“For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust” – Psa. 103:14
The truth of this text should do two things:
IT SHOULD COMFORT US
As J. R. Miller said, “God does not treat us as if we were strong, holy, and unfallen angels! He does not forget that we are weak, that it is hard for us to live right, that we are easily tempted and overcome. He is very patient and gentle with us when we have sinned–binding up our wounds, restoring our soul. He does not lay upon us loads too great for us–for He knows how weak we are! He gives us help, too, with our burdens–that we need not faint under them. We ought to get a great deal of comfort out of these words. You say you are so weak that you cannot resist temptation. Does not God know it? Will He not help you to overcome? You are weary through trouble or burden-bearing–but God knows all about it! You find your work hard, and cannot see how you are ever to get through with it; but God understands. He knows how frail you are; He remembers that you are only dust. He is pitiful, and gives always needed help!”
IT SHOULD CORRECT US
What if God allowed His disappointment with our imperfections to affect His love for us and His goodness toward us? That’s a common trait of man. For some reason we feel we must show our displeasure with others when they fail. Sometimes we act as though their sin was against us rather than God. And it’s often the case that our unkindness toward them is a worse sin than theirs. May God help us to be more like Him. Our wrong doing never provokes Him to do wrong. Whatever He does in response to our sin is always done out of love (Heb. 12:6). He cannot do otherwise, for God is love, and we should not do otherwise. Far too often we forget that we ourselves are subject to falling, or what great trials the other person has been through or is going through. Had we been in their shoes we might have done much worse than they did. And I suspect we would appreciate the encouragement of knowing we are loved any way, rather than being mistreated. It was the goodness of God that led us to repentance ( Rom. 2:4) and our goodness toward others gives them their best chance for recover.– HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
