PRAISE THE LORD, O MY SOUL
Psalm 103
“Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”
This psalm is a wonderful example of the mind educating the soul about God.
When we are not “mindful” in worship, the tendency is for our God to become small and local. We bring him near to us rather than us entering into his Presence. He then revolves around us, serving our needs, allaying our fears, satisfying our desires. We are at the centre of our universe.
What David did was to speak to his soul, reminding himself of who God is, what he has done, and urging himself to praise and worship God as a small (and recalcitrant) member of the universe in which God dominates.
In worship, the mind must lead the soul.
David led his soul in this journey of worship, beginning at the most personal, most intimate.
God forgives you, heals you, redeems you, affirms you by loving you, satisfies you with what is good, and refreshes you so that once again you can rise above your circumstances.
However, he does not stop there, but encourages his soul to look outward, beyond the personal, to understand the reality that we are in.
God shores up our decaying culture, working to ensure that righteousness and justice remain to protect the oppressed. He is the one holding us up and slowing our inevitable descent into the hell of unrestrained selfishness and evil.
As he revealed himself to Moses and Israel, God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He is not intent on destruction even though we are a terrible cancer corrupting the Creation he has entrusted us to care for. He understands that we are not able to overcome; this is what we have become—selfish and evil beings. And so his love chooses to preserve and redeem those who would turn to him.
And this is why we must praise and worship him. Every time we do so we are choosing to turn to him instead of allowing the selfishness and evil in us to dominate. This is why the mind must lead, and not the self. This is why we must let God, who rules over all, to rule over us (mind, body, soul), because only he can save us from ourselves.
“Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the Lord, my soul.”