Psalm CIII
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 not all his benefits:
3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;
Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; 6 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of
Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
PSALM cm. SONG OF A REDEEMED ONE. 305
9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his angenfor ever.
10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to
our iniquities.
11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward
them that fear him.
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear
him.
14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall
know it no more.
] 7 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them
that fear him,
And his righteousness unto children’s children;
18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
19 The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom
ruleth over all.
20 Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength.
That do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
21 Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his
pleasure.
22 Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul.
How often have saints in Scotland sung this Psalm in days when they celebrated the Lord’s Supper I It is thereby specially known in our land. It is connected also with a remarkable case in the days of John Knox. Elizabeth Adamson, a woman who attended on his preaching “because he more fully opened the fountain of God’s mercies than others did,” was led to Christ and to rest, in hearing this Psalm, after enduring such agony of soul that she said, concerning racking pains of body, “A thousand years of this torment, and ten times more joined, are not to be compared to a quarter of an hour of my soul’s trouble.” She asked for this Psalm again before departing: “It was in receiving it that my troubled soul first tasted God’s mercy, which is now sweeter to me than if all the kingdoms of the earth were given me to possess.”
Of this Psalm, when viewed as following the preceding, we may say, Fruits of Messiah’s work appear — glory to God, 30G PSALM cm. SONG OF A REDEEMED ONE
goodwill to man. We might exclaim, Behold the Redeemer and his gifts! for it i.s the song of a redeemed one by the Redeemer’s side. Forgiveness is the chief and foremost of the mercies celebrated. In tone it might be compared with Mark ii. 5, 9. The plan. rpy Gifts received (ver. 1-5) are celebrated, not only
with the lips, but with the whole soul. God’s Israel do not now forget him when he has blessed them (Deut. vi. 12; viii. 11, 12), for the blessings are more than temporal, and the diseases healed are more than bodily (Exod. xv. 26; Deut. xxix. 23). The strength imparted, that makes them like the soaring eagle, and to be imparted when the resurrection body is bestowed, is a removal of the evils of sin. An usual word is employed in verse 5, “Who hath satisfied TlJ) with good;” rendered by some, “thy mouth;” by Hengstenberg, “thy beauty,” or ornament, i. c, thy soul; by Gesenius and others, “thine age;” and by some, simply, “even thee.” This full, rich, overflowing burst of song has led to the use of a term as rare as the tone of the song. The term “crowning” expresses the bestowal of dignity as well as favour, and the reference to the eagle is, q. d., makest me grow young again, and so to soar like an eagle.
2, The Receivers of the Gifts (ver. 6, 7). — The oppressed, the helpless, have been the receivers of his mercy. It is the manner of Jehovah to give thus graciously. He is the Jehovah who made known “his ways” to Moses (his principles of action), and shewed his “works” to Israel, in the days of their bondage.
3. The Giver, the fountain-head of these blessings (ver. 8-18). — He is that Jehovah whose name Moses heard (Exod. xxxiv. 6) at the rock of Horeb — a name more plentiful in streams for the thirsty souls, than the smitten rock of Horeb for thirsty Israel. Here is the Fountain-head — “Merciful, gracious, slow to anger, plenteous in mercy.” Here are seven streams from that fountain-head: — a. Love uniipbraiding (ver. 9); then, h, Love that blesses the undeserving (ver, 10); c, Love infinite in extent (ver. 11); d, Love thoroughgoing in its nature (ver. 12); e, Love very tender (ver. 13) ;/, Love that
BY THE redeemer’s SIDE. o()7
sympathizes with us (ver. 14, 15, 16); Love that is undecaying (ver. 17, 18).
4). The Kingdom of the Giver. — In verse 19 we see that these many streams bear us on to the ocean — for we are led first to the Throne in the heavens, then to the Kingdom that ruleth over all the earth,
5. The closing burst of Praise to the Giver. — The morning stars sang together, and the sons of God shouted for joy, at the sight of creation issuing from the Creator s hands. Much more cause is there now for such another song; ay, and a song so much nobler as the theme is loftier. Angels must bear a part, bi-inging all their strength to the work — this work of praise. AllJehovah’s hosts, all Jehovah’s servants, all Jehovah’s creatures, inanimate as well as animate (Psa. civ. 4), in all places of his dominion, must take up the thanksgiving, and praise, and blessing. It is Rev. v. 13 anticipated. The man that hears that song, shall he not be counted a blessed man? a thousand times blessed? But the man himself shall cast his crown of bliss at the feet of his Lord — “Bless the Lord, O my soul!” ending as he began this
Song of a redeemed, one by the Redeemer’s side.