Isaiah 40:31). For all that appears in the record, neither the patriarchs nor their families suffered any sicknesses during their lives. He concludes by invoking all creatures to unite in his song. Old men have confidence in our judgment, grow civil as they see we are approaching to their side, and have arrived at an age when it should be no longer true that "knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers." It is to that covenant we are pledged; and that covenant we do well to keep in mind. THE REASONS OF GOD'S PITY. We have one such in this text. how ignorant! That’s exactly what David is doing in Psalm 103. God is the infinitely self-restrained One; and so he is always himself, and perfectly competent to deal with every case. Kimchi understands the phrase as expressing David's recovery from sickness. 2. 5. Why, then, was it needful for Christ to come in order to reveal to us another gospel? And forget not all his benefits (comp. His displeasure is awakened, his condemnation uttered, only when it would be unrighteousness to remain unmoved and silent. God's forgiveness of sin is a frequent topic with the psalmists (see Psalms 25:11, Psalms 25:18; Psalms 32:1; Psalms 51:9; Psalms 85:2; Psalms 86:5, etc.). In sickness … His strength is thus constantly renewed. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things. Copyright StatementThese files are a derivative of an electronic edition prepared from text scanned by Woodside Bible Fellowship.This expanded edition of the Jameison-Faussett-Brown Commentary is in the public domain and may be freely used and distributed. If this be regarded as a psalm of the returned Exiles, the reference is a striking one. He does not make one absolute standard to apply equally to every branch of the race. He flourisheth; i.e. We may he concerned about the piety of our neighbour; but the first thing to do is to address ourselves: "Bless the Lord, O my soul!". No real want of the soul is left unsatisfied. That rule is here asserted. Of the "benefits" he has received, he gives—, 1. Nothing brings to us the sense of hopeless, irretrievable loss, like dropping a thing into the fathomless depths of mid-ocean. "Thou renderest to every man according to his work;" "With the froward thou wilt show thyself froward." We reply—. "As one whom his mother comforteth"—with such perfect sympathy, such exquisite tenderness—does God comfort us (Isaiah 66:13). he cometh up in full vigour, glorious to look upon, rejoicing in his youth and strength, but within a little time he fadeth, falleth away, or is "cut down, dried up, and withered." We ourselves pass away and are forgotten, but God's mercy and his righteousness remain forever. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him (comp. Not much amongst savages; but pity advances as we observe the higher races and the more civilized. Those that are obdurate and impenitent may not plead his promises, may not appropriate to themselves the sustaining assurance which apply to other persons. PSALMS RESOURCES Commentaries, Sermons, Illustrations, Devotionals. Deuteronomy 32:6; Job 10:8; Isaiah 29:16; Isaiah 63:16; Isaiah 64:8, etc.). Where this is not explicitly stated, it is to be understood (see particularly Psalms 103:12). They only healed when the healing could make a way for the gospel, draw attention to it, or prove its Divine origin. It may, indeed, be said that it is impossible to conceive of any of God's creatures or children who owe him so much as we do. Only one thing to limit his help—his help is to enable us to help ourselves. God will relent from his anger and forgive men, after a while. Then the very tenderest and strongest as well as the purest emotions of the human heart are stirred. God's "righteousness" is his everlasting justice, by which he gives to men according to their deserts. There is a certain obligation resting on God that arises out of his relationships. He never measures humanity fallen by the standard he provides for humanity intact. The glorious attainment of the religious life is to get above bodyhinderings; to become master of our bodies in Christ; to "know how to possess the vessels of our bodies in sanctification and honour." And why should we regret it? There are a number of reasons for that, including the Divine mercy. This tender and considerate representation of God is full of comfort to us. The "Song of the Three Children" is a natural outburst from devout hearts. his material universe—cannot, of course, he said to "bless" God in the same sense that men and angels do; but, in a language of their own, they set forth his glory, and to the poetic mind seem truly to sing his praise. (Psalms 103:1, Psalms 103:2.) He does not measure the race in its savage condition with the standard for the race civilized. Our Lord often uses it: "Verily, verily, I say unto you;" "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Commentary Critical and Explanatory - Unabridged, Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible, Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures. When Job's friends came to comfort him, they could think of no other view of sickness than this, though Job felt sure that there must be a higher meaning, if only he could reach it. To "bless" is more than to praise; it is to praise with affection and gratitude. II. Every kingdom, every city, every human home, is in the regard, under the control, subject to the rightful sway, of the Divine Sovereign. Commentary on Psalm 103:19-22 (Read Psalm 103:19-22) He who made all, rules all, and both by a word of power. And the highest well being of his creatures. The brain is the central machine, to which are attached the separate machines of the senses. "Commit thy way unto the Lord, and he will bring it to pass." What a contrast to the Lord's way I See how the father of the prodigal forgave, but the elder brother did not. The psalmist, speaking after the manner of men, and using terms for God which can only in strictness apply to men, declares that God can, and does, and will, utterly forget; "remember our sins no more." "Fly as far as the wing of imagination can bear you, and if you journey through space eastward, you are further from the west at every beat of your wing." That question is specially interesting because, when man is forgiven his sin, he finds it so hard to get rid of the memory of it. And if God's omniscience is a reason for trust, how much more is Christ's human experience!—R.T. Now—. 2. "Behind the back" is a strong figure for "out of sight" and "out of mind.". And his righteousness unto children's children. He may have begun with enthusiasm for the blessed truths and the bright prospects to which he was to lead others; he had such joy in them himself, that to show to others these things seemed an employment to which he might, as in fact he did, give his whole life and soul. 1. This is the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which accounts for their renewed youth. THAT EVEN THIS WILL HAVE AN END. They conceived of themselves as holding that special ability in trust for particular ends in the propagation of the gospel. Verse 1 Psalm 103:1-22. THE MISSION OF CHRIST WAS NEEDED IN ORDER TO REVIVE AND QUICKEN THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH OF THE LOVE OF GOD. 6. There never yet was one unnecessary stroke given by the Lord's rod. Introduction Thanksgiving is certainly a good time of the year to remember all our blessings from God. 5. The pit—a name of Hades—the abode of the departed. — when God is the object, praise. Three figures set before us the limitlessness of God's forgiveness. A distinctly Israelite point of view. God estimates circumstances and motives. Job 14:2; Isaiah 28:1; Isaiah 40:6; James 1:10; 1 Peter 1:24, etc.). We fret over such things, until we remember that our God knows all. See the parable of the two debtors. And has not God helped us in our low estate by coming to us in the Person of his Son? Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! It is inevitable. How, when, where, he will execute his judgments, we may not anticipate; it is enough for an oppressed soul to know that God is acting for him. Of how many might the opposite be said? Some of our sufferings are sent by him—such as we could not avoid. Remember, then, two things: It may be that we shall be surprised to find what soul progress we have really made, when the body-clog drops off. who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, It may be put in this way—The Divine provisions are crowned with Divine bestowments. Like as a guide to the loveliest scenes of nature may lead a traveller to different points of view, which will show the glorious landscape at its best, and may expatiate on the beauties that are to be seen, yet may himself be not in the slightest degree stirred or moved by what he calls on the traveller to admire. The Book of Job is not a discussion of the question—What ought a godly man to do who is smitten with sickness? We are allied to the dust in one important part of our nature. But, however that may be, it is certainly true that God is the Healer of all men's diseases. THE LORD OF THE OPPRESSED ACTS UPON THE OPPRESSORS. The psalm does not go about to prove—Scripture never does—the existence of God, nor the fact that he exercises dominion over us; it takes both for granted, and proceeds to speak of the nature and obligations of the Divine rule. ITS METHODS. Our praise is to be the devout expression of our deep feeling; much more than a reverent attitude or an appropriate deliverance: "all that is within us" (Psalms 103:1) is to come forth in grateful utterance; our song is to express our soul; it is to be the natural, unbidden voice of our homage, our attention, our love, our submission, our consecration. How heartless, how cruel, how utterly unsympathizing, she is! There may be a right or a wrong excuse drawn from the weakness of human nature. We cannot be surprised that God, as Creator, should supply all the reasonable needs of his creatures; or that God, as Father, should supply all the wants of his children. God said to the Jews, "What more could I have done for my vineyard?" The burning sirocco, the wind of the desert, variously named in various places, blows upon the flower, and almost immediately scorches it up. 1. GOD NEED NOT OVER CHIDE. God's mercy is the cause, the removal of sin the result. Forever and ever. Divine continuance. (1-2) Blessing God for all His benefits. It would be but a poor salvation if soul healing did not follow forgiveness, for without the latter we should soon be back to our sins again (2 Peter 2:22). The Jews, we well know, would never have allowed this. also Psalms 111:4; Psalms 112:4; Psalms 145:8). Carefully show the distinction between an absolute standard of morals, and an absolute setting, or application, of that standard. What various answers could be given to the question—What is the true crown of a man's life?" We can always count on them. ... Psalm 102 God Revealed in Flesh Psalm 103 Israel's Praise over Ways of God Psalm 104 Praise of Creator-God Psalm II. God makes all reasonable allowances. He longed to join them and share in it; but the party would be hushed if he went in, and he would come away sad at heart to think that his presence should be the signal for silence among them, and that his son could not be merry in his company. God's claim: 1. The characteristics of youth belong to such. God's Fatherhood was not much more in our Lord's day than a dead letter. It bids us trust it utterly and forever.—S.C. The two are commensurate, and are "described by the largest measures which the earth can afford.". These latter he is angry with every day, and sternly punishes, and if they repent not he will destroy them. There is a truth revealed in God's Word which seems to have a painful side. Two ideas are suggested: 1. Our temptation and danger are to forget. He has taken our frame on himself, so that he might gain experimental knowledge of it. Obedience. Psalms 47:2; Daniel 4:34, Daniel 4:35). One king was seriously reproved because, when he was ill, he "sought unto the physicians, and not unto God." Bless the Lord, O my soul. The redemption of the soul is precious;we cannot compass it, and therefore are the more indebted to divine grace that God revealed himself, "his ways, and his acts," to Moses, but grace and truth have come by Jesus Christ (John 1:17). So with our Father-God. FULL-VOICED AND FULL-HEARTED UTTERANCE OF PRAISE. The reference made to this matter by the Apostle James has been gravely misunderstood. The original meaning of the word seems to have been "gay ornament," whence it passed to "gaiety," "desire of enjoyment," "desire" generally ( τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν σου, LXX.). But that was a long time ago. In Thackeray's beautiful story, 'The Newcomes,' he pictures the colonel sitting in his cheerless room, and hearing his boy and his friends singing and making merry overhead. Then there was held up—placarded, as St. Paul says (Galatians 3:1)—before the eyes of all men, what the pity and love of God could do and endure for the sake of sinful men. Set forth what the Lord's covenant was for Israel, and is for us. 1. But when the world sees that there is no partiality with God, that his own children have to suffer even as, and often far more than, others when they do wrong, this tends to beget a holy fear. TO ENSURE ITS BEING SPREAD ABROAD. "Fearfully and wonderfully made." To know God's will should be to obey. Because he has the infinite power to estimate influences and results. "The blessings of the covenant are no inalienable right. Many of our sufferings are self-incurred—such as we might have avoided. What a happy fact this reveals as to the psalmist and all who sincerely adopt his words! It will inflict pain. Repetition, in Holy Scripture, is almost always for the sake of emphasis. He may be compelled to keep on awhile a training work he has begun, because, even if he could stop it, he would do serious mischief by stopping it. They are as athletes in the contests which they have to wage: in the spiritual conflicts they fight, "not uncertainly, as one that beateth the air," but theirs is "the good fight," not only for the object for which it is waged, but for its manner and issue also. But he was not carried away by the gift he possessed. "Commentary on Psalms 103:4". The glory of God is to be secured, that glory on which the well being of the whole universe depends. These sins have been, 2. III. I. that faith which cannot get expression in action is not acceptable faith, it is mere sentiment. And this safeguard is sure.—S.C. If God deals with a morally fallen and frail race, he lets mercy help justice to fix the standard. forget not all — not any, none of His benefits. I. S.C. The psalmist had been summoning angels and all the works of the Lord to bless the Lord, and, as if he remembered that he might be—. (Psalms 103:3, latter part, and 4.) Every day brings us nearer to old age, and there is no escaping it except by premature departure. He shows it to sinners, who also are chastened for a time (Exodus 34:6). Hezekiah, in the middle of his reign, but before any son and heir was born to him, was smitten down with a bad kind of boil or carbuncle, which put his life in peril. For youth of soul renewed. It is not "vain repetition." His aim is to make us strong and great. Christian joy is very closely linked with bodily health, and Christian gloom with bodily disease. Evidently he prayed the prayer of faith. 2. For our creation, our endowment, our temporal mercies, our redemption at an infinite cost, and for all the Divine love, patience, considerateness (see above), we have been receiving from him, we owe him "perpetual songs of praise.". This is often the explanation of man's over chiding. It has helped myriads to praise God, and the secret of such help is that the psalmist was himself filled with the spirit of praise, and it is the blessed contagion of that spirit that helps us today as in the days of old. ways — of providence, etc., as usual (Psalm 25:4; Psalm 67:2). REMOVAL BEHIND THE BACK. But precisely the test under which each one of us is placed is this—Can you live a godly life in that body of yours, and under those precise body conditions of yours? And real necessities are very few, and can be easily defined. The poor often find it nearly impossible to get their cases brought before the magistrates, judges, or kings of earth. "Therefore humble yourselves," etc.—S.C. Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion, Commentary Critical and Explanatory - Unabridged, Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible, Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures. It says, "like the eagle," which year by year renews its plumage, and so seems to renew its vigour and activity along with its new garment. And there we learn what pity is and will do. Psalms 104:4) that do his pleasure. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Ascends to the highest intelligences; the "angels that excel in strength" owe to him their homage; they do, indeed, hearken and obey. III. Whoever the author, we must regard the composition as less "the outbreathing of gratitude from one individual spirit" than "intended to be used as a national thanksgiving" (Kay). So he worked very largely for and among sick people, always trying to get their sicknesses sanctified to them, even in the very act of healing or removing them. (Micah 7:19, "Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.") It is bountiful. Only when you can will God find it fitting to entrust you with the immortal and incorruptible body. Plug in, Turn on and Be En light ened! COVENANT KEEPERS AIM AT OBEDIENCE. But if the juniors do not bring home the fact to us, the conduct of the seniors does. Evidently, these experiences of sickness were not then seen in their relation to character, and so there was no need to leave any narratives concerning them. Let all his works praise him. I. acts — literally, “wonders” (Psalm 7:11; Psalm 78:17). With set purpose. "Blessed are they that keep his commandments.". Pity is sympathy for persons on account of weakness, suffering, or calamity. Its subject is rather this—What moral end can explain the Divine permission of sickness? As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. God had mercy on him, and restored him in the ordinary way. Bless, etc. And therefore the supreme anxiety of the Exiles would concern "keeping this new, this restored covenant." So man, when he flourishes most, is for the most part brought low by the wind of suffering, trouble, sickness, calamity, and sinks out of sight. Its purpose and aim. He cannot follow influences, and so see quickly when his object is attained. There is a fairly good sense in which the creature and the child may be said to have claims on God, to which, if he be God, he must respond. They always healed "in the Name of Christ." The "title" assigns the psalm to David, and this view of its authorship is taken by Hengstenberg and Professor Alexander. 2. 2. Sickness is reckoned with under the Mosaic system, but in a very peculiar way. "He will bring forth our righteousness as the light, and our judgment as the noon day.". Then the answer comes—It is what God gives a man beyond his mere necessities, in the rich outpouring of Divine loving kindness and mercy. There is a new covenant in Christ Jesus. 4. A Psalm of joyous praise, in which the writer rises from a thankful acknowledgment of personal blessings to a lively celebration of God‘s gracious attributes, as not only intrinsically worthy of praise, but as specially suited to man‘s frailty. As for man, his days are as grass. It is a source of inspiration. Bless the Lord, O my soul - The repetition here denotes the intensity or earnestness of the wish or desire of the psalmist. God's gracious dealings with our sins depend on our right dealings with them. Some diseases spoil the vision. 3. Strength and vigour. He will accept repentance and amendment (Ezekiel 18:27) He will accept atonement (1 John 2:2). Bless the Lord, O my soul. But the limit of the claim to necessities should be clearly shown. An worship service of praise shaped in both its content and structure by Psalm 103, acknowledging personal blessings and celebrating God's gracious attributes in the life of a child of God. And we may have absolute faith that no tale of human need was ever poured out before God, and disregarded by him. "Forget not any of his benefits." THROWING INTO THE SEA. This psalm is full of the recital of things to be thankful for, and of expectation that we be thankful. God has made use of our happy familiarity with parental love and pity to teach us what he himself is. Feelings, as mere feelings, cannot honour God. I. They think they can trust no man, and they consult us as they never would have done had not the dew of our youth long ago disappeared. Irretrievable loss, like dropping a thing of varying moods thy youth is renewed like the eagles ( 11:4. Whom his mother comforteth '' —with such perfect sympathy, such exquisite tenderness—does God us. Acts of earthly courts and parliaments Psalm 103 of elasticity and power ; he remembereth that we be that! Nation because it had forsaken the national covenant. '' ) agencies ; and that covenant do! 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