Psalm 103:5 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.

Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things,.... With the good things in the heart of God, with his favour and lovingkindness, as with marrow and fatness; with the good things in the hands of Christ, with the fulness of grace in him, with pardon, righteousness, and salvation by him; with the good things of the Spirit of God, his gifts and graces; and with the provisions of the Lord's house, the goodness and fatness of it; these he shows unto his people, creates hungerings and thirstings in them after them, sets their hearts a longing after them, and then fills and satisfies them with them: hence the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions render it, "who filleth thy desire with good things": the word used has sometimes the signification of an ornament; wherefore Aben Ezra interprets it of the soul, which is the glory and ornament of the body, and renders it, "who satisfieth thy soul with good things"; which is not amiss: "so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's"; not the youth of the body, or the juvenile vigour of it; nor the outward prosperity of it; but the youth of grace, or a renewal of spiritual love and affection to divine and heavenly persons and things; of holy zeal for God, his ways and worship; for Christ, his Gospel, truths, and ordinances; of spiritual joy and comfort, strength, liveliness, and activity, as formerly were in the days of espousals, in the youth of first conversion, or when first made acquainted with the best things; so that though the outward man may decay, yet the inward man is renewed day by day: and this is said to be "like the eagle's", whose youth and strength are renewed, as some observe (a), by dropping their feathers, and having new ones, by feeding upon the blood of slain creatures; and whereas, when they are grown old, the upper part of their bill grows over the lower part (b), so that they are not able, to eat, but must die through want; Austin (c) says, that by rubbing it against a rock, it comes to its use of eating, and so recovers its strength: but there is no need to have recourse to any of these things; for as the old age of au eagle is lively and vigorous, like the youth of another creature; so it is here signified, that saints through the grace of God, even in old age, become fat and flourishing, and fruitful, and are steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, run and are not weary, walk and faint not, Isa 40:31, all which are inestimable mercies, and the Lord is to be praised for them. (a) Ambrosii Opera, tom. 5. p. 78. (b) Aristot. de Animal. l. 9. c. 32. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 3. (c) Opera, tom. 8. in Psal. 102. fol. 474. c.

And that the writer was speaking of baptism is evident from the very words in which it is stated that it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were fallen, inasmuch as we are renewed by means of the laver of baptism, whereby we are born again, as Paul says: “For we are buried with him through baptism into death, that, as Christ rose from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we, too, should walk in newness of life.” And in another place: “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new person that is created after God.” And elsewhere again: “Your youth shall be renewed like the eagle,” because the phoenix after death is born again from its ashes, as we being dead in sin are through the sacrament of baptism born again to God and created anew. So, then, here as elsewhere, he teaches one baptism. “One faith,” he says, “one baptism.”

But let us speak of death as common to all people. Why should we be afraid of it, when it generally does not harm the soul? For it is written, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” Now through death the soul is freed, while it separates itself from the dwelling place of the body and divests itself of the wrappings of disquiet. And so let us too, while we are in the body, following the way of death, raise up our bodies from this fleshly couch and arise from the tomb, as it were. Let us withdraw from the bond of the body and leave all things whatsoever that are of earth, so that when the adversary comes he may find nothing of his in us. Let us strive for the eternal and fly up to the divine on the wings of love and the oars of charity. Let us rise up from here, that is, from the things of the age and those of the world. For the Lord has said, “Arise, let us go from here,” teaching that each one should arise from the earth, raise up his soul that lies on the ground, lift it to the things that are above and call forth his eagle, the eagle of whom it is said, “Your youth will be renewed like the eagle’s.”

However, rightly so, a man has not many, but two feet; for four feet belong to wild animals and beasts, and two to birds. Therefore, a man is like a bird, who seeks lofty things with his sight and flies with a certain stroke of the senses' keenness. And therefore it is said about him: Your youth will be renewed like the eagle's; because he is closer to heavenly things and higher than eagles, who can say: But our conversation is in heaven.

He is the Beginning, O God, in which you made heaven and earth. In this wonderful way you spoke and created them in your Word, in your Son, who is your strength, your wisdom and your truth.Who can understand this mystery or explain it to others? What is that light whose gentle beams now and again strike through to my heart, causing me to shudder in awe yet firing me with their warmth? I shudder to feel how different I am for it: yet in so far as I am like it, I am aglow with its fire. It is the light of Wisdom, Wisdom itself, which at times shines on me, parting my clouds. But when I weakly fall away from its light, those clouds envelop me again in the dense mantle of darkness that I bear for my punishment. For "my strength ebbs away for very misery," so that I cannot sustain my blessings. And so I shall remain until you, O Lord, who "have pardoned all my sins," also "heal all my mortal ills." For you will "rescue my life from deadly peril, crown me with the blessings of your mercy, content all my desire for good, restore my youth as the eagle's plumage is restored." "Our salvation is founded on the hope of something," and in endurance we await the fulfillment of your promises. Let those who are able listen to your fulfillment of your promises. Let those who are able listen to your voice speaking to their hearts. Trusting in your inspired words, I shall cry out, "What diversity, Lord, in your creatures! What wisdom has designed them all!" The Beginning is Wisdom, and Wisdom is the Beginning in which you made heaven and earth.

After the battle, then, I shall be crowned; after the crown, what shall I do? "He who satisfies your longing with good things" [Psalm 103:5]....Seek your own good, O soul. For one thing is good to one creature, another to another, and all creatures have a certain good of their own, to the completeness and perfection of their nature. There is a difference as to what is essential to each imperfect thing, in order that it may be made perfect; seek for your own good. "There is none good but One, that is, God." [Matthew 19:17] The highest good is your good. What then is wanting unto him to whom the highest good is good? For there are inferior goods, which are good to different creatures respectively. What, brethren, is good unto the cattle, save to fill the belly, to prevent want, to sleep, to indulge themselves, to exist, to be in health, to propagate? This is good to them: and within certain bounds it has an allotted measure of good, granted by God, the Creator of all things. Do you seek such a good as this? God gives also this: but do not pursue it alone. Can you, a coheir of Christ, rejoice in fellowship with cattle? Raise your hope to the good of all goods. He will be your good, by whom thou in your kind hast been made good, and by whom all things in their kind were made good. For God made all things very good....

Brothers, let your holiness keep in mind that I recently preached this, namely that a person should be remolded into a younger age through righteousness, and though wearied by the weakness of old age he should be born again into childhood by the character of innocence in such a way that we may see old people become infants again by the mystery that intervenes, for there is a certain renewal in ceasing to be what you were and to take up what you had previously been. I say, there is renewal, which is also why neophytes receive their name, because in some newness they cast off the spots of oldness and have received the grace of innocence, as the apostle says, “Put off the old person with his deeds and put on the new person, who was created in the image of God.” Thus also holy David says, “Your youth will be renewed like that of an eagle.” He understands that the perishable things of our life can be revived through the grace of baptism and that that which had fallen by the oldness of sins can be renewed by a certain youthfulness. But that you may understand that the prophet is speaking about the grace of baptism, he compared the renewal itself to an eagle, a bird which is said to lead a long life by constantly changing its appearance and to grow young with a new set of wings when the old feathers are dying off, in such a way that it clothes itself with a revived newness of clothing as it puts off its old plumage. Thus we understand that it is not the limbs but rather the feathers of the eagle that feel old age. Therefore, it clothes itself anew, and as feathers sprout up anew, the old mother is turned back into a chick. Then she must be compared to chicks, since she with shining feathers must plan inexperienced flights and restrain her once experienced beatings of her wings as if she were a newborn, idle bird in the nest. For although she knows how to fly from her past practice, she nonetheless has little confidence because of the thinness of her feathers. Therefore, the holy psalmist prophesied this concerning the grace of baptism. Our neophytes, recently baptized, have (like eagles) put off the old skin and taken on the new clothing of holiness and are adorned with the revived grace of immortality as with light feathers, while their old blemishes die off, so that in them the dead sins of old age grow old, but life des not grow old, for like an eagle turned back into a chick, they have been called back to infancy. They know about how to live in this age, but they have the carefree state that comes from the healing of righteousness.

Who does not see how impious and how sacrilegious it is if a person, who has been converted to good things through penance for his past evils, believes that there can be no forgiveness for any sin? What else is being done with these words than that the hand of the all-powerful physician is being pushed away by the vice of despair, from effecting human salvation? For the physician himself says, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.” If our physician is an expert, he can cure all maladies. If God is merciful, he can forgive all sins. A goodness that does not conquer every evil is not a perfect goodness, nor is a medicine perfect for which any disease is incurable. It is written in the sacred writings, “Against wisdom, evil does not prevail”; and the omnipotence of our physician is made known by such words in the psalm: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits—who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” What, I ask, do we think cannot be forgiven us when the Lord forgives all our iniquities? Or what do we think cannot be healed in us, when the Lord heals all our diseases? Or how is there anything still lacking to the healed and justified person whose desire is satisfied with good things? Or how is he not believed to gain the benefit of complete forgiveness to whom a crown is given together with love and mercy? Therefore, let no one despairing of the physician remain in his infirmity; let no one, downplaying the mercy of God, waste away in iniquities. The apostle calls out that “Christ died for the ungodly.”

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.

By God's provision, the saint retains a youthful vigor like the eagles (Psa 92:14; compare Isa 40:31).