Psalms 103:1

Psalms 103:1, A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”

To bless means to say good things about. In our context today it also means to hope good things happen to someone. Good things always happen to God. But in the context of the Bible, to bless, it is referring to saying good things about someone, true things. The only true things there are to say about Jesus Christ are good things.

When you bless the Lord, you should do so with all your heart. And you think about every good thing that God has promised, that God has done and God will do for you through the name of Jesus.

The rest of Psalms 103 is going to list for us some of the important benefits of trusting in Jesus; things that we should bless God for.

Psalms 103:3 says, “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases.” The First praise listed is the forgiveness of sins found in Jesus Christ. There is nothing more important and nothing greater that God has done or ever will do for you than to have your sins forgiven.

John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Jesus died the terrible death of the cross. He defeated death and sin and rose from the grave. This is the great work of God that He has done for mankind. If you are going to bless God at all it should start with the gospel. Those who are saved will spend eternity blessing God for the gospel. They will spend eternity beholding the nail prints in His hands.

One reason some lost people don’t think good of God is because they have not heard or understood the gospel. Think about it after all who would the greatest gift in the world that could be given to them a gift which costs nothing but lasts forever.

If Christians would bless God more for His gospel in their daily lives, the whole world would have a greater opportunity to do so too.

The second half of the verse says, who healeth all thy diseases. We know that Jesus can easily heal someone of a disease because He did so many times when He walked this earth as a man. But diseases may also mean spiritual diseases and not physical. Sin destroys. Sin spreads like cancer. It gets into a persons mind and heart like chains of slavery. Only the power of God can break those chains.

If we think about just these two truths then we already have a live times worth of supply to bless the name of Jesus Christ.

Psalms 103:4, “Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies.”

A king is rich. A king has power. A king of lovingkindness and mercy has a wealth of kindness and mercy to give to others and the power to give it. This is the power and the wealth and the opportunity given to Christians by God.

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

Nothing beats good eating. Jesus is the one who will provide for both your physical and your spiritual food. Healthy eating will keep you strong like an eagle. The Word of God is more important than physical food. If you trust in God you can be sure he will take care of you. He will provide a teacher for those who ask Him for one.

Psalms 103:6-11, “The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.”

God’s law his holy and perfect. Even though the law brings with it harsh and severely just punishments, Christ is merciful. Even in Moses’ day, God still revealed his great mercy and forgiveness. Thank God we live in the age of grace, a time period in which Jesus is shedding his grace abundantly on man even more than He has in the past.

Verses in the Bible such as these are emphasized even more today than they were in Old Testament times: The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

The more you feed yourself properly spiritually the more you will come to learn about God’s mercy and forgiveness and the more that will make you a king of lovingkindness and tender mercies. It’s no wonder the next chapter of Psalms is going to talk about majesty. There is no just thing as majesty without lovingkindness and tender mercies.

Psalms 104:1, “Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.”

Majesty is a word that is reserved for kings. It has to do with the beauty and splendor of a king’s power. One day when Jesus returns He will reveal His new name, a name that means King of Kings.

It should be no surprise that God is clothed with honour and majesty because of how He is the greatest king in all the universe. The truth is Jesus Christ is so great that even though to many his name has became curse words it still retains its saving power.

Psalms chapter 104 is going to go into many details about the majesty of God.

Psalms 104:2-4, “Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind: Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:”

God’s majesty is so great that the words of His truth reach to the darkest places of humanity, those places which have the greatest opposition to his truth.

Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind: In other words, God has great freedom. There is no limit to the freedom that God has. With power comes freedom: the freedom to make choices about your own existence. No one has absolute power but God. And Jesus does whatever He wants to do with His eternal existence.

Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming. Fire. To be a spirit means to have freedom. God gives freedom to his servants. God loves freedom and the giving of freedom to others always makes one greater than the taking of freedom. God never takes away anyone’s freedom. Even those in hell are there because they chose to be there.

When it comes to freedom the most important freedom to have is the freedom from the power and slavery of sin. Sin will consume and destroy you but the blood of Jesus has the power to free you from the grip of sin: nothing else can.

Psalms 104:5-9, “Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever. Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.

God created the oceans of this world and used them for judgment upon this earth. These verses are describing the global flood that happened in Noah’s day.

The global flood is one of greatest events in human history aside from Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.

The are reason many scholars deny the global flood is because they are opposed to God and to the gospel of Jesus Christ. God knows the future and so in Noah’s day when the floods came, God made sure there would be plenty of evidence left over after the flood to serve as testimony to the judgment of God against sin.

The rest of Psalms 104 goes into detail about how God in involved in and rules over His creation.

Psalms 104:10-30 says, “He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst. By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches. He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart. The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted; Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house. The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies. He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down. Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens. Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening. O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein. These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good. Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.

Even though God has put man in charge of the earth God still owns His own creation. Jesus is actively involved in providing for not just mankind but also all the creatures in nature that He has created and all the plant life. One reason this is talked about is because of what was said already about God’s majesty. There is much to learn about the majesty and the glory of God. Some of Jesus’ majesty can be learned through simply studying and observing God’s creation.

Just think of the lessons that are learned from studying animals. Jesus provides and takes care of the little animals in His creation.

In Matthew 10:31-32 Jesus said, “Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.”

Psalms 104:31-32, “The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in his works. He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.”

Glory and fame is something that mankind often seeks. We should remember that God has glory too. No mater how famous a person becomes, even if that person has a name which will be remembered throughout history, human glory fades and disappears all together. God’s glory however endures for ever. If you desire to see the glory of God then look to His creation and you can behold the shadows of such.

Psalms is all about praising and worshiping Jesus. That’s why this phrase in Psalms 104:32 is important. It says, “the LORD shall rejoice in his works.” If you want to learn how to praise God properly then perhaps a good place to start is by doing what Jesus himself does, rejoices in His own work. If you love Jesus you will be filled with joy whether it is your work or God’s work. Hopefully your work is God’s word. Therein will you find the greatest joys.

Psalms 104:33, “I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD. Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD.

One of the great reasons we have to joy and to praise God is because we know that in the future all the wicked of the earth will head to their judgment. It is not that Christians do not love their enemies but there must be justice done for all the suffering that the wicked have cause against God’s children.

It is important for a Christian to understand the wrath of God. God’s wrath is part of his work in this world, a very important part. Rejoice with them that do rejoice the Bible says.

Psalms 105 is going to go into great detail about the reasons we have to rejoice in the Lord.

Psalms 105:1-5, “O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore. Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;”

It’s essential to understand just how important and how powerful is the name of God, Jesus Christ. For if you do not believe you will be damned to hell for eternity. It is also essential to praise God’s name. Because if you do not then you are falling away from the truth and its way.

Psalms 105:6, “O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen.” This verse explains one of the reasons that there is great conflict between the Jews and the Arabs. But because we have the Bible we can easily come to understand how God blessed Abraham. God blessed Abraham because of his faith in God. This is exactly the difference between a Muslim and a Christian. A Muslim just like someone in all the false religions of the world might say they believe in God but they dot not really if they don’t believe in Jesus.

The rest of Psalms 105:6-41 Teaches us in many details about the judgments of God. For those who believe in Jesus judgment is a word, a good thing, and one of God’s work in this world

Psalms 105:6-41, “O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen.He is the LORD our God: his judgments are in all the earth. He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance: When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it. When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people; He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread. He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him. The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:

To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom. Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies. He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants. He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen. They shewed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word. He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish. Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings. He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, and lice in all their coasts. He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. He smote their vines also and their fig trees; and brake the trees of their coasts. He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillers, and that without number, And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength. He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes. Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them fell upon them. He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night. The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river. For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant. And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness: And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people; That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the LORD.”

In talking about judgment God reminds us of the punishments that come from unrepentant sin. And Jesus also reminds us of the great promises He has given to His Children, which He will fulfill. Everything in this passage applies to the gospel of Jesus. From the death of the first born to the breaking of the rock where water gushed out. To truly understand the judgment of God you must come to the Cross with belief in your heart, belief for Jesus Christ and His name alone. If you have never turned from your sins to Jesus, and if you have never experienced the marvelous judgment of God, then you can do so right now. Just pray to Jesus in your heart and ask Him to save you and He will.

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