Psalms 103:1-22
Psa 103:1 A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Psa 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
Psa 103:3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
Psa 103:4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Psa 103:5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
Psa 103:6 The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
Psa 103:7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.
Psa 103:8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
Psa 103:9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
Psa 103:10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
Psa 103:11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
Psa 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
Psa 103:13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
Psa 103:14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
Psa 103:15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
Psa 103:16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
Psa 103:17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children;
Psa 103:18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
Psa 103:19 The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
Psa 103:20 Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
Psa 103:21 Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.
Psa 103:22 Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
The Eruption of Praise
The psalmist begins with an exclamation of praise that issues from the depths of his devout soul. “Bless Jehovah, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless his holy name” (v. 1, ASV). A newer version renders it: “My soul, praise the LORD, and everything in me, praise His holy name” (Beck). The utterance reflects a burst of enthusiastic devotion in honor of the LORD (Yahweh) — the self-existing Being who has entered into a covenant relationship with Israel.
To bless the “holy name” of God is to praise the Lord for his intrinsic holiness (cf. Isa. 6:3; Rev. 4:8). He is an utterly pure being in whom resides no sin (Hab. 1:13; Jas. 1:13).
The writer strains his entire being — everything “that is within” him — to express his feelings. He loves the Creator intellectually, emotionally, and practically. There is some parallel in sentiment with the admonition to love God with the totality of one’s being — heart, soul, mind, and strength (cf. Dt. 6:5; Mt. 22:37; Mk. 12:29-30).
Have you ever been through a dark cloud of life, wherein your heart was wrenched with agony? Finally, then, arriving at “yonder” shore, you find yourself so overwhelmed with thanksgiving and joy that you virtually weep for the lack of ability to adequately thank your Sustainer? Such, apparently, was the emotion of the great king on this occasion.
The God of Benefits
Human beings are forgetful creatures, and the Bible is replete with admonitions to “remember,” or, in the reverse format, “forget not.” Some things are worthy of forgetting (cf. Phil. 3:13); one should ever hold mentally fresh, however, the fact of the kindness of God. And so David cautions that we should “forget not all his benefits” (v. 2). Elsewhere an inspired writer will ponder: “What shall I render unto Jehovah for all his benefits toward me?” (Psa. 116:12).
In today’s world, many are keenly conscious of those “benefits” associated with their employment. What sort of insurance do I have? What is my retirement package, etc.? How frequently do we contemplate, though, the “benefits” of our loving Father?
In Psalms 103:3-5, five marvelous “benefits” are listed. How invigorating to the soul it is to savor these blessings. They are expressed with the following verbs: forgives, heals, redeems, crowns, and satisfies. Let us reflect upon these promises.
Forgiveness
God “forgives all [our] iniquities” exclaims the Psalmist. There are two points upon which we may focus here. The first is the inclusive term “all.” Then, we must comment upon the nature of the forgiveness.
First, David extols the fact that God will forgive “all” sins (v. 3a) — a sentiment echoed in the New Testament as well. The Lord has the power to cleanse from “all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9). But how is this to be harmonized with certain passages which appear to suggest that some sins are beyond the pale of pardon? Jesus spoke of sinning against the Holy Spirit, which, he said, “shall not be forgiven” (Mt. 12:32). The writer of Hebrews described a “willful sin,” for which, he declares, there is “no sacrifice” (Heb. 10:26). And John writes of the uselessness of praying for the brother who sins “sin unto death” (1 Jn. 5:16).
Though this is not the place to do a study of these controversial passages, we can make this observation. The Bible does not contradict itself. There is, therefore, a harmony to be found between the assertion that Jehovah forgives “all” sin, and the seeming limitation implied in the verses to which we have alluded. The key to unlocking the mystery is this: a careful consideration of the three texts cited above will reveal that each has to do with a withheld pardon that results from man’s choice. He refuses it! Heaven’s beneficence is not in question.
It is thus refreshing to know that “all” sin, both from the quantitative and qualitative vantage points, may be remedied — for those who are burdened under its oppressive force (Mt. 11:28-30), and who will choose to seek Heaven’s offer of relief (Rev. 22:17). This brings us to our next point.
It must not be assumed that simply because God is willing to forgive “all” sin, that this redemptive benevolence is extended unconditionally. The “unconditional election” of Calvinism’s doctrinal platform finds no support in the Scriptures. Almighty God, through Christ, will forgive all past sins, for the one who submits to the will of his Son in obedience (Rom. 6:17; Heb. 5:8-9). Pardon does hinge upon yielding to the terms of the divine plan of salvation (Acts 2:38; 22:16).
Healing
David affirms that God “heals all [our] diseases” (v. 3b). In order to correctly understand the blessing here promised, several things must be placed in perspective. First, the passage is not intended to suggest that God’s child can expect perpetual healing from every illness, so that he will never die. Physical death is a punishment which results from humanity’s involvement in sin (Gen. 2:17; Rom. 5:12); it is a divine appointment (Heb. 9:27).
Second, the passage is not a promise that Christians, throughout history, will be able to tap into the divine power of miraculous healing, as such existed in the era of Jesus’ personal ministry, and in the apostolic period just beyond that time. The supernatural phenomena of those days were temporary by design (1 Cor. 13:8ff). For further study of this theme, see: “Archives”, “Miracles”, (October 18, 1998).
What the passage does suggest is this: The God who created the human body (Gen. 2:7; Psa. 139:14) is able, consistent with his own purposes, to mend his own creation. None of us would survive infancy were it not for the amazing providential healing process that has been divinely designed and incorporated into the fabric of the human system. The immune system, the phenomenon of antibodies, the mending process, etc., are all remarkable beyond our ability to express. We have discussed this in considerable detail in our book, The Human Body — Accident or Design?.
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Beyond this, however, is the ultimate promise of our glorified state. It has been noted that the “diseases” of this text are not confined to bodily sicknesses necessarily, but “may include all suffering” (A.F. Kirkpatrick, The Psalms, Cambridge: University Press, 1906, p. 601). Some scholars think that “diseases” is but a metaphor for life’s “adversities or setbacks” (W.A. VanGemeren, “Psalms,” NIV Bible Commentary, Barker & Kohlenberger, Eds., 1994, I, p. 898).
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Beyond this, however, is the ultimate promise of our glorified state. It has been noted that the “diseases” of this text are not confined to bodily sicknesses necessarily, but “may include all suffering” (A.F. Kirkpatrick, The Psalms, Cambridge: University Press, 1906, p. 601). Some scholars think that “diseases” is but a metaphor for life’s “adversities or setbacks” (W.A. VanGemeren, “Psalms,” NIV Bible Commentary, Barker & Kohlenberger, Eds., 1994, I, p. 898).
After the body is deposited back into the bowels of the earth, to return to its dusty origin (Gen. 3:19; Eccl. 12:7), it awaits the day of resurrection (Jn. 5:28-29; Acts 24:15; 1 Cor. 15). When it emerges from the grave, it will enter a new state wherein pain and death exist “no more” (Rev. 21:4), and where the “leaves” of the “tree of life” provide abiding “healing,” i.e., everlasting association with God (Rev. 22:2; cf. Gen. 3:22).
Redemption
The poet declares that Jehovah “redeems [our] life from destruction” (v. 4a). The term “destruction” (seeASV fn — “the pit”) is likely a reference to death. Perhaps David had been at the very brink of death’s door and the Lord had delivered him. Certainly there were numerous episodes of that nature in his history. In the light of New Testament revelation, the phrase has a much greater application for us.
The verb “redeems” is related to the Hebrew noun goel, literally “a kinsman with the right to buy back.” That concept would be fulfilled ultimately in Christ, our “kinsman” (cf. Jn. 1:14; Heb. 2:11ff), who paid the price of redemption by the shedding of his blood (Lk. 1:68; Eph. 1:7). There are two senses in which we, as children of God, partake of the benefit of redemption.
First, we are redeemed from the guilt of our transgressions. As noted just above, this Jesus accomplished as the perfect sacrifice for sin. As the lamb (Jn. 1:29; 1 Cor. 5:7) that was without blemish or spot (1 Pet. 1:18-19), Christ, by his death, satisfied the justice of God (Isa. 53:11; Rom. 3:24-26), thus becoming an efficacious Redeemer (see Job 19:25). We access this blessing, of course, when we submit to the terms of the sacred plan of pardon (Mt. 28:19-20; Mk. 16:15-16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 3:26-27, etc.).
But there is another way in which we shall be redeemed. In his letter to the Christians in Rome, Paul affirmed that “we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Rom. 8:23). This, of course, is an allusion to the resurrection of the human body, in an immortal form, at the time of Christ’s return (1 Cor. 15; cf. 1 Thes. 4:13ff).
It is significant that Christianity stands aloof from the philosophies of paganism that so disdained the human form that they contemplated the bliss of eternity only in terms of a spirit. Such ideas occasionally infiltrated the early church (see 1 Cor. 15:12), as it has the modern church. (The dogma of “realized eschatology” denies the future resurrection of the body.) It is a thrilling concept to note that the redeemed body of the post-resurrection experience will be one “fashioned anew;” indeed, it will “conform” to the body of Jesus’ glorified state by the exercise of the Savior’s awesome power (Phil. 3:20-21).
Crowned
The benefits thus described are like a glorious “crown” that bedecks the brow. The term becomes a metaphor for the qualities of God’s nature (e.g., his “lovingkindness”) and the extension of that benevolence to sinful man by his “tender mercies,” a term which hints of the destitute nature of one needing pity.
The kindly mercy of our Maker has been revealed in a host of ways.
- Jehovah’s kindness has been manifested in the wonders revealed to us in the amazing architecture of the created universe (Psa.19:1ff; Rom. 1:20).
- The Lord has evidenced his merciful kindness in the providential activities he has exerted among us (Acts 17:25).
- God has manifested his kindness in the sending of a Savior (Tit. 3:4ff).
For a further study of this theme, see “Reflections On The Goodness of God”.
The eventual crowning of God will find fulfillment in the glories of that realm he has prepared for the obedient (Jn. 14:1ff). In that day, there will be bestowed the “crown of righteousness” (2 Tim. 4:8), which is also the “crown of life” (Jas. 1:12; Rev. 2:10), and the “crown of glory” (1 Pet. 5:4). This will be the ultimate expression of the kindness and compassion of the Lord God. The Christian should be diligent to retain this expectation, for it is possible to lose the hope of one’s crown (Rev. 3:11).
Does not this promise make you feel like a king? (cf. Rev. 3:21).
Satisfaction
Finally, David declares that Jehovah “satisfies [our] desire with good things” (v. 5a). This clause is difficult because of the possible meanings associated with the word “desire” (ASV). The diversity of views is reflected in the different translations. Albert Barnes exasperatingly confessed that he had no idea as to the meaning of this passage.
In the Hebrew text of the Old Testament the verb is edyek. The word literally signifies “ornament,” but is rendered “desire” in the ASV (from the LXX). Based upon some conjecture regarding the possible root of the term, some scholars emend the form to odeka (see Derek Kidner, Psalms 73-150, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1975, p. 365). This yields the sense of “years” or “prime” (ASV fn; NASB) or “as long as you live” (RSV). The NEB renders it as “prime of life,” while “old age” is the form it takes in the Masoretic Text from the Jewish Publication Society. William Beck has it: “as long as I live.” The Hebrew Targum interpreted the expression to mean “the days of old age” (Kirkpatrick, p. 601). Most scholars believe that the KJV rendition, “mouth,” is not correct.
If the prevailing view — that of maturity of age — is correct, then the sense of the first portion of 5a would be this: “Even in your advanced age, you will be satisfied, because of the good things with which God supplies you.”
The second portion of verse 5 appears to lend support to this concept. It speaks of one’s “youth” being renewed, like the eagle. The eagle is a bird that enjoys an unusually vigorous longevity. On average, this large bird lives from twenty or thirty to fifty years. G.S. Cansdale, in his authoritative work, All The Animals of the Bible Lands (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1970, p. 143), cites a case of a captive eagle in Vienna that lived to the age of 104. The meaning of the phrase thus may be: “Your disposition will be that of a youth, indeed, you will continue to soar as the majestic eagle.”
If, then, we combine these thoughts, the passage may be suggesting this idea. Those who walk with the Lord, and who are recipients of his gracious benefits, even though they advance in years, will nonetheless, possess a spirit of delightful vigor, savoring their lives and praising God for his beneficence. The thought may be somewhat analogous to Paul’s declaration in a letter to the Corinthians. “Wherefore we faint not; but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16).
The psalmist’s sentiment would encourage us not to be “grumpy old men” (and women) as we ease beyond our prime, even though this time of life is fraught with difficulties. Rather, with great joy, we ought to realize that “the best is yet to be.”
There is a chasm — a universe wide — between David’s radiant disposition, and that commonly evinced by skepticism. One could hardly find a better example of the dismal outlook regarding old age than that expressed in Matthew Arnold’s (1822-88) dreary poem, “Growing Old.” Therein, Arnold, a bitter critic of the Bible, spoke of losing “the glory of the form” and “the lustre of the eye.” He described the decay strength. He spoke of stiff joints and frayed nerves. He lamented the “hot prison” of agedness, with its month-after-month of “weary pain.” He groaned that he was but a “phantom” of his former self — just a “hollow ghost.”
In his commentary on the Psalms, John Phillips reminds us of the strange and sad case of Howard Hughes. At the time of his death, Hughes was worth two and one-half billion dollars. Yet he sulked as a recluse in a Las Vegas hotel. He was wholly unkept, with matted, shaggy hair and long, claw-like nails. At his death he weighed but ninety pounds (see: Exploring the Psalms, Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux, 1988, p. 126). Two words described him: “Most miserable.” What a vivid contrast to the exalted and thrilling view of age expressed by the venerable king of Israel.
What rich truths lie buried in Psalms 103:1-5. Surely the balance of the song would warrant an equally keen interest. Why not give it some consideration?
A song of praiseLike stately pillars supporting a solemn temple, three noble psalms, placed side by side, exalt the glory of Jehovah: 103 glorifies the God of grace; 104 the God of nature; 105 the God of history. Each springs from a strong pedestal of adoration, and is crowned with a rich capital of praise.
I. This is a psalm of humanity. It is a true psalm of life; the experience of a throbbing human heart; born of the Holy Ghost, in travail of soul, amid the exigencies of weakness and sin, into the rapture of Divine compassions. All the darkness and evil of the world it knows, but suffers these only to enhance the richness of the life with God into which we move. This great achievement is won by finding out God.
II. This is humanity’s psalm of adoration to God. We see His throne exalted, His kingdom stretched abroad; His angelic hosts above, His inanimate works, below, called upon to praise Him. His eternal power and Godhead, His everlasting years, are set before us in great majesty. Think rightly on God, and all that is within you will bless Him; and this will bless you. If our life had more praise, it would feel less drudgery. “Forget not,” unworthy source of so much ingratitude, despondency, distrust. “Count your mercies.”
III. A great truth and a great duty.
1. God offers the penitent a full redemption.
2. Accept this full redemption. (C. A. South-gate.)
A song of praise
I. The object of praise. The living, not the imagined, the present, not the remote God, by His own inbreathings, called forth this tribute to Himself from a heart in which He dwelt. Sublime in His being, He is oftenest called Preserver, Judge, Father, King. In these several relations He is brought before us in this psalm.
II. The persons and things which are summoned to praise. The grossest confounding of body and spirit then prevailed; yet the soul was a term which all understood, though few could explain. This, the direct inspiration of the Almighty, would naturally be the first to perceive and respond to Divine favours. It is bidden, therefore, to express itself. The emotional, intellectual, and even animal nature may and must each offer Him its peculiar sacrifice of thanksgiving.
III. The reasons for praise. The shower of good things had been so constant, that merely to mention some of them seemed to the enthusiastic singer to ensure within himself the response he sought. He accordingly rallies his own too sluggish soul to pour forth its meed of praise, mindful of the general blessings he had received. He was prone to forget them. All are. Ingratitude is fostered by abundance. Thanklessness is more than meanness. Themistocles sadly said of the Athenians, that when a storm arose, they sheltered themselves under him as under a plane tree, which when the weather was fair again, they would rob of its leaves and branches. So do the needy multitudes cry unto God, and helped, return not to give Him glory, save here and there a stranger. Nay, more; they selfishly use their benefits to deprive Him of that honour which is His due. It was just this sin against which Jehovah had cautioned Israel (Deu_32:15). And so, as if writing down the long list of gifts that he may count them, the psalmist would beget a fit return. This psalm has been called “a little Bible within the greater.” It is a striking revelation of the being, character, and purpose of God. It is also a clear portrayal of the origin, doings, needs, blessings, and destiny of man. (Monday Club Sermons.)
A song of praise
I. Thanksgiving for personal benefits.
1. Thanks for forgiveness and inward healing.
2. Thanks for redemption and glory.
3. Thanks for intermediate blessings.
There is a long journey from the mouth of the pit of destruction, whence God has rescued us, to the gate of glory by which God will bring us in to receive our everlasting inheritance. On that way we are not left to our own resources. He gives us the supplies needful for the journey, and ministers the strength with which we may reach the end.
II. Praise to the character of God.
1. The righteousness and judgment of the Lord (Exo_33:13).
2. The mercy and grace of God (Exo_34:6-7).
III. The measure of God’s mercy.
1. Heavenly greatness (verse 11; Rom_5:20).
2. Infinite forgiveness (verse 12).
3. Fatherly pity (verse 13).
4. The shortness of man’s day and the eternity of God’s mercy (Psa_103:15-17).
5. A solemn reminder (verse 18).
IV. A universal call to praise (Psa_103:19-22). Let us who have been forgiven, renewed in the inner man, redeemed from destruction, whose lives have been crowned with lovingkindness and tender mercy, take up the song of thanksgiving, and so, perchance, extend His mercies to those who are yet strangers to it, by setting forth His benefits as we have come to know them in our own experience. (G. F. Pentecost, D. D.)
A soul’s song to God
The singer of this melody, whoever he may have been, has left behind him the valley and has climbed to magnificent heights; yea, on the suburbs of heaven, he sings with impassioned ardour of the goodness of his God, and, finding his voice inadequate to give vent to his gratitude, he summons a goodly choir—the works of God, the ministers of God, the angels of God—to accentuate the joyful strains and to make His praise glorious.
I. A blessed exercise. Some one has said that the Christian ought to be like a horse that has bells on his head: so that he cannot go anywhere without ringing them and making music. His whole life should be in harmony; every thought should constitute a note; every word he utters should be a component part of the joyful strain.
1. The psalmist is solicitous that his praise should be spiritual. It is his soul and not his lips he addresses. He wants nothing formal, mechanical, lifeless, spiritless.
2. The psalmist also arouses himself to unreserved adoration. “And all that is within me,” etc. Our nature is a many-stringed instrument, and every string is to contribute its quota to the symphony. If the soul is to be the leading singer, then every faculty of our mental, moral, and spiritual being, like a united choir, are to render the chorus.
3. The psalmist also urges himself to personal adoration. “O my soul.” He begins with himself, and, albeit he goes out from himself and seeks to engage others in singing unto God, he comes back and concludes his exhortation with himself as the subject. Let the trees clap their hands, let the ocean lift up its voice, etc. “ Bless the Lord, O my soul.”
II. A reasonable exercise. In praising God, we perform one of the highest and purest acts of religion. In praise, we largely eliminate the element of self, and are like the angels in performing the unpolluted service of the skies.
1. There are national benefits.
2. There are social benefits. “God setteth the solitary in families.” He has placed us together so that the cup of our life might be full. What a benediction is Home!
3. But better than all others, there are spiritual benefits of which we must take strict account. These are God’s greatest gifts to us.
(1) Forgiveness. Mercy comes to thee full-handed. Love abundantly pardons.
(2) Healing. Eyes at one time blinded by the God of this world can now see the things eternal, ears afflicted with deafness can now hear the welcome sound of God’s voice, hands once sadly paralyzed can now perform the glorious business of the King, feet which dragged from sheer impotency can now run on God’s errands with joyous alacrity, and faces once wearing the ugly scowl of sin now shine with the beauteous smile of God.
(3) Redemption.
(4) Coronation.
(5) Satisfaction.
(6) Rejuvenescence. (J. Pearce.)
Sell-exhortation to worship
I. With the whole soul. There are at least three immeasurable faculties within—intellect, imagination, conscience. All these should praise Jehovah, who is the True, for the intellect; the Beautiful, for the imagination; and the Righteous, for the conscience. Let all come out in praise, as all the powers of the harp come out under the touch of the master musician; as all the powers of the seed come out under the genial influence of the sunbeam.
II. For urgent reasons. “All His benefits.”
1. Sin is an offence; and here is forgiveness.
2. Sin is a disease; and here is healing.
3. Sin is ruinous; and here is restoration.
4. Sin is a degradation; and here is exaltation.
5. Sin is discontent; and here is satisfaction.
6. Sin is weakness; and here is invigoration. (Homilist.)
The saints blessing the Lord
You see here a man talking to himself, a soul with all his soul talking to his soul. His own soul is the first audience a good man ought to think of preaching to. Indeed, if any man desires to excite the hearts of others in any given direction, he must first stir up himself upon the same matter.
I. This exhortation is remarkably comprehensive.
1. The unity of our nature is hero bidden, in its concentration, to yield its whole self to the praise of God. No white-washed sepulchres will please the Lord,—“Bless the Lord, O my soul,”—Let the true Ego praise Him, the essential I, the vital personality, the soul of my soul, the life of my life! Let me be true to the core to my God; let that which is most truly my own vitality spend itself in blessing the Lord. My immortal soul, what hast thou to do with spending thine energies upon mortal things? Wilt thou hunt for fleeting shadows, whilst thou art thyself most real and abiding? Raise thyself on all thy wings, and like the six-winged cherubim adore thy God. But the words suggest yet another meaning,—the soul is our active self, our vigour, our intensity. When we speak of a man’s throwing his soul into a thing, we mean that he does it with all his might. My intensest nature shall bless the Lord. Not with bated breath and a straitened energy will I lisp forth His praises, but I will pour them forth ardently in volumes of impassioned song.
2. But, then, David speaks of the diverse faculties of our nature, and writes, “All that is within me bless His holy name.” The affections are to lead the way in the concert of praise. But the psalmist intended next to bestir the memory, for he goes on to say “forget not all His benefits.” Recollect what God has done for you. Thread the jewels of His grace upon the thread of memory, and hang them about the neck of praise. For mercies beyond count, praise Him without stint. Then let your conscience praise Him, for the psalm proceeds to say, “who forgiveth all thine iniquities.” Conscience once weighed thy sins and condemned thee; now let it weigh the Lord’s pardon and magnify His grace to thee. Let thy emotions join the sacred choir, for thou hast many feelings of delight; bless Him “who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies,” etc. Is all within you peaceful? Sing some sweet pastoral, like the twenty-third psalm. Let the calm of your spirit sound forth the praises of the Lord upon the pleasant harp and the psaltery. Do your days flow smoothly? Then consecrate the dulcimer to the Lord. Do you feel the exhilaration of delight? Then praise ye the Lord with the timbrel and dance. On the other hand, is there a contention within; does conflict disturb your mind? Then praise Him with the sound of the trumpet, for He will go forth with you to the battle. When you return from the battle and divide the spoil, then “praise Him upon the loud cymbals: praise Him upon the high-sounding cymbals.” What-ever emotional state thy soul be found in, let it lead thee to bless thy Maker’s holy name.
II. This suggestion is most reasonable. The Lord has given innumerable blessings to every part of our nature; all our faculties are the recipients of blessing; therefore should they all bless God in return. Every pipe of the organ should yield its quota of sound. As all the rivers run into the sea, so all our powers should flow towards the Lord’s praise. To prove that this is reasonable, let me ask one single question:—if we do not devote all that is within us to the glory of God, which part is that we should leave unconsecrated; and being less unconsecrated to God what should we do with it?
III. It is necessary. It is necessary that the whole nature bless God, for at its best, when all engaged in the service, it fails to compass the work, and fails short of Jehovah’s praise. All the man, with all his might, always occupied in all ways in blessing God, would still be no more than a whisper in comparison with the thunder of praise which the Lord deserves. Do not, therefore, let us insult the Lord with half when the whole is not enough. Jesus Christ will have of us all or nothing; and He will have us sincere, earnest, and intense, or He will not have us at all.
IV. It is beneficial.
1. It is beneficial to ourselves. To be whole-hearted in the praise of God is to elevate our faculties. Consecration is culture. To praise is to learn. To bless God is also of preventive usefulness to us; we cannot bless God and at the same time idolize ourselves. Praise preserves us from being envious of others, for by blessing God for all we have, we learn to bless God for what other people have.
2. It is also useful to others. You cannot do good more effectually than by a happy consecrated life, spent in blessing God. If there be anything that is cheerful, joyous, dewy, bright, full of heaven, it is the life of a man who blesses God all his days. This is the way to win souls. We shall not catch these flies with vinegar,—we must use honey.
V. All this is prepatratory. If we can attain to constant praise now, it will prepare us for all that awaits us. We are harps which will be tuned in all their strings for the concerts of the blessed. The tuner is putting us in order. He sweeps his hands along the strings; there is a jar from every note; so He begins first with one string, and then goes to another. He continues at each string till He hears the exact note. The last time you were ill, one of your strings was tuned; the last time you had a had debt, or trembled at declining business, another string was tuned. And so, between now and heaven, you will have every string set in order; and you will not enter heaven till all are in tune. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The keynote of the year
David sounds the tuningfork with this clear note—“Bless the Lord, O nay soul.”
I. The blessed occupation. How, then, can we bless God?
1. God blesses us by thinking well of us, and we bless God by thinking well of Him. Think deeply of what the Lord has done. Do not pass His mercies over superficially, but look into them. Do not cease to think of the covenant of electing love, of everlasting faithfulness, of redeeming blood, of pardoning grace, and all the ways in which eternal love has shown itself.
2. We also bless God when we wish Him well. Sit down and wish that all men knew God, that all men worshipped Him; and let your wishes blaze up into prayers. Wish that all idols were abolished, and that Jehovah’s name would be sung through every land by every tongue. Wish well to His Church, His cause, His people, and all that concerns His glory.
3. You can bless God by speaking well of Him. Have you said anything to praise God to-day?
4. Bless His name by acts and deeds of holy service and consecration Do it with hand, and purse, and substance, and sacrifice.
II. The commendable manner mentioned. Half the virtue of a thing lies in the way in which it is done. Now, in the service of God, it is net only what you bring, but in what spirit you bring it.
1. That mode of blessing God to which we are called is very spiritual—a matter of soul and spirit. The music of the soul is that which pleases the ear of God: the great spirit is delighted with that which comes from our spirit. A heart that praises Him has within itself all the harmonies that He delights in. The sigh of love is to Him a lyric, the sob of repentance is melody, the inward cries of His own children are an oratorio, and their heart-songs are true hallelujahs.
2. When we bless God, the sacred exercise should be intense. Let every part of your manhood be aroused, and so aroused as to be in fine form. Give me a man on fire when God is to be praised. Let “all that is within me bless His holy name.” A whole God, and a holy God, should have the whole of our powers engaged in blessing His holy name.”
3. The text seems to remind me that we ought to do this repeatedly, because in my text the word “bless” occurs twice. “Bless the Lord, O my soul: bless His holy name.” And in the next verse there is “bless the Lord” again. He is a triune God: render Him triune praise.
III. The sacred object of this blessing—Jehovah. I adore the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God that made the heavens and the earth. I worship the God that cut Rahab, and wounded the crocodile at the Red Sea, the God that led His people through the wilderness, the God that gave them the land of Canaan for a heritage. “This God is our God for ever and ever. He shall be our guide, even unto death.” “Bless Jehovah, O my soul.” Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, we worship Thee; we bless Thee! Do you love a holy God? While you bless Him for His mercy, do you equally bless Him for His holiness? You bless Him for His bounty, but do you feel that you could not thus bless Him if you were not fully aware that He is perfectly righteous? “Bless His holy name.” Aye, when that holiness burns like fire, and threatens to devour the guilty, let us still bless His holy name! When we see His holiness consuming the great Sacrifice, we bow before the Lord in deep dread of soul, but we still bless His holy name. An unholy God! It were absurd to think of such a thing; but a thrice-holy God—let us bless and praise Him.
IV. The suitable monitor. Who is it that says to David, “Bless the Lord, O my soul”? Why, it is David talking to David. The man speaks to himself. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A song of praise
This psalm is a type of intelligent thanksgiving—an expression of sanctified emotion based upon sanctified thought. We see at once how this true emotion is distinguished from mere formal thanksgiving by the words, “all that is within me”—words which appeal to the very deepest feelings of the heart. But we also notice how, as so often in Scripture, a caution is associated with the highest devotional feeling at the point where one in the ardour of holy rapture forgets for the moment that he is a sinful man in a sinful world: “Bless the Lord, O my soul! yet, my soul, thou art weak and fallible, and prone to forget these very mercies which are calling forth thy praise. Forget not all His benefits.” It is with blessings much as with troubles: few people, comparatively, have great catastrophes in their life, and few have great, colossal joys. There is only the daily succession of little, commonplace pleasures, and we foolishly get into the way of attaching little importance to anything which is not of the nature of a crisis. Go back over your life and pick up the happy times—the day your little child began to walk; the day your boy graduated with honour; the many evenings you have come home tired and have found rest, and light, and warmth, and pleasant words at home; how many happy hours over a book or in conversation with a friend. These, after all, are the benefits which make up the staple of our life. They seem to be little blessings, perhaps because they are so common, yet if we number all God’s benefits we shall find the sum of them very great. The psalmist specifies certain causes for thanksgiving; and the first of these is very significant—the forgiveness of his sins. And rightly, because this is essentially the first fact in all thanksgiving, and is therefore the key not only to this psalm, but to the whole great lesson of Christian thankfulness. Having thus laid this spiritual foundation for a true thanksgiving, the psalmist now passes to mention temporal mercies, yet, possibly, all along with an undertone of spiritual meaning. God healeth all diseases, redeemeth the life from death, ministers to the healthful appetite with good things, makes His child strong and vigorous as the eagle. The association of these benefits directly with God imparts to them a spiritual suggestiveness such as they may well have in this psalm. They are not only pleasant facts, but types of spiritual good. He healeth all thy diseases, but the most deadly disease of all is sin. Thy mouth is satisfied with the kindly fruits of the earth, yet man lives not by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Thy youth and vigour are renewed like the eagle’s, but thou knowest too what it is to be strengthened with might by God’s Spirit in the inner man. And now, through all these things—forgiveness, redeeming, renewing—God is working toward an ulterior purpose. “He crowneth thee.” God’s work is not finished in the forgiveness of sins. If a prince were to take a beggar out of the street in order to make him the heir to his throne, would his work be done when he had washed and decently clothed him? No. He must be trained for his position. All that kingly power and fatherly love can command must combine to fit him to be a king. The redeemed sing to Him who not only washed them from their sins, but also made them kings and priests. And as we reach the close of the psalm we find its keynote struck again. It is a psalm of thanksgiving, but it tells us that true thanksgiving can be only within the sphere of God’s accepted sovereignty, from the standpoint of voluntary allegiance to Him. The foundation of all thanksgiving is that God reigns—the foundation of our individual thanksgiving is that God is our King. (M. R. Vincent, D.D.)
Divine goodness celebrated
I. The mercies enumerated.
1. Benefits bestowed.
(1) Personal. Life, health, food, etc.
(2) Spiritual. The great gift of His Son, Gospel ordinances, Word, Spirit, etc.
2. Iniquities forgiven.
(1) We are all chargeable with iniquities.
(2) They are many.
(3) God forgives all.
(4) This forgiveness is communicated through repentance and faith in Christ.
3. Diseases healed.
(1) Bodily.
(2) Spiritual.
4. Redemption from destruction.
5. A crown of lovingkindnesses and tender mercies.
II. The thanks presented.
1. He blesses God.
2. He does this with all his soul.
3. He calls upon all within him to join in the work of praise.
4. He purposes a lively remembrance of God’s goodness. “And forget not all His benefits.” He would keep it before his eyes; he would be constantly meditating upon it; morning and evening, and in the night watches, etc.
Application.
1. The amazing extent and profusion of the Divine goodness.
2. The immense obligations we are under to serve and bless God. (J. Burns, D.D.)
Worship
Worship means recognition of worth, doing homage to goodness. Even when the worth is limited, as in the case of a good man, the recognition should be cordial. When the homage is offered to Infinite Goodness all the gifts of mind and heart should be brought into play, so as to yield the maximum of worship and recognition. The Lord our God ought to be loved and served with all the heart, and soul, and strength, and mind. Unhappily, in no department of human conduct do the ideal and the reality lie further apart than in religious worship and in religious life. What then are the conditions under which it is possible to render such a service as is illustrated in this exquisite psalm?
1. Faith, or a right conception of God, a right idea of God. We must believe in a God whose character is fitted to inspire devout thought and excite religious affections of reverence, trust, gratitude, and admiration; such a God, that is to say, as is presented to our view in this psalm. He must bless God in a feeble, cold, hesitating fashion, who is all the time not sure whether his Divinity be worthy of worship. The lips say: “God is good”; the mind thinks only of the chosen objects of an arbitrary favouritism. The tongue declares: “God loveth the right”; the reason asks: “Why then do bad men prosper and good men pine?” If we are to worship and serve God aright, this antagonism between word and thought must be overcome. We must believe in a God whose name is a veritable gospel of gladness to our souls
2. Sincerity. Everywhere in Scripture we find great stress laid upon this condition of efficient service. The perfect man in the Bible is not the man without fault, but the man of single-hearted devotion who loves and serves God. Faults in conduct, errors of judgment, infirmities of temper there may be in abundance. The one quality that redeems, ennobles character is self-devotion without reserve to the Divine kingdom of the Gospel, to the cause that is worth living for.
3. Liberty. No one can say with emphasis, “O Lord, truly I am Thy servant,” unless he also is able to say, “Thou hast loosed my bonds.” There are bonds which keep men from being religious, or from being devoted in religion, and there are bonds springing out of religion itself by which many saintly souls are bound. Everything pertaining to religion—worship, creed, practice, tends to become an affair of routine, ceremonial, formula, mechanical habit. Fetters are forged for soul and body, for every faculty of our composite nature—for hand, tongue, mind, heart, conscience. And by such as are in bondage it is regarded as a mark of piety and sanctity to wear with scrupulous care all these grievous fetters. There are times, however, when the bondage becomes unbearable, and the human spirit rises in rebellion and asserts its liberty. Such an epoch is a veritable year of jubilee, when minds are emancipated from worn-out commonplaces, and hearts are enlarged into original and heroic love, like rivers in flood overflowing their banks, and “consciences are purged from dead works to serve the living God.” It is “the acceptable year of the Lord,” “acceptable” to redeemed men, though regarded with pious horror by the slaves of tradition, and “acceptable” to God also. For, be it understood, God takes no pleasure in spiritual bondage. God gets no glory from that sort of thing. His glory is bound up with liberty, for with liberty came opening of closed lips, unsealing all the fountains of religious emotion, locked up by the frosts of a dreary winter, awakening all dormant powers of thought, whereupon once more men bless God with “all that is within them.” (A. B. Bruce, D. D.)
The Christian’s gladness deeply rooted
How vigorous was the plant of joy in the writer’s heart. And why? Because its roots were spread far and wide in a nourishing soil. In the experience of God’s forgiving love and ever bountiful kindness to himself, in the recognition of God’s sure friendliness towards all that are oppressed, in the remembrance of the vast past of His lovingkindness to His people, in a large, real, partnership of joy with “all them that fear Him,” and in an exultant realization that God and gladness ruled the universe, did this cheery saint and singer root his joy. What a poor feeble plant is the happiness of many professed Christians! And no wonder—for it lacks strong and ample roots. No sufficient time or pains are given that thought and affection may spread abroad in the rich nourishing ground of God’s vast goodness and lovingkindness. Take time to be happy—to be exultingly and persistently happy in God and His salvation! (C. G. M.)
The harp of the heart
A more wonderful instrument than any which Israel’s psalmist ever struck is carried in the human breast. Upon its “ten strings” the hand of God often strikes, and evokes most sublime melody. The one hundred and third psalm was originally played upon this harp of the heart. Its keynote is, “Bless the Lord, O my soul! let all that is within me bless His holy name.” At another time the strains of that harp were inexpressibly plaintive and mournful. They were like the wail of a sick child. “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness. Against Thee have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.” Happy is the man who can begin to rehearse for heaven by attuning his heart to the will of God. He is like the old psalmist’s psaltery, every wind that Providence sends only makes music in him. Even boisterous gales of adversity call forth grand and sublime strains of resignation. When he is in trouble, he “giveth songs in the night.” The kind acts he performs for others touch sweet chords in his memory. And amid all the harsh and jangled discords of this world, such a Christ-loving soul is a harp of gold making constant melody in the ear of God. (T. L. Cuyler, D.D.)
Praising with the soul
When the photographer fits that iron rest at the back of your head and keeps you waiting ten minutes, while he gets his plates ready, why, your soul goes out of town, and nothing remains but that heavy look! When the work of art is finished, it is you, and yet it is not you. You were driven out by the touch of that iron. Another time, perhaps, your photograph is taken instantaneously, while you are in an animated attitude, while your whole soul is there; and your friends say, “Aye, that is your very self.” I want you to bless the Lord with your soul at home as in that last portrait. I saw a book wherein the writer says in the preface, “We have given a portrait of our mother, but there was a kind of sacred twinkle about her eyes which no photograph could produce.” Now, it is my heart’s desire that you do praise God with that sacred twinkle, with that feature or faculty which is most characteristic of you. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Psalms 103:2
Forget not all His benefits.
Remembrance of God’s benefits
I. Some of those things we have to remember.
1. The pardon of sin.
2. The various providential mercies we have received during our lives.
3. The hope of a renewed life beyond the grave.
II. Some of the advantages attending this recollection of the Divine goodness.
1. It will convince us of the fact of God’s providential care of us.
2. It will preserve us from undue despondency under the adverse providences of God.
3. It will help us to connect the thoughts of God with every detail of our common life.
III. A few directions for the discharge of this duty.
1. Take no step in life without a previous reference to the law of God.
2. Remember those seasons of life in which Divine providence appeared for you in a remarkable manner. All have such seasons: your first settlement in life—your going out into a situation—the choice of a trade or profession—the first definite step.
3. Remember that it will be utterly inexcusable hereafter if we pass through life without the recognition of God. (W. G. Barrett.)
Motives to gratitude
I. Some of the mercies which we are called on to acknowledge.
1. The possession of life.
2. The continuance of bodily health and enjoyment.
3. Protection from numerous dangers, and the supply of constantly returning wants.
II. The manner in which this acknowledgment should be made.
1. Grateful emotions should be felt in the heart.
2. The devout and grateful aspiration of the heart to God.
3. The offering of praise and thanksgiving in public, that others may be encouraged, and may unite with you in the delightful exercise.
4. Corresponding devotedness of life to God must accompany these feelings of the heart, and these public expressions of thanksgiving. (Essex Remembrancer.)
Why we should bless God for His mercies
I. For the sake of the mercies themselves. Are they not worth it? Is there a year, a day, an hour, which is not crowded with them?
II. For the sake of the giver. If they came from a dear earthly friend, should we not prize them for friendship’s sake? If they flowed from royal bounty, would we not be profuse in our praise and feel burdened with a sense of our obligation? But all our mercies are the gifts of God our Heavenly Father; they are the purchase of infinite love; they flow to us through Christ. We can render no returns for them save gratitude, praise and service.
III. For the sake of our example—our influence on others. The tone and tint of our religion go very far in impressing ethers. One happy, bright, ever rejoicing and praising Christian will impart cheer and life to a whole circle, while one gloomy, despondent, ever-mourning disciple will chill a prayer-meeting, and often a whole church.
IV. For their own sake. It is their birthright. It is honouring to God their Saviour. It is in harmony with the spirit and purpose of the Cross. It is the spirit of the heavenly world. It is the first notes of the song everlasting that will resound through all the mansions of glory and give expression to the gratitude and harmony of the redeemed. (Homiletic Review.)
The believer gratefully recounting his mercies
I. The exhortation given. Show that you do not slight the benefits which God has bestowed upon you, but hold them up, and evidence your gratitude before God and the Church.
1. Publicly.
2. In private.
3. By your actions.
II. The benefit declared. “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities,” Not a part of them; not the greatest sins which we may have committed, to the exclusion of the less.
III. The communication made. “Who healeth all thy diseases.” And truly our diseases are many. Look at the disease of the understanding. Although it may be brought by tuition to the comprehension of much that relates to our redemption, it is nevertheless totally incapable of comprehending Divine things, unless God heals it; for the understanding is so corrupted by sin, that “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them.” And how is this done? The operation of the Spirit of God consisteth in letting light into the understanding—the light of life—Jesus Christ our Lord. So there is the rectification of the will. Though our wills are naturally stubborn, and we are inclined to turn to that which is opposed to God, and to turn from God, yet let but the Holy Spirit enter into our understandings and our wills, and then we find rectitude. Thus He “healeth” our will. He further gives a direction to our affections. For the affections of the heart are all alienated. But God the Holy Spirit communicates an impulse to the soul, whereby the poisonous influences of this terrestrial atmosphere are so far counteracted that they shall not be fatal to our souls.
IV. A deliverance accomplished. “Who redeemeth thy life from destruction”—i.e. from the consequences of sin, from the love of sin, from the fear of death; and from eternal torment.
V. The reception of a promised blessing. “Crowning” the soul here denotes the application of these wonderful mercies, which God has communicated to us in Christ. It signifies the enjoyment of them all. It further signifies power over sin and Satan.
VI. The gratification of the spiritual appetite. “Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things.”
VII. “thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” This expression is used to signify, that saints, through the grace of God, even in old age become “fat and flourishing, steadfast and unmovable,” “fruitful in every good word and work.” They “run and are not weary, they walk and do not faint”; and they rejoice in the approach of their end. (T. B. Baker, M.A.)
The memory
By “memory” two things are designated, which are really very distinct; the one is the power of bringing past experience into consciousness; and the other is the power of retaining past experience in the mind out of consciousness. Suppose I meet a friend. He says to me as we meet, “What is the Latin for door?” I answer at once, “Janua.” The question has brought this Latin word at the moment into my consciousness, and we say that I remembered it. But if I am a Latin scholar there are thousands of Latin words in my mind; not in the sense of being at present in my consciousness—because all the Latin I am conscious of at the moment is “janua”—but in the sense that I am capable of bringing them into consciousness when required. Perhaps it would be a good thing if in English these two powers were designated by two words instead of one. They are in other languages. This is the difference in German between “erinnerung” and “gedachtniss”; and in French between the word “souvenir” and “memoire.” Perhaps in English the power of bringing past experience into present consciousness might be called “recollection,” while the word “memory” might be reserved for the other power of keeping past experience in the mind out of consciousness. This latter power of keeping past experience in the mind out of consciousness is in some respects the most extraordinary feature in the whole realm of psychology. You might put it in this way, that at the back of our present consciousness—I mean the consciousness of the moment—there stretches within us a vast treasury or magazine in which past impressions are stored. In some people it is larger, in others smaller; in some minds it may be slight, in others well arranged. You can hardly help thinking of it, in some people, as comparable to one of the huge warehouses of this city, where the passages are like streets for length, and there are ever so many departments, but everything is in its own place. Things that are like one another are found near one another, and the master has complete hold over all his possessions. But where is this storehouse? Has it a local habitation? Is it in the head, or where is it? Perhaps there is nothing which is so antagonistic to a materialistic view of the human mind. You know materialism holds that thought is simply a movement of matter; but if so, in what form do these modifications of matter continue so as to be remembered? If they were additions to the matter of the brain, however slight, they would very soon expand far beyond the holding power of the skull. If they were marks, like tracks or other marks, they would soon be covered up, so as to be wholly irrecoverable. The spiritual view looks on mind, as a whole, as a mystery; and it refers, especially this aspect of memory, to the region of mystery, and that is obviously where it belongs; and though in the act of remembering, as perhaps in every mental act, the mind uses the brain as its organ, the brain is no more to be identified with the mind than the musical instrument is to be identified with the person who is playing. “Great,” says St. Augustine in his confessions, “great is the force of memory, O my God; a large and boundless chamber! Who ever sounded the bottom thereof? And men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty billows of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, and pass themselves by.” The second power to which the name of memory is applied is the power of bringing past experience into present consciousness. Now, in comparison with the great magazine which I have described, this power of memory takes place on a very limited stage. It is as if in front of this silent magazine there were erected a platform, to which the images of the magazine could at any time be summoned. The summons occasionally is very slight. All that is necessary often is that a passing thought should appear on the platform, when immediately a thought like it comes from within. Perhaps a whole bevy of them may come. For instance, one will go home at the holiday time to his native place, and will take a walk in some scene of beauty which he used to frequent in his boyhood; and as you go along at every step the images of the past will throng out on you, the faces of your companions and their merry talk. “On this seat,” you will say to yourself, “I used to sit with so-and-so by my side; at that turn of the road I once thought on such a subject; across the ravine some one’s voice once called to me.” Images will pour out of the past on you in a perfect tumult, and you will be astonished at the vividness and minuteness of the reproduction. At other times, however, the summons has to be louder and more urgent. Sometimes, when you call for the images of the past, they will not come. Perhaps the wrong ones come, and you have to order them back to their places again. However loud you call they will not come, and you may have to go into the magazine, and search about in odd corners, and tumble things over, and at last you say, “Ah, there it is; I remember.” Or perhaps after all your searching you are baffled, and you say, “No, I am beaten; I cannot remember.” If we remembered everything we should be embarrassed with our riches. As a rule, older impressions push out newer ones, though in old age this law is reversed, although in every mind there are some memories that never become dim:
“Time but the impression deeper makes,
As streams their channels deeper wear.”
But the rate at which memories become dim and sink out of sight is extremely different in different minds; and one of the excellences of what is called a good memory is to have a large domain of reminiscence permanently within one’s grasp. Every man of great ability thus holds sway over a wide domain of acquisition and experience. Another excellence of memory is the power of committing things rapidly to heart., as we call it. This also varies exceedingly in different persons. In some it has been almost miraculous. It is said, for instance, that the scholar Scaliger committed the Iliad to heart in three weeks, and even more astonishing feats of memory have been accomplished by men who were not in the least distinguished in other directions. And a still more curious thing is that such persons have sometimes been able to retain the things they thus rapidly committed to memory. But, as a rule, what comes quickly goes quickly. An advocate, for instance, may get up quickly details of a complicated case, and perhaps along with that the outlines of a whole science, for a particular occasion, but as soon as the occasion is past, the whole thing goes out of his memory. Perhaps the most enviable excellence of memory is the copious and ready delivery of its contents as occasion requires. It is this that makes the happy historian, because, as he writes, he can recall parallel incidents from other histories. It is this that makes the good speaker, because, as he speaks, his memory calls principles and illustrations unto his mind from which he can select what is most suitable. It is this that makes the fortune of the conversationalist; whereas the speaker who has not this quality of memory makes all his best remarks to himself on the way home after the occasion is past. The conditions of a good memory are very simple and are worth remembering. The first is, that we must attend to things as they are entering the mind. The more we attend to them at the time they are entering the mind, the more easily will we remember. Then, secondly, we remember what we have repeatedly attended to. The oftener we think of things, the more likely are we to remember them. But most important of all is emotion—to mix things as they enter the mind with emotion. Now, this will easily guide us to the religious use of memory, and I cannot help regarding it as a fortunate circumstance that we are discussing this subject to-day, because there is no day so consecrated to memory as the last Sabbath of the year. “Forget not all His benefits.” That is the first religious use of memory. I am sure none of us can look back over the past year, however carelessly, without observing how good God has been to us, to our families, to our Church; but we shall remember these benefits the better the more we attended to them at the time when they happened. Even, however, if we did not attend to them then, we can compel the memory to give them up. We can go into the magazine which I described, and search for what we have lost or forgotten. We can go back to the beginning of the year, and trace downwards till to-day the footsteps of our Almighty Guide. Then the other great religious use of memory, especially on a day like this, is to remember our sins. Some of them, like God’s mercies, can he seen the moment we turn our eyes in that direction, because all of us during the year have committed some sins that burn in the memory. Others may need to be called up out of the place where they are loitering because at the time they were not much Observed, our consciences not being keen. It is only as we look back on a day like this, over an important stretch of life, that we see how little use we have made of golden opportunities; how little we have grown; how little we have done; how seldom we have prayed. It is no pleasing task thus to recall our sins of the past, but it may be a very salutary one. Better to recall them now than to recall them in a place of woe. Do you remember the first word spoken to one in that place? What did Abraham say to the rich man? It was, “Son, remember.” Memory is the worm that dieth not. (J. Stalker, D.D.)
Count up your mercies
I. The philosophy, which underlies all true praise of God, is exceedingly slender in its analysis; there is no ponderous weight or tedious intricacy in its development.
1. Grateful thanksgiving is the most reasonable of all human duties, for the earliest instincts of our redeemed nature turn us towards the immediate acknowledgment of our vast spiritual favours received. The common courtesies and interchanges of civilities in life require the outward expression of gratitude.
2. This decent duty is easily performed. Peace is very uncertain and hard to attain, for the devil is continually coining out accusations against each believer. Repentance in ourselves has sometimes to be sought carefully, and with as many tears; for the heart of man remains stony, and is frequently in exposure by reason of regnant corruption. Gratitude is so spontaneous and natural, that a generous and manly soul has often to cheek its profuse outflow by some external force of reserve. It is actually harder to repress it than to exercise it; one is compelled to be sullen, morose, or malicious, in keeping it back.
3. Praise is the oldest duty in performance on the records of the race. Before faith was required in the human heart, before there was the least reason for repentance, when our first parents dwelt in primal purity within the undefiled precincts of Paradise, even then they cherished the spirit of thankfulness, and sang their songs of simple adoration. Hence the privilege of “blessing” the Lord is older than justification, older than sanctification, older than prayer, older than sacrifice.
4. Grateful praise is the longest-lived of all human obligations. It is a duty and a privilege which will never end. As the supreme truths of celestial knowledge, and the supreme felicities of glorified enjoyment, which God means to give to the redeemed, are disclosed, our souls will assuredly swell with a fresh enthusiasm, our voices will grow tremulous in the expression of a new exultation. Thanksgiving is to enter into the serene perpetuity of eternal communion with each other and with God.
II. What are the advantages which accrue from the habit of grateful praise?
1. We need not go far to find vivid illustrations of the effects produced upon one’s temper and heart by a songful spirit of grateful acknowledgment. We will admit that there is much to test human patience all around us; but the question is, What are we going to do about it? We can treat the world in one of two ways. We can carp at it, and grow morose in our feeling; or we can rise cheerfully above it, and diligently seek for those kind mitigations which Divine wisdom has made to accompany all our vexatious experiences. We can wear our lives out discontentedly, finding fault with everything that is an annoyance to us; or we can labour trustfully on, recognizing the good, and ingeniously endeavouring to counteract and balance the evil. What we think, settles what we shall become.
2. But now add to this, that a determinate cheerfulness of praise really seems to modify work. Gratitude transmutes our disciplines into evidences of love. It is related of one of the most distinguished clergymen in England, that he always read at the family: altar, on Saturday evening, this one hundred and third psalm. But his wife died. For a moment he waited; and then he said quietly, “I see no reason why we should not choose our usual song to-night.” There is in the writings of old Thomas Fuller one curiously quaint paragraph, which I have often wanted to quote: “Lord, my voice by nature is harsh and untunable, and it is vain to lavish any art to better it. Can my singing of psalms be pleasing to Thy ears which is unpleasant to my own? Yet, though I cannot chant with the nightingale, or chirp with the blackbird, I had rather chatter with the swallow, yea, rather croak with the raven, than be altogether silent. Hadst Thou given me a better voice, I would have praised Thee with a better voice; now what my music wants in sweetness, let it have in sense—singing praises with my understanding. Yea, Lord, create in me a new heart, therein to make melody, and I will be contented with my old voice, until, in Thy due time, being admitted unto the choir of heaven, I have another, more harmonious, bestowed on me.” He does the best work, in this moping, croaking age, whose cheerful face gives the benediction of a happy heart wherever a heavy step is treading along just behind him. Think of the martyr Ignatius exclaiming, “Oh, would that I could do what would make all the earth adore Thee, and psalm to Thee.” (C. S. Robinson, D.D.)
Yesterday’s mercies forgotten
What recollections have we of the sunsets that delighted us last year? The energy of an impression fades from the memory and becomes more and more indistinct every day. We constantly affirm that the thunderstorm of last week was the most terrible one we ever saw in our lives, because we compare it, not with the thunderstorm of last year, but only with our faded and feeble recollection of it. (John Ruskin.)
Insufficient gratitude
It is no less certain, however, that we are not so wide awake to the wrongfulness of insufficient gratitude. We are all prone to let ourselves off too easily in this respect. We let slip the memory of benefits conferred, or we fail to see our obligation for acts of unselfish service rendered to us by our best friends. We take things too much as a matter of course, not only in human relationships, but in the sphere of religion. Dante has a place in the Inferno for those who were sullen and gloomy in God’s sweet air; failing to perceive or acknowledge the Divine benefits on earth, they were condemned to continue sullen in the under-world. We are not ungrateful, but our gratitude costs us little. (R. J. Campbell.)
A song of praise
Like stately pillars supporting a solemn temple, three noble psalms, placed side by side, exalt the glory of Jehovah: 103 glorifies the God of grace; 104 the God of nature; 105 the God of history. Each springs from a strong pedestal of adoration, and is crowned with a rich capital of praise.
I. This is a psalm of humanity. It is a true psalm of life; the experience of a throbbing human heart; born of the Holy Ghost, in travail of soul, amid the exigencies of weakness and sin, into the rapture of Divine compassions. All the darkness and evil of the world it knows, but suffers these only to enhance the richness of the life with God into which we move. This great achievement is won by finding out God.
II. This is humanity’s psalm of adoration to God. We see His throne exalted, His kingdom stretched abroad; His angelic hosts above, His inanimate works, below, called upon to praise Him. His eternal power and Godhead, His everlasting years, are set before us in great majesty. Think rightly on God, and all that is within you will bless Him; and this will bless you. If our life had more praise, it would feel less drudgery. “Forget not,” unworthy source of so much ingratitude, despondency, distrust. “Count your mercies.”
III. A great truth and a great duty.
1. God offers the penitent a full redemption.
2. Accept this full redemption. (C. A. South-gate.)
A song of praise
I. The object of praise. The living, not the imagined, the present, not the remote God, by His own inbreathings, called forth this tribute to Himself from a heart in which He dwelt. Sublime in His being, He is oftenest called Preserver, Judge, Father, King. In these several relations He is brought before us in this psalm.
II. The persons and things which are summoned to praise. The grossest confounding of body and spirit then prevailed; yet the soul was a term which all understood, though few could explain. This, the direct inspiration of the Almighty, would naturally be the first to perceive and respond to Divine favours. It is bidden, therefore, to express itself. The emotional, intellectual, and even animal nature may and must each offer Him its peculiar sacrifice of thanksgiving.
III. The reasons for praise. The shower of good things had been so constant, that merely to mention some of them seemed to the enthusiastic singer to ensure within himself the response he sought. He accordingly rallies his own too sluggish soul to pour forth its meed of praise, mindful of the general blessings he had received. He was prone to forget them. All are. Ingratitude is fostered by abundance. Thanklessness is more than meanness. Themistocles sadly said of the Athenians, that when a storm arose, they sheltered themselves under him as under a plane tree, which when the weather was fair again, they would rob of its leaves and branches. So do the needy multitudes cry unto God, and helped, return not to give Him glory, save here and there a stranger. Nay, more; they selfishly use their benefits to deprive Him of that honour which is His due. It was just this sin against which Jehovah had cautioned Israel (Deu_32:15). And so, as if writing down the long list of gifts that he may count them, the psalmist would beget a fit return. This psalm has been called “a little Bible within the greater.” It is a striking revelation of the being, character, and purpose of God. It is also a clear portrayal of the origin, doings, needs, blessings, and destiny of man. (Monday Club Sermons.)
A song of praise
I. Thanksgiving for personal benefits.
1. Thanks for forgiveness and inward healing.
2. Thanks for redemption and glory.
3. Thanks for intermediate blessings.
There is a long journey from the mouth of the pit of destruction, whence God has rescued us, to the gate of glory by which God will bring us in to receive our everlasting inheritance. On that way we are not left to our own resources. He gives us the supplies needful for the journey, and ministers the strength with which we may reach the end.
II. Praise to the character of God.
1. The righteousness and judgment of the Lord (Exo_33:13).
2. The mercy and grace of God (Exo_34:6-7).
III. The measure of God’s mercy.
1. Heavenly greatness (verse 11; Rom_5:20).
2. Infinite forgiveness (verse 12).
3. Fatherly pity (verse 13).
4. The shortness of man’s day and the eternity of God’s mercy (Psa_103:15-17).
5. A solemn reminder (verse 18).
IV. A universal call to praise (Psa_103:19-22). Let us who have been forgiven, renewed in the inner man, redeemed from destruction, whose lives have been crowned with lovingkindness and tender mercy, take up the song of thanksgiving, and so, perchance, extend His mercies to those who are yet strangers to it, by setting forth His benefits as we have come to know them in our own experience. (G. F. Pentecost, D. D.)
A soul’s song to God
The singer of this melody, whoever he may have been, has left behind him the valley and has climbed to magnificent heights; yea, on the suburbs of heaven, he sings with impassioned ardour of the goodness of his God, and, finding his voice inadequate to give vent to his gratitude, he summons a goodly choir—the works of God, the ministers of God, the angels of God—to accentuate the joyful strains and to make His praise glorious.
I. A blessed exercise. Some one has said that the Christian ought to be like a horse that has bells on his head: so that he cannot go anywhere without ringing them and making music. His whole life should be in harmony; every thought should constitute a note; every word he utters should be a component part of the joyful strain.
1. The psalmist is solicitous that his praise should be spiritual. It is his soul and not his lips he addresses. He wants nothing formal, mechanical, lifeless, spiritless.
2. The psalmist also arouses himself to unreserved adoration. “And all that is within me,” etc. Our nature is a many-stringed instrument, and every string is to contribute its quota to the symphony. If the soul is to be the leading singer, then every faculty of our mental, moral, and spiritual being, like a united choir, are to render the chorus.
3. The psalmist also urges himself to personal adoration. “O my soul.” He begins with himself, and, albeit he goes out from himself and seeks to engage others in singing unto God, he comes back and concludes his exhortation with himself as the subject. Let the trees clap their hands, let the ocean lift up its voice, etc. “ Bless the Lord, O my soul.”
II. A reasonable exercise. In praising God, we perform one of the highest and purest acts of religion. In praise, we largely eliminate the element of self, and are like the angels in performing the unpolluted service of the skies.
1. There are national benefits.
2. There are social benefits. “God setteth the solitary in families.” He has placed us together so that the cup of our life might be full. What a benediction is Home!
3. But better than all others, there are spiritual benefits of which we must take strict account. These are God’s greatest gifts to us.
(1) Forgiveness. Mercy comes to thee full-handed. Love abundantly pardons.
(2) Healing. Eyes at one time blinded by the God of this world can now see the things eternal, ears afflicted with deafness can now hear the welcome sound of God’s voice, hands once sadly paralyzed can now perform the glorious business of the King, feet which dragged from sheer impotency can now run on God’s errands with joyous alacrity, and faces once wearing the ugly scowl of sin now shine with the beauteous smile of God.
(3) Redemption.
(4) Coronation.
(5) Satisfaction.
(6) Rejuvenescence. (J. Pearce.)
Sell-exhortation to worship
I. With the whole soul. There are at least three immeasurable faculties within—intellect, imagination, conscience. All these should praise Jehovah, who is the True, for the intellect; the Beautiful, for the imagination; and the Righteous, for the conscience. Let all come out in praise, as all the powers of the harp come out under the touch of the master musician; as all the powers of the seed come out under the genial influence of the sunbeam.
II. For urgent reasons. “All His benefits.”
1. Sin is an offence; and here is forgiveness.
2. Sin is a disease; and here is healing.
3. Sin is ruinous; and here is restoration.
4. Sin is a degradation; and here is exaltation.
5. Sin is discontent; and here is satisfaction.
6. Sin is weakness; and here is invigoration. (Homilist.)
The saints blessing the Lord
You see here a man talking to himself, a soul with all his soul talking to his soul. His own soul is the first audience a good man ought to think of preaching to. Indeed, if any man desires to excite the hearts of others in any given direction, he must first stir up himself upon the same matter.
I. This exhortation is remarkably comprehensive.
1. The unity of our nature is hero bidden, in its concentration, to yield its whole self to the praise of God. No white-washed sepulchres will please the Lord,—“Bless the Lord, O my soul,”—Let the true Ego praise Him, the essential I, the vital personality, the soul of my soul, the life of my life! Let me be true to the core to my God; let that which is most truly my own vitality spend itself in blessing the Lord. My immortal soul, what hast thou to do with spending thine energies upon mortal things? Wilt thou hunt for fleeting shadows, whilst thou art thyself most real and abiding? Raise thyself on all thy wings, and like the six-winged cherubim adore thy God. But the words suggest yet another meaning,—the soul is our active self, our vigour, our intensity. When we speak of a man’s throwing his soul into a thing, we mean that he does it with all his might. My intensest nature shall bless the Lord. Not with bated breath and a straitened energy will I lisp forth His praises, but I will pour them forth ardently in volumes of impassioned song.
2. But, then, David speaks of the diverse faculties of our nature, and writes, “All that is within me bless His holy name.” The affections are to lead the way in the concert of praise. But the psalmist intended next to bestir the memory, for he goes on to say “forget not all His benefits.” Recollect what God has done for you. Thread the jewels of His grace upon the thread of memory, and hang them about the neck of praise. For mercies beyond count, praise Him without stint. Then let your conscience praise Him, for the psalm proceeds to say, “who forgiveth all thine iniquities.” Conscience once weighed thy sins and condemned thee; now let it weigh the Lord’s pardon and magnify His grace to thee. Let thy emotions join the sacred choir, for thou hast many feelings of delight; bless Him “who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies,” etc. Is all within you peaceful? Sing some sweet pastoral, like the twenty-third psalm. Let the calm of your spirit sound forth the praises of the Lord upon the pleasant harp and the psaltery. Do your days flow smoothly? Then consecrate the dulcimer to the Lord. Do you feel the exhilaration of delight? Then praise ye the Lord with the timbrel and dance. On the other hand, is there a contention within; does conflict disturb your mind? Then praise Him with the sound of the trumpet, for He will go forth with you to the battle. When you return from the battle and divide the spoil, then “praise Him upon the loud cymbals: praise Him upon the high-sounding cymbals.” What-ever emotional state thy soul be found in, let it lead thee to bless thy Maker’s holy name.
II. This suggestion is most reasonable. The Lord has given innumerable blessings to every part of our nature; all our faculties are the recipients of blessing; therefore should they all bless God in return. Every pipe of the organ should yield its quota of sound. As all the rivers run into the sea, so all our powers should flow towards the Lord’s praise. To prove that this is reasonable, let me ask one single question:—if we do not devote all that is within us to the glory of God, which part is that we should leave unconsecrated; and being less unconsecrated to God what should we do with it?
III. It is necessary. It is necessary that the whole nature bless God, for at its best, when all engaged in the service, it fails to compass the work, and fails short of Jehovah’s praise. All the man, with all his might, always occupied in all ways in blessing God, would still be no more than a whisper in comparison with the thunder of praise which the Lord deserves. Do not, therefore, let us insult the Lord with half when the whole is not enough. Jesus Christ will have of us all or nothing; and He will have us sincere, earnest, and intense, or He will not have us at all.
IV. It is beneficial.
1. It is beneficial to ourselves. To be whole-hearted in the praise of God is to elevate our faculties. Consecration is culture. To praise is to learn. To bless God is also of preventive usefulness to us; we cannot bless God and at the same time idolize ourselves. Praise preserves us from being envious of others, for by blessing God for all we have, we learn to bless God for what other people have.
2. It is also useful to others. You cannot do good more effectually than by a happy consecrated life, spent in blessing God. If there be anything that is cheerful, joyous, dewy, bright, full of heaven, it is the life of a man who blesses God all his days. This is the way to win souls. We shall not catch these flies with vinegar,—we must use honey.
V. All this is prepatratory. If we can attain to constant praise now, it will prepare us for all that awaits us. We are harps which will be tuned in all their strings for the concerts of the blessed. The tuner is putting us in order. He sweeps his hands along the strings; there is a jar from every note; so He begins first with one string, and then goes to another. He continues at each string till He hears the exact note. The last time you were ill, one of your strings was tuned; the last time you had a had debt, or trembled at declining business, another string was tuned. And so, between now and heaven, you will have every string set in order; and you will not enter heaven till all are in tune. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The keynote of the year
David sounds the tuningfork with this clear note—“Bless the Lord, O nay soul.”
I. The blessed occupation. How, then, can we bless God?
1. God blesses us by thinking well of us, and we bless God by thinking well of Him. Think deeply of what the Lord has done. Do not pass His mercies over superficially, but look into them. Do not cease to think of the covenant of electing love, of everlasting faithfulness, of redeeming blood, of pardoning grace, and all the ways in which eternal love has shown itself.
2. We also bless God when we wish Him well. Sit down and wish that all men knew God, that all men worshipped Him; and let your wishes blaze up into prayers. Wish that all idols were abolished, and that Jehovah’s name would be sung through every land by every tongue. Wish well to His Church, His cause, His people, and all that concerns His glory.
3. You can bless God by speaking well of Him. Have you said anything to praise God to-day?
4. Bless His name by acts and deeds of holy service and consecration Do it with hand, and purse, and substance, and sacrifice.
II. The commendable manner mentioned. Half the virtue of a thing lies in the way in which it is done. Now, in the service of God, it is net only what you bring, but in what spirit you bring it.
1. That mode of blessing God to which we are called is very spiritual—a matter of soul and spirit. The music of the soul is that which pleases the ear of God: the great spirit is delighted with that which comes from our spirit. A heart that praises Him has within itself all the harmonies that He delights in. The sigh of love is to Him a lyric, the sob of repentance is melody, the inward cries of His own children are an oratorio, and their heart-songs are true hallelujahs.
2. When we bless God, the sacred exercise should be intense. Let every part of your manhood be aroused, and so aroused as to be in fine form. Give me a man on fire when God is to be praised. Let “all that is within me bless His holy name.” A whole God, and a holy God, should have the whole of our powers engaged in blessing His holy name.”
3. The text seems to remind me that we ought to do this repeatedly, because in my text the word “bless” occurs twice. “Bless the Lord, O my soul: bless His holy name.” And in the next verse there is “bless the Lord” again. He is a triune God: render Him triune praise.
III. The sacred object of this blessing—Jehovah. I adore the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God that made the heavens and the earth. I worship the God that cut Rahab, and wounded the crocodile at the Red Sea, the God that led His people through the wilderness, the God that gave them the land of Canaan for a heritage. “This God is our God for ever and ever. He shall be our guide, even unto death.” “Bless Jehovah, O my soul.” Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, we worship Thee; we bless Thee! Do you love a holy God? While you bless Him for His mercy, do you equally bless Him for His holiness? You bless Him for His bounty, but do you feel that you could not thus bless Him if you were not fully aware that He is perfectly righteous? “Bless His holy name.” Aye, when that holiness burns like fire, and threatens to devour the guilty, let us still bless His holy name! When we see His holiness consuming the great Sacrifice, we bow before the Lord in deep dread of soul, but we still bless His holy name. An unholy God! It were absurd to think of such a thing; but a thrice-holy God—let us bless and praise Him.
IV. The suitable monitor. Who is it that says to David, “Bless the Lord, O my soul”? Why, it is David talking to David. The man speaks to himself. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A song of praise
This psalm is a type of intelligent thanksgiving—an expression of sanctified emotion based upon sanctified thought. We see at once how this true emotion is distinguished from mere formal thanksgiving by the words, “all that is within me”—words which appeal to the very deepest feelings of the heart. But we also notice how, as so often in Scripture, a caution is associated with the highest devotional feeling at the point where one in the ardour of holy rapture forgets for the moment that he is a sinful man in a sinful world: “Bless the Lord, O my soul! yet, my soul, thou art weak and fallible, and prone to forget these very mercies which are calling forth thy praise. Forget not all His benefits.” It is with blessings much as with troubles: few people, comparatively, have great catastrophes in their life, and few have great, colossal joys. There is only the daily succession of little, commonplace pleasures, and we foolishly get into the way of attaching little importance to anything which is not of the nature of a crisis. Go back over your life and pick up the happy times—the day your little child began to walk; the day your boy graduated with honour; the many evenings you have come home tired and have found rest, and light, and warmth, and pleasant words at home; how many happy hours over a book or in conversation with a friend. These, after all, are the benefits which make up the staple of our life. They seem to be little blessings, perhaps because they are so common, yet if we number all God’s benefits we shall find the sum of them very great. The psalmist specifies certain causes for thanksgiving; and the first of these is very significant—the forgiveness of his sins. And rightly, because this is essentially the first fact in all thanksgiving, and is therefore the key not only to this psalm, but to the whole great lesson of Christian thankfulness. Having thus laid this spiritual foundation for a true thanksgiving, the psalmist now passes to mention temporal mercies, yet, possibly, all along with an undertone of spiritual meaning. God healeth all diseases, redeemeth the life from death, ministers to the healthful appetite with good things, makes His child strong and vigorous as the eagle. The association of these benefits directly with God imparts to them a spiritual suggestiveness such as they may well have in this psalm. They are not only pleasant facts, but types of spiritual good. He healeth all thy diseases, but the most deadly disease of all is sin. Thy mouth is satisfied with the kindly fruits of the earth, yet man lives not by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Thy youth and vigour are renewed like the eagle’s, but thou knowest too what it is to be strengthened with might by God’s Spirit in the inner man. And now, through all these things—forgiveness, redeeming, renewing—God is working toward an ulterior purpose. “He crowneth thee.” God’s work is not finished in the forgiveness of sins. If a prince were to take a beggar out of the street in order to make him the heir to his throne, would his work be done when he had washed and decently clothed him? No. He must be trained for his position. All that kingly power and fatherly love can command must combine to fit him to be a king. The redeemed sing to Him who not only washed them from their sins, but also made them kings and priests. And as we reach the close of the psalm we find its keynote struck again. It is a psalm of thanksgiving, but it tells us that true thanksgiving can be only within the sphere of God’s accepted sovereignty, from the standpoint of voluntary allegiance to Him. The foundation of all thanksgiving is that God reigns—the foundation of our individual thanksgiving is that God is our King. (M. R. Vincent, D.D.)
Divine goodness celebrated
I. The mercies enumerated.
1. Benefits bestowed.
(1) Personal. Life, health, food, etc.
(2) Spiritual. The great gift of His Son, Gospel ordinances, Word, Spirit, etc.
2. Iniquities forgiven.
(1) We are all chargeable with iniquities.
(2) They are many.
(3) God forgives all.
(4) This forgiveness is communicated through repentance and faith in Christ.
3. Diseases healed.
(1) Bodily.
(2) Spiritual.
4. Redemption from destruction.
5. A crown of lovingkindnesses and tender mercies.
II. The thanks presented.
1. He blesses God.
2. He does this with all his soul.
3. He calls upon all within him to join in the work of praise.
4. He purposes a lively remembrance of God’s goodness. “And forget not all His benefits.” He would keep it before his eyes; he would be constantly meditating upon it; morning and evening, and in the night watches, etc.
Application.
1. The amazing extent and profusion of the Divine goodness.
2. The immense obligations we are under to serve and bless God. (J. Burns, D.D.)
Worship
Worship means recognition of worth, doing homage to goodness. Even when the worth is limited, as in the case of a good man, the recognition should be cordial. When the homage is offered to Infinite Goodness all the gifts of mind and heart should be brought into play, so as to yield the maximum of worship and recognition. The Lord our God ought to be loved and served with all the heart, and soul, and strength, and mind. Unhappily, in no department of human conduct do the ideal and the reality lie further apart than in religious worship and in religious life. What then are the conditions under which it is possible to render such a service as is illustrated in this exquisite psalm?
1. Faith, or a right conception of God, a right idea of God. We must believe in a God whose character is fitted to inspire devout thought and excite religious affections of reverence, trust, gratitude, and admiration; such a God, that is to say, as is presented to our view in this psalm. He must bless God in a feeble, cold, hesitating fashion, who is all the time not sure whether his Divinity be worthy of worship. The lips say: “God is good”; the mind thinks only of the chosen objects of an arbitrary favouritism. The tongue declares: “God loveth the right”; the reason asks: “Why then do bad men prosper and good men pine?” If we are to worship and serve God aright, this antagonism between word and thought must be overcome. We must believe in a God whose name is a veritable gospel of gladness to our souls
2. Sincerity. Everywhere in Scripture we find great stress laid upon this condition of efficient service. The perfect man in the Bible is not the man without fault, but the man of single-hearted devotion who loves and serves God. Faults in conduct, errors of judgment, infirmities of temper there may be in abundance. The one quality that redeems, ennobles character is self-devotion without reserve to the Divine kingdom of the Gospel, to the cause that is worth living for.
3. Liberty. No one can say with emphasis, “O Lord, truly I am Thy servant,” unless he also is able to say, “Thou hast loosed my bonds.” There are bonds which keep men from being religious, or from being devoted in religion, and there are bonds springing out of religion itself by which many saintly souls are bound. Everything pertaining to religion—worship, creed, practice, tends to become an affair of routine, ceremonial, formula, mechanical habit. Fetters are forged for soul and body, for every faculty of our composite nature—for hand, tongue, mind, heart, conscience. And by such as are in bondage it is regarded as a mark of piety and sanctity to wear with scrupulous care all these grievous fetters. There are times, however, when the bondage becomes unbearable, and the human spirit rises in rebellion and asserts its liberty. Such an epoch is a veritable year of jubilee, when minds are emancipated from worn-out commonplaces, and hearts are enlarged into original and heroic love, like rivers in flood overflowing their banks, and “consciences are purged from dead works to serve the living God.” It is “the acceptable year of the Lord,” “acceptable” to redeemed men, though regarded with pious horror by the slaves of tradition, and “acceptable” to God also. For, be it understood, God takes no pleasure in spiritual bondage. God gets no glory from that sort of thing. His glory is bound up with liberty, for with liberty came opening of closed lips, unsealing all the fountains of religious emotion, locked up by the frosts of a dreary winter, awakening all dormant powers of thought, whereupon once more men bless God with “all that is within them.” (A. B. Bruce, D. D.)
The Christian’s gladness deeply rooted
How vigorous was the plant of joy in the writer’s heart. And why? Because its roots were spread far and wide in a nourishing soil. In the experience of God’s forgiving love and ever bountiful kindness to himself, in the recognition of God’s sure friendliness towards all that are oppressed, in the remembrance of the vast past of His lovingkindness to His people, in a large, real, partnership of joy with “all them that fear Him,” and in an exultant realization that God and gladness ruled the universe, did this cheery saint and singer root his joy. What a poor feeble plant is the happiness of many professed Christians! And no wonder—for it lacks strong and ample roots. No sufficient time or pains are given that thought and affection may spread abroad in the rich nourishing ground of God’s vast goodness and lovingkindness. Take time to be happy—to be exultingly and persistently happy in God and His salvation! (C. G. M.)
The harp of the heart
A more wonderful instrument than any which Israel’s psalmist ever struck is carried in the human breast. Upon its “ten strings” the hand of God often strikes, and evokes most sublime melody. The one hundred and third psalm was originally played upon this harp of the heart. Its keynote is, “Bless the Lord, O my soul! let all that is within me bless His holy name.” At another time the strains of that harp were inexpressibly plaintive and mournful. They were like the wail of a sick child. “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness. Against Thee have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.” Happy is the man who can begin to rehearse for heaven by attuning his heart to the will of God. He is like the old psalmist’s psaltery, every wind that Providence sends only makes music in him. Even boisterous gales of adversity call forth grand and sublime strains of resignation. When he is in trouble, he “giveth songs in the night.” The kind acts he performs for others touch sweet chords in his memory. And amid all the harsh and jangled discords of this world, such a Christ-loving soul is a harp of gold making constant melody in the ear of God. (T. L. Cuyler, D.D.)
Praising with the soul
When the photographer fits that iron rest at the back of your head and keeps you waiting ten minutes, while he gets his plates ready, why, your soul goes out of town, and nothing remains but that heavy look! When the work of art is finished, it is you, and yet it is not you. You were driven out by the touch of that iron. Another time, perhaps, your photograph is taken instantaneously, while you are in an animated attitude, while your whole soul is there; and your friends say, “Aye, that is your very self.” I want you to bless the Lord with your soul at home as in that last portrait. I saw a book wherein the writer says in the preface, “We have given a portrait of our mother, but there was a kind of sacred twinkle about her eyes which no photograph could produce.” Now, it is my heart’s desire that you do praise God with that sacred twinkle, with that feature or faculty which is most characteristic of you. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Psalms 103:2
Forget not all His benefits.
Remembrance of God’s benefits
I. Some of those things we have to remember.
1. The pardon of sin.
2. The various providential mercies we have received during our lives.
3. The hope of a renewed life beyond the grave.
II. Some of the advantages attending this recollection of the Divine goodness.
1. It will convince us of the fact of God’s providential care of us.
2. It will preserve us from undue despondency under the adverse providences of God.
3. It will help us to connect the thoughts of God with every detail of our common life.
III. A few directions for the discharge of this duty.
1. Take no step in life without a previous reference to the law of God.
2. Remember those seasons of life in which Divine providence appeared for you in a remarkable manner. All have such seasons: your first settlement in life—your going out into a situation—the choice of a trade or profession—the first definite step.
3. Remember that it will be utterly inexcusable hereafter if we pass through life without the recognition of God. (W. G. Barrett.)
Motives to gratitude
I. Some of the mercies which we are called on to acknowledge.
1. The possession of life.
2. The continuance of bodily health and enjoyment.
3. Protection from numerous dangers, and the supply of constantly returning wants.
II. The manner in which this acknowledgment should be made.
1. Grateful emotions should be felt in the heart.
2. The devout and grateful aspiration of the heart to God.
3. The offering of praise and thanksgiving in public, that others may be encouraged, and may unite with you in the delightful exercise.
4. Corresponding devotedness of life to God must accompany these feelings of the heart, and these public expressions of thanksgiving. (Essex Remembrancer.)
Why we should bless God for His mercies
I. For the sake of the mercies themselves. Are they not worth it? Is there a year, a day, an hour, which is not crowded with them?
II. For the sake of the giver. If they came from a dear earthly friend, should we not prize them for friendship’s sake? If they flowed from royal bounty, would we not be profuse in our praise and feel burdened with a sense of our obligation? But all our mercies are the gifts of God our Heavenly Father; they are the purchase of infinite love; they flow to us through Christ. We can render no returns for them save gratitude, praise and service.
III. For the sake of our example—our influence on others. The tone and tint of our religion go very far in impressing ethers. One happy, bright, ever rejoicing and praising Christian will impart cheer and life to a whole circle, while one gloomy, despondent, ever-mourning disciple will chill a prayer-meeting, and often a whole church.
IV. For their own sake. It is their birthright. It is honouring to God their Saviour. It is in harmony with the spirit and purpose of the Cross. It is the spirit of the heavenly world. It is the first notes of the song everlasting that will resound through all the mansions of glory and give expression to the gratitude and harmony of the redeemed. (Homiletic Review.)
The believer gratefully recounting his mercies
I. The exhortation given. Show that you do not slight the benefits which God has bestowed upon you, but hold them up, and evidence your gratitude before God and the Church.
1. Publicly.
2. In private.
3. By your actions.
II. The benefit declared. “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities,” Not a part of them; not the greatest sins which we may have committed, to the exclusion of the less.
III. The communication made. “Who healeth all thy diseases.” And truly our diseases are many. Look at the disease of the understanding. Although it may be brought by tuition to the comprehension of much that relates to our redemption, it is nevertheless totally incapable of comprehending Divine things, unless God heals it; for the understanding is so corrupted by sin, that “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them.” And how is this done? The operation of the Spirit of God consisteth in letting light into the understanding—the light of life—Jesus Christ our Lord. So there is the rectification of the will. Though our wills are naturally stubborn, and we are inclined to turn to that which is opposed to God, and to turn from God, yet let but the Holy Spirit enter into our understandings and our wills, and then we find rectitude. Thus He “healeth” our will. He further gives a direction to our affections. For the affections of the heart are all alienated. But God the Holy Spirit communicates an impulse to the soul, whereby the poisonous influences of this terrestrial atmosphere are so far counteracted that they shall not be fatal to our souls.
IV. A deliverance accomplished. “Who redeemeth thy life from destruction”—i.e. from the consequences of sin, from the love of sin, from the fear of death; and from eternal torment.
V. The reception of a promised blessing. “Crowning” the soul here denotes the application of these wonderful mercies, which God has communicated to us in Christ. It signifies the enjoyment of them all. It further signifies power over sin and Satan.
VI. The gratification of the spiritual appetite. “Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things.”
VII. “thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” This expression is used to signify, that saints, through the grace of God, even in old age become “fat and flourishing, steadfast and unmovable,” “fruitful in every good word and work.” They “run and are not weary, they walk and do not faint”; and they rejoice in the approach of their end. (T. B. Baker, M.A.)
The memory
By “memory” two things are designated, which are really very distinct; the one is the power of bringing past experience into consciousness; and the other is the power of retaining past experience in the mind out of consciousness. Suppose I meet a friend. He says to me as we meet, “What is the Latin for door?” I answer at once, “Janua.” The question has brought this Latin word at the moment into my consciousness, and we say that I remembered it. But if I am a Latin scholar there are thousands of Latin words in my mind; not in the sense of being at present in my consciousness—because all the Latin I am conscious of at the moment is “janua”—but in the sense that I am capable of bringing them into consciousness when required. Perhaps it would be a good thing if in English these two powers were designated by two words instead of one. They are in other languages. This is the difference in German between “erinnerung” and “gedachtniss”; and in French between the word “souvenir” and “memoire.” Perhaps in English the power of bringing past experience into present consciousness might be called “recollection,” while the word “memory” might be reserved for the other power of keeping past experience in the mind out of consciousness. This latter power of keeping past experience in the mind out of consciousness is in some respects the most extraordinary feature in the whole realm of psychology. You might put it in this way, that at the back of our present consciousness—I mean the consciousness of the moment—there stretches within us a vast treasury or magazine in which past impressions are stored. In some people it is larger, in others smaller; in some minds it may be slight, in others well arranged. You can hardly help thinking of it, in some people, as comparable to one of the huge warehouses of this city, where the passages are like streets for length, and there are ever so many departments, but everything is in its own place. Things that are like one another are found near one another, and the master has complete hold over all his possessions. But where is this storehouse? Has it a local habitation? Is it in the head, or where is it? Perhaps there is nothing which is so antagonistic to a materialistic view of the human mind. You know materialism holds that thought is simply a movement of matter; but if so, in what form do these modifications of matter continue so as to be remembered? If they were additions to the matter of the brain, however slight, they would very soon expand far beyond the holding power of the skull. If they were marks, like tracks or other marks, they would soon be covered up, so as to be wholly irrecoverable. The spiritual view looks on mind, as a whole, as a mystery; and it refers, especially this aspect of memory, to the region of mystery, and that is obviously where it belongs; and though in the act of remembering, as perhaps in every mental act, the mind uses the brain as its organ, the brain is no more to be identified with the mind than the musical instrument is to be identified with the person who is playing. “Great,” says St. Augustine in his confessions, “great is the force of memory, O my God; a large and boundless chamber! Who ever sounded the bottom thereof? And men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty billows of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, and pass themselves by.” The second power to which the name of memory is applied is the power of bringing past experience into present consciousness. Now, in comparison with the great magazine which I have described, this power of memory takes place on a very limited stage. It is as if in front of this silent magazine there were erected a platform, to which the images of the magazine could at any time be summoned. The summons occasionally is very slight. All that is necessary often is that a passing thought should appear on the platform, when immediately a thought like it comes from within. Perhaps a whole bevy of them may come. For instance, one will go home at the holiday time to his native place, and will take a walk in some scene of beauty which he used to frequent in his boyhood; and as you go along at every step the images of the past will throng out on you, the faces of your companions and their merry talk. “On this seat,” you will say to yourself, “I used to sit with so-and-so by my side; at that turn of the road I once thought on such a subject; across the ravine some one’s voice once called to me.” Images will pour out of the past on you in a perfect tumult, and you will be astonished at the vividness and minuteness of the reproduction. At other times, however, the summons has to be louder and more urgent. Sometimes, when you call for the images of the past, they will not come. Perhaps the wrong ones come, and you have to order them back to their places again. However loud you call they will not come, and you may have to go into the magazine, and search about in odd corners, and tumble things over, and at last you say, “Ah, there it is; I remember.” Or perhaps after all your searching you are baffled, and you say, “No, I am beaten; I cannot remember.” If we remembered everything we should be embarrassed with our riches. As a rule, older impressions push out newer ones, though in old age this law is reversed, although in every mind there are some memories that never become dim:
“Time but the impression deeper makes,
As streams their channels deeper wear.”
But the rate at which memories become dim and sink out of sight is extremely different in different minds; and one of the excellences of what is called a good memory is to have a large domain of reminiscence permanently within one’s grasp. Every man of great ability thus holds sway over a wide domain of acquisition and experience. Another excellence of memory is the power of committing things rapidly to heart., as we call it. This also varies exceedingly in different persons. In some it has been almost miraculous. It is said, for instance, that the scholar Scaliger committed the Iliad to heart in three weeks, and even more astonishing feats of memory have been accomplished by men who were not in the least distinguished in other directions. And a still more curious thing is that such persons have sometimes been able to retain the things they thus rapidly committed to memory. But, as a rule, what comes quickly goes quickly. An advocate, for instance, may get up quickly details of a complicated case, and perhaps along with that the outlines of a whole science, for a particular occasion, but as soon as the occasion is past, the whole thing goes out of his memory. Perhaps the most enviable excellence of memory is the copious and ready delivery of its contents as occasion requires. It is this that makes the happy historian, because, as he writes, he can recall parallel incidents from other histories. It is this that makes the good speaker, because, as he speaks, his memory calls principles and illustrations unto his mind from which he can select what is most suitable. It is this that makes the fortune of the conversationalist; whereas the speaker who has not this quality of memory makes all his best remarks to himself on the way home after the occasion is past. The conditions of a good memory are very simple and are worth remembering. The first is, that we must attend to things as they are entering the mind. The more we attend to them at the time they are entering the mind, the more easily will we remember. Then, secondly, we remember what we have repeatedly attended to. The oftener we think of things, the more likely are we to remember them. But most important of all is emotion—to mix things as they enter the mind with emotion. Now, this will easily guide us to the religious use of memory, and I cannot help regarding it as a fortunate circumstance that we are discussing this subject to-day, because there is no day so consecrated to memory as the last Sabbath of the year. “Forget not all His benefits.” That is the first religious use of memory. I am sure none of us can look back over the past year, however carelessly, without observing how good God has been to us, to our families, to our Church; but we shall remember these benefits the better the more we attended to them at the time when they happened. Even, however, if we did not attend to them then, we can compel the memory to give them up. We can go into the magazine which I described, and search for what we have lost or forgotten. We can go back to the beginning of the year, and trace downwards till to-day the footsteps of our Almighty Guide. Then the other great religious use of memory, especially on a day like this, is to remember our sins. Some of them, like God’s mercies, can he seen the moment we turn our eyes in that direction, because all of us during the year have committed some sins that burn in the memory. Others may need to be called up out of the place where they are loitering because at the time they were not much Observed, our consciences not being keen. It is only as we look back on a day like this, over an important stretch of life, that we see how little use we have made of golden opportunities; how little we have grown; how little we have done; how seldom we have prayed. It is no pleasing task thus to recall our sins of the past, but it may be a very salutary one. Better to recall them now than to recall them in a place of woe. Do you remember the first word spoken to one in that place? What did Abraham say to the rich man? It was, “Son, remember.” Memory is the worm that dieth not. (J. Stalker, D.D.)
Count up your mercies
I. The philosophy, which underlies all true praise of God, is exceedingly slender in its analysis; there is no ponderous weight or tedious intricacy in its development.
1. Grateful thanksgiving is the most reasonable of all human duties, for the earliest instincts of our redeemed nature turn us towards the immediate acknowledgment of our vast spiritual favours received. The common courtesies and interchanges of civilities in life require the outward expression of gratitude.
2. This decent duty is easily performed. Peace is very uncertain and hard to attain, for the devil is continually coining out accusations against each believer. Repentance in ourselves has sometimes to be sought carefully, and with as many tears; for the heart of man remains stony, and is frequently in exposure by reason of regnant corruption. Gratitude is so spontaneous and natural, that a generous and manly soul has often to cheek its profuse outflow by some external force of reserve. It is actually harder to repress it than to exercise it; one is compelled to be sullen, morose, or malicious, in keeping it back.
3. Praise is the oldest duty in performance on the records of the race. Before faith was required in the human heart, before there was the least reason for repentance, when our first parents dwelt in primal purity within the undefiled precincts of Paradise, even then they cherished the spirit of thankfulness, and sang their songs of simple adoration. Hence the privilege of “blessing” the Lord is older than justification, older than sanctification, older than prayer, older than sacrifice.
4. Grateful praise is the longest-lived of all human obligations. It is a duty and a privilege which will never end. As the supreme truths of celestial knowledge, and the supreme felicities of glorified enjoyment, which God means to give to the redeemed, are disclosed, our souls will assuredly swell with a fresh enthusiasm, our voices will grow tremulous in the expression of a new exultation. Thanksgiving is to enter into the serene perpetuity of eternal communion with each other and with God.
II. What are the advantages which accrue from the habit of grateful praise?
1. We need not go far to find vivid illustrations of the effects produced upon one’s temper and heart by a songful spirit of grateful acknowledgment. We will admit that there is much to test human patience all around us; but the question is, What are we going to do about it? We can treat the world in one of two ways. We can carp at it, and grow morose in our feeling; or we can rise cheerfully above it, and diligently seek for those kind mitigations which Divine wisdom has made to accompany all our vexatious experiences. We can wear our lives out discontentedly, finding fault with everything that is an annoyance to us; or we can labour trustfully on, recognizing the good, and ingeniously endeavouring to counteract and balance the evil. What we think, settles what we shall become.
2. But now add to this, that a determinate cheerfulness of praise really seems to modify work. Gratitude transmutes our disciplines into evidences of love. It is related of one of the most distinguished clergymen in England, that he always read at the family: altar, on Saturday evening, this one hundred and third psalm. But his wife died. For a moment he waited; and then he said quietly, “I see no reason why we should not choose our usual song to-night.” There is in the writings of old Thomas Fuller one curiously quaint paragraph, which I have often wanted to quote: “Lord, my voice by nature is harsh and untunable, and it is vain to lavish any art to better it. Can my singing of psalms be pleasing to Thy ears which is unpleasant to my own? Yet, though I cannot chant with the nightingale, or chirp with the blackbird, I had rather chatter with the swallow, yea, rather croak with the raven, than be altogether silent. Hadst Thou given me a better voice, I would have praised Thee with a better voice; now what my music wants in sweetness, let it have in sense—singing praises with my understanding. Yea, Lord, create in me a new heart, therein to make melody, and I will be contented with my old voice, until, in Thy due time, being admitted unto the choir of heaven, I have another, more harmonious, bestowed on me.” He does the best work, in this moping, croaking age, whose cheerful face gives the benediction of a happy heart wherever a heavy step is treading along just behind him. Think of the martyr Ignatius exclaiming, “Oh, would that I could do what would make all the earth adore Thee, and psalm to Thee.” (C. S. Robinson, D.D.)
Yesterday’s mercies forgotten
What recollections have we of the sunsets that delighted us last year? The energy of an impression fades from the memory and becomes more and more indistinct every day. We constantly affirm that the thunderstorm of last week was the most terrible one we ever saw in our lives, because we compare it, not with the thunderstorm of last year, but only with our faded and feeble recollection of it. (John Ruskin.)
Insufficient gratitude
It is no less certain, however, that we are not so wide awake to the wrongfulness of insufficient gratitude. We are all prone to let ourselves off too easily in this respect. We let slip the memory of benefits conferred, or we fail to see our obligation for acts of unselfish service rendered to us by our best friends. We take things too much as a matter of course, not only in human relationships, but in the sphere of religion. Dante has a place in the Inferno for those who were sullen and gloomy in God’s sweet air; failing to perceive or acknowledge the Divine benefits on earth, they were condemned to continue sullen in the under-world. We are not ungrateful, but our gratitude costs us little. (R. J. Campbell.)
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