As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
Psalm 103 climbs higher and higher through a mercy beyond all measure. Then it stoops to a picture every home knows: a father bending over his child.
The Tenderness Named
The psalm traces mercy back to its root. Here the writer names the love behind it, and turns that love into a call to worship.
G. V. WigramIn Psalm 103 David is tracing up to the root of things. The soul climbs higher and higher, scaling this mercy, which after all is beyond all measure... Verse 13 shows that the tenderness of His love is parental: "As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear Him." Since His mercy is like this, the practical claim on the heart rests on it: "Bless His holy name."
The Picture Drawn from Home
God points to a bond He Himself made, and to the feeling He planted in every parent. We already know what a father ought to feel, and how wrong it looks when he feels nothing.
C. E. StuartHow thoughtful of Him to speak like this. He points to that family tie, which comes from Him, and to the feelings for children planted in the heart of an earthly parent. What should we think of a parent who had no pity for his children? An unnatural father, everyone would call him... Everything such a man should feel for his own, God our Father truly feels for His children. Only His feeling has a strength and depth that no creature can exhaust or even fathom.
He Remembers What We Are
The next line gives the reason for this pity. God remembers what we are made of; we are the ones who forget.
L. M. GrantHe is indeed a true Father, deeply concerned about the welfare of His children — more so than any earthly father (v. 13). "For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust" (v. 14). We forget too easily that we are dust, and improper pride tries to exalt itself. But God does not forget, and He has mercy on our weakness.
Another writer sets God's memory against a parent's own: an earthly father "may forget it or ignore it; God never will."
Those Who Fear Him
God promises this pity to those who fear Him. So what does that fear mean? One writer describes a will that bows, and then weakness itself becomes something we can plead before God.
J. N. DarbyFear is knowing Him truly. What He is then holds everything in the soul up to holy judgment, so that nothing should displease Him or hinder communion... But when the will bows, our very feebleness becomes, not terror, but a motive in our appeal to God. And He owns it. He considers what we are made of, and remembers we are but dust.
Pity in Action
Israel's history shows this pity in action. God chose the road out of Egypt with their fears in mind.
Edward DennettNotice the tenderness He showed in choosing their path. He took their weakness and fear into account. He "did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, 'Lest the people change their mind when they see war and return to Egypt.'"... it is sweeter than words to see that He chose their exact route because of the state they were in.
Israel's Song — and a Wider Reach
Commentators say this psalm is first of all Israel's song. It is the nation's praise for mercy shown to the obedient among them.
J. N. DarbyThe psalm is spoken in the name of all Israel... But the mercy of Jehovah is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear Him, the obedient ones. So it is all credited to goodness, and to faithfulness too, coming from the very nature and name of Jehovah; but it goes to the obedient ones, the godly remnant.
Commentators differ on how the verse reaches Christians. One asks readers to weigh this pity against the sonship believers are given now. Others apply the words straight to Christians, resting on God's "fatherly heart for all we need, under all circumstances."
Summary
- Pity — the verse names the love behind every mercy in the psalm. It is not distant goodwill, but the feeling of a father bending over his own child.
- Picture — God borrows a bond He created. Everything a good parent ought to feel, He feels — with a depth no creature can exhaust.
- Frame — the pity has a reason. He knows what we are made of and remembers we are dust; we are the ones who forget.
- Fear — the promise is to those who fear Him. Where the will bows, weakness stops being a terror and becomes a reason to appeal to Him.
- Praise — mercy like this makes only one claim on the heart: bless His holy name.