Psalm 102 (LXX)/ 103 (MT), Hebrews 7:7, Colossians 1:12-13, James 2:13
Someone said to me this week, “I read that it is a mark of intelligence to talk to yourself.” I’m not sure that I concur, but it was certainly a habit of mine as an only child, and I still engage in it from time to time when I want to scold myself for something that I have done, or tell myself to “buck up” in a difficult situation. Here, in Psalm 102 (LXX)/103 (MT), David speaks to the very depth of his being—his soul—and encourages himself to do what every human being is created to do—to bless the LORD! Not only does he address his soul, but “all that is within” him: everything that it is to be human (body, soul, spirit, mind, strength) has a role to play in this outpouring of gratitude to God. And how strange it is that God, by this psalm, instructs us to bless Him. As the writer to the Hebrews puts it, it is the greater one who has power to bless the weaker, not the other way around (Hebrews 7.7). How on earth can we human beings do anything to add to God, the One who is forever blessed? Here we see a glimmering of His great condescension, that the LORD not only gives to human beings, but is pleased to receive from them: somehow, without forfeiting His grandeur, He invites us into a reciprocal relationship. We are called to bless the One who blesses all creation.
Of course, we are not strangers to this Psalm, which is well known not only to the priest who reads it at the beginning of Matins, but also to the whole congregation, for it is sung also during Divine Liturgy. Its scope is great, but here, surrounded by the other five Psalms in Matins where the censing takes place, it trains our eyes upon our need before God. The Psalm begins with praise, but moves quickly to rejoice in how God has helped us in our fragility and our sin. Here it is in entirety.
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.
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.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 powers,
his ministers, who do his will!
Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of his dominion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
We hear of iniquity, disease, the pit, the Law of God made known to Moses but broken by the people, the sobering importance of God’s justice and anger, the fear of the LORD, the removal of our sins, God’s compassion because of our weakness, and the establishment of His rule in heaven and over earth! Perhaps the most vivid picture is that of our being redeemed from the pit—probably a metaphor for David concerning dangers in his own life, but for those of us who know the whole salvation story, a reminder of Holy Saturday, and how the LORD acted decisively to rescue the whole human race from death and sin. Potentially, and in baptism, we have been moved from that dark dominion into His glorious kingdom. As Colossians 1:12-13 puts it, “We give thanks to the Father, who has qualified [us] to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Yet, of course, we still find ourselves in the place of the ancient people of God, not always heeding His word. He has made known even more of His ways to us than He did to Moses, and still we find ourselves beset by iniquity—not to mention our physical weakness, which will not be healed fully until the LORD comes again. Knowing His ways, we know that He is just and righteous, and so sin cannot be ignored.
Yet the Psalm goes on with the good news that warms our heart—the LORD knows that we are dust, that we are prone to sin because of our weakened condition, and He removes our transgressions from us, so long as we fear Him. His justice is over-matched by His love and compassion. As James remarks, “Mercy triumphs over judgment!” (James 2:13) The Psalm assumes, over against some contemporary preaching, that God is justly angry with sin: yet His anger is not of the irascible, human type, which flares up or does a slow burn, and which is accompanied by a lessening of love, or outright hate. No, God’s anger is seen most perfectly in Jesus’ actions in the Temple, driving out those things that had defiled the holy place, and insisting on justice—a place of worship where all people can meet with God, rather than a place where unhampered religion became the privilege of a few who benefited from the need of strangers. Anger against sin is part and parcel of God’s justice, but not divorced from His care for us. Twice we hear it: He has steadfast love and compassion to those who “fear” Him, who know their humble place before Him as creatures. And, though we cooperate with Him in the healing of our souls, for He will not act against our will, it is God Himself—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who acts to remove our transgressions and to make us complete. He knows our weak condition, how we are made from the stuff of the earth, and He also knows His plans for us, that we might be remade and glorified to bless Him with freedom.
His aim, then, is to establish His rule on earth as in heaven, just as Jesus teaches us to pray in the prayer that He taught His disciples. We are to join as ONE chorus with the heavenly hosts, and that is, of course, what we anticipate whenever we prepare ourselves for the Divine Liturgy. With them, we will sing the “holy, holy, holy!”
We remember that the Psalm began with an encouragement to the soul and the entire being to bless the LORD. But we know that we are not alone in this blessing, and so the Psalm now helps us to glimpse those heavenly hosts and the entire cosmos:
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 powers, his ministers, who do his will!
Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of his dominion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
Here we are reminded of the beings who have never disobeyed His word or His will, who hold up His throne, who sing before Him, and who lead the cosmic worship. St. Augustine, in meditating upon the wonder of our being allowed to enter into such mystery, has this to say:
Who can understand this mystery or explain it to others? What is that light whose gentle beams now and again strike through to my heart, causing me to shudder in awe yet firing me with their warmth? I shudder to feel how different I am for it: yet in so far as I am like it, I am aglow with its fire. It is the light of Wisdom, Wisdom itself, which at times shines on me, parting my clouds. But when I weakly fall away from its light, those clouds envelop me again in the dense mantle of darkness that I bear for my punishment. For “my strength ebbs away for very misery,” so that I cannot sustain my blessings. And so I shall remain until you, O Lord, who “have pardoned all my sins,” also “heal all my mortal ills.” For you will “rescue my life from deadly peril, crown me with the blessings of your mercy, content all my desire for good, restore my youth as the eagle’s plumage is restored.” “Our salvation is founded on the hope of something,” and in endurance we await the fulfillment of your promises. Let those who are able listen to your fulfillment of your promises. Let those who are able listen to your voice speaking to their hearts. Trusting in your inspired words, I shall cry out, “What diversity, Lord, in your creatures! What wisdom has designed them all!” The Beginning is Wisdom, and Wisdom is the Beginning in which you made heaven and earth.
Confessions 11.9
By this Psalm, then, David helps us to feel and see the “gentle beams” and gives us a way to “listen to [God’s] voice speaking” in our hearts. Acknowledging our need, and how far we fall short, we nevertheless “Bless the LORD” with the Psalm.
Edith M. Humphrey 