Bless the Lord, O my soul

Psalm 103, A Psalm of David.

103:1-5.

1. Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
3. who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
4. who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
5. who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Bless – exalt, glorify, praise, lift up his name.

Bless the Lord, bless his name, it is holy and revered.

Bless him from the soul, with all that is in you

Bless him for his benefits, do not forget any of them.

He forgives our iniquities.

• Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
• We went astray; he found us. We sinned; he saved us. Jesus the Lamb slain to take away the sins of the world, substituted himself in our place, so that we may gladly say “Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

He heals our diseases.

• Exodus 15:26 …for I am the Lord that healeth thee.
• The Lord is our healer, which includes healing in the temporal physical realm. When rejoicing in “the Lord our Healer,” we often set our sights far too low – only hoping God will heal us of one disease now so we can wait for the next one to come along. One day he will remove us from all sickness, sorrow, and sighing (Revelation 21:4).

He redeems our lives from destruction.

• Psalm 40:2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
• Not only does he buy us out of slavery, he sets us free. Not only does he deliver us from the pit, he sets our feet on a solid rock. He establishes us with life, and that more abundantly (John 10:10).

He crowns us with his mercy and kindness.

• Psalm 51:1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
• His lovingkindness and tender mercies are many, rich, and free. He does not just free us, but he crowns us (like kings) with riches right on top! According to these, he blots out our transgressions and crowns our days by turning from them and to that which is good, seating us with him in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:4-6).

He satisfies our mouths with good things.

• James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
• He satisfies our mouths; he feeds us our daily bread. We open our mouths; he fills them. He will feed with the finest, even “honey out of the rock” (Psalm 81:10, 16). We can trust him, for he does not change.

…the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting…

… his kingdom ruleth over all…

Bless the Lord … O my soul.

The Blessed Man, Psalm 1

Psalm 1 contrasts one singular “the man” (vs. 1-3) versus plural ungodly men (vs. 4-5). Ultimately, the only one man who fulfills this perfectly and completely is our Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 1

• He does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly.
• He does not stand in the way of sinners.
• He does not sit in the seat of the scornful.

Verse 2 

• He delights in the law of the Lord.
• He meditates in the law of the Lord day and night.

Verse 3

• He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.
•     o He brings forth his fruit in his season.
•     o His leaf also shall not wither.
• Whatsoever he does shall prosper.

Verse 4 

• The ungodly are not like the blessed man.
• The ungodly are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

Verse 5 

• The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment.
• Sinners shall not stand in the congregation of the righteous.

Verse 6

• The Lord knows the way of the righteous. (1 John 2:1 …Jesus Christ the righteous)
• The way of the ungodly shall perish. (Luke 13:3,5 ...except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. John 10:28 ...I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish. Cf. John 11:25)

The descriptions of the blessed man in Psalm 1 can and should be seen as a reflection fulfilled in Jesus Christ’s life and character. Therefore, may we in this Psalm not lose sight of Jesus Christ. Only Jesus Christ never did what the man described in Psalm 1 does not do. Only Jesus Christ always did what the man described in Psalm 1 does do.

Jeremiah 10:23; Psalm 37:23. 1 Peter 2:21 “...leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps”

Seeing God’s blessing rests on this kind of man, we may rightly resolve that we want to be that kind of man. To the extent that we follow the Lord, we may not do what this blessed man does not do, and may do what this blessed man does do. However, in this way we will always fall short of being the blessed man, and find that our true blessings are found in The Blessed Man himself!

Psalm 2:12 Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Psalm numbering, again

In regard to the Psalm numbering key I posted yesterday, someone asked if I could include the Latin Vulgate. I have revised the chart accordingly. The Vulgate numbering of the Psalms follows the Septuagint. It is possible that some of the internal verse numbering varies. (I did not check all that.)

I found a Catholic site that states that in the USA the Catholic Psalm numbering follows the number in the Hebrew, while in some European Catholic Bibles the numbering follows the Vulgate/Septuagint. This would be in reference to translations.

I also added Psalm 151, which appears in the Brenton Septuagint without a number, and is also in the Latin Vulgate (but not the Douay-Rheims English translation).

Numbering of Psalms in Greek and Hebrew Traditions

Comparing the Psalms in the KJV and LXX may become confusing because of the differences of the numbering of the individual Psalms (which divisions some mistakenly call chapters). This reflects a difference in the Hebrew Masoretic and Greek Septuagint traditions. A general but inexact rule of thumb is that most of them are off by one number. Here is a quick key of comparison.

Sometimes there are internal verse numbering differences, such as the superscriptions being numbered as the 1st verse in English translations of the LXX (Septuagint), while not being numbered in the King James translation. Compare, for example, Psalm 3.

LXX Verse 1: A Psalm of David, when he fled from the presence of his son Abessalom.

KJV Superscription: A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

Resources I used for comparison are HERE and HERE, as well as a print copy of the Brenton translation. It is my understanding that Lancelot Brenton’s translation is based on Codex Vaticanus, via the Sixtine edition of 1587 and the Valpy edition of 1819 (which was Brenton’s immediate source). If anyone finds any discrepancies or errors in the above key, please let me know. Thanks.