The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 103:1

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

Bless the Lord, O my soul. Repeated in Psalms 103:2; also at the end of the psalm; and again in Psalms 104:1, Psalms 104:35. To "bless" is more than to praise; it is to praise with affection and gratitude.

The psalmist calls upon his own soul, and so on each individual soul, to begin the song of praise, which is to terminate in a general chorus of blessing from all creation (Psalms 104:20-22). And all that is within me.

"All my whole nature—intellect, emotion, feeling, sentiment—brain, heart, lungs, tongue," etc. Bless his holy Name; i.e. his manifested Personality, which is almost the same thing as himself.

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commentaryMatthew Henry on Psalms 103:1-5By the pardon of sin, that is taken away which kept good things from us, and we are restored to the favor of God, who bestows good things on us. Think of the provocation; it was sin, and yet pardoned: how many the provo…Matthew Henry commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 103:1-5God's goodness to ourselves. The psalmist begins by addressing himself; he has before him his own personal experience during a long (or lengthening) life; and he finds ample reason for full, heartfelt gratitude. Of the…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 103:1-5Gratitude for unbounded mercies. I. THE SOUL URGENTLY SUMMONED TO PRAISE GOD FOR HIS GOODNESS. Inward praise, not the praise of the lips, is here called for—spiritual, not bodily worship. II. THE WHOLE INWARD MAN IS TO…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 103:1-22EXPOSITION A PSALM of joy and thanksgiving for God's manifold mercies, especially for his loving kindness in forgiving sin and transgression (Psalms 103:3, Psalms 103:8-12, Psalms 103:17) passing into adoration of him u…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 103:1-5A pattern of praise. This psalm is all praise; there is no supplication in it. It has helped myriads to praise God, and the secret of such help is that the psalmist was himself filled with the spirit of praise, and it i…Joseph S. Exell and contributors