Psalm 103

Psalm 103 is a psalm of praise for who God is and what he does for his people. It appears to be composed for a solo singer to exhort worshippers in the context of communal thanksgiving.  As such it is designed not just to celebrate and praise God, but also to bolster the faith of God’s people. By reminding themselves of God’s covenant promises the people fuelled their faith for difficult times. Songs like these, as they were memorised and sung regularly by the people, were an important method of ‘keeping the lights on’ in their hearts for when things got dark as they inevitably and regularly did. While the psalm celebrates various ways in which God blesses his people the main theme here is that of the faithful love (Hebrew: Hesed) of Yahweh. The term here goes far beyond mere sentimental feelings. The hesed of Yahweh was understood to be as firm and unchangeable as the very being of God itself. God’s love is not something elicited by human qualities but bestowed by grace upon us and therefore covering a multitude of sins and enduring forever. This, then, the central assurance of the psalm and all the other ‘benefits’ flow from this. The psalmists never reduced their relationship with God to a transactional level. They were assured that God would always answer their prayers, but they also understood that Yahweh was God and that he would answer when and how he knew best. The one thing, however, that they could be assured of was God’s love and care for them. And they rested under his unchangeable nature and sovereign power by which such care was made certain.