“Bless the Lord, O my soul (mind, will and emotion) … and forget none of His benefits, Who crowns you with loving kindness and compassion.” (Psalms 103:1-4) This is the fourth of five benefits based on who God is in Psalms 103. To crown someone gives them power and position. The Lord knows we are but dust, and if it were not for His mercy, we would all be consumed by our own selfishness, lust, and ungodliness. So He crowns us with loving kindness (mercy) and compassion (sympathy). “The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-24) If every morning, a person drinks in God’s loving-kindnesses mercy (which are new), especially after their greatest blunders, and feels the compassion of God when they are sick and in trouble, they know they have been crowned. The natural response to this benefit of crowning, is to bless (worship) the One who has done the crowning with all their heart, soul and might.
—Col. Jeff Mitchell, state chaplain, Louisiana National Guard
