Psalm chapter 103: Part 2

He loves us like a father

¹³Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. ¹⁴For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
Psalm 103 KJV found at Biblegateway. com

Like any other parent, YHWH knows which of His children respects and fears Him. He is compassionate [ kir ḥ ōq ] to His people ( Longman, 359.) He shows compassion and He also knows how weak we are. Just imagine this. He created the angels. He created the mightiest angel in all of creation, Lucifer, and he fell. So, he knows humans are weak. There are times when we, in our weakness, forget that we cannot possibly overcome anything on our own. Acknowledge that weakness and then reach upward to YHWH for his strength and his power to guide us through. The pity is not at the same depth that we have for each other. No, we are talking about the pity that a Father has for His son. Please remember that we are sons of the Father. But only if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord Savior. See the following scriptures.

Romans 8:15 “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”
John 1:12 “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:” See also (Gen. 2:7).

¹⁵As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.^{16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.}

Just visualize what happens to a plant when it is not taken care of. It dries out and can easily be blown away when a strong wind comes along. We really don’t know when Jesus will call us home. Consider human love, friendship, and sometimes compassion. It is temporary. It does not take much for someone to withdraw it from you.

^{17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.19 The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth overall}.

Now contrast that God’s love (ḥ esed ; loyalty) and His righteousness towards all believers (ibid). Oh, my stars, it lasts forever, and it stretches beyond our lifespan to our children and their children. That type of loyalty is achieved through our loyalty to YHWH. Psalms 90:10 reminds us that we do not live forever in this flesh. “The days of our years [are] threescore years and ten; and if because of strength [they be] fourscore years, yet [is] their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”

Praise the Lord

We are called to live righteously before the Lord our God and to “PRAISE” Him in thought, word, and deed. The psalmist opens this particular psalm with praise and worship for YHWH, and he also ends it with worship for YHWH. Initially, the psalmist promulgates God’s universal rulership. No, He is NOT just the ruler of Israel, NOR the angels who are a part of His heavenly army ( hosts ), but all of humanity (and everything he has created everywhere in His kingdom ), must praise Him. The psalmist iterates or emphasizes this by repeating the initial call to worship (Praise the LORD, my soul. ) All of creation must worship the Lord. Compare Psalms 148-150, also 1 Chron. 29:10-13.

Basically, the psalmist directs all of creation to praise and thank God for healing him spiritually (through the process of forgiveness) and physically (from any type of deadly diseases – such as COVID). There is an apparent implication that the disease the psalmist referenced was a consequence of his own sin. However, one must remember that not all suffering can be explained by personal sin (take a look at the book of Job). Neither does sin always lead to immediate suffering. One must also remember that this does not mean that sin cannot lead to people’s suffering.

It is significant, for instance, that Jesus forgave the man who had palsy (Luke 5:17–26). The Pharisees and the religious teachers of the law may be were probably referencing Psalm 103:3 when they say that only God can forgive sins.