Praise the Lord, O my soul!

By Andrew Williams – August 3, 2021

Scripture : “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!” Psalms 146:1 NKJV

Observation : There are two exclamation marks in this verse. An exclamation mark usually tells us that what is written is a command. The first command is to praise the Lord. The second command is the same, but a specific part of us is told to praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord, O my soul! According to the Collin’s Dictionary, “Your soul is the part of you that consists of your mind, character, thoughts, and feelings.” So we are to praise the Lord with our mind, and thoughts ; praise Him in a way that embodies our feelings and; our character attributes should show to all that we are praising God.

The Merriam Webster’s dictionary definition or soul is : “a person’s total self”. This definition expands on the above definition to show us that we should use every aspect of our being to give praise to God.

Application : I will use every aspect of my being to praise God. This includes my mind, thoughts, spirit, my body and any combination that will show praises to God.

Prayer : “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!” Father God, I am commanding myself to praise You. You are indeed worthy of all praise. I love You my God, and as I go about my day, I praise You in my thoughts, I praise You no matter what emotions I’m feeling: happy, sad, depressed, dejected, overjoyed, lukewarm, I praise You no matter the circumstance.

When people see me sometimes they only see the happy side of me because I am in my soul praising You. They don’t see the pain, they don’t see the hurt, they don’t see all that is wrong, because I choose praise You no matter what. You are my God and You show up for me in every circumstance.

I am united with You, abiding in You and Your Holy Spirit abiding with me. What else could I need? I am Your child, and I live in Your grace and mercy and Your love. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! My soul magnifies You, oh God! Amen.