Chapter 103

Psalm to David, about worldly existence. Not inscribed among the Jews. In the previous psalm, having taught those approaching faith to offer hymns to God, in the present he expounds the teaching about God in all providence, because God extends His providence not only to what is in the sky and in the air, but also to earthly things, even the most insignificant, so that He does not despise even the most insignificant living beings, but provides for them too. Ps.103:1. Bless the Lord, my soul. He teaches the soul to bless God for His great providence, as in the previous psalm he taught to bless for deliverance from sins. Lord my God, you are greatly exalted. Looking at Your Providence, Master, with amazement we magnify the “height” of Your Providence. And in this way, as if in a kind of robe, we clothe ourselves with “confession and great praise,” that is, praise and glorification. Ps.103:2. Dress yourself in light like a robe. Starting with mental light, he composes a song to God. But as it is said elsewhere that God lives “in light... unapproachable” (1 Tim. 6:16), so here he is called clothed in this very light. Stretch the sky like skin. The second task of Providence is supposed to be to expand the sky, like something extended in the hands of an artist, and this together explains both the mode of action and the convenience with which the Creator performs it. Just as it is not difficult for a person to stretch his skin, so it is easy for God to create a heaven that did not exist before. But David at the same time leads us to another lofty thought, namely, that we are now on the path to another life, that the present is a shadow of the future and we have not yet entered the sanctuary, but for now, in this life, we are in the tabernacle; the tabernacle is something that is destroyed, and soon. So, when the sky changes, there will be a different way of life, and a better lot than the present, because there will be a new heaven and a new earth. But let us listen to what the prophets say about heaven in order to block the lips of those who think highly of the beard, who, saying everything that comes to mind, claim that there is heaven under the earth. Confronting them, the prophet said: “stretch out the sky like a skin.” And the skin is not some kind of ball, as they say. On the contrary, he likened it to a semicircle and hemisphere. Therefore, another prophet, expressing the same thing, said: “Who made the heavens like a tent, and spread it out like a tabernacle to dwell in” (Is. 40:22). And also about the fact that the sky does not waver, but stands firm, the prophet says this: “set up... the sky” (Is. 42:5). Depicting the extreme sophistication of the sky, he said: “The sky was established like smoke” (Isa. 51:6). Ps.103:3. Cover with Your most sublime waters. Shows that it is not in vain that collections of waters rush through the air, because God himself, by His Providence, arranges this so that part of the sky appears to be covered with slender heaps of clouds. Rely on the clouds for Your ascent. As if it shows even more clearly that God extends His providence to the very clouds; for he used the word “ascension” instead of the word “providence.” It makes it clear that the aspiration of the winds is not accidental, but God himself, ascending on their wings, becomes, as it were, their reins. Ps.103:4. Create Angels Your spirits, that is, he makes Angels light and lofty. And the servants have their own fiery flame. Thus, Moses saw an Angel speaking to him “in a flame of fire” (Ex. 3:2). Ps.103:5. Found the earth on the firmament. Having shown the Providence of the Creator about heaven, he moves on to His Providence about what is on earth, and precisely to the fact that the earth, being hard and heavy, was created in a moist substance. Ps.103:6. The abyss is like its robe. Refers to the most earthly element. He says that he covered the earth with the abyss like a robe, surrounding it all with waters. that is, the waters of the abyss, rising high, will become like mountains, as if threatening to drown the earth; but at Your wave, before Your power, which is signified by the word: “thunder” (Ps. 103:7), they will retreat. Or, perhaps, he understands that thunder also occurs so that what is happening in the world will bring the very waters of the abyss into some kind of fear. And if this happens to them, then how much more should we feel the same. Ps.103:8. The mountains rise and the fields descend. The rising waters are likened to mountains, and then “fallen” from Thy fear become like a field and an earthly plain. For You have founded for them a place that they cannot cross. This is what it means: Ps.103:9. Thou hast set a limit, and it shall not be passed away. Therefore, they cannot flood the earth. Similar to this is what the prophet said to the sea: “You will come to this and not pass, but your waves will be broken within you” (Job 38:11). Ps.103:10. Waters will pass through the middle of the mountains. The psalmist glorifies God's Providence, goes into detail, marvels at God's goodness, wisdom and unceasing care for dumb animals, because, having created them, God feeds and gives water. And for this he cut the mountains and made a passage for the waters in them. Ps.103:11. All the animals in the village are soldered. He provides so much for dumb animals, reptiles and beasts that he gives them what they need for life. The onagers are waiting for their thirst. And it is the work of Your Providence that water is given not only in valleys and green places, to decorate the banks of the stream, but also among the mountains, so that gentle animals run away from wild ones, and rest in beautiful places. Ps.103:13. Solder the mountains from Your exalted ones. For he waters the mountains and fields not from the springs that are in the valleys, and not from the rivers that flow through the earth, but from above by supplying abundant rains. The earth will be satisfied with the fruit of Your works. Just as he gave an abundance of water, so he also prepared food from the earth. Ps.103:14. Vegetate grass for cattle and grain for the service of man. “Service to men” refers to meek animals, such as the ox, the donkey and the like. For this reason, he says, You took care of the cattle, so that when they cultivate the land, we would find what we need for life. For in all this God does good for our sake. Ps.103:16. The trees of Poland will be satisfied. The prophet shows that trees growing in forests, such as cedars and others, grow at the behest of God. They grow both for many other purposes known to us from experience, and so that birds have nests on them. Ps.103:17. Erodiev's dwelling leads them. The Prophet says that the nest of the erodiya is led by the birds themselves, because the erodiya, having chosen the tallest trees, most often nests on spruce trees, as on trees that are taller than all others. Ps.103:18. High mountains with trees. And he gave the deer a refuge in the mountains, where they could hide from the fierce animals. Stone is a refuge for a hare. Just as he gave mountains for salvation to deer, so he gave stone caves to hares. And therefore they, too, saving themselves in them, as said above, Ps.103:12. from Wednesday the stones will give a voice, obviously praising the Savior. Ps.103:19. He created the moon in time. He returns again to the Providence of heaven and says that the moon was created for no other purpose than for counting and distinguishing months and days. The sun knows its west. And it obeys God's command. Ps.103:20. You laid down the darkness, and it became night. He says this so that we do not think that there is another Creator of the day, and another of the night. Ps.103:23. A man will go out to his work. Animals during the day would prevent people from going on the road and cultivating the land, but now they go out at night, “to seek food for themselves from God,” because it is not for them that the earth vegetates with grass or grain. Ps.103:24. How great are Thy works, O Lord. Having finished his speech about Providence, he turns to the hymns of the Creator, as if thereby resting his ears. And then he again moves on to another part of the affairs of Providence, reducing us to the wet element, which would not exist if God’s Providence had not ruled the world. You have created all things with wisdom. It is wonderful that the wisdom with which You created all things is the Lord, because Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom. Ps.103:26. This serpent, whom you also created, curse him. To the word about the sea, he casually added a mention of the serpent, saying that it was not created for anything else, but solely for the purpose of “cursing at it” *******. Ps.103:27. Everyone is looking forward to You. And people, and flocks of wild animals, and cattle, and reptiles could not feed themselves if God did not supply them with the necessities of life. Ps.103:29. Take away their spirit, and they will disappear. This shows that God is the Lord of both death and life. Ps.103:31. The Lord will rejoice in His deeds. What is His business? The one he accomplished by renewing our nature. For the prophet makes clear by this the future knowledge of God of people, when God will rejoice not because they worship Him, but because He will see those who are being saved. Ps.103:32. Look at the earth and make it shake. He also adds a word about a general judgment that will instill fear in everyone living on earth. For there is no person who would not be afraid of that terrible Divine judgment seat. Touch the mountains and they smoke. Mountains refers to the opposing forces that God will burn during the judgment, of which the smoke serves as a sign. Ps.103:34. May my conversation delight Him. It says “conversation” instead of “my choice.” He says what he has chosen, namely, the desire to sing songs only to God, which will please the Song-Speaker himself. Ps.103:35. Let sinners disappear from the earth, obviously at the time of the trial. For they will hear: “Depart from Me, the curse, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angel” (Matthew 25:41). And lawless women, as if they were not there, that is, they will disappear in the crowd of those who bless God. Bless the Lord, my soul, because the Lord will remove them from the lot of the wicked, and will make them worthy of the lot of the saints. Wed. Job.40 – “the angels were mocked”, about this see bl. Augustine because our whole life is filled with a kind of bitterness, indignant from everywhere and overwhelmed by fierce waves. Editorial “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: