10/14/2023
Elijah McSwain, Sr.
Psalm 103:1-5 NKJV — "Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s."
Psalm 103 opens with the appeal to “Bless the Lord.” This opening call to action by the composer of this psalm may puzzle the minds of its readers and listeners when they hear or read these words, “Bless the Lord.” The train of thought that is usually accompanied with the idea of blessings being bestowed upon someone is generally associated with those blessings coming from God as opposed from among humanity. Humanity typically associates the idea that it is God who is the Blesser as we are recipients of His blessings. Therefore, when the psalmist draws our attention to bless God, one may ponder the question, how can we Bless God? What can we give or ascribe unto God in a manner to bless the Lord?
David who is considered the penman behind this written composition of Psalm 103, addressed that he should personally bless the Lord by being thankful. Psalm 103 is a Psalm of Thanksgiving that extols God by rendering praise unto Him. The word bless means to glorify God. It is an expression of magnifying the person of God and the work of God. As we reflect on the goodness of God, we should have a disposition of thankfulness that manifests from the depths of our souls to worship God for who He is and to praise God for what He has done in our lives.
As we consider, the notion of blessings God, Psalm 103 informs us of various ways that we can bless God like that of David. Psalm 103:1 alludes to the idea that believers can bless the Lord by blessing His name.
A Name To Be Exalted
The name of God speaks to the essence of who God is. His name speak volumes to the Person of God and everything that should be ascribed unto God. Hence, David understood this truth as it relates to the holiness of the name of God and opens the framework of Psalm 103 with bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. David was excited to address the name of God in such a way.
Wholehearted praise and worship should spring forth from the depths of our souls to worship the name of God that projects forth His divinity, righteousness, holiness, truthfulness, purity, loving-kindness, tender mercies, His faithfulness, love, benevolence, and many other things that entails of who He is.
Upon engaging Psalm 103:1 as it pertains to the name of the Lord, it is imperative to take note that the name of God should be blessed since it is a name to be exalted.
In Bible times, people’s name had great revelatory significance and meaning as names revealed much about the character of a person. Historically, names were chosen by parents according to the character traits that they hoped would develop in the life of their children. Name association was a way to hopefully tie the identity of a child to morality, godliness, or some other virtue. This can be seen through the canvas of the Bible.
For example, according to behindthename.com, the following names revealed much about the person.
Abiel means God is my Father.
Elijah means my God is Yahweh.
Ethan means enduring.
Elizabeth means my God is an oath.
Eunice means good victory. 1
Likewise, the names of God entail of His nature, attributes, characteristics and His deity. Essentially, David in Psalm 103 states that God is commendable of being exalted by blessing His name. The word bless equates to exalting God by paying homage to Him. Believers should pay homage to God solely for His name’s sake. Again, His various names speak to who He is in the totality of His Person as well as who He is in our lives.
A brief observation of His different names will help to give us understanding why His name should be exalted.
Christos reveals that God is the Anointed One.
El Elyon reveals that God is the Most High God.
El Gibhor reveals that God is the Mighty God.
Elohim means that God is the Creator.
Immanuel means that God is with us.
Jehovah highlights that God is the Self Existent One.
Jehovah Jireh means the Lord Our Provider.
Jehovah Rapha is the Lord Our Healer.
Jehovah Shalom denotes that God is the Lord Our Peace.
Jehovah Tsidkenu is the Lord Our Righteousness.
Adonai entails that He is Lord or Master.
Yahweh speaks to God being I AM That I AM. 2
All of these names of God as well as the other names that are not mentioned articulates His unlimited function and nature. Every believer should be eternally grateful unto God and bless His name for His intervention in our lives based on the reality of Him being great in all His ways.
Psalm 34:1-3 NKJV — I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together.
As Christians, we should boast in God by praising Him highly. The wonderful deeds that God performs in the lives of His saints should stir our souls to brag on the name of God. The fact that we boast about God actually reflects that we celebrate Him for His excellent greatness. God’s children speak of His name with a sense of honor, confidence, joy, assurance, reliance, anticipation, hopefulness, humility, joy, fidelity, loyalty, and allegiance.
Our lives are interconnected and interwoven into the being of God. Since, His name speaks to His being and operative nature in our lives, we should glorify God by continually exalting His name. Psalm 113:2-3 declares "blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its going down the LORD’s name is to be praised." There is never a moment in our lives, whereby, we are to be found in a state of mind where we are not blessing the Lord. Our duty to bless the Lord is ever ongoing.
“Praise is to be rendered always. From the first moment of consciousness in the morning to the last waking moment before sleep.” 3
God is deserving of our praise. Our exaltation of blessing God should be evident throughout our Christian journey. Psalm 145:1-3 exclaims that "I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable."
The name of God can never be exhausted. The elect of God can never praise Him enough.
Warren Wiersbe concluded that “God is so great that the human mind cannot fathom Him, but the human heart can love Him and tell others how great He is. God’s character and God’s awesome works furnish us with more material than we could ever exhaust, and we will have all of eternity to keep learning more!” 4
Next, let us consider that His name is to be reverenced.
A Name To Be Reverenced
The community of faith ascribes blessings unto the name of the Lord by reverencing His name. The name of the Lord is to be respected, hallowed, and used in the appropriate manner. To bless His name is to adore what is true, praiseworthy, and holy about Him. Anything that is blasphemous, vain, repulsive, degrading, and unholy is never to be associated with His name.
Exodus 20:7 emphasizes that “you shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” Whereas Leviticus 19:12 also expresses this sentiment that you shall not swear by God's name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God. The name of the Lord should not be used in an irreverent, indecent, or irreligious manner.
“God’s name is special because it carries His personal identity. Using it frivolously or in a curse is so common today that we may fail to realize how serious it is. The way we use God’s name conveys how we really feel about Him. We should respect His name and use it appropriately, speaking it in praise or worship rather than in curse or jest. We should not take lightly the abuse or dishonor of God’s name.” 5
God's name is so holy that it should not be seen as an object of contempt, scorn, ridicule, disgrace, something that is vile, or dishonorable.
To laud God’s name is to have the proper perspective of Him in view. To downplay His name is to possess a tainted view of Him.
Proverbs 1:7 reveals that "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 9:10 denotes that "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Fear spoken here is the posture of having a heart of reverence for God. God’s people should have genuine respect for the Lord that runs deep into the depths of our souls. The Jewish people displayed this by reverencing God’s name so much that they had a godly fear not to speak the name Jehovah, but they substituted the name Adonai in its place. The Jewish nation was very careful not to use the name of the Lord in a way that they thought would be considered as blaspheming or misusing His name. God’s name was held in high esteem. David being of Jewish decent was aware that the name of the Lord needed to be revered and that it was his duty to bless the name of the Lord. Therefore, every faculty that was within the frame of his body, mind, and soul was geared toward magnifying the name that reigns supreme in heaven and on earth.
"The name of God is “holy”; it is His nature and appears in all His works; and in which He is glorious, and so is reverend; He is to be feared and reverenced by all His creatures, and among His saints, as He is by the angels in heaven." 6
Psalm 111:9c makes reference to the fact that holy and awesome is His name. His name is holy because He is unblemished by anything vile or sinful. His name is awesome because it has divine meaning that is full of His distinctiveness and characteristics. The name of God is not something for God’s creation to take lightly. It is a name that is supreme above any other name. The different names of God should leave every human and created being by God in awe at the mention of His name.
The name of the Lord is to be blessed, glorified, adored, feared, and exalted. Let us make it our duty to lift up the name of the Lord and approach His name reverently.
References
H. Bultema. The Names Of Our Wonderful God
The MacArthur Study Bible
The Wiersbe Study Bible
The Life Application Study Bible
Gill, John. “Commentary on Psalms 111:9”.