Bless the Lord, Oh my Soul

Avery Klepac
Apr 2, 2020
3 min read

“Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!”

Psalm 103:1

What a wild couple of weeks it has been! Sometimes I feel like I’m in a post apocalyptic movie and other times I feel like I’m a zoo animal stuck in its cage. Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with my family, but all six of us in the house makes it a little difficult to keep the peace sometimes. I don’t like that I am being told what to do. I don’t like that I can’t drive up the road to see my friends. I don’t like that I had to cut my time in Chicago short. There are a lot of things that I don’t like about what’s going.

As I was reading the Psalms this morning, though, I read something that convicted me deep in my heart. Psalms 103-104 says “Bless the Lord” ten times. Over and over again David is singing his praises to God. When I began to notice how many times he praises and thanks God, thoughts like, “oh David must have had it pretty good,” or, “David probably wasn't in quarantine and could go see his friends,” and on and on. I was missing the point. David had his fair share of life troubles. The difference between him and me is our responses. He responded with praise, I responded with complaints… ouch!

See, in my head, I know God is good, but I too easily forget that when life gets hard. To be frank, life actually isn't that hard right now. My parents are buying groceries for our whole family, they are not charging me rent or utilities, we have dinner together every night (which does not happen all that often), we have family game or movie nights and we have property to take long walks. Not to mention, we are blessed to have the greenhouses on our property, so I can propagate, transplant and plant to my heart’s content (which if you know me, you know that this makes me very happy!!). So it isn’t even me going through “tough times,” it’s me focusing on the bad instead of the good.

The most joyful people, I've noticed, are always looking for the good and praising Jesus, even when they don’t feel like it. Do you think Jesus felt like being brutally beaten and hung on a cross to die for you and me? Do you think Paul felt like going to prison for sharing the gospel to Jews and Gentiles? I would have to say “NO!” But they knew that what they were going through would impact the entire world, even to this day. Their momentary afflictions did not come close to the glory that was, and is, to come. What you and I are going through is actually not that bad. I would even say that there is more good in this season than bad, all we have to do is look for it. When we find the good, give Him praise. When we can’t find it, give Him praise. When you feel like it, give Him praise. When you don’t feel like it, give Him praise.

There will always be things to praise Him for. I fully believe that if you and I rebuke negative thoughts, and immediately replace them with praises, we will be much more joyful as we sit safely in our homes. Just as negative thoughts and words are contagious, so are praises and joy. Spread it like a wildfire and bless the Lord, oh my soul.

Comments

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Comments

Rejoice in the Lord Always; Again I will say, Rejoice

It Is Well

Bless the Lord, Oh my Soul

Expectations: not guaranteed

Psalm 37

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