I am going to share with you my personal experience and testimony of the meaning of psalm 103. I pray it blesses and encourages you on your journey as well.
The Meaning of Psalm 103
Sometimes the Lord puts certain scriptures on my heart.
Have you ever experienced that?
Or maybe he has put a worship song on your heart that really ministers to you during a hard time. God is so good, and he goes before us. He knows exactly what we need.
Less than two months ago I was diagnosed with cancer. Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
As soon as I was diagnosed, I spent 5 weeks in the hospital. Away from my family–my two little girls and husband. It was an extremely dark time, and unfortunately I am not out of the woods yet. I have a long way to go with chemotherapy.
A month before I was diagnosed, the Lord put Psalm 103 on my heart and mind.
As I look back, I can truly see how he was preparing me. God already spoke things to my spirit to help encourage me and lift me up.
I would pray parts of this verse on my way to work and at night before I went to bed. Silly me didn’t understand why this was so prevalent to my mind. “He heals all my diseases.” “Your youth is renewed like eagles.”
I remember I texted my Dad about this verse, and how I didn’t understand why it was so prominent in my mind.
Oh, but now how I know.
Praise the Lord, my soul;
Psalm 103:1-5
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
1. Praise the Lord my soul, all my inmost being praise his holy name.
Will I praise him in this storm? In this darkness?
Psalm 103 – Praising God
There have been days where I haven’t. Where I haven’t had the strength to utter one word of praise.
In those days, my support, my community, the body of Christ– would praise and pray for me.
I received countless messages of encouragement that held me up, even when I couldn’t hold myself. And days that I would praise, sometimes it was hard, sometimes it was easy.
My inmost being, every part of me, even the cancer, would bow down to the authority and praise of Jesus Christ.
2. Forget not all his benefits
Who is God and what does having him in your life mean?
Psalm 103- Remembering Who God Is
God has been so faithful to me my whole life. When I stop and look at all the ways He has uplifted me, and been so loving to me, it brings me so much hope and joy in this season. Forget not his benefits.
3. Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.
Well this one speaks for itself doesn’t it? He heals my disease. He healed my disease! I am in remission after my first induction of chemo!
Psalm 103 – God forgives instantly and he still heals.
I still have a very long journey to go.
Maybe you’re thinking, “God didn’t heal you, the chemo healed you!”
One of my dear cousins said something so profound and wise.
God wants so many of us to be healed, that he allowed doctors to find and use chemo to heal so many of us. So many people that wouldn’t have been healed otherwise without this medicine.
That’s incredible! The Lord created the doctors and their brains and the like.
And yes, I fully believe he is still in the miracle working business. With one touch from Jesus he can and does instantly heal!
I don’t try to understand his ways. His ways and his thoughts are higher than ours, how could I possibly try to understand?
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
4. Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion
I thought I had had bad days before. I thought my journey with postpartum depression was bad.
Psalm 103- He lifts us up and puts on us the banner of His love
Nothing that I have been through compares to what I have been through in the past few months.
HE has redeemed my life from the pit, and he does so each and every day. I have hope because of Christ. I have a glimmer of strength because of him.
As I look at my hair that is falling out, I imagine how Jesus is crowning me with his love.
5. Who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s
We can rest in the strength of Christ.
Psalm 103 – He gives good things and renews our strength when we need it.
He brings goodness. Not just with his presence, but there has been so many good things that have been given me and my family throughout this. I’ve heard it be said it’s a gift to experience the “C” word, because then you learn how to really appreciate life.
I know that my energy and strength will be renewed.
I’m so thankful this verse was on my heart during the weeks leading up to my diagnosis.
The Message of Psalm 103
The message of Psalm 103 is that the Lord is our strength, he loves us, and he wants to give us good things. When we are in a “pit” he redeems us and is the lifter of our head. Psalm 103 means that he loves to forgive and he loves to heal. The fact this was on my heart before I even needed it shows how much grace and love God has for his children.
I hope and pray my story encouraged you today. God is good all the time, and his mercies are new every morning! Even in our darkness.
Praying for you