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Pray:
Ask God to orient or reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word. Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.
Read:
Psalm 103:13-18
“As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children’s children- with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.”
Understand:
Compassion is mentioned twice here. It means “to feel passion with someone” or “to enter sympathetically into sorrow and pain”. Think about that…God feels passion for you; He enters sympathetically into your sorrow and pain. God knows we’re weak; He understands our frailty.
We’re made from dust. Our lives are like the grass and flowers of the fields. We’re here today and gone tomorrow. God knows who we are, for He is the one who made us. He alone knows just how helpless we really are. In fact, the verse says “the wind blows over the grass and flowers (which is like our lives) and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.”
Look at the contrast of us in our weakness and God in all His greatness. We’re here today and gone tomorrow; we are frail and whither quickly. Yet, God pours out forgiveness towards us and His mercy towards us will endure forever. In its duration, it has no end; and in its volume, it’s unlimited. He shows us His love, goodness, loving kindness, and faithfulness. There is such great comfort in knowing this.
Apply:
When you think about the contrast, it’s a pretty sobering thought! Yet, far too many times we forget that we’re dust and this forgetfulness leads us into pride, self-confidence, independence, and eventually breakdowns. We can’t forget to remember our frailty and His greatness.
When I think about verses 13-18, my mind goes to Romans 8. Paul tells us what it is to live by the Spirit of God. This fits with our psalm. We are nothing; we’re hopeless. But, because of God’s great love for us, we have hope. Therefore, it doesn’t matter what we’re going through because those circumstances don’t define us. What DOES define us is the love God has for us; His “hesed” love for us!
“His grace is more than sufficient for us; in fact, it’s in our weakness that His power is made perfect.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” Romans 8:31-32
Are you letting guilt and shame keep you from God? Will you let go of it today? Confess it to God and walk in the freedom that forgiveness brings?
What would you have to do to fully rest in God’s care and provision? Will you do that today?
Thank God for His greatness and for His compassion He’s shown you.
Live:
(Personalize this prayer today; make it specific to the circumstances that face you.) Ask God to lead you through His Spirit as you go through your day. Ask Him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell Him “Yes” to His will and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today. KEEP PRAYING THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY.