Psalms 103:1-19

Psalms 103:1. Bless the LORD, O my soul:

Come, my soul, wake up, bestir thyself, for thou hast a great work to do.

Psalms 103:1. And all that is within in me, bless his holy name.

Let no power or faculty exempt itself from this blessed service. Come, many memory, my will, my judgment, my intellect, my heart, all that is me is be stirred up by his holy name to magnify and bless. «Bless the Lord, O my soul,» for the music must begin deep down in the center of my being; it must be myself, my inmost self that praises God.

Psalms 103:2. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

This shall be the first note of our grateful song, «We love him because he first loved us.» We have not to go abroad for materials for praise; they are all around us at home. «Forget not all his benefits» to thee, my soul; his overwhelming, his innumerable benefits, which have to be summed up in the gross as «all his benefits,» forget them not.

Psalms 103:3. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;

Come, my soul, canst thou not praise God for sin forgiven? This is the sweetest note in our song of praise: «Who forgiveth all thine iniquities,» not merely some of them, the blessed Scapegoat has carried the whole mass into that «No man's land» where they shall never be found again.

Psalms 103:3. Who healeth all thy diseases;

He is the Physician who can heal thee, my soul. Thy diseases are the worst diseases of all, for they would drag thee down to hell if they remained unhealed; but he «healeth all thy diseases.»

Psalms 103:4. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;

O my soul, praise God for redemption. If thou canst not sing about anything else, sing of «free grace and dying love.» Keep on singing «Those charming bells.»

Psalms 103:4. Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

What! canst thou wear such a crown as this, which is made up of living kindness and tender mercies, and yet not bless him who put it upon thy head? Oh, let it not be so, but let us each one break forth in spirit Holy's song, «My soul doth magnify the Lord.»

Psalms 103:5. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.

This is heavenly feasting on heavenly fare. There is divine satisfaction to be derived from the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. O my soul, pray to God to give thee this satisfying food so that thy youth may be renewed, so that thy wing-feathers may grow again, that thou mayest mount as eagles do! Surely, dear friends, this little list of mercies, though such a short one, comprises an immensity of mercy far beyond utmost comprehension; let us bless the Lord for it all.

Psalms 103:6. The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.

Let the poor and the down-trodden praise the Lord who so graciously takes care of them. He is the Executor of the needy, and he is the executioner of those that oppress them.

Psalms 103:7. He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

Therefore let us bless the God of revelation, who does not hide himself from his creatures, but who makes known both his ways and his sets unto his chosen people. An unknown God is an unpraised God; but when he reveals himself to his people, they cannot refrain from blessing his holy name.

Psalms 103:8. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenty in mercy.

Praise him for all this; at every mention of any one of his divine attributes let your hearts beat to the music of praise.

Psalms 103:9. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.

Therefore let the afflicted praise him, let the downcast and the despondent sing praises unto his holy name. If they cannot sing because of anything else, let them bless the name of the Lord that he will not keep his anger for ever.

Psalms 103:10. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

Let us all thank God that we are not in hell, and that we are yet on praying ground and on pleading terms with him, and some of us can praise him that we shall never come into perdition, for he hath saved us with an everlasting salvation. Truly, if we did not bless him, every timber in this house and every iron column that supported this roof might burst out in rebukes for our ingratitude.

Psalms 103:11. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

Look up to the blue sky, try to imagine what is beyond the stars, and then say to yourself, «So great is his mercy toward them that fear him;» and try to praise him as he deserves to be praised.

Psalms 103:12. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Let us therefore unstintedly praise him for such boundless lovingkindness and tender mercy.

Psalms 103:13. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.

He has an infinitely tender heart, he never strikes without regret, but his love always flows most freely. No earthly father or mother is half so pitiful as God is to his children.

Psalms 103:14. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

Our bodies are just animated dust, and our souls are so weak and feeble that even they might be compared to dust in his sight, not iron or granite, but simply dust. What men call «the laws of nature» are so stern that it is a wonder that men live as long as they do, for earthquakes and tornadoes and volcanoes are found that no man can bind; and when so many men are constantly crossing the sea it is a wonder that so many of them ever come to land again.

Psalms 103:15. As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

You are like the primrose by the river's brink, or the buttercup and the daisy in the meadow that is mown with the scythe. That is all we mortals are; not mighty cedars, not solid rocks, but just flowers of the field or as so much grass.

Psalms 103:16. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.

The hot winds of the East blow over a meadow, and it is burned up immediately. Even in the South of France, when the Sirocco has blown across from Africa I have seen the fairest flowers look in a short time as if they had been burned with a hot iron, and such are we when pestilence, as we call it, comes. It is but a breath of poisonous wind, and we are soon gone.

Psalms 103:17. But-

This is a blessed «but»

Psalms 103:17. The mercy of the LORD

That is not a fading flower, that is not a withering wind: «But the mercy of the Lord»-

Psalms 103:17. Is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children.

Here are innumerable mercies all enclosed in the one mercy of the Lord; everlasting mercy, covenant mercy. If we do not praise God whenever we think of the covenant of grace, what are we at? We must be possessed by a dumb devil if we do not praise him whose mercy «is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him.»

Psalms 103:18. To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandment, to do them. The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.

Now, children of the King, will you go mourning all your days ? You who dwell in the light of his throne, will not you be glad ? Rejoice, O believer, for thy King liveth and reigneth for ever.

Psalms 103:20. Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

«Bless the Lord, ye his angels.» We cannot do it well enough yet, so help us ye angels «that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.» Your actions are your praises, O ye mighty angels of God; oh, that we had learned to do his commandments as ye do them! We are praying for this «Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.»

Psalms 103:21. Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.

All living things and all the forces and powers of nature are calling upon men to praise the Lord; and we cry to all the hosts of God, the ministers of his, that do his pleasure, «Bless ye the Lord.»

22. Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.

While all these glorious anthems are ascending to heaven, I must not be silent; but I too must praise the Lord with my whole heart: «Bless the Lord, O my soul.»