Praise Him!

Christian music is a wonderful tool to draw our attention to God's Word.  This morning, I thought of the Fanny Crosby song, "Praise Him".  He is our rock, our hope of eternal salvation!  I love how stanza number 2 clearly presents the gospel.  
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Praise him! praise him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
For our sins he suffered and bled and died;
He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation,
Hail him! hail him! Jesus the Crucified.
Sound his praises -- Jesus who bore our sorrows --
Love unbounded, wonderful, deep and strong

That made me think of the phrase "Bless the Lord O my soul".  It's used in 4 places in the Bible. (Psa. 103:1–2, 22–104:1; 104:35). Twice in Psalm 103 and twice in Psalm 104.  Here the psalmist is making a decision to give praise.  As I reflect I am reminded of the phrase from Luther's hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God".  "though this world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us WE WILL NOT FEAR FOR GOD HAS WILLED HIS TRUTH TO TRIUMPH THROUGH US!" There is a reason we can boldly declare: Bless the Lord, Oh My Soul!  Praise God!

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