Although the act of worship can be experienced externally, true worship must start from the inside of one’s heart.  Jesus said, Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks (John 4:23).

The above-mentioned Scripture passage (Psalm 103:1-5) talks about a very sensitive matter. From the passage, we can understand that king David is talking to himself, that is, he is having a conversation with his very own soul – his outer man is speaking to his inner man (soul). If we try to say it in plain words, David’s natural man is speaking to his spiritual man. As human beings, we are all forgetful beings, some of us easily forget what our parents and other family members did for our upbringing. Some of us even we forget all the blessings that our dear Lord Jesus has done in our life. To such people Psalm 103 is a reminder to remember what the Lord has done in our life. This Psalm is written by king David based on his personal experience with God.

In first two verses, we can see that when David’s self came into his senses, he realized that he is not faithful in responding to God for all the blessings that he received from God (in the same way, when the prodigal son came into his senses, he realized that he sinned against God and against his father [and, perhaps, against his very own family] – Luke 15:11-32). Immediately, David revived himself and took initiative to evoke his soul to praise the Lord for who He [God] is. King David stirred up his own soul to give glory to God by praising His holy name. David calls upon his soul to remember what the Lord has done in his personal life and what the Lord has promised to do for him in the days to come.

King David was one of the most powerful kings who ruled Israel. He was faithful to God and served the purpose of God in his own generation (Acts 13:36), and, thus, God made a covenant with him and his household (2Samuel 7:8-29).God honored king David with untold number of blessings. When we read Psalm 103 we can see that king David is inviting himself to give thanks for all the benefits God has given him. In verses 3-5, David specifically talks about seven remarkable benefits he received from God in his life, and they are as follows:

• God forgives all your sins (v.3a)
• God heals all your diseases (v.3b)
• God redeems your life from the pit (v.4a)
• God crowns you with love (v.4b)
• God crowns you with compassion (v.4c)
• God satisfies your desires with good things (v.5a)
• God renews your youth like the eagle’s (v.5b)

This is just to mention a few blessings, but there were countless blessings he had received besides the above-mentioned blessings. Similarly, if we think about the blessings that we received from God right from our birth until today, will we be able to count them all? I don’t think so! It would be beyond any numerical numbers. This time, I remember the famous hymn Johnson Oatman Jr. wrote, which we all sing in our churches and Christian gatherings:

Count your blessings, name them one by one;

Count your blessings, see what God hath done;

Count your blessings, name them one by one;

Count your many blessings, see what God hath done

Let me ask a very personal question here – Are we faithful in giving glory to God and praising His holy name for all the blessings that we received from Him? Are we thankful to God for all the blessings we received from Him? If not, like king David who stirred up his soul and praised the Lord for all benefits he received, it is time for us to do the same. Let us evoke our soul and give glory to God and praise His holy name! May God bless you all!