Psalm 103:6-18 - "He Remembers That We Are Dust"

6 The LORD executes righteousness And justice for all who are oppressed. 7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel. 8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. 9 He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. 10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. 13 As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him. 14 For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. 15 As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. 16 For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more. 17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children's children, 18 To such as keep His covenant, And to those who remember His commandments to do them.   In Psalm 103:1-5, David wants us to remember all the wonderful benefits that the LORD has personally blessed us with in life. Now in verses 6-18, David is encouraging the nation of Israel to also remember and praise the LORD for His provisions, His protection, His power, His mercy, and His Fatherly care for them in times past.   Yes, not only as individuals should we bless the LORD and give Him praise, but we should also as a nation remember His help in times past and recognize our present need for Him. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD!” (Psalm 33:12). But how sad it is when a nation like America forgets God and puts Him on the shelf and goes chasing after other gods that are no gods at all!     In the verses before us today, David reminds his people how the nation of Israel was certainly blessed of the Lord and therefore obligated to express their praise and thanksgiving to Him. In verse 6, Jehovah was their righteous Deliverer. God heard their cry when they were in bondage in Egypt and He rescued them. He prepared and sent a deliverer by the name of Moses, who revealed God’s power as he released the ten plagues upon Pharoah and the Egyptians.   Over and over again, throughout their history, when the people were oppressed and they cried out to the LORD for help, God would have mercy on them and send a judge or a man who would defeat their enemies and give them freedom. Even in David’s time the people had experience the mighty power of God and gave them victory over their enemies.   The Lord also gave His people guidance (v. 7), leading them by His glory cloud, His Word, and His prophets. The people know God's acts, what He was doing, but Moses knew God's ways, why He was doing it. Moses was intimate with the Lord and understood His will. Jehovah was also the merciful and compassionate Savior who forgave His people when they sinned. In verses 8-12, we have a summary of what Moses learned about God while on Sinai (see Ex. 33:12-13; 34:5-9; and see Num. 14:18).   Being a holy God, He did get angry at sin, and the Israelites were prone to rebel against Him, but in His compassion, He forgave them. This was possible because one day His Son would die for those sins on a cross. (See 86:15; Isa. 57:6.) The picture in verses 8-12 is that of a courtroom in which God is both judge and prosecuting attorney. He has all the evidence He needs to condemn us, but He does not prolong the trial. When the judge is your Father, and when Jesus has died for your sins, there is full and free forgiveness available to all who will ask for it. If God gave us the punishment we deserved, we would be without hope (Ezra 9:13). The punishment that we deserve was given to Jesus (Isa. 53:4-6).   We can thank the LORD that “He knows our frame and He remembers that we are dust” and He had pity on us and has given us a Savior, Jesus Christ!   God bless!