Psalms 103
103
Our Father’s Love
King David’s song of praise
1With my whole heart, with my whole life,
and with my innermost being,
I bow in wonder and love before you, the holy God!
2Yahweh, you are my soul’s celebration.
How could I ever forget the miracles of kindness
you’ve done for me?
3You kissed my heart with forgiveness, in spite of all I’ve done. # 103:3 From this verse through the rest of the psalm, the writer used the second person (you). This translation has left the psalm in the first person to enhance the poetic nuance for the English reader.
You’ve healed me inside and out from every disease.
4You’ve rescued me from hell # 103:4 Or “redeemed me from the pit,” a term often used for Sheol or hell. and saved my life.
You’ve crowned me with love and mercy.
5You satisfy my every desire with good things. # 103:5 The Hebrew text is somewhat difficult to understand. It is literally “who satisfies with good ornaments.”
You’ve supercharged my life so that I soar again # 103:5 Or “your youth [implying both strength and beauty] he restores.”
like a flying eagle in the sky!
6You’re a God who makes things right,
giving justice to the defenseless.
7You unveiled to Moses your plans
and showed Israel’s sons what you could do.
8Lord, you’re so kind and tenderhearted # 103:8 Or “Lord, you’re so compassionate and merciful.” The Hebrew word for “compassion” has a homonym that means “womb.” The Lord carries his people like a mother carries a child in her womb.
and so patient with people who fail you!
Your love is like a flooding river
overflowing its banks with kindness. # 103:8 See Ex. 34:6.
9You don’t look at us only to find our faults, # 103:9 Or “You [he] will not always fight with us [like fighting with enemies].”
just so that you can hold a grudge against us.
10You may discipline us for our many sins,
but never as much as we really deserve.
Nor do you get even with us for what we’ve done.
11Higher than the highest heavens—
that’s how high your tender mercy extends!
Greater than the grandeur of heaven above
is the greatness of your loyal love, towering over all
who fear you and bow down before you!
12Farther than from a sunrise to a sunset—
that’s how far you’ve removed our guilt from us.
13The same way a loving father feels toward his children—
that’s but a sample of your tender feelings toward us, # 103:13 Or “like a father has deep compassion for his children.” The Hebrew word for “tender feelings” is racham, which has a homonym that can be translated “womb.” Our Father carries you in his womb. What a beautiful word play that our Father has a mother’s nurturing love for his children.
your beloved children, who live in awe of you.
14You know all about us, inside and out. # 103:14 The Hebrew word yatsar can be translated “form” or “frame.” God knows our frame. But yatsar also has a homonym that means “to be in distress” or “to be frustrated.” So this sentence could be translated “You know all about our frustrations and distress.” These thoughts combined would mean that God hasn’t forgotten that he formed us from dust and we’ll experience frustrations as human beings. God is sympathetic to our difficulties.
You are mindful that we’re made from dust.
15Our days are so few, and our momentary beauty # 103:15 The Hebrew word translated “beauty” actually means “shining.”
so swiftly fades away!
16Then all of a sudden we’re gone,
like grass clippings blown away in a gust of wind,
taken away to our appointment with death,
leaving nothing to show that we were here.
17But Lord, your endless love stretches
from one eternity to the other,
unbroken and unrelenting toward those who fear you
and those who bow facedown in awe before you.
Your faithfulness to keep every gracious promise you’ve made
passes from parents, to children, to grandchildren, and beyond.
18You are faithful to all those who follow your ways
and keep your word.
19Yahweh has established his throne in heaven;
his kingdom rules the entire universe.
20So bless the Lord, all his messengers of power,
for you are his mighty heroes who listen intently
to the voice of his word to do it.
21Bless and praise the Lord, you mighty warriors,
ministers who serve him well and fulfill his desires.
22I will bless and praise the Lord with my whole heart!
Let all his works throughout the earth,
wherever his dominion stretches—
let everything bless the Lord!
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Psalms 103: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationPsalms 103
103
Psalm 103
This is a song that David wrote.
The love of God #103:1 The psalm has three parts: Verses 1-5: David praises the Lord. Verses 6-18: the special love of the Lord for his people. Verses 19-22: the angels and everything that the Lord has made should praise him.
1I say to myself, ‘Praise the Lord!’
Everything that is in me, praise his holy name!
2I say to myself, ‘Praise the Lord!’
Never forget all the good things that he has done for you!
3He forgives all my sins.
He makes me well again when I am ill.
4He saves me from the deep hole of death's power.
He always loves me and he is kind to me.
That is how he blesses me so much!
5He gives me many good things for my life here.
So I become strong again, with the strength of a young eagle.
6The Lord does what is right and fair.
He helps poor people who suffer.
7He showed Moses how he works to help his people.
He showed the Israelites the great things that he could do.
8The Lord is kind to people and he forgives them.
He is slow to get angry and his love always continues.
9He will not always tell us that we are wrong.
He will not always continue to be angry.
10We should receive much punishment for the bad things that we do.
But the Lord does not punish us so much.
11For people who worship him, his faithful love is very great.
How far is the sky above the earth? His love is greater than that!
12How far is the east from the west?
The Lord has taken our sins further away than that!
He no longer says that we are guilty.
13As a father is kind to his children, the Lord is kind to us.
He is kind to people who worship him.
14He knows that we are weak humans.
He remembers that he used dust to make us.
15A person's life is like grass that quickly dies.
He is strong only for a short time, like wild flowers in a field.
16A hot wind blows over flowers and they die!
Nobody even remembers where they were growing.
17But the faithful love of the Lord
will always be with people who worship him.
He promises to be kind to their children's children for ever.
18He continues to love people who obey his covenant.
Those are the people who obey his laws.
19The Lord rules from his throne in heaven.
He rules as king over everything.
20You who are the Lord's angels,
you strong angels who do what he tells you to do,
praise the Lord!
21All of you who belong to his armies in heaven,
his servants who do what he wants,
praise the Lord!
22Yes, everything that the Lord has made,
in all the places that he rules over,
praise the Lord!
I say to myself, ‘Praise the Lord!’
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