Hi, Friend!

Thank you for walking with me through Psalm 103 this week. Today we’ll wrap up our study of this psalm of David by discussing verses 20 through 22 and reflecting on what this psalm tells us about God’s character, His love for us, and how we can walk with Him better in our daily lives.

Let’s reread Psalm 103 one more time. I’ve included some markings in verses 20-22 to help our discussion.

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.

3He 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!

As a sometimes poet myself, one thing my eye was drawn to on my first reading of this psalm, and every reading since, is that David closes this psalm with the same phrase that he used to open it: “My soul, bless the Lord!”. I am reminded of our opening discussion of this psalm feeling like a pep talk for our souls. After all, verse two instructs the reader or listener not to forget how good God is or the good things that He has done us. Then, the remainder of the verses leading up to verses 20 through 22, describe God’s holy character and His acts of loving kindness.

David proclaims that:

God forgives us, heals us, redeems us, crowns us with His faithful love and compassion, satisfies us, renews our youth.

God is righteous and acts rightly and justly for the downcast and down-and-out.

God revealed Himself to us through the law He gave to Moses and through the actions He performed on behalf of the Israelites.

God is compassionate and gracious; He is slow to anger and abounding in faithful love.

God does not shame us; He does not stay angry with us.

God has shown us mercy, sending Jesus to die on the cross in our place and pay the wages for our sin.

God’s faithful love toward us is so massive that we cannot measure it, like the heavens themselves, it stretches on farther than man could ever discover.

God’s forgiveness of us is so complete that our sin can never touch us again; God does not bring it up to shame us or punish us.

God is a good Father, compassionate toward us, remembering that, no matter how old we are in earthly years, we are but children, and our outer self is made of dust, like a blade of grass or flower in the field, our earthly lives are fragile and temporary.

God is faithful in His covenant with us; He fulfilled His promise to redeem us through His Son Jesus Christ. He extends His promise to all peoples in all generations.

God’s throne is established in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all for all of eternity.

Truly, friend, if those truths don’t make your soul sing or shout praises to the Lord, I think you may need to check your spiritual pulse!

David certainly knew that God is worthy of our blessings, our praise, our bended knee! He closed Psalm 103 with the proclamation of four beings or groups of beings that bless the Lord:

1. God’s angels.
2. God’s armies and servants.
3. God’s works.
4. My soul!

Sweet friend, all of God’s creation sings His praises! I am reminded of Psalm 98 which says the sea, the rivers, and mountains shout together for joy before the Lord.

Knowing that all creation tells of His greatness and glory, how can we, His favored creation, created in His own image, not bless the Lord?

On the mountaintop and in the lowest valley, oh my soul, bless the Lord!

In triumph and in trials, oh my soul, bless the Lord!

For all my days and for all day long, oh my soul, bless the Lord!

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