PSALM CIII. 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 forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; 4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies; 5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. 6 The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. 7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. 8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. 9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. 10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. 14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. 15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. 16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. 17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; 18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them. 19 The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all. 20 Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. 21 Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. 22 Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul. "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."-Psalm ciii. 1, 2. PSALM fifty-first is the deep utterance of individual prayer for mercy and forgiveness. Psalm ninety-first is a special and confiding prayer for protection in the midst of pestilence and kindred wide-spread calamities. B Psalm one hundred and third, which for many hundred years has been sung where the communion has been celebrated, is a psalm which may justly be called, as it is generally called, the Eucharistic, or the Thanksgiving Psalm. Surely, if there be one spot on earth where this Psalm should be sung with thankful hearts, and glad hearts, it is when we surround that table which commemorates mercies fresh to us every evening, and renewed to us every morning. But while it is a Psalm for all joyful and eucharistic occasions, it is one specially fitted to be the hymn of our nation this day. David reviews the mercies which had passed before him; counts them as far as he was able to recollect; and ever as he thinks of his own demerits and of God's great mercy -a contrast which should make us all much more humble, thankful, and contented,―he gives expression to the intense feelings with which his heart was charged, and exclaims, "Bless the Lord, O my soul; bless him, and forget not all his benefits." Lest his voice should be too weak, or the current of his emotions too feeble, he calls upon every creature that has a heart to feel, and a voice to express the feelings of that heart, to join and bless the Lord "in all places of his dominion." Yet there is nothing in all this peculiar to David; the Apostle Paul himself bids us, "in every thing give thanks." This is, perhaps, a richer and a more remarkable expression than any that is employed by David. David recounts God's distinguishing mercies; and this Psalm is the thread on |