Psalm 103:14
MARY Jones was a foster mother with over twenty years of experience. Mary had a unique ability of understanding the backgrounds of her foster children and disciplining them in the way she thought would help rather than further hurt them. She made great efforts to learn as much as she could about the children’s upbringing, the environment they came from, the temperament of their parents, etc. so that she could better grasp their makeup. She was admired for her skill in knowing when to apply different methods of disciplining to her children. In response to an inquiring colleague, Mary explained the reason for her approach: “Each of these children is abused, I am careful to manage my tone. If a child has been physically abused, I hold back from spanking them. I adjust my method of disciplining to help heal the child instead of causing further hurt to their already damaged minds.”
In Psalms chapter 103 the writer begins with: “Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name.” Verse 1. He then lists specific reasons why the Lord Jehovah is deserving of wholehearted praise, worship and devotion. Verses 3-5 says:
“He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion, who satisfies you with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
After pausing to contemplate the description of God’s love for humanity that’s given in the first few verses of this Psalm one may ask: ‘how is God so compassionate towards us?’ The first answer is because “God is love.” 1 John 4:8. The second answer is found in verse 14 of this Psalm: “For He knows our [mortal] frame; He remembers that we are [merely] dust.”
He knows our frame
• Born in sin and shaped in iniquity Psalm 51:5
• Are held captive to do the devil’s will 2 Timothy 2:26
• Even when we desire to do good, we’re bent towards doing evil Romans 7:19-25
• Regarding living in harmony with the Divine government, we hardly know our right from our left Jonah 4:11
According to medicalnewstoday.com “DNA is a biological molecule that contains the instructions an organism needs to develop, survive, and reproduce. It presents in all forms of life on earth and contains each organism’s genetic code.” The sickness we need to be healed from is in our DNA. When we take note of the fact that we are the offspring of parents who were sick with sin it becomes clear that the odds of living in line with God’s laws are stacked against us. We tend to believe lies about ourselves, others, sin and even God, which causes us to make choices that result in death instead of life. We were influenced and conditioned while in our mother’s womb and by our childhood environment, all of which we had no say in the matter. Nevertheless, in some way or another, our decision making is influenced by the early experiences that impacted our development in both healthy and unhealthy ways.
When our heavenly Father looks upon us He knows and remembers what we are made of. He understands that we are in need of compassion and mercy more than we oftentimes realize. He knows that if He were to remove His presence from us we would function no different than the wild animals of the field. He knows that we need to be taught His ways because we’ve all been miseducated. Perhaps this is why Jesus prayed for those who voted to have Him crucified: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34
With the knowledge that God has of our frame and makeup we can trust that when He is leading us it is in the direction that would be most beneficial for our healing. We can rest assured that even when His word convicts us, it is cutting away the diseased parts of us that don’t belong. We can let our guards down and allow His capable hands to comfort and cover us when we realize our nakedness. We can think about standing in the judgment with a calm mind knowing that He is invested in doing all that needs to be done to win our trust here and now. We can then join the psalmist when he says: “BLESS THE LORD O MY SOUL AND ALL THAT IS WITHIN ME BLESS HIS HOLY NAME!” Psalm 103:1