Today let’s focus on our inward being. Read Psalm 103:1-2. How are you? We can respond that we are fine, and there is no argument with that, but how are you really, way down inside your soul? Deep down inside your soul is the place where God does the best work, if we are willing to cooperate. The inward being is where we keep our most hurtful memories, our past trauma, and our biggest fears of what might happen next. They may not rise to the surface very often, but we know they are there even if no one else knows it. A KPop Demon Hunters song called “Free” came out last year with the line, “We can’t fix it if we never face it.” Facing the demons within us takes courage. Being brave is not the same as having no fear. Being brave is the ability to face your fears and work through them. Hurtful memories that are kept within cause us to doubt ourselves and keep us from living life to the fullest. When we open our innermost self to God and allow the Holy Spirit to work, we can clean out hurt and find healing. We can be forgiven of sin. God can transform our inward being. The Psalmist must have done some inward soul work because Psalm 103 is about praising God from our inward being. “Praise the LORD, O my soul, all my innermost being, praise God’s holy name!” This is the kind of rejoicing we long to display in worship and then each new day. When our souls are free from sin and brokenness, our inmost being responds to a loving God with all that is within us.

Prayer: We praise you, O God. We praise you from deep within. We praise you with all that we have. We praise you, for you are the one who sets us free. Amen.