Psalms 103:1-17

Praise for the LORD'S Mercies.

A Psalm of David.

1 ¹Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His ²holy name.

2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And ³forget none * of His benefits;

3 Who ⁴pardons all your iniquities, Who ⁵heals all your diseases;

4 Who ⁶redeems your life from the pit, Who ⁷crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;

5 Who ⁸satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is ⁹renewed like the eagle.

6 The LORD ¹⁰performs righteous deeds And judgments for all who are ¹¹oppressed.

7 He ¹²made known His ways to Moses, His ¹³acts to the sons of Israel.

8 The LORD is ¹⁴compassionate and gracious, ¹⁵Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.

9 He ¹⁶will not always strive with us, Nor will He ¹⁷keep His anger forever.

10 He has ¹⁸not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high ¹⁹as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.

12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He ²⁰removed our transgressions from us.

13 Just ²¹as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.

14 For ²²He Himself knows our frame; He ²³is mindful that we are but ²⁴dust.

15 As for man, his days are ²⁵like grass; As a ²⁶flower of the field, so he flourishes.

16 When the ²⁷wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its ²⁸place acknowledges it no longer.

17 But the ²⁹lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness ³⁰to children's children,

Read Chapter Compare

Images for Psalms 103:1-17

Psalms 103:1-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 103

\\<>\\. The Targum adds, ``spoken in prophecy,'' as doubtless it was, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Some think it was written by David, after a fit of illness, and his recovery from it, since he speaks of his diseases being healed, and his youth renewed; for which reason the Syriac interpreter suggests it was written in his old age; for he makes the subject of the psalm to be, ``concerning coldness which prevailed upon him in old age;'' but rather he wrote it when his heart was warm with a sense of the love of God, and spiritual blessings of grace flowing from thence; and in it celebrates and sings the benefits of New Testament times; and it is a psalm suitable to be sung by every believer, under a quick sense of divine favours: wherefore the above interpreter better adds, ``also an instruction and thanksgiving by men of God;'' whom the psalmist may very well be thought to personate, even in Gospel times; and much rather than the Jews in captivity, as Kimchi thinks.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Why We Should Say "Bless the Lord, Oh My Soul" Today, Tomorrow, and Forever Hope Bolinger

Why ‘Bless the Lord’ Needs to Be the Anthem of Our Soul Heather Adams

Cross References 30

1. Psalms 104:1, 35
2. Psalms 33:21; Psalms 105:3; Psalms 145:21; Ezekiel 36:21; Ezekiel 39:7
3. Deuteronomy 6:12; Deuteronomy 8:11
4. Exodus 34:7; Psalms 86:5; Psalms 130:8; Isaiah 43:25
5. Exodus 15:26; Psalms 30:2; Jeremiah 30:17
6. Psalms 49:15
7. Psalms 5:12
8. Psalms 107:9; Psalms 145:16
9. Isaiah 40:31
10. Psalms 99:4; Psalms 146:7
11. Psalms 12:5
12. Exodus 33:13; Psalms 99:7; Psalms 147:19
13. Psalms 78:11; Psalms 106:22
14. Exodus 34:6; Numbers 14:18; Nehemiah 9:17; Psalms 86:15; Jonah 4:2; James 5:11
15. Psalms 145:8; Joel 2:13; Nahum 1:3
16. Psalms 30:5; Isaiah 57:16
17. Jeremiah 3:5, 12; Micah 7:18
18. Ezra 9:13; Lamentations 3:22
19. Psalms 36:5; Psalms 57:10
20. 2 Samuel 12:13; Isaiah 38:17; Isaiah 43:25; Zechariah 3:9; Hebrews 9:26
21. Malachi 3:17
22. Isaiah 29:16
23. Psalms 78:39
24. Genesis 3:19; Ecclesiastes 12:7
25. Psalms 90:5; Isaiah 40:6; 1 Peter 1:24
26. Job 14:2; James 1:10, 11
27. Isaiah 40:7
28. Job 7:10; Job 8:18; Job 20:9
29. Psalms 25:6
30. Exodus 20:6; Deuteronomy 5:10; Psalms 105:8

Footnotes 7

[a]. Or "desire"
[b]. Or "deeds of vindication"
[c]. Or "revere"
[d]. Or "revere"
[e]. I.e. what we are made of
[f]. Or "revere"
[g]. I.e. faithfulness to His gracious promises