"BLESS THE LORD O MY SOUL AND ALL THAT IS WITHIN ME BLESS HIS HOLY NAME"

Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.

Welcome to Psalm 103. Blessing someone make us feel a whole lot better than cursing them. And blessing the Lord make us feel like heaven on earth. Blessing someone is similar to affirming them. And we know from experience that when we are affirmed, our self-esteem rises. We become healthier emotionally and better prepared to handle the challenges of this life. Unfortunately, people everywhere find it more convenient to degrade and abuse someone than to affirm or bless them. Perhaps this happens because misery loves company and so we tend to feel safer and more secure by bringing someone down to our level or even lower. We think this will make us feel better than lifting someone up. And this also means that we lack love and do not understand its power. Have you ever wondered how often someone curses another person in the world today? Well, you might be interested in knowing that there's data out there that says people are cursing each other more than ever before.

One study discovered that on an average the American curses or swears 21 times a day and men swear more than women. The study goes on to say that the younger generation, generation Z is swearing even more frequently. They curse up to 24 times a day. However, the older generations only swear on an average 10 times a day. While cursing may be a habit or a cultural thing, do you know that it is also an indication of the stress level that a person may be experiencing? Apparently, the higher the stress, the more people curse. And clearly, Generation Z is highly stressed. May God have mercy on them. Welcome to the Jeshurun Ministry GB channel in the Bahamas. Please remember to press the subscribe button if you want to hear more messages based upon the truth of God's Word.

And Father, I give You thanks and praise for the listener to this message. I pray a special blessing on their entire being. Please bless them physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. And I pray that they will bless others more frequently. Pour out a blessing on them today. Father, I pray in the holy and the wonderful name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Now, back to the message. When Christ becomes the head of our life, we cut out cursing and turn toward blessing people. Psalm 103 is the perfect instrument to help cure us from cursing and introduce us to the power of blessing. We are warned in Matthew 12:36. 'But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned.' So our own words can bring more joy into our life in the here and now. Our words will also cause us to rise in glory or they will cause us to sink into the depths of hell.

And this beautiful psalm reveals the power and value of blessing and gives all the reasons why, glory to God, we should bless the Lord and bless our fellow men instead of cursing them. And there's no certainty of any particular event that David, hallelujah, the author of this psalm was going through at the time he wrote the psalm. But some commentators suggest he wrote it in his latter more mature years. Thank You for the anointing, Father.

And some suggest that this psalm is a model for how worship should come from the heart and how we should worship the Lord with every fiber of our being. The psalmist kicks off by encouraging his soul and everything within him to bless the Lord. He calls upon his every organ, his every limb, his every nerve, his every bone, every fiber, and for his entire heart to bless the Lord and to be mindful of the many benefits to be gained by blessing His holy name. He cries out, "Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name." Here are some of the benefits that this psalm tells us come to us from God. He forgives all our iniquities. He heals all our diseases. He redeems our life from destruction. And this means, excuse me, we were headed to hell. But He rescued us. He treats us like princes and princesses, elevating us by showering us with His loving kindness and tender mercy. He feeds us both spiritually and physically with good things.

And this causes us to be refreshed with useful health and strength like an eagle. And we're going to come back to this. In addition, when we are oppressed by the wicked, He judges them. He sets us free like people who are vindicated by the courts of a terrible crime that would have doomed us to death. All charges are dropped against us. And furthermore, the court of heaven demands complete restitution for us.

Now, here's what is meant by the phrase, He renews our youth like the eagle. Well, according to many sources, the eagle lives longer than other similar birds. The average lifespan of an eagle is a whopping 70 years. But the process it goes through when it hits 40 is like nothing I've ever heard of. When the eagle turns 40, it flies up to the highest spot in a high mountain. And there in the cliff of the rock, it goes through a process of renewal somewhat similar to a retreat. It strikes its old curved beak on the rock until it shatters and then it waits for a new beak to grow out. This dark period in the life of the eagle lasts for about 150 days, but it will guarantee him an additional 30 years of life. When the new beak grows back, he uses it to pull out his talons. These are his claws. And when the talons grow back, he uses them to pull out his old feathers. And then he waits for his new feathers to grow back. And after this five month cycle of renewal, he flies off to test his new wings. He's now primed to live an additional 30 years. He now has a new beak, new feathers, and new claws. What a beautiful thing. But it does not come without this painful process. And scripture tells us that in similar cycles of renewal, the Lord renews our youth. And how He does this, you might ask, it may be through an illness, a traumatizing experience, or some extremely difficult circumstance that you've been forced to face. Yes, friend. A wilderness experience in which you think all is lost. One of mine was a painful divorce in 2000. However, it renewed my life and set me on an amazing journey with Christ our Lord. For a moment, I thought He was destroying me, but He was rebuilding me. He was pruning me to make me more productive for His kingdom.

Do not be distressed when you are hit by unexpected disaster, by tragedy or great loss. Just roll with God, my friend, as He renews your youth, as He reestablishes you in the earth. He knows what He's doing. The character and nature of God may be new to us Gentiles, but it is not new to the Jewish people. This song of Psalm tells us in verse 7 that it was revealed to the Jews thousands of years ago. The marvelous ways of God were revealed to Moses and the children of Israel in the wilderness. And here's God's way of operating. He's merciful. He's glorious. He's slow to become angry. And He's plentiful in mercy. And this comment that says He's plenteous in mercy can be taken to mean that He's steadfast in His love for us. And He's great in His loving kindness toward us. As we look around at the trouble in the world today, it is easy to conclude that God is just full of punishment. It may appear that all He does is dish out hardship upon all of us. Most especially in these troubling last days. However, He's quite the opposite. The Lord God is indeed forgiving. He's compassionate and gracious toward us. And be assured that the Lord is not going to be angry forever while He's angry at our sinful world today. He does not chasten forever. He will not be angry forever. In fact, He's not even given us what we deserve. He's not punished us according to the extent of our sinfulness. For His mercy toward those on earth who fear Him is as vast as the distance between heaven and earth. And He has separated us from our transgression as far as the east is from the west. In another place we are told that He will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Micah 7:19. This means He will no longer remember them friend, this is the extent of His great mercy. And we are told at least five times in this Psalm that God is merciful.

Why this repetition? I think it is because the challenges of life will cause us to question His mercy at times. But it is important for us to know that He's full of mercy when we're going through challenges and difficulties. Whether it be sickness and disease, financial problems, marital problems, family problems, tragedy, or even catastrophic events, knowing that God is merciful will preserve us. Mercy is simply God's heart of compassion toward His children. While it is within His power to punish, destroy, or harm us, He turns around and pours out His love upon us, rescuing us in the nick of time. In verse 13 of this beautiful psalm, the Lord tells us of man's insignificance. Though many men boast of many things, we are all nothing and we have nothing. We roar through life for a season, running rough short over many, but truly there's nothing to us. Soon our strength begins to fade.

Yet God is good to us and is sorry for us the way a parent pities or has compassion on His little children. God knows that we have been formed from the dust of the earth. And just like the grass, the flourishing of our days are brief. The wind blows over the grass and it is gone and the spot occupied by it remembers it no more. But the loving kindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. Glory to God upon those that fear Him and His righteousness even flows to their children's children. Of course, His righteousness is only to those who keep His covenant and keep His commandments, in their mind, as a guiding star that helps them navigate this difficult life.

The Lord has prepared His throne in the heavens and His sovereignty rules over the entire universe. And so He tells us, "Heaven is My throne and earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me? And where will My resting place be?" Can we possibly house the Lord? Who can care for Him? The song ends in the same way it began with the blessing. Bless the Lord, you His angels that excel in strength, that do His commandments, being obedient under the voice of His Word. Bless the Lord, all His hosts, you ministers of His that do His pleasure. Bless the Lord, all His works in all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, oh my, oh my soul. And I add, bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.

You've been listening to this message, and perhaps you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We want to give you an opportunity to fix that today. Please engage your heart and say this prayer after me:

-Father, I am a sinner.

-I'm sorry for all my sins.

-I crave Your forgiveness.

-Please forgive me, Father.

-Thank You, Lord, for Your forgiveness.

-Today, I invite Jesus Christ into my heart.

-Dear Lord Jesus, make my heart Your home.

-I give You the key to my heart because I now belong to You forever.

-Please keep the key forever.

-Please give me the Holy Spirit to lead me into all truth.

-Thank You, Lord, for saving my soul. Amen.

Welcome, friend, to the body of believers in Christ. There are so many of us here awaiting the return of the Good Master. In the meantime, we encourage you to let your pastor know that you've committed your life to the Lord and you want to be baptized the way Jesus Christ was baptized.

Begin reading the Word of God every day. It is your daily food. It is necessary to keep you strong in the Lord every day. Begin in the book of John. Then go to Matthew, Mark, and Luke reading audibly as often as possible because faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Pray daily. Attend at your local church. And one glad morning, the Savior will come and receive us all unto Himself. And we shall indeed forever be with the Lord. God bless and keep you in Jesus mighty name. Amen.