For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Psalm 103:1-6, 19-22

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.

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.

A. Find Out:

1. To whom, first of all, does the psalmist call upon to praise God? v.1,2
2. Who else does he call upon? v.20-22
3. What is the first reason given for praise? v.3,4a
4. What further reason is given? v.4b,5
5. What does the Lord do for the oppressed? v.6
6. And what has He done in heaven for what reason? v.19

B. Think:

1. To whom is this psalm addressed?
2. What reasons are given for praise in v.3-5?
3. What reasons are given in v.6 & 19?

C. Comment:

  The psalm starts and finishes with a call to praise. First of all it is a call to the psalmist himself to praise the Lord (v.1,2) and then at the end a call to all of creation to praise the Lord (v.20-22).

  The main middle section which speaks about how the Lord treats sinners and frail mankind generally, we will consider separately tomorrow. That long central part is wedged between v.6 which declares how He works for the oppressed (possibly preparing the ground for the following main section) and v.19 which speaks of how the Lord rules over all things (a conclusion to having thought through all those things).

  Verses 3 to 5 speak to the psalmist himself about what God has done for him in two ways. First of all it is about how the Lord has saved him, how He has forgiven him and healed him (v.3) and saved him from an eternal separation from the Lord (v.4). But it is more than simply being saved; it is also for the life that he has been led into whereby he knows and experiences the Lord’s love and compassion (v.4b) and who meets all his needs and restores him (v.5). Although they are general principles of truth in these three verses they also seem to have a personal touch, as being about the psalmist’s own experience of the Lord. What follows is how the Lord has revealed Himself to and through Israel, but these have been about his personal experience.

D. Application:

1. Do I praise the Lord regularly for the wonder of my salvation?
2. Do I praise Him for the wonder of what He has led me into?

Passage: Psalm 103:7-18

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 harbour his anger for ever;
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.

A. Find Out:

1. How does the psalmist know so much about the Lord? v.7
2. What does he know about the Lord? v.8
3. What doesn’t He do? v.9,10
4. What does He do? v.11-13
5. What does the Lord know about us? v.14-16
6. Who are blessed, and how? v.17,18

B. Think:

1. How is God described here?
2. How does He act accordingly?
3. How does all this affect us?

C. Comment:

  We saw yesterday the call to praise God, what He did for the psalmist and the fact that He works for the oppressed. Now in this part the psalmist opens up a tremendous revelation of the Lord. If only those who say God is a hard God would read this passage! This isn’t what the psalmist has made up; it is what he has learnt about the Lord through the Lord’s dealings with Moses and Israel (v.7).

  He describes the Lord as compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love (v.8). We need to memorise this verse! Everything else about the Lord flows from it. First of all there are negative things that the Lord WON’T do: He won’t always accuse and let His anger go on (v.9), He won’t give us what we deserve (v.10). No, on the positive side His love is there for all who fear, respect and come to Him (v.11), and He takes our wrongs completely away (v.12). Going back to that first description, He is compassionate, feeling for His children (v.13) as a father understands and feels for his children.

  The Lord understands us (v.14) and knows we came from dust and that we are as frail as the grass or a flower in the field which is soon gone (v.15,16). Nevertheless His love is always there for us (v.17), for those of us who will remain in covenant relationship with Him (v.18) and His righteousness will continue through all generations (v.17).   

D. Application:

1. Hold onto the truth: God is loving, compassionate and full of grace.
2. His blessing is for all who will remain in relationship with Him.