Psalms 103:1-11

1 Praise the Lord, my soul! All my being, praise his holy name!

2 Praise the Lord, my soul, and do not forget how kind he is.

3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.

4 He keeps me from the grave and blesses me with love and mercy.

5 He fills my life with good things, so that I stay young and strong like an eagle.

6 The Lord judges in favor of the oppressed and gives them their rights.

7 He revealed his plans to Moses and let the people of Israel see his mighty deeds.

8 The Lord is merciful and loving, ¹ slow to become angry and full of constant love.

9 He does not keep on rebuking; he is not angry forever.

10 He does not punish us as we deserve or repay us according to our sins and wrongs.

11 As high as the sky is above the earth, so great is his love for those who honor him.

Psalms 103:1-11 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.

Cross References

• 1. 103.8James 5.11.

Footnotes

• [a]. [Probable text] my life; [Hebrew unclear.]