Giving Thanks to God 2025 Day 5: We must command our soul to bless the Lord.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word! Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will! Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭103‬:‭1‬-‭2‬, ‭20‬-‭22‬ ‭ESV‬‬

In our discussion concerning giving thanks to God, we have more than once employed Psalm 103. Although this psalm is often quoted within the context of giving thanks to God, there may be something about it you have not noticed.

In Psalm 103, the “audience” being addressed most often, is David, himself. In other words, David is not only instructing his soul to bless the Lord, he is also rehearsing to himself why he should do so.

The writer of Psalm 42 similarly instructs his soul to give praise to the Lord:

“Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭146‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Note as well that the instruction to trust in the Lord, rather than trusting other men, is also addressed to the psalmist himself.

It seems that people wait until they FEEL like doing something like giving the Lord thanks, before they actually do it. The thing is, the habits we have developed, tend to linger on unless they are confronted and replaced. Those who are not in the habit of regularly thanking the Lord and elaborating on His goodness to themselves, tend to stay petty and ungrateful. as we have discussed on Day 1 of our little journey into “Giving Thanks to God 2025.”

Our goal should be to train our hearts and minds toward a daily attitude of gratitude for all the Lord has done. Truly, our words of thanks to the One who has given us so much, could never begin to express the gratitude owed to He Who is our All in All.

Child of God, don’t allow your thoughts, emotions, affections, and so on, to go in the direction of ingratitude. God is too good to be given the “silent treatment,” in terms of our gratitude. Instruct your soul to bless Him, to thank Him, to praise Him; and keep on doing so until it becomes a new glorious habit!

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!