Psalms 103

1 Praise the LORD, my soul! Praise his holy name, all that is within me.

2 Praise the LORD, my soul, and never forget all the good he has done:

3 He is the one who forgives all your sins, the one who heals all your diseases,

4 the one who rescues your life from the pit, the one who crowns you with mercy and compassion,

5 the one who fills your life with blessings so that you become young again like an eagle.

6 The LORD does what is right and fair for all who are oppressed.

7 He let Moses know his ways. He let the Israelites know the things he had done.

8 The LORD is compassionate, merciful, patient, and always ready to forgive.

9 He will not always accuse us of wrong or be angry [with us] forever.

10 He has not treated us as we deserve for our sins or paid us back for our wrongs.

11 As high as the heavens are above the earth-- that is how vast his mercy is toward those who fear him.

12 As far as the east is from the west-- that is how far he has removed our rebellious acts from himself.

13 As a father has compassion for his children, so the LORD has compassion for those who fear him.

14 He certainly knows what we are made of. He bears in mind that we are dust.

15 Human life is as short-lived as grass. It blossoms like a flower in the field.

16 When the wind blows over the flower, it disappears, and there is no longer any sign of it.

17 But from everlasting to everlasting, the LORD's mercy is on those who fear him. His righteousness belongs to their children and grandchildren,

18 to those who are faithful to his promise, to those who remember to follow his guiding principles.

19 The LORD has set his throne in heaven. His kingdom rules everything.

20 Praise the LORD, all his angels, you mighty beings who carry out his orders and are ready to obey his spoken orders.

21 Praise the LORD, all his armies, his servants who carry out his will.

22 Praise the LORD, all his creatures in all the places of his empire. Praise the LORD, my soul!

Psalms 103 Commentary

Chapter 103

An exhortation to bless God for his mercy. (1-5) And to the church and to all men. (6-14) For the constancy of his mercy. (15-18) For the government of the world. (19-22)

Verses 1-5 By the pardon of sin, that is taken away which kept good things from us, and we are restored to the favor of God, who bestows good things on us. Think of the provocation; it was sin, and yet pardoned: how many the provocations, yet all pardoned! God is still forgiving, as we are still sinning and repenting. The body finds the melancholy consequences of Adam's offence, it is subject to many infirmities, and the soul also. Christ alone forgives all our sins; it is he alone who heals all our infirmities. And the person who finds his sin cured, has a well-grounded assurance that it is forgiven. When God, by the graces and comforts of his Spirit, recovers his people from their decays, and fills them with new life and joy, which is to them an earnest of eternal life and joy, they may then be said to return to the days of their youth, ( Job 33:25 ) .

Verses 6-14 Truly God is good to all: he is in a special manner good to Israel. He has revealed himself and his grace to them. By his ways we may understand his precepts, the ways he requires us to walk in; and his promises and purposes. He always has been full of compassion. How unlike are those to God, who take every occasion to chide, and never know when to cease! What would become of us, if God should deal so with us? The Scripture says a great deal of the mercy of God, and we all have experienced it. The father pities his children that are weak in knowledge, and teaches them; pities them when they are froward, and bears with them; pities them when they are sick, and comforts them; pities them when they are fallen, and helps them to rise; pities them when they have offended, and, upon their submission, forgives them; pities them when wronged, and rights them: thus the Lord pities those that fear him. See why he pities. He considers the frailty of our bodies, and the folly of our souls, how little we can do, how little we can bear; in all which his compassion appears.

Verses 15-18 How short is man's life, and uncertain! The flower of the garden is commonly more choice, and will last the longer, for being sheltered by the garden-wall, and the gardener's care; but the flower of the field, to which life is here compared, is not only withering in itself, but exposed to the cold blasts, and liable to be cropt and trod on by the beasts of the field. Such is man. God considers this, and pities him; let him consider it himself. God's mercy is better than life, for it will outlive it. His righteousness, the truth of his promise, shall be unto children's children, who tread in the footsteps of their forefathers' piety. Then shall mercy be preserved to them.

Verses 19-22 He who made all, rules all, and both by a word of power. He disposes all persons and things to his own glory. There is a world of holy angels who are ever praising him. Let all his works praise him. Such would have been our constant delight, if we had not been fallen creatures. Such it will in a measure become, if we are born of God. Such it will be for ever in heaven; nor can we be perfectly happy till we can take unwearied pleasure in perfect obedience to the will of our God. And let the feeling of each redeemed heart be, Bless the Lord, O my soul.

Chapter Summary

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.