Psalm 103

I am going to break again from the discussion of the spirit and come back to that later. In response to Lingamish's post on 1 Cor. 13 I want to post Psalm 103 with notes. (I had my last Hebrew Psalms tutorial this afternoon so I will just share a few thoughts.)

¹Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name.
²Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and do not forget all his benefits—
³who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
⁴who redeems your life from destruction,
who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies,
⁵who satisfies you with good as long as you live^*
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

This first section is all addressed to the self. "You" is in the feminine since the soul/self is feminine. The inflections are feminine in other psalms also where Zion or Jerusalem are addressed. The Psalms don't seem as masculine when I read in them Hebrew as they do in English.

⁶The Lord works vindication
and justice for all who are oppressed.
⁷He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
⁸The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
⁹He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger for ever.
¹⁰He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him;
¹²as far as the east is from the west,
so far he removes our transgressions from us.
¹³As a father has compassion for his children,
so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
¹⁴For he knows how we were made;
he remembers that we are dust.

The language here is very reminiscent of 1 Cor. 13.

¹⁵As for mortals, their days are like grass;
they flourish like a flower of the field;
¹⁶for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
¹⁷But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children’s children,
¹⁸to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.

Mortals here is enosh, a word for humans which emphasizes our frailty.

¹⁹The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
²⁰Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
obedient to his spoken word.
²¹Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his ministers that do his will.
²²Bless the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul. NRSV/ KJV