Psalm 103 A Psalm of David.

 ¹Bless the Lord, O my soul;

And all that is within me, bless His holy name!

²Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And forget not all His benefits:

³Who forgives all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases,

⁴Who redeems your life from destruction,

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

⁵Who satisfies your mouth with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶The Lord executes righteousness

And justice for all who are oppressed.

⁷He made known His ways to Moses,

His acts to the children of Israel.

⁸The Lord is merciful and gracious,

Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

⁹He will not always strive with us,

Nor will He keep His anger forever.

¹⁰He has not dealt with us according to our sins,

Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

¹¹For as the heavens are high above the earth,

So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;

¹²As far as the east is from the west,

So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

¹³As a father pities his children,

So the Lord pities those who fear Him.

¹⁴For He knows our frame;

He remembers that we are dust.

¹⁵As for man, his days are like grass;

As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

¹⁶For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

And its place remembers it no more.

¹⁷But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting

On those who fear Him,

And His righteousness to children’s children,

¹⁸To such as keep His covenant,

And to those who remember His commandments to do them.

¹⁹The Lord has established His throne in heaven,

And His kingdom rules over all.

²⁰Bless the Lord, you His angels,

Who excel in strength, who do His word,

Heeding the voice of His word.

²¹Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,

You ministers of His, who do His pleasure.

²²Bless the Lord, all His works,

In all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Preamble: Psalm 103 is the Psalm that since its inception has been a strength to all who believe. From David onward this Psalm has been a foundation from which all the saints, whether under the Old Covenant or now the New have found their faith, or renewed it, and by it have been blessing Him!

Commentary

Vs. 1 “Bless the Lord, O my soul;

And all that is within me, bless His holy name!”

David’s heart resounds with praise as he recalls the Lord’s works towards him. His words in this Psalm then reflect everyone’s heart who likewise embraces the Lord’s great goodness towards themselves as well. Now in blessing the Lord, David does so with all that is with in him, for he is praising Him from a position of assured redemption; and that is the basis of our blessing the Lord Jesus Christ’s Person as well. For having received Him, and thus His salvation by God's grace alone (John 1:12; Eph. 2:8-9; Rev. 3:20) we also have an even greater assured hope laid up in heaven for us who believe in Christ.  Therefore, let us all who believe in Him bless His Holy Name with all that is within us as well!

Vs. 2-5 ²Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And forget not all His benefits:

³Who forgives all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases,

⁴Who redeems your life from destruction,

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

⁵Who satisfies your mouth with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

David once again calls his heart to bless the Lord, and not to forget all His benefits towards him. Yes, brethren we are the recipients of God’s Amazing grace, His salvation given freely to us while we were still sinners, for the Lord Jesus died for us while we were still His enemies so that we could be redeemed and be made righteous and holy in the sight of God our Father the moment we believe in Him. Thus, new and everlasting life will begin for you as well the moment you also believe in Him (Eph. 1:13-14), and He will by His Holy Spirit make you a new creation In Christ transforming your person on the inside (2 Cor. 5:17) so that you might be made ready for your heavenly home with Him forever, where you will get a new spiritual body without flaw or imperfection that will last forever. Therefore the life that Christ gives you no one can take from you. For it is by our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ Crucified and Raised from the dead that God our Father forgives all our sins, heals all our diseases, and redeems all our person from destruction, from going down to everlasting pit, from the depths of hell itself, from suffering everlasting punishment brethren we have all been saved! Just consider how blessed we truly are to be set free from the clutches of sin and Satan and all the lies of this world to now be a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy Nation, a sanctified and set apart people for Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior (1 Peter 2:9-10)! Therefore, brethren we are God’s redeemed people who are now crowned with His lovingkindness and His tender mercies in more ways than we could ever fully know or imagine in this life, but we will all fully know Him and experience this on His Day when we see Him face to face! These things and so much more than give us great cause to bless the Lord’s Holy Name ourselves! For as David also notes in verse five it is the Lord who fills our mouths with give good things so that our youth is renewed like the eagles! In essence all this foretells what we experience when we are born-again by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Vs. 6 “The Lord executes righteousness

And justice for all who are oppressed.”

The Lord’s mighty and gracious works continue to be declared and revealed to us. Chief of which is that:

“The Lord executes righteousness

And justice for all who are oppressed.”

In this world where injustice reigns, where the strong and mighty walk over the weak and poor, where the oppressed has no voice or recourse against the mighty and powerful, we know that the Lord is their (our Advocate). For He is the Intercessor and Advocate for all who are oppressed. The Gospel then is the Gospel of the poor, whether this material poverty or spiritual (Matt. 5:3; Luke 6:20-26). For the Lord Jesus Christ did not come for the proud and self-sufficient who scoff at His salvation. Nor did He come for the rich whose lives will fadeaway in their pursuits for more (James 1:9-11). Rather He came for everyone who has been broken by their sins, for everyone who sees their need for Him and repents and turns to Him in faith, for everyone whose heart desires to know Him and thus seeks Him will find Him. For the Lord Jesus came to redeem all that God the Father gave Him (John 6:37). Therefore the Lord Jesus Christ became poor for us all so that through His poverty we might all be made rich! Therefore, the Lord who sees all things from His throne in heaven is now working out His plans to bring this forth in its fullness for all who believe in Him, and on His Day when He Reigns, the world will know this, for they will see His justice done throughout the world before their very eyes!

Vs. 7 “He made known His ways to Moses,

His acts to the children of Israel.”

Now to bear evidence of this; of the Lord executing righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed; the Lord’s exceptional deliverance of the oppressed Hebrew people is now recalled, all which can be studied in the Book of Exodus. From His choosing His servant Moses and bringing Israel up out of their Egyptian enslavement, to His then giving them His Word and Covenant through Moses even in spite of their rebellions. The Lord revealed Himself clearly to all through all His mighty acts on behalf of the children of Israel. 

Vs. 8-12 ⁸The Lord is merciful and gracious,

Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

⁹He will not always strive with us,

Nor will He keep His anger forever.

¹⁰He has not dealt with us according to our sins,

Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

¹¹For as the heavens are high above the earth,

So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;

¹²As far as the east is from the west,

So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

If people knew the works and words of the Lord as we do who have been saved by Him, they too would want to praise and thank Him. These verses then are precious gems and living treasures to us who believe in Him. For by His Word, we know Him, know and experience His mercy and kindness, we then know that He is slow to anger with us, and His abounding in mercy always towards us. And yet the Lord does not at all acquit the wicked, but He is longsuffering towards all so that all may come to repentance. For He will not always strive with us, who rebel and disobey Him, nor will He keep His anger forever, (vs. 9) for as the Scripture foresees throughout, God’s chastisement of Israel, and all His people, will culminate in their salvation. Thus, it can be rightly said that He has not dealt with us according to our sins; nor punished us according to our iniquities (vs. 10). For if He did no one would enter the Kingdom of heaven. For all of His grace towards us leading us to everlasting life is only because of what His Son Jesus Christ has done for us all in suffering Crucifixion death for all of our sin’s at Calvary. God’s great mercy then which exceeds the heavens in height is always towards all who fear Him, who choose to believe and obey Him (vs. 11). Believe in His Son and obey His Gospel all people for that is the pathway of life! “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” This then is the joy of all the saints (of all believers on earth and in heaven), that the Lord Jesus Christ has made the way for the everlasting removal of all our sins and transgressions. “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” ^{Heb. 10:14}

Vs. 13-14 ¹³As a father pities his children,

So the Lord pities those who fear Him.

¹⁴For He knows our frame;

He remembers that we are dust.

The Lord’s mercies are further seen is His disposition towards us all who fear Him, who want to obey Him and keep His Word, for so He pities us, for He knows our frame and He knows our weaknesses, and He remembers that we are but dust, completely weak and dependent on Him. Sinless perfection then is not what God expects from us, for the moment one sees themselves as “sinless” or righteous in of themselves they cease to walk in the truth and see their own need for Him (consider 1 John 1:8-10).

Vs. 15-16 ¹⁵As for man, his days are like grass;

As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

¹⁶For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

And its place remembers it no more.

David now exemplifies this attitude of humility towards God. For he himself does not see himself or anyone else as “self made”, as if one’s own life is in their own hands. For he sees that all our days are like grass, flourishing for a season and then the hot southern winds pass over us, and soon we are gone, wilted and dried out like the grass, so ends our vitality and lives down here.

Vs. 17-18 ¹⁷But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting

On those who fear Him,

And His righteousness to children’s children,

¹⁸To such as keep His covenant,

And to those who remember His commandments to do them.

Therefore our hope is not found in maintaining ourselves and our lives down here, our hope is found in the everlasting mercies of the Lord, which come to all who fear Him, even His righteousness He grants to our children’s, children who fear Him; (antithesis Num. 14:17-18; Deut. 5:9-10); for He grants His mercies to all who keep His Covenant (for us the New Covenant) who remember His commandments to do them.

Vs. 19 “The Lord has established His throne in heaven,

And His kingdom rules over all.”

God’s absolute Sovereignty is now declared. For His throne He has established is in heaven, and it is forever, (unlike all the earthly thrones and kingdoms), His Kingdom rules over all.

Vs. 20 “Bless the Lord, you His angels,

Who excel in strength, who do His word,

Heeding the voice of His word.”

David now calls upon God’s angels who excel in strength, (whose days are not like our mortal days), who do God’s Word, who heed the voice of His Word, to Bless the Lord!

Vs. 21 “Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,

You ministers of His, who do His pleasure.”

David now moves from the angels to all His hosts, His ministers, who do His pleasure to Bless the Lord!

Vs. 22 “Bless the Lord, all His works,

In all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!”

Finally, to all of creation itself, in all places of His dominion, to Bless the Lord! Then David concludes this Psalm by saying, Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.