Psalm 103

A. Call to blessing–internal/personal/immanent

1 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;

B. Benefits for the sinner

3 Who pardons all your (sg) 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.

(God's judgment) 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.

(God's character)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.

B'. Benefits for mortals

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.

(God's character)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.

(God's rule) 19 The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all.

A'. Call to blessing–external/corporate/transcendent

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!

Literal translation:

1 Bless,

my soul,

Yahweh,

and all my inner being,

His Name, Holy

2 Bless,

my soul,

Yahweh,

and do not forget

all His benefits

3 the forgiver of all your iniquities

the healer of all your diseases

4 the redeemer from the pit of your life

the one who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies

5 the one who satisfies you with good

renew(ing?) your youth like the eagle

Facts:

1.	What imperative begins verse one?

a.	Bless the LORD

2.	Who is to bless the Lord?

a.	My soul

3.	What other part of the speaker is involved?

a.	All that is within me

4.	Doing what?

a.	Blessing His Holy name

Interp:

1.	What does it mean to bless the Lord?

a.	What is the definition of bless?

i.	Give power for success and life, etc.

b.	It can't mean to give the Lord power for effective life since He is the source of that power in the first place. It seems in scripture to mean something along the lines of 'acknowledge His possession of those attributes that make for success and power and life' when used from man to God, since it is frequently used as a way to praise God for such attributes.

2.	In this context what does it mean to bless the Lord?

a.	Perhaps the way for man to bless God, to make His life better, more abundant and full is to do the above, to acknowledge who God is, to praise Him for His goodness, to receive His blessings–just as the kindest thing you can do for God is to let Him love you–and the rudest thing you can do to one who wants to bless is to refuse to receive the abundant gift.

b.	To 'not forget all His benefits' would be an excellent way to bless the Lord. To forget them would be to treat Him lightly and that is the root idea of the word most often set as an antonym to 'bless.'

3.	Note the structure, what things are paralleled and why?

a.	Soul, and inner being must be synonyms

b.	Yahweh and His Holy name likewise

Facts v. 2

1.	What imperative or direction begins v. 2?

a.	Bless the Lord

2.	Who?

a.	My soul

3.	What further imperative is given

a.	Do not forget all His benefits

4.	How many? Of whose?

a.	All of His benefits

1.	What are His benefits in this context? Make a list

a.	Who forgives all your iniquities (crookedness)

b.	Who heals all your diseases

c.	Who redeems your life from the pit

d.	Who crowns you with lovingkindness (Hesed-generous kindness) and tender mercies (raham-womb)

e.	Who satisfies you(r mouth/desires) (lit. ornaments) with good (should this say who supplies you with goodness as an ornament? Who decorates you with goodness?

f.	So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's

2.	What does it mean to 'forget' benefits in this context?

a.	Since we are instructed not to do so, apparently forgetting is a choice or action which we can be held responsible for making, or which we can avoid making.

b.	What would 'forgetting really involve?–why is it such a big deal? 'Oh yeah, I forgot!'

i.	Apparently these are really good benefits to remember–why? Maybe they only benefit those who remember them?

ii.	But the point was that remembering these (and thus receiving and benefitting from them) would bless the Lord.

3.	Why is each one of these so important that it must not be forgotten if we are to bless the Lord?

a.	What if you forgot #1, forgiveness of all iniquities? How would that fail to bless the Lord?

i.	Well, why does God forgive all my iniquities? What blessing is in that for Him? How much of a blessing is it for Him to forgive me if I forget that He does so?

(1)	I guess that's a no-brainer–God doesn't have problems with resentment so He doesn't need to forgive for his own sake like we do–just to be free. His intention behind forgiving is that we'll receive the forgiveness and be restored to a right relationship with him. There's not much blessing for Him in forgiving us and watching us turn around as if it had never happened and choking our debtors or living tortured lives and dying tortured deaths.

(2)	How important is it, then to not forget this benefit?

(a)	very important–not much else matters if I forget this one–unless I am willing to receive this grace from God and let Him love me it's all over but the crying. Without forgiveness there's no relationship and no restoration.

b.	What if you forgot #2, healing of all diseases? How would that fail to bless the Lord?

i.	Hmmm . . . . Why does God heal diseases? When does God heal them? Does He heal all of them the same way He forgives all my iniquities?

(1)	I guess God heals diseases so we can live. How much of a blessing is it for God to heal if we forget that He does so? It seems like it'd be great if He healed everyone who is suffering even if everyone forgot who did it, but apparently not.

(a)	I'm glad he doesn't heal the diseases of the Hitlers. He heals the diseases of those who do not forget Him–those who worship Him, those who are willing to receive from Him.

(b)	What's the use of being forgiven if there's not complete healing–physically, mentally, spiritually, socially. Hallelujah, God does heal all my diseases.

(2)	How is sin like a disease? Why are these two paralleled?

(a)	just like a disease, sin doesn't kill you immediately, it causes you to suffer and still live. Like sin, a disease happens when something that was created for good begins to work against the rest of the good stuff that was made. Like sin, disease results from distorted relationships, and left unchecked always ends in death and separation.

c.	What if one forgot #3, redemption of one's life from the pit (grave)? How would that fail to bless the Lord?

i.	What if I lived like my life was the pits? What if I lived as if I was only going to die? How would that be a blessing to the God who created me to live eternally. How much more of a blessing for Him if I live. He says, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Why will you die? Turn and live!"

d.

e.	App? How can one avoid forgetting these benefits?

4.	What is the significance of this list?

a.	What do these things have in common?

i.	Who do all these benefits benefit?

(1)	My soul

b.

c.	Why are they in this order?

i.	The first two cover 1. all spiritual and 2. all physical life. First correcting my separation from God, second my disturbed relationship with nature

ii.	The 2nd two juxtapose spiritual death and life–God has snatched me out of the grave, to live an honored life–full of extravagant affection and rich relationships.

iii.	Perhaps the last two describe the physical reality God intends for His redeemed ones. He has not spared them to suffer, but to live a satisfied life, to be restored to eternal youth and strength and vigor (I picture the return to Eden, eating again from the youth-renewing tree of life).

d.	What might be conspicuously missing from this list?

e.

5.	What does it mean to be crowned with hesed and raham?

a.	Does this mean God will bestow His hesed and raham and I will be the recipient, wearing the badge, 'beloved of God' on my head, or that I am the recipient or these as character qualities, one who has been snatched from the grave in order to live a life of extravagant love toward others? Perhaps the two cannot be separated.