“Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the Lord, O my soul.”
The closing invocation 'Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the LORD, O my soul' completes the circle from the opening address to the self, now expanded to embrace all creation. The call to 'all his works' (kol ma'asav) encompasses not just the conscious beings (humans and angels) but all of creation, animate and inanimate. The phrase 'in all places of his dominion' (be-kol memshelet malkhutho) emphasizes the universality and comprehensiveness of the call to praise. The return to the opening apostrophe—'Bless the LORD, O my soul'—completes the frame, suggesting that the entire cosmic vision has been encompassed within the individual's praise. The doubling of the opening invocation in the closing suggests that the personal and cosmic dimensions of praise are not separate but interpenetrating; the individual's blessing echoes and participates in the universal praise of all creation. This final verse transforms the psalm from a celebration of individual blessing to a comprehensive hymn that embraces all existence in praise.
Church Fathers on Psalms 103:22
1. ...“Bless the Lord, O my soul! And all that is within me, His holy Name” Psalm 102:1. I suppose that he speaks not of what is within the body; I do not suppose him to mean this, that our lungs and liver, and so forth, are to burst forth into the voice of blessing of the Lord. There are lungs in our breast indeed, like a kind of bellows, which send forth successive breathings, which breathing forth of the air inhaled is pressed out into voice and sound, when the words are…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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