Praise The Lord, My Soul

PRAISE THE LORD, MY SOUL

a prayer to open

My Lord, my God, show me your heart. Ground me in your presence.

Draw me near and hold me close.

Let all that I am praise the LORD;

with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.

Let all that I am praise the LORD;

may I never forget the good things he does for me.

He forgives all my sins

and heals all my diseases.

He redeems me from death

and crowns me with love and tender mercies.

He fills my life with good things.

My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

The LORD gives righteousness

and justice to all who are treated unfairly. . . .

The LORD is compassionate and merciful,

slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. . . .

He does not punish us for all our sins;

he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.

For his unfailing love toward those who fear him

is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.

He has removed our sins as far from us

as the east is from the west.

The LORD is like a father to his children,

tender and compassionate to those who fear him.

For he knows how weak we are;

he remembers we are only dust. . . .

The wind blows, and we are gone—

as though we had never been here.

But the love of the LORD remains forever

with those who fear him.

His salvation extends to the children’s children

of those who are faithful to his covenant,

of those who obey his commandments!

The LORD has made the heavens his throne;

from there he rules over everything.

Praise the LORD, you angels,

you mighty ones who carry out his plans,

listening for each of his commands. . . .

Praise the LORD, everything he has created,

everything in all his kingdom.

Let all that I am praise the LORD.

In this stirring, expansive psalm, we see David’s heart for God on full display, and his overwhelming desire to praise and serve God with his whole heart, mind, and soul inspires us to do the same.

• Having studied the life of David, how would you describe him? What have you learned from him?
• What does a heart for God look like in your particular circumstances?
• In what ways have your faith and understanding of God grown over the past several weeks as you have studied the life of David and his heart for God?

Use Psalm 103 as a prayer for today.