Psalm 103

Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The Lord works righteousness
    and justice for all the oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
    his deeds to the people of Israel:
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed,
    he remembers that we are dust.
The life of mortals is like grass,
    they flourish like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,
    and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting
    the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
    and his righteousness with their children’s children—
with those who keep his covenant
    and remember to obey his precepts.
The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
    and his kingdom rules over all.
Praise the Lord, you his angels,
    you mighty ones who do his bidding,
    who obey his word.
Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
    you his servants who do his will.
Praise the Lord, all his works
    everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the Lord, my soul.

• Psalm 103:1-22

Type of Psalm

Psalms of thanksgiving for God’s goodness to good people:  Giving God thanks as noted.

Psalms of thanksgiving for God’s mercies to individuals:  Giving God thanks as noted.

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“This psalm calls more for devotion than exposition; it is a most excellent psalm of praise, and of general use. The psalmist, I. Stirs up himself and his own soul to praise God (ver. 1, 2) for his favour to him in particular (ver. 3-5), to the church in general, and to all good men, to whom he is, and will be, just, and kind, and constant (ver. 6-18), and for his government of the world, ver. 19. II. He desires the assistance of the holy angels, and all the works of God, in praising him, ver. 20-22. In singing this psalm we must in a special manner get our hearts affected with the goodness of God and enlarged in love and thankfulness.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 103:1 “’Bless the LORD, O my soul.’ Jehovah is worthy to be praised by us in that highest style of adoration that is intended by the term bless-‘All Your works shall praise You, O LORD, and Your saints shall bless You’ (Ps.145:10). Our very life and essential self should be engrossed with this delightful service, and all of us should arouse our own hearts to the engagement. Let others forbear if they can. Let others murmur, but you bless. Let others bless themselves and their idols, but you bless the Lord. Let others use only their tongues, but as for me I will cry, ‘Bless the LORD, O my soul.’ ‘And all that is within me, bless His holy name!’ Many are our faculties, emotions, and capacities, but God has given them all to us, and they ought all to join in chorus to His praise. Half-hearted, ill-conceived, unintelligent praises are not such as we should render to our loving Lord.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, Spurgeon and the Psalms

My Thoughts

This psalm is attributed to David.  Most of the first half of the Psalms are all psalms of David, but there are a scattering of others that are attributed to him.

This is a psalm of thanksgiving, but it starts with praise.  “Bless the Lord, O my Soul.”

Why give thanks to God unless we are praising Him?  While many teach the ACTS model in our prayer (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication), there is tremendous overlap in Adoration and Thanksgiving.  Yes, we can adore God just for being who He is, but much of our specifics in that adoration boil down to what God does.  Do we really need to focus on word definition or just go with the flow when we praise and worship the God of the universe?

But beyond the first few verses of praise and adoration, we are reminded that God made Himself known to Moses.  In the next few verses, we look at the attributes of God.  Many of these attributes are what Paul uses as the fruits of the Spirit when we accept Jesus.  It is really hard to be indwelled with the Spirit without showing compassion, grace, slowness in anger, abounding in love, etc.

Then David looks at our reason for God being compassionate with us.  He knows how we are formed.  We are made from the dust, and we are like grass that grows up and the wind blows away.  This might be a bleak picture if it were not for the fact that God cares for us.  He loves us, and He especially cares for those who are His, as stated here – those who fear God.

God has established His throne in Heaven.  In other words, God is sovereign, regardless of what our present world leaders think.

And David even calls for the heavenly angels to praise God.  I think this is a call for them to lead the song, and we will follow along.

Psalm 104

Praise the Lord, my soul.
Lord my God, you are very great;
    you are clothed with splendor and majesty.
The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment;
    he stretches out the heavens like a tent
    and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
    and rides on the wings of the wind.
He makes winds his messengers,
    flames of fire his servants.
He set the earth on its foundations;
    it can never be moved.
You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment;
    the waters stood above the mountains.
But at your rebuke the waters fled,
    at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
they flowed over the mountains,
    they went down into the valleys,
    to the place you assigned for them.
You set a boundary they cannot cross;
    never again will they cover the earth.
He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
    it flows between the mountains.
They give water to all the beasts of the field;
    the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
The birds of the sky nest by the waters;
    they sing among the branches.
He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
    the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
He makes grass grow for the cattle,
    and plants for people to cultivate—
    bringing forth food from the earth:
wine that gladdens human hearts,
    oil to make their faces shine,
    and bread that sustains their hearts.
The trees of the Lord are well watered,
    the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
There the birds make their nests;
    the stork has its home in the junipers.
The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
    the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.
He made the moon to mark the seasons,
    and the sun knows when to go down.
You bring darkness, it becomes night,
    and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
The lions roar for their prey
    and seek their food from God.
The sun rises, and they steal away;
    they return and lie down in their dens.
Then people go out to their work,
    to their labor until evening.
How many are your works, Lord!
    In wisdom you made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.
There is the sea, vast and spacious,
    teeming with creatures beyond number—
    living things both large and small.
There the ships go to and fro,
    and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
All creatures look to you
    to give them their food at the proper time.
When you give it to them,
    they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
    they are satisfied with good things.
When you hide your face,
    they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
    they die and return to the dust.
When you send your Spirit,
    they are created,
    and you renew the face of the ground.
May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
    may the Lord rejoice in his works—
he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
    who touches the mountains, and they smoke.
I will sing to the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
    as I rejoice in the Lord.
But may sinners vanish from the earth
    and the wicked be no more.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Praise the Lord.

• Psalm 104:1-35

Type of Psalm

Psalms of praise: Exactly as stated.  God is being praised.

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“It is very probable that this psalm was penned by the same hand, and at the same time, as the former; for as that ended this begins, with ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul!’ and concludes with it too. The style indeed is somewhat different, because the matter is so: the scope of the foregoing psalm was to celebrate the goodness of God and his tender mercy and compassion, to which a soft and sweet style was most agreeable; the scope of this is to celebrate his greatness, and majesty, and sovereign dominion, which ought to be done in the most stately lofty strains of poetry. David, in the former psalm, gave God the glory of his covenant-mercy and love to his own people; in this he gives him the glory of his works of creation and providence, his dominion over, and his bounty to, all the creatures. God is there praised as the God of grace, here as the God of nature. And this psalm is wholly bestowed on that subject; not as ver. 1-14, which begins with it, but passes from it to the consideration of the divine law; nor as Ps. 8:1-9, which speaks of this but prophetically, and with an eye to Christ. This noble poem is thought by very competent judges greatly to excel, not only for piety and devotion (that is past dispute), but for flight of fancy, brightness of ideas, surprising turns, and all the beauties and ornaments of expression, the Greek and Latin poets upon any subject of this nature. Many great things the psalmist here gives God the glory of I. The splendour of his majesty in the upper world, ver. 1-4. II. The creation of the sea and the dry land, ver. 5-9. III. The provision he makes for the maintenance of all the creatures according to their nature, ver. 10-18, 27, 28. IV. The regular course of the sun and moon, ver. 19-24. V. The furniture of the sea, ver. 25, 26. IV. God’s sovereign power over all the creatures, ver. 29-31. And, lastly, he concludes with a pleasant and firm resolution to continue praising God (ver. 33-35), with which we should heartily join in singing this psalm.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 104:35 ”Worship humbles the smug and lifts the deflated.
“Worship adjusts us, lowering the chin of the haughty, straightening the back of the burdened.
“Worship properly positions the worshiper. And oh, how we need it! We walk through life so bent out of shape. Five-talent folks swaggering: ‘I bet God’s glad to have me.’ Two-talent folks struggling: ‘I bet God’s sick of putting up with me.’ So sold on ourselves that we think someone died and made us ruler. Or so down on ourselves that we think everyone died and just left us.
“Treat both conditions with worship.”

• Max Lucado, Cure for the Common Life

My Thoughts

This psalm is not attributed to any author.

This is a psalm of praise, and that is the call in the first verse, to praise God.

Then the weather, in a way, is made a metaphor of God.  God rides on the clouds.  He is wrapped in light as if light were a garment.  And the winds become his messenger, that and the fire from the sky (probably lightning and thunder).  Note in Exodus that while Moses heard God’s voice, and a selected few others, the people heard what they thought was thunder.  So, from that physical explanation of what they thought they heard, thunder is often related to the voice of God, yet in 1 Kings 19, God’s voice was in a soft whisper.

And then, God created the waters of the earth.  The flow of fresh water is a life blood to any community, but in an agrarian culture, it is nearly life itself.  God’s connection to the source of water is the next theme to focus the praise of God upon.

The psalmist briefly mentions the moon and the sun before focusing on the creatures that God created.

Having covered about everything in creation, the psalmist reminded everyone that in all these things that are mentioned, we should praise God.

Psalm 105

Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
    make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
    tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name;
    let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and his strength;
    seek his face always.
Remember the wonders he has done,
    his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,
    his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
He is the Lord our God;
    his judgments are in all the earth.
He remembers his covenant forever,
    the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,
    the oath he swore to Isaac.

• Psalm 105:1-9

For he remembered his holy promise
    given to his servant Abraham.
He brought out his people with rejoicing,
    his chosen ones with shouts of joy;
he gave them the lands of the nations,
    and they fell heir to what others had toiled for—
that they might keep his precepts
    and observe his laws.
Praise the Lord.

• Psalm 105:42-45

To read the entirety of Psalm 105:1-45, click HERE.

Type of Psalm

Historical psalms:  These psalms tell a story, historical in nature, usually of how God had done something.  Note that in Exodus, the song of Miriam and Moses was written after the Israelites had crossed over the Red Sea and the Egyptian army was trapped and destroyed by the returning waters.

Psalms of thanksgiving for God’s goodness to Israel:  Giving God thanks as noted.

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“Some of the psalms of praise are very short, others very long, to teach us that, in our devotions, we should be more observant how our hearts work than how the time passes and neither overstretch ourselves by coveting to be long nor over-stint ourselves by coveting to be short, but either the one or the other as we find in our hearts to pray. This is a long psalm; the general scope is the same with most of the psalms, to set forth the glory of God, but the subject-matter is particular. Every time we come to the throne of grace we may, if we please, furnish ourselves out of the word of God (out of the history of the New Testament, as this out of the history of the Old) with new songs, with fresh thoughts—so copious, so various, so inexhaustible is the subject. In the foregoing psalm we are taught to praise God for his wondrous works of common providence with reference to the world in general. In this we are directed to praise him for his special favours to his church. We find the Ps. 105:1-11; 1 Chron. 16:8-18 of this psalm in the beginning of that psalm which David delivered to Asaph to be used (as it should seem) in the daily service of the sanctuary when the ark was fixed in the place he had prepared for it, by which it appears both who penned it and when and upon what occasion it was penned, 1 Chron. 16:7-36 David by it designed to instruct his people in the obligations they lay under to adhere faithfully to their holy religion. Here is the preface (ver. 1-7) and the history itself in several articles. I. God’s covenant with the patriarchs, ver. 8-11. II. His care of them while they were strangers, ver. 12-15. III. His raising up Joseph to be the shepherd and stone of Israel, ver. 16-22. IV. The increase of Israel in Egypt and their deliverance out of Egypt, ver. 23-38. V. The care he took of them in the wilderness and their settlement in Canaan, ver. 39-45. In singing this we must give to God the glory of his wisdom and power, his goodness and faithfulness, must look upon ourselves as concerned in the affairs of the Old-Testament church, both because to it were committed the oracles of God, which are our treasure, and because out of it Christ arose, and these things happened to it for ensamples.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 105:18 “It is during the interludes of life that we have time to seize a dream or an ideal objective. Some of you in a quiet moment of your life realized the vocation into which God was calling you. Maybe it happened at a camp or a retreat, where you threw a branch of promise on the fire. Maybe it happened in the quietness of your own room after a church serv1ce one evening.
“You have to slow down and become quiet in those special times to hear His voice, to sense His leading.”

• Charles R. Swindoll, Bedside Blessings

My Thoughts

This psalm is not attributed to any author.

This psalm is a historical psalm.  The point of historical psalms is to remind the people of what God has done for us.  Humans have always had a short attention span.  Having televisions and computers and smart phones are our latest excuses.  Ummm.  What was I saying?

The Israelites needed to be reminded that God had done things for them.  We talk about the “what have you done for me lately” syndrome, but if we were honest, God has done things for us lately.

In the first few verses, the psalmist says to praise God.  The next few verses establish the people as the descendants of Abraham.  Why?  That is what follows.  While we forget what God has done for us, God remembers such things as covenants.  He established a covenant with Abraham.  There were stipulations to that covenant when reiterated in Deuteronomy.  God would always remember the covenant with a remnant, but if you worship other gods, you will be scattered and removed from the land that was promised.  But with that remnant, God’s covenant is inviolable.

But the biggest thing that is reminded is their time in Egypt.  God heard their cries, but this psalm starts with God creating a famine so that the people of Israel were reunited in Egypt.  Then, Pharoah enslaved them.  Then God heard their cries and called upon Moses to return to Egypt to lead the people out of Egypt after God gave Pharoah ten object lessons on who was the only true God.  Then, the army of Egypt is swallowed by the Red Sea.

In doing an internet search, I found an article on fifteen times that the people of Israel whined about their conditions, and they wanted to go back to Egypt, but I found nothing definitive on how many times God reminded them, like in Psalm 105.  But the Exodus is mentioned in Exodus, Joshua, Judges, at least one of the Samuel books, Psalms, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Hosea.  (according to Google AI).

But the history here is just that of the Exodus, starting with why they went to Egypt, why Moses was called to lead them out, the ten plagues, and then in the Exodus itself that God had a physical representation of His presence in the cloud by day and the fire at night.

Then the psalm ends with a call to remember these things and praise God for them.

God does many things for us each day, but we must have a heart for it to see those things.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

Psalm 103

“1. Which do you tend to be: a complainer or a praiser? Satisfied or dissatisfied? Why? Has affliction made you positive or negative? Why?
“2. Like other ancient Jews, David believed prosperity to be a sign of God’s favor, illness a sign of personal sin (see Jn 5:5-15). Do you think healing is a sign of forgiveness? Is disease a result of unconfessed sin? Why or why not?
“3. Does your experience with your father or mother resemble the picture of God in verses 13 and 14 or not? Does this image help you? Can God’s knowing how you are formed comfort you?
“4. When have you experienced God’s grace first hand? How have you benefited from it?
“5. Whom do you treat as he or she deserves? What would it mean to bring God’s grace into that situation?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

Psalm 104

“1. What do you make of David’s elaboration on the creation story? Does it sound primitive and simplistic? Grand and holy? Has science added or subtracted from the wonder of the natural order?
“2. What is the ultimate purpose of nature? What is mankind’s role? Should Christians take on a special role in preserving creation? How so?
“3. What does the infinite variety of creation say about God?
“4. How does God provide for you physically? Spiritually? Emotionally? Is it enough or are you left wanting more? Is it good or mixed with bad? Why?
“5. When has God’s provision come at just the right time? In the nick of time? Have you thought God was tardy? Does God tend to ‘run late’ or operate on ‘Greenwich time’? Could your watch have been running a few minutes fast?
“6. Is dependence on God a happy state? Is it frightening to be distant from God? Is it possible to benefit from God’s care without a total dependence on his provisions? What does ‘total dependence’ mean? How does it relate to self-reliance or reliance upon others?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

Psalm 105

“1. Is it right to trace God’s hand in the history of a country? Is God planning and executing every detail? Or do people of faith simply ‘see’ God in retrospect? To what extent does God control the politics of the modern world?
“2. How can focusing your thoughts on God positively affect your attitude? Your emotions? How can it give you a sense of control over your life? Do you find comfort in remembering God’s wonders? What are one or two recent wonders in your life?
“3. If God’s promise to Israel is everlasting, what’s your understanding of Israel today? Is the State of Israel part of God’s plan? Do the Israelis obey God’s precepts as an example to the world? Or is ‘Israel’ now the Church? If so, what does the covenant mean? How is God’s purpose served in the Church?
“4. What does God think about those to whom he extends the covenant promise? Is anyone insignificant to God? What causes you to feel unimportant at times? Can this psalm help?
“5. How has God ‘come through for you’ when you saw no way out? What has turned out for good? What did you learn?
“6. How does the Lord take care of your basic needs? How does God provide beyond your expectations? Are you a gracious recipient? Or do you feel you have to ‘pay God back’ for the kindness? Are your expectations too narrow? Too restricted?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

There is one set of questions for each of these psalms.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.