Praise the Lord, O My Soul
I wanted to start this blog entry by saying that this is my very first post for the month of June. How time flies so fast! Before diving into the main content for this latest blog post, as this is under the Sunday Service category, I just want to mention a few things.
I’m missing so many people and knowing that it’s already GCQ and I still haven’t seen them is really painful. I miss my significant other the most, to be honest, but he’s so busy with his work and won’t be able to come back home anytime soon. He’s working at the country’s top humanitarian organization and he’s very busy with so many tasks and responsibilities. We rarely even talk these days too. I’m praying that this pandemic will be over soon as well as praying for God’s guidance and protection upon him as he’s always exposed with various people.
Next is, I’m also quite busy with my own projects. That’s also the reason why I haven’t updated this website these past few days. But I’m making sure that I won’t miss my regular Sunday posting. Hopefully when I got some free time and I have something to share in this blog, then I will make some posts soon.
I also wanted to mention that me and my significant other is celebrating being together for nine months. I used to bug him playfully with questions when are we gonna get married, hahaha. We would make short discussion about it, but we are not really planning anything. I’m going to celebrate my 32nd birthday in a few months (yikes I’m old, he’s 34 by the way) but, I realized that it’s God’s perfect timing that we’re together now so why should I overthink about when is he planning to propose to me? So I believe and trust God’s plan in our lives on when we will move next to our relationship. I’m also blessed that we both have good relationship with each other’s family and we don’t deal with huge dramas or anything.
So now I’m going to dive into today’s blog post. Continuing with the series from the Book of Psalm, today’s series is now called Songs of Hope. The message is still from the Book of Psalm, today specifically is from Psalm 103, which is a Psalm of David. This Psalm is probably the most worshipful of all the psalms. This Psalm is a beautiful reminder of God’s goodness and faithfulness and a reminder that He is God – King who rules everything. Sometimes we dive into our prayers of petition, and asking God of the things we wanted. God will give to you according to your needs because our God is a great Provider. But we mustn’t forget to praise and worship God for who He is. And this Psalm is one great reminder of His goodness and we can meditate on God’s character everytime we want to praise and worship God.
Psalm 103
1 Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Praise the Lord, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the Lord, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
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What is the chief end of a man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
Westminster Shorter Catechism
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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. How can you make blessing the Lord a habit?
2. What specific blessings from God can you praise and thank Him for right now? Name as many as you can.
3.Which of God’s character traits are most meaningful to you and why?
1. How can you make blessing the Lord a habit?
By always starting the day and ending the day with prayer, specifically praising and worshiping God. I can also meditate on His Word, focusing on God’s character and just praising God for His goodness and faithfulness in my life.
2. What specific blessings from God can you praise and thank Him for right now? Name as many as you can.
I actually have a lot of things I want to thank the Lord. First is for my life. Reflecting on where I was before I’m still not a believer and now that I am saved by His grace, I just want to thank the Lord for this life and I praise and worship Him for all the things He had done for me. Thank You Jesus!
Next I want to thank God for my family and relatives and the awesome relationship we all had with each other. There are no tensions, or rift between any of us and our relationship is so harmonious that it’s only because of God’s grace and not on our own. All because of Him. I thank Him because of His awesome Love that we are capable of loving other people.
“We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19
I also wanted to thank the Lord for His provisions, His guidance and protection. The threat of COVID-19 still exists and this pandemic have impaired so many aspects in our lives. Left and right, business are closing and people are losing their jobs. Some are afflicted with this virus. There are people in the frontlines servicing the common public the best they can. Looking and reflecting at this, I just want to thank the Lord because despite this difficult times, God is faithful and good and He continues to protects us. I always pray and lift my petitions to the Lord to protect everyone, the frontliners and every one who’s affected by this pandemic, for God to give them strength and protect them.
I also want to thank the Lord for giving me peace of mind and heart. For not allowing me to worry and just to rest on Him and to all His promises. For reminding me not to fear and trust Him everytime I would think about how uncertain the future is.
I also want to thank the Lord for keeping my significant other safe. For His protection and guidance in his life and for keeping him healthy and for not allowing him to get sick.
3.Which of God’s character traits are most meaningful to you and why?
His faithfulness and sovereignty. Whenever I will look back in the past and the position I am right now, it is only because of God’s faithfulness and sovereignty that I am still here and that I am enjoying this wonderful relationship with our Lord.
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