Psalms 103:3

These two go together; for, as for God, his work is perfect and not done by halves; if God take away the guilt of sin by pardoning mercy, he will break the power of it by renewing grace. Where Christ is made righteousness to any soul he is made sanctification, 1 Cor. i.

Who forgiveth all thine iniquities,....

Who forgiveth all thine iniquities. Here David begins his list of blessings received, which he rehearses as themes and arguments for praise. He selects a few of the choicest pearls from the casket of divine love, threads them on the string of memory, and hangs them about the neck of gratitude. Pardoned sin is, in our experience, one of the choicest boons of grace, one of the earliest gifts of mercy, —in fact, the needful preparation for enjoying all that follows it. Till iniquity is forgiven, healing, redemption, and satisfaction are unknown blessings.

Who forgiveth all thine iniquities. Here David begins his list of blessings received, which he rehearses as themes and arguments for praise. He selects a few of the choicest pearls from the casket of divine love, threads them on the string of memory, and hangs them about the neck of gratitude. Pardoned sin is, in our experience, one of the choicest boons of grace, one of the earliest gifts of mercy, —in fact, the needful preparation for enjoying all that follows it. Till iniquity is forgiven, healing, redemption, and satisfaction are unknown blessings. Forgiveness is first in the order of our spiritual experience, and in some respects first in value. The pardon granted is a present one— forgiveth; it is continual, for he still forgiveth; it is divine, for God gives it; it is far reaching, for it removes all our sins; it takes in omissions as well as commissions, for both these are in-equities; and it is most effectual, for it is as real as the healing, and the rest of the mercies with which it is placed. Who healeth all thy diseases. When the cause is gone, namely, iniquity, the effect ceases. Sicknesses of body and soul came into the world by sin, and as sin is eradicated, diseases bodily, mental, and spiritual will vanish, till "the inhabitant shall no more say, I am sick." Many-sided is the character of our heavenly Father, for, having forgiven as a judge, he then cures as a physician. He is all things to us, as our needs call for him, and our infirmities do but reveal him in new characters. God gives efficacy to medicine for the body, and his grace sanctifies the soul. Spiritually we are daily under his care, and he visits us, as the surgeon does his patient; healing still (for that is the exact word) each malady as it arises. No disease of our soul baffles his skill, he goes on healing all, and he will do so till the last trace of taint has gone from our nature.

I am a firm believer, not only in the Inspiration of the Psalms, themselves, but also in the correctness of their order. I believe that Paul was right when he called a certain Psalm, "the Second Psalm," and that those are wrong who so disarrange the book as to make it the sixteenth. Anything to certain radicals in theology is better than the established order— they change for change sake! Many attempts have been made to arrange the Psalms chronologically and critics have shifted them about at their pleasure, according to this theory or that. Their wisdom is utter folly! The Psalms as they stand have an order most appropriate and instructive. If time permitted I could illustrate this in many ways, but for this present it is more in the line of my discourse to observe that we could not have understood so well the 103rd Psalm if we had not first read the thirty-second. You remember how the 32nd begins? "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputes not iniquity." The pardoned man is blessed and then he blesses God. First the full, deep, effective blessing comes to him freely from the Lord and then he reflects the blessing and exclaims in joyful gratitude, "Bless the Lord, O my Soul." First, we are blessed with the pardon of sin and then we bless God for the pardon of sin. The Divine blessing enters our hearts loaded with good things.

I am a firm believer, not only in the Inspiration of the Psalms, themselves, but also in the correctness of their order. I believe that Paul was right when he called a certain Psalm, "the Second Psalm," and that those are wrong who so disarrange the book as to make it the sixteenth. Anything to certain radicals in theology is better than the established order— they change for change sake! Many attempts have been made to arrange the Psalms chronologically and critics have shifted them about at their pleasure, according to this theory or that. Their wisdom is utter folly!

Who forgiveth - The benefits are the following, 1. Forgiveness of sin. 2. Restoration of health: “Who healeth all thy diseases.”

Who forgiveth - The benefits are the following, 1. Forgiveness of sin. 2. Restoration of health: “Who healeth all thy diseases.”

Who forgiveth all thine iniquities - Pardoning all thy sins. That is, It is a characteristic of God to pardon sin, and I have evidence that he has done it in my own case, and this is a ground for praise. It is observable that this is the first thing in view of the psalmist - the first of the “benefits” which he had received from God, or the first thing in importance among his acts or his dealings, which called for praise. Properly considered, this is the first thing which calls for praise. That God is a merciful God - that he has declared his willingness to pardon sin - that he has devised and revealed a way by which this can be done, and that he has actually done it in our own case, is the most important matter for which we should praise him. When we understand all the things which most affect our welfare, and which enter most deeply into our happiness here and hereafter, we shall find that this is a blessing compared with which all other favors are comparative trifles. Who healeth all thy diseases - Perhaps, in the case of the psalmist, referring to some particular instance in which he had been recovered from dangerous sickness. The word rendered “diseases” - תחלואים tachălû'iym - occurs only in the plural form. It is translated “sicknesses,” in Deu 29:22; “diseases,” as here, in 2Ch 21:19; “them that are sick,” in Jer 14:18; and “grievous (deaths)” in Jer 16:4. It does not elsewhere occur. It is applicable to all forms of sickness; or in this place it may refer to some particular diseases with which David had been afflicted. We have several allusions in the Psalms to times when the authors of the psalms were afflicted with sickness. So in the Psalms of David. Compare Psa 6:2; Psa 38:7; Psa 41:8. The thought here is, that it is a proper ground of praise to God that he has the power of healing disease. […]