Don’t Forget, Tell Others

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Opening Prayer

Let me always praise You, my Lord. As long as I have breath, I will praise Your name.

Read Psalm 103:1-22

^[1]Of David. Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. ^[2] Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits- ^[3] who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, ^[4] who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, ^[5] who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. ^[6] The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. ^[7] He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: ^[8] The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. ^[9] He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; ^[10] he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. ^[11] For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; ^[12] as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. ^[13] As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; ^[14] for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. ^[15] The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; ^[16] the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. ^[17] But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children- ^[18] with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. ^[19] The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. ^[20] Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. ^[21] Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. ^[22] Praise the LORD, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the LORD, my soul.

Meditate

“Praise is not self-generating; it does not spring as a root out of dry ground. God does for us far more than we deserve, and that gives a reason to praise him” (A. Leonard Griffith).

Think Further

Today we turn to the first of Psalms 103-106, which come at the end of Book IV, a collection responding to the crisis of exile (Psa. 89), with the loss of Zion recalled in Psalm 102. The first corollary of “praise” has poignancy: “forget not all his benefits.” What did it mean to sing this psalm after exile? Forgetting had brought disaster. The call to “remember,” with correlative dangers of “forgetting,” is frequent in Scripture (do a search). While some “remembering” may be a nostalgic going back to the past, biblical remembering brings the past into the present, so that it may affect life now.

The psalm is powerfully comprehensive. The opening (1-5) is addressed to “my soul,” with fourfold “all.” I cannot avoid personal responsibility. God continues to bestow benefits, detailed with hymnic participles (the English verbs end in “s”). The center (6-18) embraces the community (“our”), detailing God’s “righteousness,” or better “righteous acts,” in history, and although mortal life seems insignificant God has made a covenant. I am part of God’s people throughout history, remembered in the covenantal Lord’s Supper. But “praise” does not stop with “those who keep his covenant” (18). As we sing we call (19-22) to all beings and all God’s works (again a fourfold “all,” including “all places”), but ending with “my soul.”

“Nothing less than the praises of angelic forces and of all the creatures of his vast realm can adequately reflect Yahweh’s greatness. But will not the little voice of the individual bringer of thanks be lost in the universal chorale? By no means. ‘Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, who like thee his praise should sing?'” (Henry Lyte, 1793-1847).

Apply

Praise is to be shared. What are some of God’s blessings to you, personally and as part of God’s people, that you can make known to others?

Closing prayer

Loving Father, I praise You for the things You have done for me. You did them, not because You had to but because You wanted to. What amazing grace.

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