O My Soul, My Psyche 

by Carole L. Haines

Bless the Lord, my soul, 
And all that is within me, bless His holy name. 
2 Bless the Lord, my soul, 
And do not forget any of His benefits. (Psalm 103:1-2) 
Let’s review a tiny bit before moving on from spirit to soul. We discovered that the Bible breaks the person down into 3 parts, spirit, soul and body. If all that is within me is to grow in blessing God’s Holy Name, we must understand these parts individually and how they interact together to form the person.  

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23) 

Our spirit, or pneuma, is the power by which we feel, think and decide, as defined below from Strong’s concordance in the original Greek Language 

Spirit- Pneuma-the spirit, I.e., the spirit, the power by which the human being feels, thinks and decides. 

Today we will delve into the Greek nuances of the Soul, or psyche.  

Soul-Psyche-The vital source which animates the body and shows itself in breathing. The seat of our feelings, thinking, desires and aversions (heart, soul, etc.) 

It seems to me that the spirit is the power to feel think and decide, whereas the soul is the seat, or source, where this all takes place. It is the boat navigating the waters of the spirit. The spirit is the power, like water, that carries the boat, but the soul is the source by which we think and decide. It is where our desires lie, our preferences. The spirit carries the soul, but the soul possesses the rudder to direct the ship. Now I will take it a bit further and say that I believe the soul is the rudder by which we steer our vessel, which is the body. I believe the soul is where we possess the gift of free will, to choose to follow God or reject His leading. 

So, to break it down and apply it to our Scripture in Psalm 103, the soul is where we bless the Lord in our thinking, bless the Lord in our desires, with our heart, thoughts and feelings. It is where we bless the Lord with our decisions. The spirit is given to us by God, through which he empowers us to do so. Tomorrow we will look at the vessel, The Body, or our boat, and how we Bless the Lord with it. Have a blessed day.