Psalm 103

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 forgives all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

4 Who redeems thy life from destruction; who crowns thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies;

5 Who satisfies thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

6 The Lord executes 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 pities his children, so the Lord pities them that fear him.

14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

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

16 For the wind passes 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 rules over all.

20 Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel 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. (KJV)

Reading the verse, I realized that it is in all my daily activities that I should praise the Lord. As I praise the Lord, I must not forget all his benefits to me. The psalmist list a few of these benefits in this psalm: forgives all my sins, heals all my diseases, redeems my life from the pit (grave), crowns me with love and compassion, satisfies my desires with good things so that my youth is renew like that of an eagle.

As I did a Google search on the phase “Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being” I was amazed at the number of hits (2,510,000) I received from this phrase. This made me realized that one common theme that all Christians share is their desire to praise the Lord. It is this one common, however very diverted way that we have to worship the Lord. When we get to heaven it will not be a time that we as believers finally realize if our plan of salvation was the best way to present the gospel to others. It will not be a time to exalt our good works. But it will be a time when we praise and worship God. The great secret is that some believers realize that praising the Lord does not have to wait till we get to heaven.

Probably one of the best commentaries on this psalm was written by Charles Spurgeon:

Our attempt at exposition is commenced under an impressive sense of the utter impossibility of doing justice to so sublime a composition; we call upon our soul and all that is within us to aid in the pleasurable task; but, alas, our soul is finite, and our all of mental faculty far too little for the enterprise. There is too much in the Psalm, for a thousand pens to write, it is one of those all-comprehending Scriptures which is a Bible in itself, and it might alone almost suffice for the hymnbook of the church.

So, as we embrace this psalm remember that within these words is the golden thread that will bring together all believers when we get to heaven “praise the Lord”. The phase in verse eight “The Lord is slow to anger” is highlighted in II Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” as to the true goal of the Lord’s second coming. We must remember that John 3:16 was addressed to who-so-ever which includes all of the human race. Sometimes I wonder why the wicked person lives to a very old age and the answer here seems simple, the Lord is not willing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. However, there will come a day when this repentance will not be available for those who reject Christ, as Peter writes in verse ten “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up”.