Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

Psalm 103. This is a hymn of praise, celebrating the abundant goodness and love of the Lord for his people. It is the first of four psalms reflecting on God's dealings with his people from creation to exile. Psalm 103 introduces the sequence by recalling that Israel's survival in the time of Moses was due to God's steadfast love. It begins with each individual singer exhorting his or her own soul to bless the Lord, and then goes on to list the benefits that the soul should be careful not to forget. The crowning benefit is God's enduring love to the descendants of the faithful, which leads the worshipers to exhort all the angelic hosts and all the material creation to join in blessing the Lord. These benefits come to the individual ("you" in vv. 3-5 refers to "my soul," i.e., to me) but are not individualistic: he or she is a member of the community (vv. 6-14, thinking of the people of God), and he or she contributes to the progress of that community (vv. 17-18). As the notes will show, the psalm takes the Pentateuch story for granted, with evocations of Gen. 2:7; 17:7; Exodus 32-34. Christians enter into the joy of this psalm as they celebrate how the biblical story that has developed since that time has displayed even more of God's goodness and kindness. Psalm 104, though not by David, is probably placed next to this one because it too begins and ends with "Bless the Lord, O my soul." Psalm 145 is the other example of a Davidic psalm that is a sustained celebration of God's goodness and benevolence.

103:1-2 Bless the Lord, O My Soul, and Do Not Forget His Benefits. Each member of the worshiping congregation urges himself to bless the Lord, i.e., to speak well of him for his abundant generosity. Thus forget not all his benefits is a crucial step in blessing the Lord, and the body of the psalm lists these benefits in order to bring each singer to an admiring gratitude.