Worship: From Silence to SongExemplo

Talking to Yourself with God

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. (v. 2)

There’s an odd thing about Psalm 103. The singer is singing to himself. He opens the psalm not by talking to God, but by talking to his “soul.” He’s talking to his deepest self, telling it to worship God. Sometimes when we worship God, we point our words right at God. Sometimes when we worship, we point our words at each other, as when someone says, “The Lord be with you!” and everyone responds with “And also with you!” But sometimes in worship we point our words right back at ourselves, like a verbal boomerang.

When we tell ourselves to worship God, we tell ourselves who we really are at our core. We tell ourselves that we are human beings created to praise God. Psalm 103 is a reminder, almost like a journal entry that someone wrote down in a hurry, trying feverishly to remember all the ways that God had been good to them. This is the best path to self-knowledge. We come to know ourselves most faithfully when we reflect on God’s actions in our lives. And we need the reminders, because sometimes we don’t feel like praising God at all, and sometimes we feel completely lost when we look at ourselves. When we worship God, we come to know God better, we come to know each other better, and, perhaps most surprisingly of all, we come to know ourselves better.

As you pray, ask the Lord to help you know yourself more faithfully by praising him.