Sovereign Grace in Song

The Psalms are wonderful. Psalm 103 is particularly wonderful. Among the wonderful things David says in this poem are these words (verses 15-18, NASB):

(15) “As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

(16) When the wind has passed over it, it is no more,
And its place acknowledges it no longer.

(17) But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,

(18) To those who keep His covenant
And remember His precepts to do them.”

Here’s a curious question: How can God’s eternal lovingkindness extend to man who is temporal? How can God’s lovingkindness be from everlasting (eternity past) to everlasting (eternity future) on those who fear him, if those who fear him are like grass that dies and is forgotten (vs. 15)? How is it that God loved me in eternity past before I existed? How will he love me in eternity future when my place in this world is like that of a dead and rotted flower?

In answer to these questions, let’s go two places in God’s Word, both with the Apostle Paul:

Ephesians 1:3-6 (Legacy Standard Bible) – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him in love, by predestining us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He graciously bestowed on us in the Beloved.”

Romans 8:28-30 (LSB) – “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. Because those whom he foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers; and those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified.”

God loved his people, he loved me, from everlasting (eternity past) in his work of election and predestination. From before the foundation of the world – from everlasting – God determined to save me, and not because of anything commendatory in me; quite the opposite (Ephesians 1). This determination of God brought me to a willing, and I pray growing, holy fear of him.

God will love his people, he will love me, to everlasting (eternity future) in his work of glorification. He’s promised to make me like his glorified Son, Jesus Christ. How? By uniting me to Christ through faith, and then transforming my heart into one that loves God even as Jesus loves his Father. Between this work of election and its end in glorification lie God’s acts of calling, justification, and sanctification, all the stuff of adoption.

Psalm 103:17-18 is a poetic rendition of saving grace. It is the doctrines of grace in song. It is the sovereignty of God in salvation rendered in the songs of Israel. Sovereignty pervades these words. It’s no surprise then that we have this statement in verse 19 (NASB): “The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, And his sovereignty rules over all.” The word translated here as “sovereignty” is a Hebrew term that refers to the ruling authority of a king. One source defines the word as, “sovereign power” (1). God is sovereign over all, and in that sovereignty he exercises his lovingkindness.

What happens when the song of Psalm 103 takes hold in a heart? David leaves us in no doubt: “Bless the LORD, O my soul…bless his holy name…Bless the LORD, O my soul…Bless the LORD, O you his angels…Bless the LORD, all his hosts…Bless the LORD, all his works…Bless the LORD, O my soul” (vs. 1, 2, 20, 21, 22, ESV). Seven times, bless the Lord! Notice that Paul agrees with David: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). When the song of Psalm 103 takes hold, God’s people bless his name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul! May you too bless him today…


1. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, 1199.