Psalm 103 • My God Loves Me

I love Psalm 103. It is one of my favorites. When you read it, you will see that there are no requests in this psalm. Someone once said this about Psalm 103, “It is perhaps the most perfect song of praise in the Bible.” In this article, let us see why.

Bless the Lord, O My Soul

“Bless the Lord, O My Soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name.”  (Psalm 103:1, KJV)

One of my favorite praise choruses starts out with that verse based on Psalm 103. The word “bless” or “blessed” means to be happy, in a state of well-being. We know what that means for God blessing humans. But how do humans bless God? 

When used of God, the Hebrew word translated “Bless the Lord” means to praise and thank Him as the source of all our blessings. This pleases God. That is why some translations use “praise” rather than “bless” (NIV, NET). In fact, English translations of the psalms use “bless” and “praise” interchangeably. 

In Psalm 103 specifically, the writer David calls upon himself and others to “bless” the Lord 5 times (verses 1, 2, 20, 21, and 22). And he fills the rest of the psalm with the blessings we receive from God that should cause us to praise Him. What starts on the inside (my soul) should show up on the outside. 

Forget Not All His Benefits

Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm 103:2-5 NIV)

Benefits are anything God gives to help us. It is so easy to forget them when we are happily enjoying them! We also forget His benefits are angry, unhappy, and complaining about life. The benefits listed in the verses just quote are God’s actions on our behalf. They are good things that help us—forgiveness, healing, rescue, and assurance of love. These are good things that satisfy our hearts, nourish us, and renew our strength. 

Speaking of love, the Hebrew word translated “love” (v. 4, NIV) is hesed—one of the most wonderful Hebrew words. It describes God’s loyal and faithful love that leads Him to be kind and good to those trusting in Him—you and me. It is hard to describe God’s hesed with one English word, so it is translated various ways—lovingkindness, steadfast love, faithful love, and unfailing love. Some translations use “mercy,” which I don’t think conveys the true nature of God’s faithful love. 

A feeling of dissatisfaction should alert us to the danger of not embracing God’s benefits and seeking other things to replace them. One particular area of life where we might be dissatisfied is the area of physical illness or pain. When David used the phrase, “heals all your diseases,” is he promising that God’s people will never get sick or stay sick? No, God is not bound to heal every disease. But every healing comes from Him. 

Read more about how God heals us in this article, “Mark 5 • Desperate Woman-Jesus satisfies your heart with HOPE.”

His Love and Compassion 

Forgiver

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:8-12)

God shows His compassion to us by not treating us, as those who trust in Him, as our sins deserve—death, condemnation, separation from Him. His great love motivates Him remove our transgressions (sins) as far as east is from west. That is unmeasurable because east and west never touch! God completely separates us from the guilt of our sins by forgiving them. That is His choice, motivated by His great hesed love for us. 

For those of us who trust in Jesus Christ, God is no longer keeping an accounting of our sins against us (2 Corinthians 5:19). 

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)

Why is God no longer counting people’s sins against them? Jesus’ death on the cross completely satisfied the penalty for death for every sin. Because of that, no Christian has to pay the penalty for any sin. That is propitiation—one of God’s grace gifts to us, a gift of His hesed love. Only one sin separates anyone from God now—rejecting Jesus Christ. When we start with how much God loves us, we then see His love for us in His grace to us that forgives all our sins. Amen!

Compassionate Father

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field;the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children—with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. (Psalm 103:13-18)

The concept of God as Father was not strictly a New Testament thing. The psalmist in Psalm 89 refers to god as “my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.” When Jesus taught His followers to pray, “Our Father,” they understood.  

Like a father with his children, our Lord has compassion on us. Compassion is not passive but active. It starts with remembering our frailty and continues with Him showing He faithful love to His those who trust in Him wherever we need it. What should be our response? We are to fear (revere) Him and remember to obey His commands. 

Our God is a trustworthy Father. The moment you placed your trust in Jesus for your salvation, you were adopted into God’s family as His child. In Ephesians 5:1 and Colossians 3:12, believers are called God’s “dearly loved children.” 

Read more about being dearly loved in this article, “Hannah • Believe That You Are Dearly Loved.”

God’s Sovereignty Assures His Blessings

The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the Lord, my soul. (Psalm 103:19-22)

David could have confidence in God’s wonderful benefits to Him because he knows God is the sovereign ruler over all creation. And so can you! In His role as universal king, God assures order and justice in the world and among His people. Though we cannot fully see this now, we will see it during the millennial kingdom as King Jesus physically reigns over all on our planet. 

While waiting, we must remember who God is, His sovereignty, His love, and His grace toward us. Through Christ, God offers us forgiveness, healing, hope for dire circumstances, and freedom from bondage to anything. He crowns us with assurance of His love and His compassion.

All creation (v. 22) should join the human chorus to celebrate the goodness of God. Angel praise Him while doing His bidding and His will (vv. 20-21). Animals, plants, and the physical earth are continual reminders of God as creator and point to Him. 

Read “Psalm 8 • My God Is My Creator” and “Psalm 19 • God’s Revelation and our Response” for more examples of creation praising God. 

Psalm 103 teaches us we should openly and continually praise our god because of who He is and how He shows His love to us with His faithful hesed love. 

I love that my God loves me. Dear believer, do you love that He loves you? 

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! He has done great things, he has done great things, he has done great things, bless his holy name! (Bless His Holy Name, Andrae Crouch)

Read more of our articles covering the Psalms.

Study 8 of my favorite psalms (and hopefully they will be yours as well) in the short and easy Songs of the Heart That Light My Way Bible Study.