Psalm 103: Bless the Lord, Remember His Benefits

Aug 23, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Forget Not All His Benefits

The soul’s forgetfulness is met with God’s deliberate remembrance. David lists six gifts: forgiveness, healing, redemption, crowning, satisfaction, and renewal. These are not rewards for good behavior but unearned mercies for rebels and exiles. Even in seasons of drought or reluctance, God’s benefits remain steadfast. They are glimpses of a future fullness where sin’s effects vanish. To forget these is to lose the fuel for worship. [28:28]

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, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm 103:1–5, ESV)

Reflection: Which of God’s benefits do you most easily forget? How might intentionally recalling them reshape your perspective today?

Day 2: Slow to Anger, Abounding in Steadfast Love

God’s anger has an expiration date; His love does not. His mercy refuses to measure sins or withhold compassion. The distance between east and west becomes the measure of His forgiveness—a gap only grace can span. This love is not sentimental but rooted in His unchanging character. To fear Him is not to cower but to lean into His fatherly care. [29:22]

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. (Psalm 103:8–11, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you assumed God’s anger toward you? How does His steadfast love invite you to rest instead of perform?

Day 3: As Far as East from West

Sin’s removal is not partial but total—a divine displacement. God knows our dust-made frames, yet crowns us with love anyway. His compassion mirrors a father’s tenderness toward stumbling children. Our fleeting strength contrasts His eternal grip. To be seen fully and loved fiercely is the scandal of grace. [29:47]

As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. (Psalm 103:12–14, ESV)

Reflection: What shame or failure feels “too close” today? How does God’s removal of your sin free you to walk lighter?

Day 4: Flourishing Grass and Everlasting Love

Human life is grass—brief, fragile, easily scorched. God’s love is the sun that outlasts every season. His covenant outlives generations; His throne outranks every power. Our mortality magnifies His mercy. To rest in His love is to trade anxiety for awe. [30:04]

As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his covenant. (Psalm 103:15–18, ESV)

Reflection: Where does your fleeting strength tempt you to self-reliance? How might embracing your “grass-like” nature deepen your dependence on God?

Day 5: Bless the Lord with All That Is Within

Worship is the rebel’s rebuttal to despair. Angels, creation, and saints unite to bless the King who rescues dust. Singing isn’t a mood but a muscle—strengthened in weakness, amplified in remembrance. Even when the heart feels silent, the soul can shout. [01:06:21]

Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word! Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will! Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul! (Psalm 103:20–22, ESV)

Reflection: What obstacle muffles your praise today? How might lifting your voice—even quietly—reorient your heart to God’s greatness?

Sermon Summary

Psalm 103 calls God’s people to “bless the Lord” because salvation belongs to the Lord, and because every benefit comes from his mercy, not from anything earned. David begins with the soul itself, calling “all that is within” to remember instead of forget. God’s people do not bless him because everything is going right, and not because some good works earned the ear of God. God gave his ear by grace, and he “does not deal with us according to our sins nor repay us according to our iniquities.”

The benefits in Psalm 103 press deep into the gospel. God forgives iniquity, heals diseases, redeems life from the pit, crowns sinners with steadfast love and mercy, satisfies with good, and renews youth like the eagles. These promises are not name-it-and-claim-it theology. They are already true in Christ, and one day they will be tasted in full, when disease, tears, hunger, and death are no more because God himself is the living, holy, good God.

Ruth, Jonah, and Habakkuk stand behind this call to praise. Ruth will show God’s providential saving hand in famine. Jonah will show that God is more merciful than his reluctant people, even toward the most depraved souls. Habakkuk will show that God remains on the throne when suffering, turmoil, enemies, and frightening rulers rise up. Nothing can take away the praise God deserves from his people.

Psalm 103 then moves from God’s benefits to God’s character. God is not made up of parts, as though goodness, love, mercy, and righteousness existed outside him and got added on. God defines good. God defines love. God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, yet he is also just. That question, how God can be both just and the justifier, finds its only answer in Jesus Christ, the Son who was made sin so that sinners might become the righteousness of God.

David finally compares dust with the eternal King. Man is like grass, “sown, grown, blown, mown, and gone,” but the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him. God is eternal while man is temporal, sovereign while man is dependent, holy while man is sinful, faithful while man is forgetful. Therefore Psalm 103 ends where it began: “Bless the Lord, oh my soul.” Praise is not mere performance. Praise is the right response of a rescued soul.

Key Takeaways

1. Remember benefits when desire runs dry. [39:30] Psalm 103 treats forgetfulness as a spiritual danger, not a harmless weakness. The heart often needs prayer, singing, and Scripture most when it least wants them, because reluctance reveals disordered desire. Praise is not religious pretending in those moments, but a way of dragging the soul back toward what is true. [39:30]
2. Mercy rises from God’s character. [54:46] God does not borrow mercy from some higher standard outside himself. Mercy, goodness, love, and righteousness exist because God is who he is. That means salvation rests on something far sturdier than mood, circumstance, or human worthiness. [54:46]
3. The pit makes the crown shocking. [48:58] Psalm 103 does not flatter sinners by pretending the pit was shallow. God had to redeem from utter lostness, not merely offer a little help to basically fine people. The crown of steadfast love and mercy is stunning because it rests on grace, not fitness for royalty. [48:58]
4. Christ answers justice and mercy. [58:16] God’s anger against sin cannot simply be waved away without ceasing to be just. The cross is where God remains just while justifying the ungodly through the Son who bore sin. The “great exchange” means praise is grounded in a real rescue, not vague religious optimism. [58:16]
5. Praise must outsing every rival. [01:08:21] Psalm 103 ends by calling angels, hosts, creation, and the soul itself to bless the Lord. Worship is not measured by musical skill or outward polish, but by the heart’s glad recognition of God’s saving mercy. Every competing noise deserves to be drowned out by remembering what God has done.

## [68:21]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[25:49] - Introducing Salvation Belongs to the Lord
[28:28] - Reading Psalm 103
[31:21] - Churchill and Meeting the Maker
[35:29] - Remembering All His Benefits
[36:13] - Bless the Lord by Remembering
[42:08] - Already, Not Yet Benefits
[43:58] - Ruth, Jonah, and Habakkuk Preview
[49:52] - Bless the Lord by Knowing His Character
[55:44] - Moses Sees the Lord’s Name
[58:16] - Jesus and the Great Exchange
[62:22] - Resting in Steadfast Love
[65:27] - Bless the Lord by Praising
[67:32] - Living and Singing This Week

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Psalm 103
“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, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word! Bless the LORD, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will! Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the LORD, O my soul!” [28:28]

Exodus 34:6-7
“The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.’” [55:44]

2 Corinthians 5:21
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” [58:16]

Observation questions

In Psalm 103, what benefits are listed in verses 3–5, and which of them stand out most in the flow of the psalm? [36:35]
What repeated command opens and closes Psalm 103, and who all is called to join in that response by the end of the psalm? [01:05:43]
What words in Psalm 103 and Exodus 34 overlap when describing the Lord’s character? [55:44]
In Psalm 103, what contrasts are drawn between man and the Lord, especially in the lines about dust, grass, and God’s everlasting love? [01:02:22]

Interpretation questions

Psalm 103 tells the soul to “forget not all his benefits.” Why might remembering be treated as a spiritual battle and not just a mental exercise? [39:30]
Psalm 103 says God forgives, heals, redeems, crowns, satisfies, and renews. How should these promises be understood when believers still face sickness, weakness, and death in this life? [42:08]
Exodus 34 says God is merciful and gracious, but also that he “will by no means clear the guilty.” How does 2 Corinthians 5:21 help explain how God can be both just and the justifier? [58:16]
Psalm 103 moves from God’s benefits to God’s character. Why does it matter that mercy, goodness, and love are not things God borrows, but realities that flow from who he is? [54:46]

Application questions

When desire for prayer, singing, or Scripture has been low lately, what has usually been going on in the heart? What would it look like this week to push back against forgetfulness instead of giving in to it? [39:30]
“He does not deal with us according to our sins.” Where is there a need to more deeply believe that God’s welcome is grounded in mercy rather than personal performance? [33:40]
The psalm says God redeems life “from the pit” and crowns with steadfast love and mercy. Is there any place where sin still feels small, manageable, or excusable? How does remembering the pit make grace feel larger and more precious? [48:58]
Since God’s character shapes his people, where is there a need to grow in mercy, forgiveness, patience, or compassion toward someone specific? [01:01:27]
Psalm 103 calls the soul to bless the Lord even when life is fragile like grass. What present fear, sorrow, or uncertainty most needs to be brought under the truth that the Lord’s throne is established in the heavens? [47:05]
Jonah reminds God’s people that the Lord is more merciful than they are. Is there any person or type of person who is quietly treated as beyond compassion or beneath gospel concern? What might faithful love look like there? [45:42]
Praise is not mere performance, but the right response of a rescued soul. What would it look like for praise to become more visible in daily life this week—not only in singing, but also in conversation, gratitude, and witness? [01:07:32]

Sermon Clips

76s

#GodsSteadfastLove

“Now I think we have to balance that. That's not for us to leave today thinking so pitiful about ourselves. I think it actually makes us leave here and say how gracious god is. If not for god's redeeming, we're no different than the grass. But because of God, because of who he is, it changes everything. Again, the comparisons. God is eternal while we are temporal. God is infinite while we are finite. God is immutable while we're ever changing. God is omnipotent while we are weak. God is omniscient while we are limited in knowledge. God is sovereign while we are dependent. God is holy while we are sinful. God is righteous while we are unjust. God is faithful while we are forgetful. God is steadfast while we are fleeting. God is merciful while we are undeserving. God is gracious while we are needy. God is the creator while we are the creatures. God is king while we are dust. And yet, this great and glorious God has set his steadfast love upon us.”

74s

#GodRescuesUs

“And he's a god rescues his people. Again, we mentioned last week he's not a god uninvolved with his creation. He he's not a god who just says, alright. I've got an idea. Here you go. Take it as you will. I could care less whether you take it or not. It's not a passive saving. Again, if we're faithful to the text of scripture from Genesis to Revelation, it is an active rescuing of God so that all of us sitting here today understand who we were, and not only who we are in light of Jesus and what he's done in our life, but who this god is in saving. It's as if we've fallen overboard, and we're drowning in the sea, and we're hitting the bottom of the sea. And instead of him just saying, I'm here if you need me, it's instead god himself diving in the waters, grabbing us, bringing us to the surface, and breathing new life into us. That's the god we praise.”

67s

#PrayWhenYouDontWantTo

“but sometimes I think there's things that discourage us, whether it be just a really difficult season of life, whether it be some pain we're going through, whether it be some frustration, whatever it may be. But but here's a principle we can live by that's a biblical principle. When we don't feel like praying is when we need to be praying the most. When we don't feel like singing is when we need to sing the most. When we don't feel like reading god's word is probably when we need to read it the most. At the end of the day, it's not that sometimes you need it and sometimes you don't. It's that when you don't want it, that's what your heart actually needs the most. When you walk into church on Sunday morning because you just had a really rough week and you're tired and you're already thinking about what you need to do when you leave this place, that's the moment you just need to sing the loudest. Not for the sake of doing religious performance, not the sake of just doing religious things, but because your heart needs to be aligned toward God.”

74s

#JustifiedThroughChrist

“we have to reconcile something that probably you've heard of, so you don't have this question maybe anymore, but we need to be reminded. How can God be both just and the justifier? Right, because in this Psalm, David explicitly says, he will not be angry forever. He will not chide forever. Meaning there is guilty party that has to be punished. So how can he say that he won't do that forever? What will put an end to it? Or or what is it? How will we receive this crown? What in what way do we actually receive these benefits? The only answer to any of these questions is what he did through Jesus. only answer we have to give to the world is not for us to just paint eloquently who this god is, not to be able to just describe all his characteristics in a theological manner that make us sound really smart. At the end of the day, it is this, he sent his son to die for our sins.”

41s

#AllWereLost

“We may not have the same experiences. We may not have suffered through the same amount of things. But in terms of our separation of God, there's not a single person here who can look at someone else and say, I just wasn't as bad as you. Maybe by God's grace, you didn't do as many bad things as them, but there's not a single person sitting here today, no matter what kind of front we might put on, they can sit here and say, I just wasn't that bad. God did not have to do as much to save me. No. You and I were utterly lost to the point that David says he had to go to the pit to save us.”

74s

#HopeInTheProvider

“Sure, we can have healing now and God has given wisdom to doctors and all these things. We have the reality of this now. These things are true now, and they've never not been true. But one day, we will experience it in fullness. One day, time and space will not be a constraint for we will be with God. We'll we'll still have bodies, so there will be a sense in which it is. But but in terms of the effects of sin, it will not be a constraint on us. One day, will be no more pain and suffering. One day, there will be no more hunger or tears. But can I tell you something? David's not trying to get us to hope in those things. He's trying to get us to hope in the one who provides those things. You know why death will be no more? Because God is the living God. You know why disease will be no more? Because he's good and holy, and there's nothing bad in him. Do you know why one day there will be no more tears? Because what is there to cry about when we are face to face with God himself?”

68s

#ReflectGodsCharacter

“The benefits from God flow from the character of God. And and if we can see how salvation works, the benefits of God change our own character as well. We ought to be the most merciful people because he's been so merciful to us. We ought to be the most forgiving people because he's forgiven us. We ought to be the most loving, righteous, hopeful, gracious, and the list goes on because he's done that for us. David is showing all of these benefits are a product of the character of God, and they are to be displayed in his people. That's why I said at the beginning, we ought to be the most worshipful people. Why? Because we have an unending list of benefits that he provides us. So, again, what is the proper response? He goes into the third stanza, point number three, bless the lord by resting in his love.”

43s

#AlreadyNotYet

“Can can I tell you something? With these benefits and these promises, it's very easy maybe sometimes for us to look at some of these and think, yeah, what do I do when I get that diagnosis, What do I do when I don't feel like the youth of an eagle? These aren't just magical things that if we just say them enough times, they become true. It's not a name it, claim it theology. What it is is it's already not yet understanding of God's redeeming of all things. All of these things are already true for you and I, and one day we will fully experience all of it.”

Ask a question about this sermon

Central Fellowship Baptist Church Macon / WR This sermon · AI assistant

What are the specific benefits God provides

How can God be both just and justifier

Why should believers sing when they don't feel like it