someone asks a question or demand a comment. Our mind was being lazy, escaping rather than paying attention.
Today’s verse describes what David did to make his mind work properly. 5 times in Psalms he instructs his soul to Bless the Lord. The soul embraces our mind, will & emotions. Our soul is designed to praise and bless God, enjoying his friendship & delighting in his favour. Unfortunately, many people seldom use their mind, will & emotions for this. They just let their soul do what it wants to do, unhindered.
Like David, the most effective thing we can do is to speak to our soul to make it do what it needs to do, even when it doesn’t want to. Joshua was told to make his mind speak & meditated on God’s Word [Joshua 1:8], Paul told us to make our mind give thanks in all things [1 Thessalonians 5:18, Ephesians 5:20]. When we make our mind work, rather than be lazy, we pay attention to all the promises, blessings & hope that God has for us.
This week let’s wake our minds up by speaking to them. Let’s not accept a lazy or disinterested response. Let’s employ our minds appropriately in God’s Word. Let’s read, speak & meditate on God’s Word. Let’s make our souls give thanks for everything that is happening. Then, before long, our minds will be alert, excited and passionate to go further & deeper into the things of God.
