16 Sep Meditations on the Psalms #210
Psalm 103 Part 5
Vs11-12 is an exposition of vs8-10. They describe God’s abounding lovingkindness. Concerning the ‘height of the heavens.’ The ancient Biblical world saw three concepts for heaven. The 1st heaven (blues sky, atmosphere & sun,) the 2nd (stars and constellations), and the 3rd heaven; the place where God dwells. (C.F.2Cor12:2) We have no idea if David knew about the shape of the earth, but the Holy Spirit did, and the way we describe directions makes this statement particularly inspiring. If you travel north, you start going south as soon as you cross the pole, but you can go east forever if you travel east. Given the shape of the earth, the east and west never meet, and this is how far God has removed our sins from us.
David continues to describe the abounding lovingkindness (chesed) and goodness of God. Like a father that ‘pities his children’ in their frailty and weakness, so the ‘Lord pities those who fear Him’. This is in the present tense and carries the idea of continuity. He knows your trials, your struggles with sin, your sighs and wails and griefs, yet He pities you. He also sees your ultimate songs of elation in the music throng of heaven. The wise reaction to this is, ‘fear’ (respect) the Lord! How much better to be on the side of His pity and compassion than to be on the side of His anger or righteous judgment! This is exactly the final message to the world, (Rev14:6-12)
V14 begins the centrepiece of the chiastic structure: The pity and compassion of God towards those who fear Him are rooted in His knowledge and understanding of our inherent weakness and impermanence; our transience. The word ‘frame’, is the same root word used in Gen2:7 to describe man’s creation. (c.f. Isa29:16.) In the next clause, ‘dust’ carries on the allusion to Genesis, and the general idea conveyed is that of frailty. This ‘pity’ and remembrance were turned to empathy at the incarnation. God Himself added humanity to His deity and experienced ‘our frame’ and our ‘dust’-like weakness. What He knew before by observation, He submitted to know by experience.
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