Gratitude Psalm 103

"Bless the LORD, my soul;

all my being, bless his holy name!

Bless the LORD, my soul;

and do not forget all his gifts,

Who pardons all your sins,

and heals all your ills,

Who redeems your life from the pit, and crowns you with mercy and compassion,

Who fills your days with good things, so your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. "

                                                            Psalm 103:1-5

I was invited to pray with Psalm 103.  Not just read it, but PRAY WITH IT. I found the psalm and read it. Then my wandering mind took over.  I kept coming back to the first part of the psalm over and over, getting distracted between each stanza.  Then I realized… I WAS praying with it. I invite YOU to pray with it in the way that your heart and soul pray.  Mine looked something like this…

Bless the LORD, my soul; and do not forget all his gifts,

ALL HIS GIFTS!  Think of all that God has blessed you with!My family, grandkids, and kids, each and every one, is a gift straight from Heaven.  I have food, a home, clothing, my health is pretty good, and I can’t even begin to list each tiny little gift that I don’t properly recognize. Birds, trees, sunshine, hot days, warm days, even the cold days make life beautiful, and each is a gift.

 Do not forget the gifts the Holy Spirit pours out on me! At one point or another, I have needed that wisdom, understanding, counsel, courage, knowledge, a sense of what is right, and that sense of awe and holy fear of God that the Holy Spirit abundantly gives.  Lord, help me not to forget all your gifts.

Who pardons all your sins,

These are almost as plentiful as the gifts, but these were my own doing.  When I try to make my pleasure the priority, it’s murky waters and frankly, a terrible idea.  ALL MY SINS. Did I read ALL?  Forgiveness means forgiven-ness. He really doesn’t care to remember them, and neither do I, except to learn from them. 

and heals all your ills,

Lord, Lord, you healed me in love when my heart stopped.  You held me close and returned me to my family. You have healed every illness I have ever had, every sinus infection, stomach bug, fever and even Covid three times!  You bind up the wounds that are still healing.  100% success! You have healed ALL. I am overwhelmed by the number of times you have healed what I thought was beyond repair. 

 Who redeems your life from the pit, and crowns you with mercy and compassion,

I don’t deserve to be crowned with anything, but you pulled me out of the trash pit of death and despair and loved me. You were under no obligation to even see me at all. You did, though.  You didn’t just see me, you loved me. Not just tolerated me, but you delighted in me, took me to yourself, and loved me. Instead of the disdain and rejection that I had accepted, you had compassion on me and showed me mercy. 

Who fills your days with good things,

SO MANY GOOD THINGS!!! ALL the good things! Lord, thank you for filling my days! 

so your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

I am not a spring chicken, but being renewed like an eagle is a great thing. They’re strong and majestic, and people used to think they regenerated because of their long lifespan.  Lord, thank you for renewing my mind, soul, body, and spirit and thank you for all of your blessings!

Amen

I hope you take the time and do your OWN praying with this psalm. It continues with many more verses, but this is the part I needed to share. 

Blessings!