I love the psalms.
The psalter has been called the Prayerbook of the Soul; and for good reason. You’ll find it all in the psalms.
One of my favorites is Psalm 103. Since I happen to possess a knowledge of Biblical Hebrew and an ability to perform good exegesis of the Old Testament, I decided to do a study of this beloved psalm from a Christian perspective. Be warned: this is a bit academic. I hope that nothing in this is useless to living out one’s faith in Jesus Christ. On the contrary, I hope it’s helpful. But if you are not a fan or word studies, please accept my sincere apology.
Psalm 103 is found in a very interesting place in the psalter. It comes as the final member of a trio of psalms which perfectly represents what Walter Brueggemann describes in his book, Psalms and the Life of Faith, as “psalms of orientation, disorientation and reorientation.” Psalm 101 is a psalm of orientation. It is full general statements of God’s greatness and goodness. There is no real tension or crisis. It is a simple acknowledgement of who God is. Psalm 102 is a psalm of disorientation, or a psalm of lament. The psalmist is in some kind of crisis. They cry out for God hear them. The psalm is full of words of despair, weeping, illness, being reviled by enemies and cast out by God. Psalm 103 is a psalm of reorientation or a psalm of thanksgiving. The psalmist has most likely experienced some kind of calamity and deliverance by God. If it is true that David wrote this psalm, it could be in remembrance of how God redeemed him after his affair with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah. The psalmist could also be remembering God’s redemptive work in the life of Israel as a whole, like God’s deliverance of the people out of Egypt or Babylon for instance.
What is clear is that in the larger context of the psalter, psalm 103 is the testimony that answers psalm 102’s counter testimony. The crisis was large and all seemed lost at the time. But God is a loving God who understands our limitations. But rather than holding our short-comings against us, God has compassion and rescues us from the messes we get ourselves into.
This passage comes in two sections, vv. 1-5 and vv. 6-14. In 1-5, the psalm begins with the psalmist exhorting themself to praise God. “Bless the Lord, o my soul and all that is within me, bless his holy name.” (NRSV) “The Lord” is the focus of the whole psalm, and the word actually used is “YHWH,” the unpronounceable name of God. This is important because it makes clear that the God of Israel, and no other God or earthly lord deserves this praise.
Another interesting word here is “Bless.” The verb, barak (בָּרַךְ) is an imperative that has a number of meanings. It is translated as “bless” throughout the Old Testament with different meanings. One of the most famous places is in Gen. 27:1-37 where Jacob tricks Isaac into giving him Esau’s blessing. In Genesis 27 barak means a benediction, or pronouncement of alpha status in the clan. It is Isaac wishing Jacob the power for success, fertility and prosperity. (HALOT, 160)
Here in Psalm 103 “bless” is a little different. Literally, barak means “to kneel,” or “to bend knee.” When people bless one another or God blesses people it means the one doing the blessing is stooping down to the one being blessed. Not unlike the way a parent takes a knee when speaking to a small child. But in this case, when referring to a person blessing YHWH, it carries the image of prostrating one’s self or paying homage. In this passage it means to declare YHWH the origin of the power for success, fertility, prosperity and any other good thing in life. (HALOT, 160)
The psalmist goes on to command themself to remember the good things YHWH has done for them. “Forget not” is the way they put it. Then there is a list of good things or “benefits” that YHWH has done. Here the word that keeps appearing is kal (כַל) or “all/every.” The psalmist gives YHWH total credit for the blessings they have received. They exhort “all my inward parts” or “all that is within me” (NRSV) to praise YHWH. In other words, they are praising YHWH with all of who they are, every last bit. For YHWH has forgiven all their sins, healed all their diseases. Nothing is beyond YHWH’s power to fix.
The psalmist then declares that YHWH rescues from the pit. Here “pit” or shahat (שַׁחַת) can mean either a pit-trap for catching animals or most likely, the grave, or the “under world” (Sheol). Whichever of these meanings we choose; YHWH can rescue us from even the worst possible scenario.
The passage takes a bit of a turn in the middle of vs. 4. It goes from a focus on YHWH’s power to YHWH’s kindness. Here the operative word is hesed (חֶסֶד). Hesed is a major theme in the psalter. If appears 127 time in the book of Psalms alone. This word is most often translated “steadfast love” in the English versions. Hesed can also mean “faithfulness,” “goodness,” or “kindness.” Whichever is used here, hesed is a “love” word. YHWH crowns or surrounds us with love that is faithful and will not give up on us. This theme carries through vs. 5. The exact meaning is unclear, but the reader is reminded of Isaiah 40:31 where the Lord promises that our strength will be renewed and the exhausted down-trodden will again have vigor and energy to soar with the eagles.
Section two begins with vs. 6. Here the text changes to tell of YHWH’s righteousness and grace. The section begins with YHWH acting with sedek (צֶדֶק) or “righteousness” and judging justly with regard to those who are wronged or oppressed. Verse 7 follows up with remembrance of YHWH’s self-revelation to Moses and the people of Israel long ago. In this revelation, the life-giving way of YHWH was shown to the people.
Next the psalmist moves into an exhibition of YHWH’s grace. We see again that YHWH is abounding in hesed. We are told that YHWH is slow to anger and doesn’t stay angry long. YHWH demonstrates what grace looks like. YHWH chooses not to deal with people according to their transgressions. YHWH does not keep a record of our screw-ups. Rather, YHWH takes our sins away from us as far as the east is from the west. Why? Because YHWH’s love for us is as great as the distance that heaven is above the earth.
This passage wraps up with a brief comparison between YHWH and humans. Here we see that YHWH is like a loving father. YHWH has compassion on us just like a good father has on his children. YHWH can’t stay angry at us for long because YHWH loves us too darn much. But YHWH is also different from humans. YHWH remembers how we are made. Here the word yitsrenu (יִצרֶנוּ) literally means “our frame.” YHWH remembers how we tick and how we are put together. Finally, YHWH knows that we are dust. Humans are mortal transient beings but YHWH is eternal. We can’t see the big picture because we are too small. But YHWH knows that and doesn’t expect us to.
Psalm 103 is a wonderful example of a reorienting psalm. When bad things happen to us we feel like we are being tossed about in a rough sea. We can’t tell up from down. It’s all we can do to keep our head above water, and even that may be more than we can do. We cry out to God to save us and we find ourselves set back on solid ground. Psalm 103 provides a beautiful poetic balance compared to the vertigo we experience in our laments. Each verse is in balance with two thoughts or statements. “Bless the Lord O my soul; do not forget all his benefits.” (vs. 2 NRSV) “He made known His way to Moses, His acts to the people of Israel.” (vs. 7) The first verse, which has three, is balanced out by the final verse of the psalm which also has three points.
Then best thing about all the psalms, and psalm 103 in particular, is that we can see our own experience described in the poetry. We all remember when we really made a hash of things, or when we let somebody down. We all have felt the shame of our sin and the weight of our guilt, so heavy on our shoulders that it drives us to our knees. But we all can remember when came crawling to God afraid we would be thrown away and instead found God taking our burden of guilt and placing us back on our feet, telling us that we are loved.
As Christians when we come to a reorienting psalm such as this, we see the cross. We remember that once we were dead in our transgressions. We also see the man nailed to that cross with all the shame we thought we had to carry on his shoulders and not ours. We go to the tomb and find it empty and we hear the risen Jesus call us by name. We turn in awe to look on the face of the one who loves us better than any father we ever knew before, and we ask, “What wondrous love is this, O my soul?” And at last we catch the beginning of a spark of the realization of just how high heaven is above the earth and how far east is from west. As this amazing truth sinks in, we fix our eyes back where they should have been all along. We refocus our attention and our priorities back onto the one who keeps us in the palm of their hand, and will never let us go, no matter what.
The Mirror's Enigma 