Psalm Meditation 595
Twenty second Sunday of Ordinary Time
November 13, 2010

Psalm 103
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6 The Lord works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always accuse, nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
14 For he knows how we were made; he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for mortals, their days are like grass; they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children,
18 to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. 19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, obedient to his spoken word.
21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will.
22 Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul. (NRSV)

Dad used the first couple verses of this psalm to wake up my younger brother and me from time to time so it has a special place in my heart. To begin the day with a word of blessing seems a pretty good way to start the day. Add to that an awareness of the presence of God and all the benefits of that presence and a day is off to a good start. As cynical as I can be, I find that I am usually brought to a more positive world view by these first two verses.

There is more to the psalm than the first two verses and they simply add to the soaring sense of the presence of God as far as I am concerned. There is a long list of actions and characteristics of God in this psalm, however the steadfast love of God seems to be the recurrent theme. While we may want others to be punished for their sins we are grateful for our part that it is the steadfast love of God that decides our fate. We do pay the consequences for our actions, however we are saved from the full extent of our just desserts by the overarching love of God for us and others.

The psalm invites others to join the chorus of blessing and ends as it begins with an enthusiastic blessing from a grateful soul to a loving God. We could do worse for ourselves today, this week, than to begin and end the day with a blessing of God. Does God need to be blessed by us to get through a day? No. Does God relish our attention as a way of being present together in any part of the day? I do believe so. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits— “


© November 7, 2010