“As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:13-14).
In the verses just before this, the psalmist mentions God’s great mercy toward us and that He has removed our sins far from us. In these two verses he explains God’s feelings toward us. He pities us as a father pities his children. Why? God knows how we are made. He fashioned us of dust. He understands our feebleness and is sympathetic toward our weakness. He knows that we are frail and may break under pressure; that we are weak and may yield to temptation.
Another reason for His pity toward us is given by the Hebrew writer. “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). God has mercy on us because He knows us, He made us. However, He also pities us because He was one of us. God the Son left the beauty and glory of heaven to come to this earth. He lived as a man of little means and suffered one of the cruelest deaths ever known to man. He was then raised from the dead and ascended back into heaven where He reigns over His kingdom, the church. Do you ever think, “No one knows how I feel?” You are wrong. Jesus knows, and because He knows He understands. Wouldn’t it be wonderful is we were as considerate of one another’s frailty?
When our work is imperfect and our life is stained with sin, though our intentions are pure and our efforts stir from faith and spring from love, it is then that we are in dire need of the pity that comes from Him who knows our frame. It is a boon to drooping spirits to remember that all men are made of the same dust, and that to the apostles who evidently had some superior traits, Jesus said, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation
the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).
This is by no means an excuse for sinful living. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Romans 6:1-2). God calls upon His children to be pure and holy. His desire for us is that we no longer live in servitude to sin. Once we become His children by faith and obedience, He expects us to live lives of service to Him. However, because He knows us so well, His mercy is great that we may receive continual forgiveness through the blood of His Son (1 John 1:7).
He who knows the weakness of His children has in every age owned them, directed them, blessed them and forgiven them as they believed and obeyed. Hence imperfect people are able to maintain a blessed relationship with Him, provided they try.
--Lamar
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