PRAISE THE LORD
Opening Prayer
Thank you, Lord God, for the gift of worship, for the privilege that is mine to know you and offer you praise for who you are and for all you have done.
Read PSALM 103
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Psalm 103
Of David.
1 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.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
‘Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.’1
Think Further
At the outset of this psalm, the psalmist calls upon his entire being to praise the Lord for what the Lord characteristically does for him (vv. 1–5). Then the psalm looks back to the Lord’s self-revelation to Moses as a compassionate and gracious God (vv. 6–9). After that, it moves out in ever-widening circles to celebrate what God does for his people (vv. 10–14), for all humanity (vv. 15–18), until, finally, the whole creation comes into view (v. 19). It then turns to the supernatural world, calling on the angels (vv. 20, 21) and all creation (v. 22) to praise the Lord. The psalm closes as it opens, encouraging the psalmist to add his voice to the praise of the universe, like the single note of a triangle penetrating the sound of an orchestra in full flight.
Many psalms celebrate God’s great deeds in the past and what God has done for his people. In this psalm, the past is muted at best, amid all the present-tense verbs. The psalm celebrates what God is like – his settled attitude of compassion, not only toward an individual, not only toward his people and, indeed, not only toward all humanity, but toward the whole created universe.
Different verses in the psalm will stand out to different readers. For me, verses 11 and 12, in the center of the psalm, are a high point: ‘as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.’ For those with a personal relationship with the covenant God, especially those who revere his name, his love and his forgiveness are immeasurable.
Apply
Go through the psalm again and find the verse (or verses) that are your high point for today. Commit them to memory and carry them with you through the day.
Closing prayer
Holy God, I praise you for all you are to me and I thank you for your Word that continues to teach me more of who you are and what you have done.
1 Ps 103:1
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