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Psalms

About this book
Psalm 103

1 By David. Praise the Lord, O my soul. With all that is within me, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the Lord, O my soul. Do not forget all his kind deeds. 3 He is the one who forgives all your sins, who heals all your diseases,⁠ 4 who delivers your life from the Pit, who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your life with good things, so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.⁠ 6 The Lord does what is fair, and executes justice for all the oppressed. 7 The Lord revealed his faithful acts to Moses, his deeds to the Israelites. 8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful; he is patient and demonstrates great loyal love.⁠ 9 He does not always accuse and does not stay angry. 10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve; he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve. 11 For as the skies are high above the earth, so his loyal love towers over his faithful followers. 12 As far as the eastern horizon is from the west, so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions from us. 13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers. 14 For he knows what we are made of; he realizes we are made of clay. 15 A person’s life is like grass. Like a flower in the field it flourishes, 16 but when the hot wind blows, it disappears, and one can no longer even spot the place where it once grew. 17 But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers and is faithful to their descendants, 18 to those who keep his covenant, who are careful to obey his commands. 19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven; his kingdom extends over everything. 20 Praise the Lord, you angels of his, you powerful warriors who carry out his decrees and obey his orders.⁠ 21 Praise the Lord, all you warriors of his, you servants of his who carry out his desires. 22 Praise the Lord, all that he has made, in all the regions of his kingdom. Praise the Lord, O my soul.

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalm 103:3 and Matthew 9:6

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

In Matthew, Jesus connects the forgiveness of sins with healing, presenting both as part of a single act of restoration. This likely echoes Psalm 103, which reflects the same pairing, describing the connection between forgiveness and healing.

Passages

Psalm 103:3

Hebrew Bible
1 By David. Praise the Lord, O my soul. With all that is within me, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the Lord, O my soul. Do not forget all his kind deeds. 3 He is the one who forgives all your sins, who heals all your diseases, 4 who delivers your life from the Pit, who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your life with good things, so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

Matthew 9:6

New Testament
4 When Jesus perceived their thoughts he said, “Why do you respond with evil in your hearts? 5 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then he said to the paralytic—“Stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.” 7 So he stood up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were afraid and honored God who had given such authority to men.
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

References

"... forgiving of sins was God’s exclusive right, not something that could be ascribed to any person. When Jesus forgave the paralytic’s sins, the religious leaders who were present thought to themselves, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus was either being accused of claiming to be God or of claiming to exercise God’s prerogative. Although the Tanakh never explicitly affirms that forgiveness of sins is God’s prerogative, it could perhaps be inferred from passages such as Exodus 34:6-7, Psalm 103:3, Isaiah 43:25, Jeremiah 50:20, and Micah 7:18.9 For example, Isaiah 43:25 states the following: “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” It is also reasonable to assume, as Daniel Johansson argues, that “only the one who has been sinned against can forgive.” A priest could perhaps declare that someone’s sins were forgiven (e.g., at Yom Kippur), and a prophet could sometimes also declare forgiveness (e.g., 2 Samuel 12:13) or mediate for others, but only God could actually forgive people ..."
Andres A. Tejada-Lalinde, “Jesus as the Son of Man in Mark” (diss., Florida International University, 2014), 50–51.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Psalm 103:3 and Matthew 9:6

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