Psalm 146:1

Psalm 146:1

Praise the Lord, my soul

The final 5 Psalms are clustered together to praise and glorify the Lord. So much of what we have read and learned through the previous hymns and songs is summarised in these final offerings, and everything that is written here is aimed at praising the Lord. The “hallelujah” word should be a constant factor as we make our way through these beautiful songs that bring the Psalter to a close.

 

V1        Psalm’s 103 and 104, both attributed to David, begin and end with the words, “Praise the Lord” which makes us wonder if he actually penned these final songs too? We have seen before that there are times when the psalmist has to instruct his inner being to get back on track and offer praise. This may not be something that happens to us automatically. There are occasions when everything is wonderful and every part of our being is in tune with the Creator and it’s not hard to praise Him. But what about the times when out physical, spiritual, psychological and emotional components are not in sync? The “soul” in the Bible is the very essence of who we are, our personality, our character, our minds and our inner beings, so we often talk about “body and soul” as being the primary components of every human being. Our “spirits”, on the other hand, are either dead or alive, according to our relationship with our Maker. 

It follows that we may be healthy and strong physically and full of energy and life, but our souls are in need of repair, and our minds are distracted, anxious or afraid. Most people do not realise that it is possible to address our souls and basically, to tell them to “cheer up!” That’s very difficult if you do not know the Lord but for those who do, we can instruct our inner beings to stop looking within, to stop fearing the worst but instead, to look up and out and recognise who is watching over us. However difficult it might seem there are occasions when our souls have to be brought into line and taught to worship and glorify the Lord – to “Praise the Lord.” As we do so there is an inner cosmic shift and the darkness within starts to flee. Try it, from experience I can testify that this works! Hallelujah! 

 

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