Day 5: David’s First Two Decisions

We are going back to Psalm 103, which we mentioned briefly in the previous days, and I’m going to show you two specific decisions which David exhorted his soul to make. They’re very relevant to the spiritual experience of each one of us and not just for David. He’s a pattern. Let’s read those words again in Psalm 103, verses 1 and 2.

“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.”

Did you pick up the two decisions there which David’s spirit exhorted his soul to make? The first was positive: “Bless the Lord”; the second was negative: “forget not,” don’t forget. But each alike is a decision.

Let’s consider briefly what’s involved in that first decision to bless the Lord. We need to understand the background of the Hebrew word for “to bless,” which is very interesting. Without quoting Hebrew, that word “to bless” is derived directly from the Hebrew word for the knee. So, it suggests a transaction with God on our knees. What happens when we come on our knees before God, turn our hearts and minds to Him, look up to Him, and adopt a right attitude? Well, we offer to God our devotion, our worship. That’s how we bless God. But, as we offer to God in this right attitude and posture we also receive back from God His blessing, His approval, His favor. So, the decision to bless God is a decision to adopt a certain attitude to God—literally, a physical attitude. But, beyond that a spiritual attitude of humility and reverence and bowing before God and then, as we make that decision to bow before God, to acknowledge Him as God, to give Him the preeminence, the majesty which are His due, then in return God blesses us. So, you find all through the Bible there’s a twoway transaction in blessing. First, the human personality turns to God, offers God what is His due and then, in turn, God offers His favor, His blessing, back to the person.

Now, I think it’s very interesting to understand that this word for blessing primarily describes an attitude. It’s not so much what we say as how we adopt our attitude towards God. You see, it’s very close to the word for “worship.” And both in the Hebrew of the Old Testament and in the Greek of the New, every main word that’s translated “worship” is a word that describes an attitude.

So, what David was telling his soul was, “Adopt the right attitude toward God.” What is that attitude? Humility, reverence, acknowledgment, bowing before Him. That’s a decision. Have you ever made that decision? Has your spirit ever given that direction to your soul? And, if so, how did your soul respond?

Tomorrow I’m going to turn to the second decision that David’s spirit challenged his soul to make.