— Exodus 3:14
Bless Adonai, my soul!
Everything in me, bless His Holy name!
Bless Adonai, my soul, and forget none of His benefits!
He forgives all your offenses, He heals all your diseases,
He redeems your life from the pit, He surrounds you with grace and compassion,
He contents you with good as long as you live, so that your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.
Adonai brings vindication and justice to all who are oppressed.
Psalms 103:1-6 Complete Jewish Bible
The spiritual significance of Psalms 103
Psalms of Praise
This Psalm is a song of praise to God, teaching us the importance of adoring Him for showing us undeserved mercy. King David knew the importance of God’s grace, and how He showed mercy to those who deserve, it and those who don’t deserve it. This Psalm is also a song of praise, and it shows reasons to bless and honor God throughout our journey on the earth.
In addition to this, Psalm 103 majors for praising God for His enduring mercies, the goodness of God, and one who never fails in showing man His kindness. God has blessed us and shown us unending mercies in many ramifications, and the only way we can show gratitude is to honor Him with our praise.
It is my prayer that this teaching will encourage you, while increasing a deeper relationship with God, through Christ regardless of what situation, or circumstances you are facing. Grace and Peace
Psalms 103:1-6
Bless [praise] the Lord, O my soul,
King David in verse one, calls upon his soul to arise to praiseful gratitude for God’s justifying, redeeming, and renewing grace throughout his life. In his life, his soul [nephesh] communicates just how God has made each of us.
Each human being is a combination of the breath of life from God, infused into our finite broken earthen vessels. It is the infusion of the breath of life with the body that forms the immortal living soul. Any living soul that has encountered God, will innately constantly, praise God.
The essential meaning of praise is a soul that kneels on bending knees, adoring the Holy God whose name is “Yahweh, Elohim, Jehovah” the self-existent One, the God of Israel. YHVH (Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey), communicates God’s eternal existence, past, present, and future.
And all that is within me,
David having an established intimate relationship with God is a very worthwhile example for those who are seeking the most effective methods of communing with our Creator. The most essential possession of any seeker of God is having a heart after God’s own heart. David throughout his writings, list eight traits if not spiritual virtues that identify the heart of a faithful seeker of God.
- Humility-Psalms 62:9
- Reverent-Psalms 18:3
- Respectful-Psalms 31:9
- Trusting-Psalms 27:1
- Loving-Psalms 18:1
- Devoted-Psalms 4:7
- Recognition-Psalms 9:1
- Obedient-Psalms 25:11
David’s example is a wonderful spiritual example for each of us in how we too may encounter the Holy and living God. As it is reflected in the text, David’s deepest inner being yearned to praise the holiness of God’s presence and His Holy Name. “O Lord my God, thou art very Great: Thou art clothed with splendor and majesty.” Psalms 104:1
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits.
As is the case with two committed lovers, each moment throughout each day for the lifetime of the relationship, tender words of affection are shared, nurturing and growing the relationship into a wholesome and healthy life-giving experience. Such is the case with David, as he repeats to His God, from his soul, that he is grateful for all of the benefits and or provisional care that God has for him.
The word benefits in Hebrew means God’s dealings, His divine acts, works, and doings whether they are perceived as good or evil. Within this definition, this Psalms reveals one of the justifications why David is thanking God for blessing him throughout his life.
In our interactions with God in prayer, praise, and supplication, we may not have the capacity to discern God’s dealings in our living, however dark and or mysterious at that time, we in the end will see that we were so very much connected with God’s will and that He had our goodwill and spiritual maturity at heart.
Who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases.
Our God in His divine power and holiness is the only authorized One in heaven and earth to grant pardons, to spare all of our innate sins as human beings. The Holy Scriptures identify each of us as fallen souls separated from a holy and righteous God. While He is also love, God is a judge who has the right to punish any who are guilty.
“I, even I, am the One who wipes out your transgressions, for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” Isaiah 44:25
“The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations”. Numbers 14:18
David’s prayerful acknowledgment of the forgivingness of God toward our iniquities, shifts to the divine intervention of God as our healer. Within this text, God is identified as Jehovah Rapha, who is our present and future healer toward making each soul whole, refreshing us while repairing all that is broken due to our sinful disposition as humans.
Jehovah Rapha in the Old Covenant reveals three distinct areas that God heals.
- Physical- Gen. 20:17; 2 Kings 20:8; Jeremiah 30:17
- Emotional- Psalms 147:3
- Spiritual- Psalms 41:4; Jeremiah 3:22
This same invisible “self-existing eternal God” entered into space and time by taking on flesh and dwelled with us as Emmanuel, God with us. Jesus of Nazareth visibly demonstrated divine heavenly love for His people Israel and every nation. Hebrews 1:3 says that Messiah is the exact imprint of God’s nature and the very image of the invisible God.
The prophet Isaiah foresaw this coming of the anointed Savior in this graphic depiction: He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes, we are healed. Isaiah 53:3
As Messiah would launch His public ministry, He would go into a synagogue proclaiming these revolutionary prophetic words: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. Isaiah 61:1
Our living Savior heals us all from diseases that are in our maladies, diseases, sickness. As in the text, this healing from God has a future promise associated with healing those who will endure the end times of tribulation. Christ’s second coming communicates God’s final plan of regeneration of nature and souls impacted by sin, with the coming of a new heaven and earth. Revelation 21.
An additional aspect of God’s ministry of redemption is noted by David recognizing that even in death and our return to the soil, God is actively involved in our soul care needs based on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Seven times in the Gospel of John Jesus claims to be the great “I am” (4:26; 6:20; 8:24, 28, 58; 13:19; 18:5). In every one of these contexts the “I am” keeps reinforcing the deity of Jesus.
The greatest of all the names for the Lord Jesus Christ is the “I AM.”
This is why the apostle Paul wrote: “God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).
Jesus is Lord. The name that is above all other names is “Lord,” and it is equivalent to “Jehovah” or Yahweh. This is the exact equivalent of the words, “I AM.”
“I am the Bread of Life” (John 6:35).
“I am the Light of the world” (8:12; 9:5).
“I am the Door” (10:7, 9). All other doors lead down the wrong path and to eternal destruction.
“I am the Good Shepherd” (10:11, 14).
“I am the resurrection and life” (11:25-26)
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (14:6).
“I am the True Vine” (15:1, 5).
Who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion.
Digging deeper into the word redeem in the context of Psalms 103, Christ is portrayed as our Kinsman. Messiah as a kinsman-redeemer is God’s divinely appointed redeemer of that what was lost. Historically it implies a person’s property, freedom, or even their name. The kinsman might also be called upon to exact revenge on somehow who may have killed their relative.
Christ is our rescuer and our restorer. Below is how the Holy Scriptures reveal why and how He did it for humanity.
- He became like us, John 1:14
- He was willing to do it, Phil. 2:5-8
- He was able to redeem, Romans 5:18-19
- He was the only one who was able to successfully pay the complete price for sins, Titus 2:14
As our kinsman, Christ has reclaimed us back to God as payment for the excellent value assessed by God, our original owner, and Creator. Our lives in Christ are saved from destruction in this life and life after our physical transition into glory.
Christ crowns us with lovingkindness and tender mercies. David as is the case with each of us is to learn to find refuge in God to experience the joy that this world cannot grant us. Psalm 5:11-12 says, “Those who love Thy name may exult in Thee. For it is Thou who do bless the righteous man, O Lord, thou dost surround him with favor as with a shield“.
He satisfies you with goodness, your youth is renewed like the eagle.
There are multiple possible translations of the word, goodness in verse five, such as “who satisfy thy mouth with goodness. The word translated, “thy mouth” here depicts “thy age” “thy desire” “thy body” and “thy youth” is under God care, is renewed like the eagle.
The eagle as is the case with other animals experiences a process called, molting, where the eagle shed old feathers to make way for new growth. In our case, God’s gift of spiritual regeneration within us brings forth spiritual new life.
“Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength, they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary”. Isaiah 40:31
The Lord performs righteous deeds and judgment for all who are oppressed.
Finally, our God who has now given all power and authority to Christ executes acts of vindication of the righteous and the oppressed. He is on the side of the oppressed. His law, Hid commands, His judicial decision, and His providential care, are in their favor.
All of these are a gradual process with these at the center of God’s interest and the fulfillment of righteous justice shall manifest in God’s timing. Amen
Prayer
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift his countenance upon you, and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26
Grace and Peace
Brother Alonzo