Hi, Friend!

Thank you for continuing to join me on our journey through the Book of Psalms! This week finds us in Psalm 103, a psalm of David. In my King James Bible, this psalm is titled “Bless the Lord’s Holy Character” (I’m exploring why different Bible versions have different psalm titles; I’ll share when I have an answer, and if you already know, please comment or email and share with me!). As we study the psalm this week, you’ll see that David uses the word “bless” seven times. To get us started, let’s reread the psalm, marking the appearance of the word “bless”. I’ll underline it below.

The Forgiving God
Of David.

1 My soul, bless the Lord,
and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2 My soul, bless the Lord,
and do not forget all his benefits.

3 He forgives all your iniquity;
he heals all your diseases.
4 He redeems your life from the Pit;
he crowns you with faithful love and compassion.
5 He satisfies you with good things;
your youth is renewed like the eagle.

6 The Lord executes acts of righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He revealed his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in faithful love.
9 He will not always accuse us
or be angry forever.
10 He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve
or repaid us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his faithful love
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 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.
14 For he knows what we are made of,
remembering that we are dust.

15 As for man, his days are like grass—
he blooms like a flower of the field;
16 when the wind passes over it, it vanishes,
and its place is no longer known.
17 But from eternity to eternity
the Lord’s faithful love is toward those who fear him,
and his righteousness toward the grandchildren
18 of those who keep his covenant,
who remember to observe his precepts.
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.

20 Bless the Lord,
all his angels of great strength,
who do his word,
obedient to his command.
21 Bless the Lord, all his armies,
his servants who do his will.
22 Bless the Lord, all his works
in all the places where he rules.
My soul, bless the Lord!

David opens and closes this psalm with the phrase “bless the Lord” and blesses the Lord six times and His holy name once. Given how often the word appears, I think this is a moment to pause, as we did with “selah”, and gain a shared understanding of the meaning of the word “bless”.

In modern day use, many of us associate the word “bless” with a favor or a gift from God. We make statements like, “God has blessed me with good health” or “God has blessed the Joneses with many strong sons, financial security, a fertile farm, etc…”. We say “bless you” when someone sneezes as if to protect them from an illness. We may ask someone to “say a blessing” over a meal or a special event.

This seems like a good moment to share that I was born, mostly raised, and currently live in a state in the US that is known for being “the northernmost southern state, and the southernmost northern state”. I share this because the use of the phrase “bless your heart” is common in my home state, and for those from parts of the US or parts of the world that are unfamiliar with the phrase, nine times out of ten, it’s more of an expression of pity or concern than one of asking for God’s favor or gifts for another person.

To find the Biblical meaning of “bless”, I did some research in my study Bible and on the web. I’ve included references at the bottom of the post. Here’s what I found:

In English Bible translations, the Hebrew word translated to be “bless or blessing” in Psalm 103 is barak, a word that means to praise or show honor for someone. It can also mean to kneel before. Overall, it is used to speak well of someone. Blessing the Lord or blessing His name, means to speak well of the Lord, to praise Him and His name. The word barak is also used in the Bible when God blessed Abram (later known as Abraham) because Abram loved God and followed God’s commands. God spoke well of Abram because of Abram’s qualities and actions.

Returning to Psalm 103 and David’s use of the word “bless”, we gain a better understanding of the psalm as a psalm of praise. While Psalms 1-4 contained elements of praise, they also contained instruction for the listener and petitions made to God. Psalm 103 is a psalm of straight praise for God. It is a psalm that speaks well of the Lord based on His holy character, on His acts of forgiveness.

Let’s pick up here tomorrow. For today, I encourage you to reread Psalm 103 at least one more time and take note of what qualities and actions David is praising God for possessing or doing. I’ll be making note of them too and writing about them for our study this week. I can’t wait to jump back in with you tomorrow!

To ensure you receive this week’s posts on Psalm 103, subscribe for email notifications below.

References for the study of the word “bless” in Psalm 103:

Blue Letter Bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h1288/kjv/wlc/0-5/#lexResults

Holman KJV Study Bible. 2012. Holman Bible Publishers. Nashville, TN.