This week we begin worship with:
Bless the Lord, O my soul,and forget not all his benefits,who forgives all your iniquity,who heals all your diseases,who redeems your life from the pit,who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,who satisfies you with goodso that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
This is not the “Blessed” of the Beatitudes (makarios), which describes the favored state of a person. This is bāraḵ, which like the Greek eulogeō, praises someone worthy of adoration.
Our God is worthy of praise because of what He does and because of what He will do.
He forgives all our iniquity. This is not an event in the past or an event we are waiting for, this is happening now.
But the other benefits that the Psalmist lists must wait. They will happen, because we are forgiven, on the Last Day. We will be healed. We will be raised up from the grave. Our youth that we once enjoyed will be renewed.
For that is when we will receive the Crown of Life (James 1:12). Not because of us, but because of a love that is so steadfast that it will show even us mercy.
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