Psalm 103 is a very familiarpsalm especially in churches that sing the psalms exclusively. In suchchurches, especially in Scotland,this psalm is sung at almost every communion service! And it is the psalmalmost inevitably recommended for use at the Lord’s Supper whenever an order ofworship is proposed.

This is a hymn of praise andthanksgiving unto the LORD for His fatherly compassion, mercy, forgiveness andundeserved blessings. It is a psalm that can only be sung meaningfully byforgiven sinners united to Christ, who have tasted of the Father’s love, andwhose heart is filled with the Spirit and overflowing with gratitude. 

We may entitle it: “A Song forthe Redeemed to Bless the LORD.” It has three main parts which we may entitleas follows:

1.   Bless the LORD,—O mysoul,—for His Benefits (v. 1-7);

2.   Blessthe LORD,—All ye His Children,—for His Compassion (v. 6-18);

3.   Bless the LORD,—All ye HisWorks,—for His Dominion (v. 19-22).

Notice how the three parts movefrom the individual, to the church, to the world. We must bless the Lord asindividuals. We must bless the Lord as a church. We must call upon all Creationto bless the Lord.

1. Bless the LORD,—O My Soul, —for His Benefits (v. 1-5)

¹  Bless theLORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. ²Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: ³ Whoforgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; ⁴ Whoredeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness andtender mercies; ⁵ Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so thatthy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

What can we add by way ofexplanation to clarify the beautiful words? These are words supplied by ourRedeemer to give expression to the gratitude that fills each of our hearts forHis benefits.

The Lord has done great things for me. Let all that is within me,bless His holy name.[1] He has forgiven my sin. He has healed me of my diseases both bodilyand spiritual (v. 4). He has redeemed me from a meaningless life that will endin destruction (v. 4a). He has enabled me to enjoy His covenantal love and histender mercies (v. 4b). He has blessed me with all good things for therefreshment and enjoyment of my body and soul.

Becauseof the Lord’s blessings, I shall not want. In the strength of the Lord, I canmount up with wings and sour as young eagle through all the challenges of life(cf. Isa 40:31).

What shall I do in the face ofsuch great benefits but to bless the LORD? Bless the Lord, O my soul! Let allthat is within me, bless His holy name!

But let me not just bless theLord alone! Let me bless Him also in unison with the saints who have alsoexperienced his blessings.

2. Bless the LORD,—All YeHis Children, —for His Compassion (v. 8-18)

The Lord is benevolent,righteous and fair towards all His creatures, but He has a special love towardsHis people. To them He made known His ways and His salvation through hisappointed servants such as Moses (cf. v. 7).

Through Moses, the Lord taughtthe way of holiness.

Through Moses the Lordexplained the way of salvation through the Redeemer who would die for Hispeople. This is the purpose of the animal sacrifices.

But more than through Moses,the LORD has,—through the work of the Spirit in our heart,—given us anapprehension of the covenant lovingkindness and compassion of the LORD towardsHis people. And the Spirit of Christ has given us the words to express thegratitude that flows from our heart for this assurance of His love:

Again, whatcan we add by way of explanation that will explicate what is already expressedso clearly. We deserve God’s wrath and curse. But the LORD has shown us mercyand grace instead. He does not deal with us as our sin deserves. Instead, heforgives us, and removed our transgressions from us.

Lookingback in retrospect, as New Testament believers, we can see how our sin werenailed to the cross of Calvary. Christ ourLord took the punishment due to us so that we would never be punished everagain. He suffered hell that we might enjoy heaven.

ForChrist’s sake, God has shown great mercy that reaches unto the heavens to themthat fear Him.

ForChrist’s sake, God has removed the guilt of our transgressions and cast it asfar away from us as the East is from the West.

ForChrist’s sake, God deals with us not as sinners but as beloved children coveredin the righteousness of His Son.

Andso the Lord deals with us with fatherly pity and compassion:

¹³ Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them thatfear him. ¹⁴ For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we aredust. ¹⁵ As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of thefield, so he flourisheth. ¹⁶ For the wind passeth over it, and it isgone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.  ¹⁷ But the mercy of the LORD isfrom everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousnessunto children’s children; ¹⁸ To such as keep his covenant, and tothose that remember his commandments to do them.

The pity and compassion of theLORD is not experienced by everyone in the world, but only by those who fearHim and keep His commandments (v. 11, 13, 17, 18). But such as fear Him andkeep His commandments, will find the LORD to be a Father full of understanding,pity and compassion. And that, despite the fact that we are insignificantcreatures of dust, whereas He is infinite, eternal and unchangeable in hisbeing and perfections.

Oh how this assurance of theLord’s pity, and the love of the Holy Spirit shed abroad in our heart ought tostir all that is within us to join together with one another to praise our AbbaFather. And praise be to the Lord: We have such beautiful words that we can useto praise Him in union with our Saviour.

But not only are we to praisethe LORD, gratitude compels us to call upon all of creation to praise Him.

3.Bless the LORD,—All Ye His Works, —for His Dominion (v. 19-22)

¹⁹ The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdomruleth over all. ²⁰ Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel instrength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.  ²¹ Bless ye the LORD, all ye hishosts; 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.

Though our LORD stoop down toshow us His love and pity to us creatures of dust, we must not forget that Heis the Creator and Governor over the entire universe.

His throne is in heaven. Hiskingdom rules over all. His dominion is over all things seen and unseen,physical and spiritual.

Let us, therefore, as vesselsof His mercy and love, join in with our elder brother Christ, to call upon allCreation including the holy angels to praise His Holy name. No, no, the angelsof the LORD need not man to call them to bless the LORD. Before man was evencreated, they as the morning stars and the sons of God sang and shouted for joywhen God laid the foundations of the earth (Job 38:7).

But the angels were appointedto be “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirsof salvation” (Heb 1:14). And all things in this world were created by JesusChrist “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenlyplaces might be known [through] the church the manifold wisdom of God” (Eph3:9-10). That is: all things in this physical universe exist for the sake ofthe church to serve as the stage of the drama of redemption.

Therefore, it is our greatprivilege to call upon all creation animate and inanimate, including the holyangels to join us praise the Father. Let us make this call, beloved brethrenand children, as we remind ourselves individually and corporately to bless theLORD.

Conclusion

Psalm 103 is another verybeautiful psalm that is very difficult to expound in a short study because itis so rich and yet so clearly expressed. Indeed, it would do more for us toread it, meditate on it and sing it regularly than to hear it expounded even bythe most eloquent and angelic tongue.

May the Lord help us to fillour hearts with the thoughts expressed in it. May he cause our heart tooverflow with praise in our lips so that we may spontaneously say in our heartalways: “Bless the LORD, O my soul.” Amen. Ω