by Rev. Alex. McPherson
PSALM ONE HUNDRED AND THREE
If any Psalm ought to be familiar to us, it is this, for we sing it at every communion and on many other occasions too. It is a favourite with every child of God, for it expresses exactly how he feels towards the gracious God who redeemed him, besides describing many of the features of the great salvation known to him experimentally. The first five verses are a summons on the part of a believer to his whole heart and mind to give thankful and loving acknowledgment of the Lord’s great goodness in saving him.
Verse 1. “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”
In saying “my soul,” David just means the higher part of his being, that spiritual substance mysteriously joined to his body, which is the real person. Apart from the soul, the body is dead. So what David is saying is, “Let David, a living soul by the grace of God, bless the Lord who gave him spiritual life.”
“Bless Jehovah,” he urges himself. Bless Him who has life in Himself and is thus eternal and unchangeable, and who also has been pleased to incorporate these glorious attributes in his name as the covenant God of Israel. Jehovah is his name, the self-existent, eternal, unchanging, covenant-keeping God of Israel. “And all that is within me” — not just the words produced by my mouth, but all the fervour of thought and feeling proceeding from my heart and finding sincere expression in these words. “Bless his holy name” — as his name is his revealed character, so this is just another way of saying “Bless the Lord.” Except that the word “holy” emphasises something which all who know the Lord’s grace also realise. The Lord is pre-eminently a holy God, as the men of Beth-shemesh learned. (1 Sam. 6, v. 20). Grace has in no way lessened the perfect holiness of God. On the contrary, Calvary has only brought it more clearly to view. “O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not: and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” (Ps. 22, v. 2, 3).
But what is it to bless God? To bless is to bestow good. We speak of God blessing us with temporal gifts, meaning that He gives us good things in providence. In blessing spiritually He gives us good things in grace. We cannot, however, bestow good on God. All we can do is acknowledge that God has bestowed good on us, and that is what blessing God means.
Verse 2. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:”
David repeats the summons; he thinks it possible that he could forget God. Alas! it occurs only too frequently, and is one of the features of our own day. The beasts are not so senseless as to be unaware of the hand that feeds them, but only too often men in a Christian land forget Him in whom they live and move and have their being. God receives no thanks for the food they eat, daily preservation is ignored, harvests are brought in without the least acknowledgment of divine agency anywhere in the whole agricultural process. It is just the same situation as prevailed in Judah in Isaiah’s time: “The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.” Along with ingratitude for temporal mercies goes the callous rejection of God’s unspeakable gift. Ingratitude is a revolting sin for which none can produce an excuse. Why then is it so natural to man to forget God’s benefits?
On the other hand, gratitude is one of the earliest planted of the Christian graces, and one which speedily and often flowers. The unspeakable gift which calls it forth is so excellent that the saved soul cannot but be grateful; and it is an indication of the power of indwelling sin that it can curb Christian gratitude and produce temporary forgetfulness. David wishes gratitude to have its full sway and reminds himself that he has received many favours. “All thy benefits” — who can count them? The least effort will bring them to mind where they will act as stimulants to the heart’s praises.
Verse 3. “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases.”
The first benefit he recalls is the forgiveness of sins, forgiveness being put here for all that is entailed in the putting away of sins, pardon, justification, reconciliation and restoration to favour. It is perfectly natural that forgiveness should be the first blessing to spring to mind, for there cannot be spiritual life, or health, or the enjoyment of the Lord’s loving-kindness so long as we remain unforgiven. The divine wrath which lies on us all by nature interposes between our souls and these blessings.
Do we know this as a matter of personal experience? Have we ever confessed ourselves to be vile, and all our righteousnesses as filthy rags, saying, “Mine iniquities are gone over my head; as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me?” We cannot say that we have experienced the favour of God to our souls until we have pleaded, “Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities,” and heard, more or less distinctly, in answer to that, “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.”
Now, what every forgiven sinner knows is that he has been pardoned for Christ’s sake. In whatever other ways his knowledge may be defective, he does understand that only the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin. Even those whom John addressed as “little children” had this knowledge, that their sins were forgiven for Christ’s name’s sake. (1 John 2, v. 12). The shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ has always been the only ground of forgiveness. When no other substitute for hell-deserving sinners could be found, “God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all.” In that way God remained holy and just even while He forgave sinful men. But what a sacrifice! “God himself shall provide a lamb for a burnt offering.” Today men profess to be of so fine a fibre that they cannot accept the view that Christ’s death was a substitutionary sacrifice. They know neither the Scriptures, nor the power of God, nor indeed their own case as sinners. God has throughout his Word testified to the why and wherefore of the cross. Christ’s own witness is, “This is my blood of the new covenant which was shed for many for the remission of sins.” If you and I have had “redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace,” then we shall put foremost among the things for which we bless the Lord, the forgiveness of all our iniquities.