Psalms 103:1

The Bible says in Psalm 103:1-3, “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 forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;” This is another Psalm about thankfulness. There are a lot of Psalms on the same subject probably because we need to be often reminded of this important truth. If you are a believer in Jesus, you definitely have much for which to bless the name of the LORD. Verse two says, “forget not all his benefits.” Do not be forgetful. Recognize all the good things that the LORD does for you each day, and remember all the good things He has done for you in the past. Note that it says “all his benefits.” There are a lot of benefits that come with believing in Jesus: more than can be counted. The most important benefit is stated in the first part of verse three: “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities.” The greatest problem that anyone has is the sin problem because we are all sinners. Sin will destroy you. Sin will keep you out of heaven. Sin will send you to hell. But because of God’s great love for you, He sent Jesus to suffer and die in your place. That is a great salvation. In stead of going to a hell that you deserve, you can go to the eternal beauty and happiness and bliss of heaven. That is a great love that Jesus has for you. And the greatest of all benefits is that God is merciful and loving and will forgive you of all your sins. You can be thankful for that one benefit all day long.

Another benefit of knowing Jesus as Savior is given at the end of verse three: “who healeth all thy diseases.” God gives us eternal life, but until we enter into eternity, God is also preserving our life on this earth for as long as he wants us to live down here on the earth. When you are sick, and you recover from your sickness, that is God healing you. The gift of healing ended in the first century along with several other gifts such as the gift of tongues (other languages), and the gifts of apostles and prophets (they finished their work when the New Testament was completed.) But even though no Christian has the gift of healing, God still heals. That is why when you are sick, you want to get the best medical treatment that you can, but you also want to take you situation to the Lord in prayer. As it says in James 5:14-16, “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:[15] And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.[16] Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

The Bible says in Psalm 103:4, “Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;” There are a lot of benefits to being a Christian. One benefit is that the LORD Jesus becomes your Shepherd. The Shepherd will guide you on a path that will result in the best outcome possible for your life. If you do not get on that path with Jesus, then your life will be on the path to destruction. You will also have “lovingkindness and tender mercies” from God wherever you go. Jesus loves His little children, and He has a million ways of showering His children with His love. It would be terrible to go through life without that love from Him. And of course, Christians have the “tender mercies” from Christ daily too. Although we need to be growing in Christ, we will not be perfect until we get to heaven. We are still sinners, and we need His daily mercy in order to walk in fellowship with Him. Thankfully, Jesus understands that our feet are made of clay. He understands that we are weak, and that we easily and often fail. We rely upon His mercy and not upon our own goodness. Life would be terrible without a daily confidence in the mercy of Christ Jesus the LORD.

The Bible says in Psalm 103:5, “Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.” In this verse the Psalmist is praising the Lord for “good things.” All good things come from God. That is why there is some good everywhere in the world. Whatever you have in your life that is good, God gave to you. Because the Psalmist mentions his “mouth” and his youth being “renewed like the eagle's,” the Psalmist is talking about having food to eat and having health and strength. God was taking care of him just like God takes care of us. Jesus promised in Matthew 6:33, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.”

The Bible says in Psalm 103:6, “The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.” God is at work in the world. Just because there is evil in the world does not mean that evil is going to win. God is still God over all. God will do the right thing. His judgment will come forth when He decides it is time in the life of anyone. And God is especially concerned about those who are “oppressed.” God loves and God cares. God helps those who have been cast down and hated and persecuted. He sent His Son to die, so that everyone could go to heaven. Guess who are most likely to go there: the oppressed who are most likely to see their need of Christ and turn to Him.

The Bible says in Psalm 103:7, “He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.” God “made known his ways.” That is exactly what the Lord does. There is one God and there is one truth about God. And God wants to reveal His truth to all people. How does God do that? Notice that He mentioned Moses. Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. God gave us the Bible. God used certain people over the centuries to write. The writers were inspired by God and used by God to give us His truth. That is why the Bible is without error. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God…” “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

The Bible says in Psalm 103:8-18, “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 pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.[14] For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.[15] As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.[16] For the wind passeth 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.” These verses should be a favorite passage for any sinner. It is just the message we need to comfort us in the face of the guilt of our sins. There is always the question that might pop into someone’s mind: “I failed again, and I sinned again. Will the Lord forgive me this time?” These verses answer that question with no doubt: yes, He will forgive you this time and every time. As it says in verse eight, “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.” That should be enough said, but in case that statement is not enough, we still have the rest of these verses.

Of course, we all know that the Lord does get angry at sin. He is the Judge, and He is holy and He must punish sin. (Jesus took our punishments.) And we also know that the Lord chastises His children. But it says in verse nine, “He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.” Chastisements are temporary and of relatively short duration. Their purpose is to wake up the Christian and to help him or her in their spiritual walk. God has to let up on His anger, or we would all be destroyed. The fact that we live day after day, and we are not destroyed proves just how much God holds back His anger against sin. And so you can rely upon this truth when you have Jesus as Savior. The wrath of God fell upon Jesus, not on us.

Verse ten is an important verse to understand. “He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.” Most people have heard of the Biblical teaching that we reap what we sow. But there is one great truth that overcomes that principle, the truth of God’s mercy. Mercy means that you do not get punishment that you deserve. Mercy means that you do not reap what you sow. God decides the consequences, and God decides when mercy will be applied. Turn to Jesus and you will find abundant mercy.

Sometimes we do not enjoy thinking about the mercy of God the way that we could. Verse eleven says, “For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.” That is because we live on the earth and we often are filled with earthly thoughts of the earthly life. Mercy is a heavenly concept and is well-known in heaven, but not so well-known on earth. How great is God’s mercy? It is greater than all your sins, and greater than anyone’s sins.

Verse twelve is a great Bible verse that explains the meaning of the word “to forgive.” It says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” To forgive basically means “to separate from.” It is the word used in the gospels when it says that the disciples “left” their nets. When you are not forgiven, when God sees you, He sees your sins. But when you are forgiven, when God sees you, He sees no sin because He has moved your transgressions far away. By the way, if God sees you without sins, then you should see yourself without sins also. Learn to enjoy your salvation.

God likes to forgive. It is an act of kindness and love to forgive someone, and God has more kindness and love than anyone. That is why verse thirteen says, “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.” Verses fourteen and fifteen give two of the reasons that God has such a gentle and kind attitude toward us. Those verses say, “For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.[15] As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.” God knows how terribly weak we all are. Even when someone knows they need to stop doing something, and even when they are honestly determined not to do it again, how easily and often we all fail. There may be nothing and no one weaker than a believer. Remember Peter and his vow to die with Christ at the crucifixion. Remember all the apostles and how they ran away at Jesus’ trial. But the Lord forgave them and still used them as apostles. We are all so weak, and God knows that. One example of our weakness from a physical viewpoint is the fact that we all die. We reach a peak at about thirty-something, and it is all downhill after that. Even if we live a long life humanly-speaking, it is very short compare to eternity.

In contrast to our very short and sinful lives, the Lord lives forever, and His mercy is forever, and so no one can ever think that the Lord will stop being merciful. If God was merciful to you in the past, then He will always be merciful to you. It says in verse seventeen, “But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children.” Of course, this everlasting mercy is for those “that fear him.” And it says in verse eighteen that this eternal mercy is to those who “keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.” The covenant that we have in the New Testament is based upon the death of Christ on the cross. We enter into that covenant when we trust in Jesus as our Savior. Once we become a believer like that, we always have His mercy every day from that point of being born again and through eternity.

The Bible says in Psalm 103:19, “The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.” This is a verse that reminds us of the authority of God and His involvement in everything that happens both in heaven and in earth. The idea that God put everything in motion and then stays in the background only watching what is taking place is not true. God does more than watch: He takes part in every single event in the life of every single person. He “ruleth over all.” You must believe this if you are going to live a life of faith in Christ. You must “see” the hand of God in everything, good and bad.

The Bible says in Psalm 103:20-22, “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.” One thing about the angels in heaven, they definitely “do his commandments.” Certainly, they praise the name of the Lord. A question for you and me: do we keep His commandments? If we do, then we must also “praise” His name. Verse twenty-one includes human beings. Any being that God has created should bless His name. We are called his “ministers.” A minister is a servant. Why did God give you life: to serve Him. You were born to serve the Lord. Notice in verse twenty-two that even God’s “works” are told to bless His name. How can inanimate works do that? Do the mountains and the hills speak? Yes, they do. They have a message. Can you not see and understand their message? It says in Psalms 19:1-6, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.[2] Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.[3] There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.[4] Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,[5] Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.[6] His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.”

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