Psalms 103:20

Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Bless	בָּרֲכ֥וּ ba.ra.Khu	H1288	to kneel · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
LORD	יְהוָ֗ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
angels	מַלְאָ֫כָ֥יו mal.'A.Khav	H4397	a messenger · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
excel	גִּבֹּ֣רֵי gi.Bo.rei	H1368	powerful · noun, common masculine plural construct
strength	כֹ֭חַ Kho.ach	H3581	vigor · noun, common masculine singular absolute
do	עֹשֵׂ֣י 'o.Sei	H6213	to do or make · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
commandments	דְבָר֑וֹ de.va.Ro	H1697	a word · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
hearkening	לִ֝שְׁמֹ֗עַ lish.Mo.a'	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
voice	בְּק֣וֹל be.Kol	H6963	a voice or sound · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
word	דְּבָרֽוֹ de.va.Ro	H1697	a word · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Hebrews 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
Psalms 148:2 Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
Luke 1:19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee the…
Matthew 26:53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
2 Kings 19:35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five th…
Luke 2:13-14 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Psalms 78:25 Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full.
Psalms 29:1 Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 103:19–end

Here is, I. The doctrine of universal providence laid down, Psa 103:19. He has secured the happiness of his peculiar people by promise and covenant, but the order of mankind, and the world in general, he secures by common providence. The Lord has a throne of his own, a throne of glory, a throne of government. He that made all rules all, and both by a word of power: He has prepared his throne, has fixed and established it that it cannot be shaken; he has afore-ordained all the measures of his government and does all according to the counsel of his own will. He has prepared it in the heavens, above us, and out of sight; for he holds back the face of his throne, and spreads a cloud upon it (Job…

Read the whole note in the console

John Gill on Psalms 103:20

Bless the Lord, ye his angels,.... For their creation, being made by him; for their preservation, living, moving, and having their being in him; and for their happiness, in which they are continued, owing to their being chosen of God in Christ, and to their confirmation by Christ. These are always employed in the work of blessing and praising the Lord nor are they in the least backward to it, nor remiss it; nor does this address unto them suppose anything of this kind. The design of the psalmist is only to show how great and good the Lord is; that angels, the more excellent order of creatures, are under obligation to him, and are bound to praise him: and his further view is, to stir up himse…

Read the whole note in the console

John Calvin on Psalms 103:19–end

Psalm 103:19-22 19. Jehovah hath established his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all. 20. Bless Jehovah, ye his angels, who are mighty in strength, who do his commandment, in hearing [174] the voice of his word. 21. Bless Jehovah, all ye his hosts; ye his ministers, who do his pleasure. 22. Bless Jehovah, all ye his works in all places of his dominion: bless Jehovah, O my soul! 19. Jehovah hath established his throne in the heavens David having recounted the benefits by which God lays each of us in particular, and also the whole Church, under obligation to him, now extols in general his infinite glory. The amount is, that whenever God is mentioned, men should learn to as…

The Church Fathers

"Bless ye the Lord, ye Angels of His, ye that are mighty in strength: ye that fulfil His word" (ver. 20). By the word of God, then, thou art not righteous, nor faithful, unless when thou dost it. "Ye that are mighty in strength, ye that fulfil His commandment, and hearken unto the voice of His words."
— Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 103

"Your will be done on earth as in heaven." God's divine and blessed angels do the will of God, as David said in the psalm, "Bless the Lord, all his angels, mighty in strength, that do his pleasure." So then in effect this is what you mean when you pray, "as in the angels your will is done, so likewise be it done on earth by human beings, O Lord."
— Cyril of Jerusalem, MYSTAGOGICAL LECTURES 23:14

But these bodies are moved by the invisible Powers in an orderly and rational manner according to the will of God, these Powers having received this as a law, according to what is written in David: Bless the Lord, all ye his angels, ye mighty in strength, that fulfil his word, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless the Lord all ye his hosts, ye ministers of his that do his pleasure. To Him be glory for ever and ever, Amen!
— Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 9

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Angel — A word signifying, both in the Hebrew and Greek, a “messenger,” and hence employed to denote any agent God sends forth to execute his purposes. It is used of an ordinary messenger (Job 1:14: 1 Sam.…
Angels — By the word “angels” (i.e. “messengers” of God) we ordinarily understand a race of spiritual beings of a nature exalted far above that of man, although infinitely removed from that of God—whose…
Angel (A Spirit) · .Are obedient — .Are obedient
Angels · Obey the will of God — Obey the will of God
Obedience · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Obedience To God · Angles engaged in — Angles engaged in
Praise · Is obligatory upon: Angels — Is obligatory upon: Angels

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Psalms 103:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 103:19–end

John Gill on Psalms 103:20

John Calvin on Psalms 103:19–end

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 103:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 103:19–end

John Gill on Psalms 103:20

John Calvin on Psalms 103:19–end

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 103:19–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 103:20-21

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 103:20