Psalm 103:11 Komentář

This psalm calls more for devotion than exposition; it is a most excellent psalm of praise, and of general use. The psalmist, I. Stirs up himself and his own soul to praise God (Psa 103:1, Psa 103:2) for his favour to him in particular (Psa 103:3-5), to the church in general, and to all good men, to whom he is, and will be, just, and kind, and constant (Psa 103:6-18), and for his government of the world (Psa 103:19). II. He desires the assistance of the holy angels, and all the works of God, in praising him (Psa 103:20-22). In singing this psalm we must in a special manner get our hearts affected with the goodness of God and enlarged in love and thankfulness. A psalm of David.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 103 A Psalm of David. The Targum adds, "spoken in prophecy,'' as doubtless it was, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Some think it was written by David, after a fit of illness, and his recovery from it, since he speaks of his diseases being healed, and his youth renewed; for which reason the Syriac interpreter suggests it was written in his old age; for he makes the subject of the psalm to be, "concerning coldness which prevailed upon him in old age;'' but rather he wrote it when his heart was warm with a sense of the love of God, and spiritual blessings of grace flowing from thence; and in it celebrates and sings the benefits of New Testament times; and it is a psalm suitable to be sung by every believer, under a quick sense of divine favours: wherefore the above interpreter better adds, "also an instruction and thanksgiving by men of God;'' whom the psalmist may very well be thought to personate, even in Gospel times; and much rather than the Jews in captivity, as Kimchi thinks.

As far as the east is from the west,.... Which Kimchi thinks is mentioned because it contains the length of the habitable world; and therefore it is not said as far as the north is from the south; since a man can go from east to west, but not from north to south, because of the extreme heat and cold. But this distance is not given with respect to those opposite parts of the earth, which scarcely exceed 12700 miles; but with respect to those opposite points in the heavens: and the meaning is, that as far as the eastern point of the heavens is from the western point of them; which more illustrates the matter in hand, or the blessing later mentioned, than the other. So far hath he removed our transgressions from us; which removed men and angels from God, and set them at a distance from him; and which, if not removed, are such burdens as must sink men down into the lowest hell; and yet cannot be removed by anything that they can do; not by any sacrifices, services, or duties of any kind; nor in any other way, nor by any other person, than the Lord himself: and this is to be understood not of a removal of the being of sin out of his people, for that is not done in this life; rather of the removal of the guilt of sin, by a special application of pardoning grace and mercy; see Sa2 12:13, but, best of all, of a removal of sins to Christ, and of them by his sacrifice and satisfaction: Christ engaged as a surety for his people; Jehovah the Father considered him as such; and therefore did not impute their sins to them, but to him; and when he sent him in the likeness of sinful flesh, he removed them from them, and laid them upon him; who voluntarily took them on himself, cheerfully bore them, and, by bearing them, removed the iniquity of the land in one day; and carried them away to the greatest distance, and even put them away for ever by the sacrifice of himself; and upon the satisfaction he gave to divine justice, the Lord removed them both from him and them; justified and acquitted him, and his people in him: and by this means so effectually, and so far, are their transgressions removed, that they shall never be seen any more, nor ever be imputed to them, nor be brought against them to their condemnation; in consequence of which, pardon is applied to them, and so sin is removed from their consciences, as before observed; see Lev 16:21.

"For as the height of heaven above the earth, so has the Lord confirmed His mercy toward them that fear Him" [Psalm 103:11]. Observe the heaven: everywhere on every side it covers the earth, nor is there any part of the earth not covered by the heaven. Men sin beneath heaven: they do all evil deeds beneath the heaven; yet they are covered by the heaven. Thence is light for the eyes, thence air, thence breath, thence rain upon the earth for the sake of its fruits, thence all mercy from heaven. Take away the aid of heaven from the earth: it will fail at once. As then the protection of heaven abides upon the earth, so does the Lord's protection abide upon them that fear Him. You fear God; His protection is above you. But perhaps you are scourged, and conceive that God has forsaken you. God has forsaken you, if the protection of heaven has forsaken the earth.

So let us at last wind up this sermon. My brothers and sister, I urge you, I beseech you by the Lord and his gentleness, be gentle in your lives, be peaceful in your lives. Peacefully permit the authorities to do what pertains to them, of which they will have to render an account to God and to their superiors. As often as you have to petition them, make your petitions in an honorable and quiet manner. Do not mix with those who do evil and rampage in a rough and disorderly manner; do not desire to be present at such goings-on even as spectators. But as far as you can, let each of you in his own house and his own neighborhood deal with the one with whom you have ties of kinship and charity, by warning, persuading, teaching, correcting; also by restraining him from such seriously evil activities by any kind of threats, so that God may eventually have mercy, and put an end to human evils and “may not deal with us according to our sins or requite us according to our iniquities, but as far as the east is from the west may cast our sins for away from us,” and that he “may be gracious to our sins, lest the nations perhaps should say, Where is their God?”

He is the one about whom the psalm says, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always accuse, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins or repay us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are far above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.” In all of these great, good things that the Lord gives to the wicked, what else is being sung than undeserved mercy? What else other than free piety is being proclaimed? For in this, that “he does not deal with us according to our sins or repay us according to our iniquities,” the free justification of the impious is displayed. And in this that “as a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him,” the free adoption of children shines through by the same justification by faith. For not as a father has compassion on his children unless becoming our father through grace, he deigned to make us his children. “To those who did accept him, he gave power to become children of God.”

The shepherd’s most certain knowledge of merits, by which the sheep will be separated from the goats, is so great that no goat will be placed on the right, just as no sheep will be located on the left. Those merits with which people go forth from this life will remain ceaselessly and unchangeably with them in that other life, whether they are good merits that here divine piety has bestowed or demerits that human wickedness has procured here below. And for this reason, there will be no removal of evil demerits, although there will be an advancement for good merits. The former will remain for punishment; the latter will be perfected in glory. Therefore, that is the time in which God, as it is written in the psalm, “does not deal with us according to our sins or repay us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us.”

The Psalmist celebrates God's glory in His works of creation and providence, teaching the dependence of all living creatures; and contrasting the happiness of those who praise Him with the awful end of the wicked. (Psa. 104:1-35) God's essential glory, and also that displayed by His mighty works, afford ground for praise.

great--efficient.

The ingenious figures in Psa 103:11. (cf. Psa 36:6; Psa 57:11) illustrate the infinite power and complete unreservedness of mercy (loving-kindness). הרחיק has Gaja (as have also השׁחיתו and התעיבו, Psa 14:1; Psa 53:2, in exact texts), in order to render possible the distinct pronunciation of the guttural in the combination רח. Psa 103:13 sounds just as much like the spirit of the New Testament as Psa 103:11, Psa 103:12. The relationship to Jahve in which those stand who fear Him is a filial relationship based upon free reciprocity (Mal 3:11). His Fatherly compassion is (Psa 103:14) based upon the frailty and perishableness of man, which are known to God, much the same as God's promise after the Flood not to decree a like judgment again (Gen 8:21). According to this passage and Deu 31:21, יצרנוּ appears to be intended of the moral nature; but according to Psa 103:14, one is obliged to think rather of the natural form which man possesses from God the Creator (ויּיצר, Gen 2:7) than of the form of heart which he has by his own choice and, so far as its groundwork is concerned, by inheritance (Psa 51:7). In זכוּר, mindful, the passive, according to Bצttcher's correct apprehension of it, expresses a passive state after an action that is completed by the person himself, as in בּטוּה, ידוּע, and the like. In its form Psa 103:14 reminds one of the Book of Job Job 11:11; Job 28:23, and Psa 103:14 as to subject-matter recalls Job 7:7, and other passages (cf. Psa 78:39; Psa 89:48); but the following figurative representation of human frailty, with which the poet contrasts the eternal nature of the divine mercy as the sure stay of all God-fearing ones in the midst of the rise and decay of things here below, still more strongly recalls that book.