Psalms 103:1-22
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6 The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children;
18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
19 The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
20 Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excela in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
21 Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.
22 Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.
It seems almost a work of supererogation to write anything about this psalm. It is perhaps the most perfect song of pure praise to be found in the Bible. It has become the common inheritance of all who through suffering and deliverance have learned the goodness of Jehovah. Through centuries it has been sung by glad hearts, and today is as fresh and full of beauty as ever. It is praise intensive and extensive.
As to its intensity, notice how the entire personality of the singer is recognised. The spirit of the man speaks. He addresses his soul, or mind, and calls it to praise first for spiritual benefits, and then for physical. And again notice how in the sweep of the song, things so small as the frame of the physical and its constituent dust are recognised, while yet the immeasurable reaches of east and west are included.
The extensive mercy of Jehovah, as evident in the same system, is seen in other psalms, but perhaps never so majestically as here. It begins with individual consciousness (vv. Psa 103:1-5); proceeds in recognition of national blessings (vv. Psa 103:6-18); and ends with the inclusion of all the angels, and hosts, and works in the vast dominion of Jehovah. The “my” of personal experience merges into the “our” of social fellowship, thus culminates in the “all” of universal consciousness. Yet all ends with the person word, and the perfect music of the psalm is revealed in the fact that it opens and closes on the same not.