Our Daily Bread Designs Forum Bible Verse Thursday Challenge #67 - Bless the Lord, O My Soul

"Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and all that is within me

Bless His holy name!"
~Psalm 103:1

Psalm 103 ha been called the summit of the Psalms.  It begins and ends with a call to unlimited praise, and in between piles up the reasons we should praise the Lord.  Your soul will benefit from taking a plunge into this great psalm of absolute praise.

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,
who forgives all your iniquity,
    who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

<sup>In his book The One Minute Manager, Ken Blanchard recommends that leaders develop the practice of "one minute praising" in which they "catch their employees doing something right."  We're all used to bosses who catch us doing something wrong and know how rare it is to be praised when we've done something well.  Blanchard's idea is to "catch them doing something right" and then give them a one-minute praising right on the spot.  The idea is not to wait - it takes away the impact.

Having been both an educator and manager myself, I know this is actually more difficult than it appears.  Most of us are better at criticism than at praise.  We're much better at blaming!  See if you can put this idea into practice this week - catch someone "doing something right" and praise them right on the spot.  It could revolutionize your marriage, change the way you relate to your children, encourage those who report to you at work, and in general make you a nicer person to be around.</sup>

 
But it needs to be intentional. That’s Blanchard’s point. And it applies very much to our relationship with God. Many of us are better at complaining. This morning I read Numbers 10-13, the sad story of the children of Israel complaining against the Lord in the wilderness. After all he had done for them, after the great miracle at the Red Sea, they were griping and complaining and moaning and groaning. God sent manna and they didn’t like it. They missed the good food they had back in Egypt. In Egypt they were slaves, but they were willing to trade their freedom for a better menu. So God sent quail until they choked on it. Unhappy people, those Jews in the wilderness. I would be harder on them but we are like them and they are like us. 

Sometimes we need to give ourselves a good talking-to. That’s what Psalm 103 is all about. It’s a prayer by David in which he talks to his own soul and reminds himself to “bless the Lord” and “forget not all his benefits.” 

 I wonder how many of us could give God a “one-minute praising” for all his blessings. We’re sure good at telling the Lord what we want him to do for us. We need a good dose of Psalm 103 to wash out that complaining spirit and replace it with a heart of gratitude to the Lord.  This is a great time of year to study Psalm 103. We are only a few days away from the beginning of Lent, a good time to take stock of our hearts, our lives and our relationship with God.  

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Your challenge this week is to create a project using this scripture or another verse that reminds us to praise!  When uploading your project, please use keyword ODBDBVT67 and then hop over to Our Daily Bread Designs Forum to share it with us!

Blessings,