Psalm 103 GW
Psalm 103 has been a favorite from which evangelicals have drawn songs.
While it would perhaps be better to sing whole psalms than snippets of psalms, this one has many phrases that meet the criteria of one self-contained thought which make up the content of so many evangelical songs. To generalize broadly, evangelical songs are about one thing at a time, one concept at a time, focused on one thing. If it is the love of God, then every verse is bent to explaining or admiring the love of God. If it is the beauty of Jesus, the whole song will be spent adoring him. If it is about Christ crucified, you will not find any content in that song extolling the goodness of the Law of God, for instance. It does not fit.
The psalmists, inspired by the Holy Spirit, rarely displayed such a one-track mind. When folk who have been nurtured on modern worship music try singing the psalms, they often find them confusing, because there is so much going on in there. The new psalm-singer is singing a whole host of ideas, many of which he has never had before, let alone sung before. I think this is part of the discomfort some folk feel about singing the psalms. You have to work at this. It is a discomfort that is well-worth getting over. You want to learn how to think like God thinks, right? Gird up the loins of your mind, and start singing the psalms.
I do remember one Vineyard worship song that made a chorus out of 1 Timothy 1:17, (“To the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever, amen.”) and had set into it a reading of the entirety of Psalm 103, read overtop of the music, then swinging back into the chorus. It was quite moving, and quite good. Nothing wrong with that song. There was something about the way it was composed that made the singer think deeply about very specific things about that verse; ie, pondering “forever, and ever” singing in long phrases, still unresolved until the “amen” at the end. It worked. Even though we sang what God spoke through Paul, and spoke what God sang through David. Hmmm…
I suppose there is a place for songs that focus on a particular thing. It is like an in-depth Bible study, where you examine the text closely to really get it. But if you want to understand God’s Word, you need the broad overview too. You need to understand its flows, its rhythms, its patterns, its arc. Perhaps that is more of what you get when you sing whole psalms. The whole psalm keeps you grounded, so that you can dip in with profit and just meditate on the first verse. If all you ever do is meditate on the first verse, your big picture can become fuzzy, and can lead you badly astray.
Here is a song with the entirety of Psalm 103. Learn it well. Then go write songs about each of its phrases…
Bless the Lord, O My Soul
Of David.
103 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 forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children,
18 to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.
19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will!
22 Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
