Psalm 103:1

‘Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.’

The Lord’s name is holy; it is holy and not something to be slandered or treated lightly.  His name is to be revered and spoken of well.  It is to be praised.

‘… all my inmost being, praise his holy name.’

The whole of my inmost being is to praise this holy name of God’s.  ‘All my inmost being.’  There is to be nothing left for anything else; I am to praise him with all of my desires, my thoughts, my secrets, my longings, my hopes, my plans, my conscious and my sub-conscious.

He is God and all my inmost being (created by him in the first place) belongs to him, is to be devoted to him and is to praise him.

‘… all my inmost being, praise his holy name.’

What love affair is this that stirs my emotions so?  I never thought or imagined that these feelings within me for God were possible.  I never imagined that I could feel this way about God, about Jesus.  I feel like Elizabeth Bennett in ‘Pride and Prejudice’ where she says she cannot remember when she first realised she loved Mr Darcy as it had come on so gradually.

I do not remember having a ‘first love’ experience when I became a Christian, when I chose to follow God and practice what he preaches.  In my arrogance, I thought I was doing God a favour!  (How misguided was I?!)  I am not someone who loves easily.  But now I feel almost lovesick and feel such an intimacy with him that I find I am speechless – not a frequent occurrence for me – and my emotions are all over the place.

It is strange and joyful at the same time – almost romantic!  I really do feel wooed by Jesus.  And (I appreciate this sounds weird) that he wants me for himself.

Anyway, my prayer is that all my inmost being would praise his most holy name.  Amen.