He remembers that we are dust

Psalm 103:1-22 TNIV

Praise the Lord, my soul;

all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, my soul,

and forget not all his benefits—

who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The Lord works righteousness

and justice for all the oppressed.

He made known his ways to Moses,

his deeds to the people of Israel:

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse,

nor will he harbor his anger forever;

he does not treat us as our sins deserve

or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

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 mortals, their days are like grass,

they flourish 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.

The Lord has established his throne in heaven,

and his kingdom rules over all.

Praise the Lord, you his angels,

you mighty ones who do his bidding,

who obey his word.

Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,

you his servants who do his will.

Praise the Lord, all his works

everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul.


My thoughts -

Why do we praise God? The psalmist here seems to have a pretty robust understanding. He lists what God does:

God forgives. God heals. God rescues. God loves. God is compassionate. God fulfills desires. God is righteous and works for justice for the oppressed. God does not treat us like what we deserve in our sin but is gracious and merciful.

These are all wonderful things about God. When we worship we tell of God and of the wonderful things that God does. But there's something else we do. We acknowledge that God is God and that we are not and we humbly submit. We offer ourselves, such as we are, to God.

Let's look again, starting with verse 13:

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 mortals, their days are like grass,

they flourish 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.

We are mortal. We are born and then a few short years later we die. Our lives are a blink. God is eternal. God is forever. Before time began God is. After time ends God is. This mortal brain stuck in time and here for only a short while can't begin to fathom that. The vastness that is God is barely approachable to me. Quite simply I can't comprehend God. Not really. Not fully.

But we do experience God. And we do acknowledge that God is greater. And we do have faith and trust God and try to live the life that God desires for us. And we do have hope that God's love is greater than anything we could ever consider the possibility of maybe someday understanding.

We have hope that God's love endures far beyond our mortal bodies. God's love is from everlasting to everlasting. I don't understand how this is. I don't need to. And even if I did I wouldn't be able to. Some things are beyond knowing. I just have faith that it is.

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