Psalms 103 KJV
Praise for God's Mercy
About This Psalm
Bless the LORD, O my soul! A catalog of God's benefits - forgiveness, healing, redemption, love, renewal. Pure gratitude.
1less the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagleโs.
6 The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto childrenโs children;
18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
19 The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
20 Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
21 Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.
22 Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.
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Did You Know?
Psalm 103 directly echoes the divine self-revelation in Exodus 34:6-7, expanding the attributes proclaimed to Moses into a personal hymn of praise that links covenant mercy to individual experience.
The directional metaphor of removing transgressions 'as far as the east is from the west' draws on ancient cosmological ideas of infinite separation, presenting forgiveness as a spatial reality rather than mere cancellation.
By framing human frailty as 'dust' while affirming God's fatherly compassion, the psalm bridges Genesis 2-3's creation-fall narrative with ongoing relational restoration.
The eagle metaphor for renewed youth in verse 5 resonates with ancient Near Eastern royal iconography where eagles symbolized divine rejuvenation granted to kings, here democratized to all covenant people.
The shift from personal address in the opening verses to the universal throne established 'in the heavens' in verse 19 creates a literary movement from individual blessing to cosmic kingship, prefiguring apocalyptic themes in later biblical literature.