Explain in your own words how verses 20–22 add power and depth to Psalm 103.

Psalm 103 is a psalm of praise which uses Hebrew parallelism which makes the psalm very impactful. This psalm can be divided into two sections – praising God at a personal level (v. 1-19) and praising God at a universal level (v. 20-22). In particular, the transition from the verses 20-22 makes a dramatic shift from something personal to something cosmic – making the psalm even more spectacular.

Verses 1 – 19 focuses on praising God at a personal level. It gives a picture of “my soul” and ” my inmost beings” praising God. Then the psalmist goes on to describe how wonderful God is – His forgiveness, healing, and provisions for us. The psalmist, King David, also demonstrates his understanding on the wonderful position and privilege God has given human beings – that we are forgiven and accepted as His children.

Then verses 20 – 22 dramatically shifts the readers’ perspective to the universe and the angels. They are also God’s creation to praise God together – which fulfills God’s purpose of creating the universe. Moreover, the psalmist uses the imperative form to the heavenly hosts, which implies that God has given human beings an authority over them – as God’s children. It leads the readers to humbly appreciate and praise God even more for His love, faithfulness, forgiveness, and salvation that we have received in Jesus Christ.

God created humans, and everything else for that matter to praise and worship himself. He is the best thing that he can offer us. Life pours out from his throne to his hosts and his glory is reveled. Who can resist a good thing? How can we possibly turn our back on this heavenly display, as called for in this passage? However, we do it often, hard to believe that God can still tolerate us. Only through Jesus Christ can we claim forgiveness.

These two verses add power and depth to the Psalm, because the psalmist is encouraging the heavenly angels to continue to bless and revere God. Then he encourages all believers to bless the Lord’s holy name by giving thanks and remembering all the magnificent things that the Lord has done, and continues to do for those who serve Him.

God should be recognized and enjoyed for His magnificent power, mercy and help by all of His creation. We are invited to participate in that praise but not forced to because it is a choice.

Verses 20-22 reminds all creation, animate and inanimate, that the purpose of our creation and continue existence is to worship God who created us, and so for his own pleasure.

Verses 20-22 keep expanding the audience that the psalmist declares should be praising the Lord. In the beginning of the psalm, the psalmist
is telling himself to praise the Lord and by the end of the psalm (verses 20-22) he is telling the angels, the heavenly host and all of creation to join him,
the psalmist, in praising the Lord.

The writer is stating that nothing is exempt from praising God. Whether it be his angels, your soul, And all his heavenly servants, everyone must praise God.

The psalmist is reminding that not only the smallest things but also the greatest things in the heavens should praise him as he is worthy to be praised.

The verses add power and depth to Psalm 103 in that it reminds us to praise the one and only true God because he is powerful and wonderful.

Once you start reflecting on God’s goodness, taking your eyes off self and circumstance, and turning your emotions, all your being, toward the blessings and benefits of have our wonderful Savior and Lord in our lives . . . Then something happens. The Holy Spirit gives us boldness to proclaim the Good News to others, which is what the psalms did. He started preaching to himself, then turned to preaching and encouraging angels and then invited all creation to join in praising God.

The psalmist starts off encouraging himself to continue to praise and give thanks to God then in V. 20-22 he becomes bold and preaches to the angel hosts encouraging them to bless our Lord…. beautiful and so powerful.

There is none greater, none higher, none more powerful or wonderful than my Abba Father who deserves our wholehearted praise!!

The psalmist has been reminding himself of the reasons he has to bless and praise God. At the end, by calling on angels and heavenly beings to bless the LORD, he is also reminding himself that he is not the only one worshipping his God, even though that may be how he feels. Once he acknowledges himself part of a community who recognise the love, compassion and goodness of God, he feels empowered to call creation, including people around him, into that recognition and worship.

Boldness reached by advising the angels, while addressing one’s own soul.

Verses 20-22 adds power and depth to Psalm 103, because even the angels are blessing the Lord, every living creature that God himself created, are praising Him. That is why we were created. We were created to have a close relationship with God and worship and praise His name.
Scripture says that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord.
For everyone to Praise God, is fulfillment of the Holy scripture.

It’s encouraging all creation to bless the Lord, which is a beautiful thing.

The psalmist, in addition to asking God to bless his own soul, now invites all creation to bless the Lord.

Verses 20-22 of Psalm 103 adds power and depth in that it invites all creations and creatures in all strata of the cosmos to revere and bless the Lord God Yahweh. That is, besides and beyond all believers in Christ Jesus, all creations, without exception whatsoever, are enjoined to bless the Lord.
It therefore implies that whosoever and whatsoever does not bless the Lord are to be adjudged rebellious of God and eventual candidates of God’s judgment and wrath.

It is interesting that the psalmist is inferring that not only does God has to be blessed by believers but also by heavenly beings i.e., angels. This shows that God is the creator of everything and that he requires to be praised both on earth and in heaven. We can make a correlation here with psalm no. 8 verse 4-5 where the psalmist asks the question….
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings[b]
and crowned him with glory and honor.
This shows that despite creating man in his image and a little lower than the angels he still requires to be praised by men and heavenly beings. He is after all the one who created both. It shows a God who is omnipresent, omnipotient and omniscient.

The psalmist addresses us but then reminds even the angels (the audacity!) to bless God and continue to be obedient. The psalmist is really worked up to remind the angels and then the whole universe to bless God. I feel he catches himself and reminds himself to “Bless the Lord, O my Soul”. What a crescendo and then a personal reminder.