Shining a light on the weekly Bible Lessons published in the Christian Science Quarterly®
Are Sin, Disease, and Death Real?
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: . . . Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the Lord, O my soul.
Beginning and ending with the charge to bless God, this psalm is composed of a comprehensive recounting of His “benefits”—the many ways God blesses His children (see vv. 3–19). A commentary notes that in Psalm 103 the poet “has been granted an insight into the heart of the majesty of God, and what he has found there is grace.”
To the Israelites, soul (Hebrew, nepeš) represented one’s whole being and identity. It is frequently paired with heart in biblical exhortations. Deuteronomy 6:5 counsels, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” And I Chronicles 22:19 has, “Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God.”
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Resources quoted in this issue
RR: Weiser, Artur. The Psalms: A Commentary. Translated by Herbert Hartwell. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1962; Laymon, Charles M. The Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary on the Bible. Nashville: Abingdon, 1971; Jamieson, Robert, Andrew Robert Fausset, and David Brown. A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. 2 vols. Hartford, CT: S.S. Scranton, 1871. Also available at biblestudytools.com/commentaries.
Cit. 3: Mays, James L., Joseph Blenkinsopp, et al., eds. Harper’s Bible Commentary. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988.
Cit. 14: Mays, James L., Joseph Blenkinsopp, et al., eds. The HarperCollins Bible Commentary. Rev. ed. New York: HarperCollins, 2000.
Cit. 20: Radmacher, Earl D., Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne House. The NKJV Study Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2007; Barclay, William. The Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of John, Vol. 2. Edinburgh: Saint Andrew, 1955. Revised and updated by Saint Andrew, 2001. Reprinted as The New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of John, Vol. 2. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2001–04.
Cit. 24: Keck, Leander E., et al., eds. The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 1, Introduction to the Pentateuch. Genesis. Exodus. Leviticus. Numbers. Deuteronomy. Nashville: Abingdon, 2015.
COPYRIGHT
Scriptural quotations marked Contemporary English Version are taken from the Contemporary English Version, copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.
Scriptural quotations marked New Living Translation are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scriptural quotations marked Amplified® Bible Classic are taken from the Amplified® Bible Classic, copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org.
Scriptural quotations marked Good News Translation are taken from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version—Second Edition, copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.
Scriptural quotations marked International Children’s Bible are taken from the International Children’s Bible®, copyright © 1986, 1988, 1999 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scriptural quotations marked Common English Bible are taken from the Common English Bible, copyright © 2011 by the Common English Bible. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Scriptural quotations marked GOD’S WORD Translation are taken from GOD’S WORD®, copyright © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations. Used by permission of God’s Word Mission Society.
Scriptural quotations marked New Century Version are taken from the New Century Version®, copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
© 2022 The Christian Science Publishing Society. The design of the Cross and Crown is a trademark owned by the Christian Science Board of Directors and is used by permission. Bible Lens and Christian Science Quarterly are trademarks owned by The Christian Science Publishing Society. Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptural quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.
