Weekly Devotional 26th of July, 2024
by Bruce Billington
Weekly Devotional 26th of July, 2024
We are continuing to explore the knowledge of God as expressed in the Psalms. This week we will continue with Psalm 103 – a Psalm of David.
V13 – “Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.”
To those who truly reverence his holy name, the Lord is a father and acts as such. All this should not become something we take for granted or receive as something we have earned or deserved, we should take a lot of comfort in the love and security of this.
Despite His majesty, power, and attribute of being righteous and just, we must also understand that He is very sensitive towards us. He is not a god of stone, but a living God, who is also tenderness itself. His mercy never fails to flow, and we never cease to need it.
In countless ways, God is good to us, blessing us despite our unworthiness. In addition, as a loving Father, God also delights in rewarding us when we are obedient to Him. The full measure of His blessings is reserved for those who fear Him: those who reverence Him and submit to His Word. This promise should stir us to wholly dedicate ourselves to Him and to walk in complete obedience to His commandments.
V14 – “For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.”
David here denies all the worth that people would attribute to themselves and asserts that it is because of our fallenness alone, which moves God to exercise His patience and grace towards us. Our belief in the infallible nature of humanity, doing things in our own strength and the belief that we can successfully do all things, is our downfall and takes us away from the presence and reliance upon the Lord.
The supposed excellency of humanity withers away like a fading flower at the first blast of the wind. We are improperly said to flourish which, without God is impossible. We flourish like the grass, which is a vapour or shadow, a total misconception. Our only hope is, as is said in Acts 17:28, that we “live, and move, and have our being in Him.”
In an earlier Psalm David also quotes that we are but flesh, a wind that passes away, and comes not again,” (Psalm 78:39.) As a result, God mercifully sustains us, in the knowledge that nothing we have in ourselves, can overcome our frailty.
Were God to withdraw his grace from us our soul would be nothing more than a puff or blast, even as the body is dust; and thus, there would be nothing found in the whole human but mere vanity.
We are fragile, but God’s care is eternal. Too often we focus on God as judge and lawgiver, ignoring His compassion and concern for us. When God examines our lives, He remembers our human condition. Of course, our weakness should never be used as a justification for sin. His mercy takes everything into account. God will deal with us compassionately if we put our trust in Him.
This is so obvious – He knows how we are made, for He made us. Our make and build, our constitution and temperament, our prevailing weakness, and areas of temptation He fully understands. When relating to Him, He searches our inmost nature. He is aware that we are dust.
We too often forget this. It is not a put-down, nor does it deny that we are created in His image and are fearfully and wonderfully made. But we were never meant to respond to the issues of life without Him. He always intended that we would do life, and be in relationship with Him and one another.
He never overloads us and never fails to give us what we need for each day. He always takes our frailty into account when He is apportioning our lot in life.
Blessed be his holy name for this gentleness towards us. He loves us and calls us into His arms as the place from which we live and work and have our being.
God bless you.
Bruce Billington