By David.
David was the author of this song. It was to be sung at the Jewish festivals. When Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus (1611-1632 A.D.) entered Augsburg after his victory at Leipzig, he had this psalm read. This type of scholarship by a king shows the influence of Reformation education in Europe. One hundred years earlier, the Catholic Church had banned the Bible from the common people.
103:1 Praise the Lord, O my soul! With all that is within me, praise his holy name!
Everything within the soul (personality) of man should praise the Lord. God’s name (or character) is holy (or set apart) from all other created beings. Only God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. Angels and humans are still learning about God’s character.
103:2 Praise the Lord, O my soul! Do not forget all his kind deeds!
David did not want to forget all of the kindness that God had shown to him.
103:3 He is the one who forgives all your sins, who heals all your diseases,
God is the only one who can forgive sins. When Jesus claimed that He could forgive sins, then He was claiming to be God.
God is the only one who can heal diseases. When a faith healer claims that he can heal diseases, then he is claiming an attribute of God alone. It is better to go to the Great Physician. He does not need a collection plate before or after He heals. Nor is His healing a theatrical show.
It is important to note that Satan was able to bring disease and sickness upon Job. Demons can make people sick and then withdraw the sickness at the command of the faith healer. Demons want believers to place their faith in these false faith healers, so that the faith healers can teach false doctrine to them. The false doctrine of the faith healer is always mixed with truth and error.
It is important to note that God does not always choose to heal everyone. At the end of Paul’s ministry, he was not able to heal Trophimus. Neither was Paul able to remove his “thorn n the flesh,” which may have been blindness. God will heal all diseases in the Millennial Kingdom.
103:4 who delivers your life from the Pit, who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,
God will deliver the believer from death. God will reward the believers with crowns of loyal love and compassion. The saints are only saved by the love and compassion of God.
103:5 who satisfies your life with good things, so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.
Everything that a believer owns has been given to him by God. This includes life, health, breath, air, shelter, food, clothing, location, career, money, and material things. During the Millennial Kingdom, all believers will receive a new glorified body which will be filled with youth.
103:6 The Lord does what is fair, and executes justice for all the oppressed.
There are no righteous judges on earth. God is the only Judge who is not corrupt. He is the only Judge who never makes a bad, unfair, or godless decision.
103:7 The Lord revealed his faithful acts to Moses, his deeds to the Israelites.
Jehovah proved His faithful love to Moses and the Israelites, but the majority of Israel rejected Him.
103:8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful; he is patient and demonstrates great loyal love.
Jehovah is compassionate, meaning that He is nice. He is merciful, meaning that He does not want anyone to perish. He is patient, waiting for everyone to come to Him. He demonstrates a loyal love, meaning that He keeps on loving the believer (even when the believer continually sins against God).
103:9 He does not always accuse, and does not stay angry.
Jehovah does not always accuse, but He does accuse when the cup of iniquity is full. He does not always stay angry, because judgment is His strange thing. God would rather bless than curse. He would rather love than destroy. However, He is a holy God who hates sin. He will judge sin. God is perfect, so He will not allow any sin in His perfect world.
103:10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve; he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve.
If God dealt with man the way that man deserves, then no man would be saved. God took the sins of mankind upon Himself. God paid the price for the sins of mankind.
103:11 For as the skies are high above the earth, so his loyal love towers over his faithful followers.
Just as the sky is high above the earth, so does God’s loyal love tower way above his faithful followers. His faithful followers are those who study and apply Bible doctrine. His unfaithful followers are those who believe, but choose to live carnal lives.
103:12 As far as the eastern horizon is from the west, so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions from us.
There is an eternal distance between east and west. This is the amount of distance that God places between Himself and the sins of a believer.
103:13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers.
Just as a human father loves his own children and shows them compassion, so does the Divine Father show divine compassion to His own children.
103:14 For he knows what we are made of; he realizes we are made of clay.
Humans are nothing but dust from the ground, but they have been created in God’s image.
103:15 A person’s life is like grass. Like a flower in the field it flourishes, 103:16 but when the hot wind blows by, it disappears, and one can no longer even spot the place where it once grew.
Just as grass and flowers are blown away by a hot and dry wind, so do humans blow away. After one dies, then he is quickly forgotten.
103:17 But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers, and is faithful to their descendants, 103:18 to those who keep his covenant, who are careful to obey his commands.
David was writing this song for Jewish citizens who were living under the Mosaic Covenant. Jehovah shows a faithful love to those who keep the Mosaic Covenant.
103:19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven; his kingdom extends over everything.
Jehovah’s throne is in heaven, but He is also omnipresent, being everywhere at once. His Kingdom spreads over all of the universe, even if current political leaders do not think so.
103:20 Praise the Lord, you angels of his, you powerful warriors who carry out his decrees and obey his orders!
Angels are powerful, but they also praise Jehovah.
103:21 Praise the Lord, all you warriors of his, you servants of his who carry out his desires!
Those who study and apply Bible doctrine are fighting in a spiritual war.
103:22 Praise the Lord, all that he has made, in all the regions of his kingdom! Praise the Lord, O my soul!
All of creation should praise the Lord. Every part of a person’s personality should praise the Lord.