Psalms · 22 verses
Psalms 103
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
The psalm’s eagle is a splendidly under-explained comparison: good things renew the singer’s youth “like the eagle’s,” though the particular youthful eaglely quality remains entirely at large.
A soul is given its ordersvv. 1–5
David begins by addressing his own soul as though it were a slightly forgetful member of the household. It must bless the LORD and remember the catalogue of kindness: forgiveness, healing, rescue from the Pit, a crown of devotion and compassion, and good things enough to make youth return by way of an unexplained eagle.
Dust, grass, and mercyvv. 6–18
The psalm widens from one soul to the oppressed, to Moses, to Israel, and to all who fear the LORD. The LORD is compassionate and slow to anger, does not repay in proportion to sin, and removes transgressions by the grand east-west method. Human beings, meanwhile, bloom like field flowers and vanish when the wind passes; the LORD’s devotion, rather less temporary, extends from everlasting to everlasting.
The whole dominion joins invv. 19–22
At last the psalm lifts its gaze to the heavenly throne and calls in the angels, the hosts, and every work in every place of the LORD’s dominion. All are to bless the LORD: the mighty servants who carry out his word, those who do his will, and everything else besides. The final summons returns neatly to the soul that began the psalm.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Ps 103:1Of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul; all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Ps 103:2Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all His kind deeds—
Ps 103:3He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases,
Ps 103:4who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion,
Ps 103:5who satisfies you with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Ps 103:6The LORD executes righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
Ps 103:7He made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel.
Ps 103:8The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.
Ps 103:9He will not always accuse us, nor harbor His anger forever.
Ps 103:10He has not dealt with us according to our sins or repaid us according to our iniquities.
Ps 103:11For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His loving devotion for those who fear Him.
Ps 103:12As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Ps 103:13As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
Ps 103:14For He knows our frame; He is mindful that we are dust.
Ps 103:15As for man, his days are like grass—he blooms like a flower of the field;
Ps 103:16when the wind passes over, it vanishes, and its place remembers it no more.
Ps 103:17But from everlasting to everlasting the loving devotion of the LORD extends to those who fear Him, and His righteousness to their children’s children—
Ps 103:18to those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.
Ps 103:19The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.
Ps 103:20Bless the LORD, all His angels mighty in strength who carry out His word, who hearken to the voice of His command.
Ps 103:21Bless the LORD, all His hosts, you servants who do His will.
Ps 103:22Bless the LORD, all His works in all places of His dominion. Bless the LORD, O my soul!
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 302 passages were voted onto 22 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 3Exodus 15:26saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”
- 3Isaiah 53:5But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
- 12Isaiah 43:25I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
- 5Isaiah 40:31But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
- 3Jeremiah 17:14Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for You are my praise.
- 3Psalms 30:2O LORD my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me.
- 5Psalms 107:9For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
- 121 John 1:7But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
- 8Psalms 86:15But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.
- 2Psalms 116:12How can I repay the LORD for all His goodness to me?
- 2Isaiah 63:7I will make known the LORD’s loving devotion and His praiseworthy acts, because of all that the LORD has done for us—the many good things for the house of Israel according to His great compassion and loving devotion.
- 12Micah 7:18Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
- 3Psalms 41:3–4The LORD will sustain him on his bed of illness and restore him from his bed of sickness.
- 12Isaiah 38:17Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
- 8Joel 2:13So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster.
- 1Psalms 146:1–2Hallelujah! Praise the LORD, O my soul.
Onward