Psalm 103:1

‘… all my inmost being …’

I can’t seem to get past this phrase!

All my inmost being is to praise his holy name.  What else could occupy my inmost being?  What else does occupy my inmost being?

For such a small sounding word, it is huge in its implications and consequences.  If all my inmost being is occupied and taken up with praising my Lord’s most holy name, surely that would bring with it an incredible peace and a sustaining joy – a peace and joy not easily shaken, distracted or disturbed.

How can I get all my inmost being to praise his holy name?  God has given me his all; his love, his devotion, his blessings, his plans and purposes, his guidance, inspiration and thoughts, and all that he holds dear in the form of his son, which cost him greatly.

I don’t know what King David’s motivation was when he wrote this Psalm.  Maybe he was being distracted and/or shaken and was seeking to remind himself to praise the Lord with all that he was.  And maybe I keep writing to avoid the point.

‘All’ is the point; ‘… all my inmost being.’

But how do I achieve this?  If all my inmost being is praising his holy name, surely this is springing out of, and as a result of, all my inmost being loving my God and being thankful to him for all his goodness.  This, in turn, will lead to my worshipping him with a totality of being.  And, as a bi-product, this affects the enemy; this is warfare against all that would distract, disturb and discourage, enabling me to continue thanking and praising.

To praise and worship my God with all of me requires my effort and a deliberate decision.  It requires my focus to be on him and not on my situation.  It requires my conscious engagement in remembering who he is and what he does.

Praising and worshipping God gives him what he is due and worthy of, and, out of his incredible love and grace, gives us so many great consequences.  It proclaims truth, it protects me, it brings me peace and joy, it increases my love for God, it defeats the niggles of the enemy (he hates us worshipping God and will do anything to stop us), it reminds me of past blessings and of God’s character.  It reaffirms, it lifts up, it gives strength.  And it is wonderfully cyclical; the more I thank him, praise him and focus on him, the more he occupies my inmost being with his abundant love, causing me to thank and praise him all over again.

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

Soul and inmost being – to praise and worship God is my instruction to you.

Psalm 103:2

‘Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits …’

I am talking to my soul; not my mind, my understanding, my memory and all that is within my head, but my soul.

‘… forget not.’  This is to be my very soul, my being, my very core and essence.

‘… forget not’ is to be my identity just as praising him is, so that even if my head could possibly separate itself and forget, or my emotions suddenly take a bashing, my very being will ‘forget not,’ enabling me to stand firm, to persevere, to trust; to stand on his word and to ultimately praise my God; to thank God because his word is true and his benefits are for me, for everyone.

I live in the blessings of his benefits daily.  I have been forgiven; all my sins have been forgiven.  I have known and still receive God’s healing.  My life has been fully redeemed and I no longer live in the pit of death but walk in the light of life.  I know I have God’s love and compassion, so therefore I guess I have the crown too, or at the very least I know that I can hold my head high.  And he most definitely satisfies my desires with good things; I have been greatly blessed and beyond my imagination for myself.  And when I remember all these things I have a joy and a vitality that is carefree and youthful.

I am truly bowled over by the expansion of God’s word that meditating on it brings, by what Jesus reveals to me about himself and by my emotional responses; emotional responses that I did not know I had within me.

I am so glad that I decided to do this.  All Jesus wants is some of my time, attention and presence, and look what I get in return!

Lord, may ‘forget not’ be part of me, as you would have it be.  Thank you.  And I also ask that you would help me to give the time that you have given to me back to you, and to those who you have brought me into contact with.  Amen.