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Thursday, January 23, 2025

Bless the Lord, O My Soul



 

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.

—Psalms 103:1-3

 

In Psalms 103:1-2, David told his soul to bless the Lord. How can your soul bless the Lord? It certainly takes more than just saying, “Bless the Lord.” It refers to speaking our love to the Lord for all His benefits. This blesses the Lord. Remembering God’s goodness stirs our souls to bless Him, but we must tell our souls to “bless the Lord.”

 

While these two verses command us to bless the Lord and remember all His benefits, Psalms 103:3 describes two of the Lord’s benefits.  

Forgiveness of sins and healing are mentioned in Psalms 103:3. In the same way that all our sins are compensated for, all our sicknesses have been healed.

 

“He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12).

 

The Old Testament symbolism substituted animal blood for the actual sacrifice of the coming Son of God. But Jesus’ sacrifice wasn’t symbolic. It was real. He offered His own blood (Leviticus 17:11, Deuteronomy 12:23) as a sacrifice for our sins.

 

Hebrews 9:12 emphasizes that Jesus entered the holy place once and obtained eternal redemption for us. We do not have a partial redemption; we have an eternal redemption. The Old Testament sacrifices covered sin until the next time the people sinned. Jesus’ sacrifice did not just cover our sins; His sacrifice wiped them out eternally. 

 

Chapter 9 of Hebrews contrasts the temporary results of the Old Testament sacrifices with the permanent results of Christ’s sacrifice. All of our sins have been atoned for. This is the point being made in chapter 9. Hebrews 9:25-28 contrasts the fact that the priests had to offer sacrifices continually under the Old Testament, but Jesus only did this once. We do not need to reapply His blood. One time cleanses us.

 

“By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified” (Hebrew 10:10,14).

 

We choose whether to believe in and partake of Christ’s perfect sacrifice. If we choose Him, we are sanctified and perfected forever through Christ’s one offering—once and for all. The lifeblood of Jesus has paid for every sin we make or will ever make. His redemption is forever. 

 

Psalm 103:3 says all your sicknesses have been healed—just like all your sins have been forgiven. The Lord would no more put sickness on you than He would cause you to sin.

 

“Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

 

Forgiveness and healing are both part of your redemption. You partake in forgiveness and healing through faith in Jesus’ perfect and finished work. 

 

Your soul has a reason to bless the Lord: Jesus has forgiven all your sins and healed all your diseases!

 

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

 

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2025/01/bless-the-lord-o-my-soul.html

 

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