“Let all that I am praise the Lord;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.”- Psalm 103:1
Psalm 103 is a joyful psalm that speaks to praising the Lord. While there are a number of ways Psalm 103 has been translated, let us look at how the New Living Translation (NLT) interprets this Psalm. Throughout the chapter, David speaks to how compassionate, loving, and patient God is to us. He reminds us of all the good things that the Lord has done in our lives. Yet the phrase that he repeatedly comes back to is, "Let all that I am praise the Lord".
Consider for a moment the intentional word choice. The passage does not merely tell us to praise the lord, nor does it say "let all that I do" praise the Lord. Instead, he uses the words, "I am".
In our lives, we may be someone's child, someone's parent, someone's brother or sister. We are a neighbour, a friend, an acquaintance. We are students, teachers, workers, professionals. We are a Christian, a follower of Christ, someone who may still be unsure of our faith and looking for answers. We are happy, we are anxious, we are clumsy, we are accomplished. There are so many varieties of things of who we are even as a single person.
The psalm does not call for us to praise the Lord on a weekly basis, nor does it specify that we should be praising the Lord while we are in the midst of doing something. Instead, it is in all that we are, in every fibre of our being, let us praise the Lord.
God sometimes refers to Himself as "The Great I Am". In the words, "I am", we can identify the image of God in us. God lives within us. So let all that we are praise the Lord.
Reflection: Consider all the roles that make you who you are. Are there roles in which you feel as though you cannot praise the Lord? Why or why not?
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Thank you, Karyn Lau, for another inspiring article for Christian Calm Radio. Listen to devotional Christian instrumental music, Christian hymns, psalms and choirs, Christian piano music, spirituals and Bible audiobooks as you meditate on the presence of God in your life.