Psalm 103:13–19
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.
19 The LORD has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.
In these verses the psalmists moves to extending the reach of God's hesed to all humanity. "Those who fear the LORD" is often used as a broader reference than just those outside the community of Israel who fear God.
The LORD's compassion is compared to the compassion of a father for his child. This is the most common image for God's relationship to humanity—a father-son relationship. There is no greater demonstration of love and compassion in the human experience.
Then he goes into describing how great God's compassion is in light of how fleeting, fallen and fallible the life of a human is in comparison to God. Yet, because of the fleeting, fallen and fallible nature of the human, God's love is with those who fear him from "everlasting to everlasting".
This brings us to an important point. There is little to nothing about the human apart from God that gives us dignity and value. God bestows our dignity and value upon the human by giving her his image and crowning her with his love and compassion. Apart from God the human is but an animal. This is both humbling and at the same time honoring to the human.
The psalmist then sums up this section with verse 19 with the definitive statement that the LORD's "kingdom rules over all." So there is a sense in which God is sovereignly ruling over all creation even as we await the fullness of Jesus' kingdom to come.
Reflection
- Spend some time today reflecting on your fallenness, your frailty and your fallibility. I know this isn't a fun exercise that you are clamoring to take part in but it is important to view ourselves through a realistic, biblical lens. As Moses says we must learn to "number our days." (Ps. 90:12) It is this truth that keeps us humble.
- Then reflect on God's unfailing love for you because of your fallenness, frailty and fallibility. These aspects of our nature cause God to look upon us with compassion. The Lord's love is with those who fear him from "everlasting to everlasting". It is this truth that keeps us from falling into despair.