Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits

Psalm 103 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Praise for the Lord’s Mercies.  A Psalm of David.

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 none of His benefits;
³ Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
⁴ Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
⁵ Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

⁶ The Lord performs righteous deeds
And judgments for all who are oppressed.
⁷ He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the sons of Israel.
⁸ The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
⁹ He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
¹⁰ He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
¹² As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
¹³ Just as a father has compassion on his children,
So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.
¹⁴ For He Himself knows our frame;
He is mindful that we are but dust.

¹⁵ As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
¹⁶ When the wind has passed over it, it is no more,
And its place acknowledges it no longer.
¹⁷ But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
¹⁸ To those who keep His covenant
And remember His precepts to do them.

¹⁹ The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,
And His sovereignty rules over all.
²⁰ Bless the Lord, you His angels,
Mighty in strength, who perform His word,
Obeying the voice of His word!
²¹ Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
You who serve Him, doing His will.
²² Bless the Lord, all you works of His,
In all places of His dominion;
Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Hebrews 4:14-16 says:   Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.     There is a difference though between the blessing of being able to come boldly to the throne of grace and coming arrogantly to God, presuming on His grace.   The psalmist says:   Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul… The Lord is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.    We can come boldly to the throne of grace only because of God’s love and compassion, that He did not deal with us according to our sins, but rather through Christ, He dealt with our sins for us. It is a blessing and not what we deserved that God removed our transgressions. If we never received anything more than redemption from sin, like the psalmist we should bless the Lord. All that is within us should bless His holy name.

Yet beyond redemption, the psalmist says:   Forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle. The Lord performs righteous deeds And judgments for all who are oppressed.    Not only are we redeemed; pardoned from our iniquities, but by grace, because of the love and compassion of God, through Christ, God performs righteous deeds for all who are oppressed. For those oppressed by sickness, He heals all your diseases. Isaiah 53:5 says:  He (Jesus) was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.    When Jesus was on the cross, after He had been beaten, in John 19:30, He said:  “It is finished!”     It is through and by the finished work of the cross, because of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. All that we need is already finished, accomplished by grace, in heaven. Our prayer then, what we ask should be the prayer Jesus taught us. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven; that from the throne of grace, God would grant His grace on earth.

We can come boldly, but never arrogantly. God is a righteous and just God, but it is not justice that we seek when we ask of Him. We don’t want what we deserve. The psalmist says the many benefits of God are for those who fear Him. It is not a fear of quaking in His presence as if God were against us. It is love and reverence; recognizing that God gives us grace, mercy and compassion for our every need. Although we may strive with Him, He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.     I prefer to say: Forever, He will not keep His anger. If we will fear God, then there is nothing else we need to fear.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all. Bless the Lord, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word! Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will. Bless the Lord, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the Lord, O my soul!   Thank You heavenly Father, sovereign God, Lord Jesus Christ, my redeemer, provider and healer; and precious Holy Spirit, my guide. All that is within me bless Your holy name.  Amen.