Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Psalm 103:13
“Take this note home to your father.” My sixth-grade teacher was not smiling as he handed me a sealed envelope. I had been involved in some sort of foolishness that disrupted our classroom, and I knew the note boded no good. Later that evening after I admitted my wrongdoing, my corporal punishment hurt far less than the disappointment I saw in my dad’s eyes. This was not the first time I had been involved in some mischief at school. But trying to be good, obedient, and respectful was quite frustrating when something inside me seemed to drive me in the opposite direction.
The psalmist tells us that our Lord “knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14). Although every sin is a serious offense against a holy God and must be confessed and repented of, we also have the reassurance that our Lord understands our human weaknesses. Just as my earthly father was once a boy and understood the follies and failings of childhood, so Jesus was “in all points tempted like as we are” and is therefore “able to succour them that are tempted” (Hebrews 4:15; 2:18).
It will always be true that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), and we never want to minimize this fact. But lest we become overwhelmed by discouragement when we fail, let’s remember that our God is loving, understanding, and merciful. He is “longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty” (Exodus 34:6-7). When we sincerely confess and repent of our sins, we can be assured of His mercy as we continue to seek Him with a surrendered heart.
The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. Lamentations 3:25
~ Pete Lewis