Psalm 103

What’s Happening?

In Psalm 103, the psalmist King David commands both his soul and the nation he leads to celebrate God’s compassion towards them. David first addresses his soul (Psalm 103:1). He reminds himself of all the ways God has been compassionate to him (Psalm 103:2). God has not only forgiven his sins, healed his diseases, and rescued him from certain death but showered him with love, satisfied all his desires, and given him strength when he felt weak (Psalm 103:3-5). God has been consistently compassionate to David, so he tells himself to praise his soul’s guardian and provider. 

David then addresses his nation. As a nation, they have experienced and enjoyed God’s compassion throughout their history. God’s compassion moved him to liberate them from Egyptian slavery (Psalm 103:6-7). When God’s people responded to that compassion with rebellion and hatred, God did not treat them as their rebellion deserved. Instead, he told them he is a God who is slow to anger and will abound in compassion towards them (Psalm 103:8-10). He forgave their forefathers for their rebellion and wiped their sins clean off the map (Psalm 103:11-12). Like a patient father, God’s compassionate love dealt gently with his disobedient children (Psalm 103:14-16). David then declares that God’s compassion will extend eternally into his people’s future. Since God lives forever, so must his love for his people (Psalm 103:17-19). David then ends his song by commanding the angels to join his nation in celebrating their endlessly compassionate God (Psalm 103:20-22).

Where is the Gospel?

Like David, we should remind ourselves and the people around us of God’s remarkable compassion. One way to do this is to remind ourselves of all the ways God has protected and provided for us in his love. But God’s ultimate act of compassion was demonstrated when God sent Jesus to forgive undeserving people like us.

When we look at Jesus, we see God’s compassion towards his people. Jesus’ earthly ministry was marked by forgiving sins, healing diseases, and raising people from the dead (Matthew 4:23; 9:20-25). But just like their forefathers, the people of Jesus’ day hated and rebelled against his displays of compassion and forgiveness. But Jesus was so slow to anger he refused to defend himself and allowed them to torture and kill him. Abounding in compassion, he even asked God to forgive his executioners as they nailed his hands and feet to a cross (Luke 23:34). But in his death, Jesus was doing more than simply being slow to anger. Jesus was dying as rebels deserved so that rebels like us could live as if their sins had been wiped off the map. Jesus then rose from the dead to show God’s compassion extends beyond the grave. And since Jesus now lives forever, God’s loving compassion towards his people never ends either (1 John 5:11-13).

We have all done things that have disqualified us from God’s love. But we can still sing Psalm 103 to our souls because, in Jesus, God does not treat us as our sins deserve. Because of Jesus, we are children of God who have been swallowed up in our patient Father’s never-ending compassion and love (1 John 3:1). 

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who does not treat us as our sins deserve. And may you see Jesus as the one who died and rose to show God’s loving compassion never runs out for his children.