Psalm 103:1–5 (NKJV):
1 Bless 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 forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Verse 1 explodes with blessing, worship, praise and adoration to our wonderful, blessing God!
Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! And this blessing and worship of God is not without reason or cause, verse 2:
Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits
And now those incredible, life-transforming benefits that are given to us by God who is good and loving (notice the couplets):
- 3a Who forgives all your iniquities,
- 3b Who heals all your diseases,
- 4a Who redeems your life from destruction,
- 4b Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
- 5Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
- 5b So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
And I am the recipient of such blessings!
Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
God has forgiven all my many iniquities! All because of what Christ did for me through His life of total obedience to the Father, all the way to death on the cross (Philippians 2:8, Hebrews 10:1-10).
God has healed me of cancer, of COVID-19 (twice), of many ills in my body and soul!
Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies.
God has intervened thousands of times to redeem (rescue and buy back) my life from destruction! JESUS is my Kinsman-Redeemer! He has “delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Col 2:13-14). I have even been rescued from the bullets of a gunman who came to our workplace and shot at brave police officers who were there to protect us and many others!
Not only does God lift me, redeem me and rescue me from destruction, He also “crowns me with lovingkindness and tender mercies!”
Oh, how I love that Hebrew word for “lovingkindness”: hesed! This incredible word is power-packed with God’s love toward me: a faithful and strong kind of covenant-keeping Love! This was the hallmark of King David’s life. No one else in scripture mentioned God’s hesed love more than David! I believe that God’s hesed was truly the secret behind David’s success! And God’s hesed, faithful, strong, covenant Love is also the secret behind my success!
Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
No one and no thing can satisfy the thirst, hunger and desires of our life like God Himself! No one and no thing! I’m so glad that God has created us for enjoyment, satisfaction and pleasure… and the greatest enjoyment and pleasure of our lives is God Himself!
You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11)
God is no “kill joy”. He is he architect of satisfaction and pleasure. Truly, there is no greater satisfaction and pleasure for spirit, soul and body than God Himself!
“So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s”
Even though I am in my 60’s, I take no heed to what the world says about “aging”. But I sure pay a lot of attention to what God says! He says that He renews my youth like the eagle’s! Soaring high above the dangers and problems below, lofted by His glorious presence!
As I feed and delight in God… He renews my youth!
And the wonderful thing is, I am living forever, thanks to what The Lord Jesus Christ has done for me! His life and blood spent for me! Such Love, such Love, such wondrous Love!
How I praise Him for how good He is, how loving He is, how faithful, strong, wise, forgiving, healing, redeeming, crowning, satisfying and renewing He really is!
Oh, my heart and my soul want to explode and say:
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
(c) 2022, Mark D. VanOuse