Psalm 103. Several weeks ago, we started a study of Psalm 103 and we made it through verse 12. This evening, I'd like to pick up with verse 13 and hopefully finish this chapter. Verse 13, we read, like as a father, pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.

There are three questions answered in these first couple verses. The first is, who? Who? Well, it's to them that fear him. Them that fear him. We read the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It's to fear Him, to have a reverence for Him. How? That's another question, how? Well, it says here, as a father pitieth his children. As a father pitieth his children, a living, loving Savior pitieth His children, God's children. Turn to Matthew chapter 7. Hold your place there in the psalm, but turn to Matthew 7. Look beginning with verse 9.

For what man is there of you, if his son asked bread, would he give him a stone? Or if he asked for a fish, would he give him a serpent? If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask Him as a Father? just as a father has pity on his children. That word pity, it means to love, to love deeply, to have mercy, to be compassionate, to have tender affection. As a father pitieth his children. And then why? Look at verse 14. Here's why. For he knoweth our frame, he knows everything about us. He even knows the hairs of our head. How intimately does God the Father know his children? He says here, he knows how we are made.

David wrote this in Psalm 100 verse three. He said, know ye, that the Lord, he is God. It is he that made us. He made us. David wrote this again in Psalm 139. He said, I'll praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Fearfully and wonderfully made by God himself. He hath made us.

Not we ourselves, we're his people. were the sheep of His pasture. Listen, without Him was not anything made that was made. He hath made us. That's such a short, brief statement, but there's a bunch there, isn't it? He made us. It's in Him. It's in Him that we live and move and have our being. We're His workmanship created in Christ Jesus. He knoweth our frame. And then look back at verse 14. Again, back here in Psalm 103, verse 14.

He remembereth that we are dust. Is there anything more insignificant than dust? Not only is it insignificant, often it's irritating, isn't it? That's us. We are dust. We're made. from the dust. Back there in Genesis 2-7, remember the Lord God, he formed man with what? From what?

The dust of the ground. And then he breathed into it. He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And when he did that, that dust became a living soul. He formed us, formed from the dust of the ground. We're dust. He remembers that. We forget it, don't we? He remembers that we're dust. We quickly forget that, don't we?

How often do we fail to be mindful that this is true of us and that it's true of others. When we fail to take notice of our own infirmities, when we fail to take notice of the infirmity of others, when we put burdens and expectations on them that are too great for any to bear, Or when we do just the opposite of that, when we think of men too highly than we ought to. Like those Pharisees of old who thought of themselves much higher than they should have. Abraham, he answered the Lord in Genesis 18, 27, and he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord which am but dust and ashes. We ever consider that when we approach unto almighty God?

That we're nothing but dust and ashes. Dust. Frail, feeble, mortal, mean, despicable, unworthy creatures. that approach unto God. We are dust. God told Adam after the fall, he said, in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread until thou return unto the ground. For out of it was thou taken. For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. He remembers that we're dust.

But you know, as a result of that, He never puts on His people more than we can bear. We lose sight of that, don't we? There hath no temptation taken unto you, but such as is common to man. God is faithful. And he'll not suffer you to be tempted, above that ye are able. But will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. Now we shouldn't expect to be free from the common trials of all men. But when those trials come, God has promised strength. He's promised to never leave or forsake his people. Isn't it comforting to know that even though we may be tempted above our strength, we'll never be tempted above his.

He knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust. Let's not forget that to be true of ourselves. Verse 15, as for man, his days are as grass, as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. As for man, that's you and I. What's he say of us? We're grass. Grass. Grass lives. It grows. It flowers. And in time, it is cut down. It's removed from the field. And it's gone. Job said this, he said, man that is born of a woman is a few days and full of trouble. He comes forth, how? Like a flower and is cut down. He fleeth as a shadow and he continueth not.

Turn with me to Isaiah 40. Isaiah chapter 40. Look at verse, well, start with verse six. The voice, Isaiah 40 verse six, the voice said, cry. And he said, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. Verse seven, the grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass. Here we see something of the greatness of God and the nothingness of man. Brother Tom Harding wrote this.

He said, unless the Lord is pleased to teach us and reveal to us what we are by nature, we will never see our need for Christ. We'll never see our need of the gospel of his free and sovereign grace in Christ. We'll never understand our need of the Lord Jesus Christ and his great salvation. We'll never see it unless the Spirit of God is pleased to move upon our hearts.

You see, only when he reveals to us our sinful condition will we seek His salvation. We must be shown our need to cause us to seek Him. And only when He speaks to us about our righteousness being what it truly is, filthy rags, will we see His great righteousness. That which is performed and provided by His grace It's only when He reveals to us our ruin that we'll seek redemption through the spotless Lamb of God.

That Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. Only when He's pleased to show us how unworthy we are will we seek Him who is worthy. We are nothing more, man is nothing more than grass. Today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven. Oh, that the Lord would make us see our need, our need of Him, and calls us to seek mercy where it is found, in His Son.

Now, still in verse 15, again of Psalm 103, It says, as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. Man in his best state, in a time of health, maybe in a time of riches and honor, maybe in a time when man is for a little while endowed with some gifts, And yet with all of that, he's like a flower out there in the field, exposed to the wind, maybe plucked up by a child just walking out in the field. Just grab that flower and pick it up, or maybe trampled on by the by deer or cattle walking through the field. He may flourish for a little while, but not for long. We're frail, uncertain, even in times that we may appear to flourish.

Look again at Isaiah 40 verse six. Let me read this again. The voice said, cry. What shall I cry? All flesh. What is it? It's grass. And the goodliness thereof is the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord blows upon it. People's grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but listen, the word of our God shall stand forever.

All flesh, now consider this, it's worthless, withering grass. We're born spiritually dead, worthless. And nothing in this life, there's nothing in this life that we can do to improve our condition. When this flesh dies, it just really confirms that we are corrupt. The wages of sins, death, and in this flesh dwelleth no good thing. In this flesh, no man can please God.

And that must be declared. That's not necessarily a popular message, but it's the truth. And we declare it. This pride, it must be humble. We must see the necessity of God's divine power in regeneration, in taking a dead sinner and giving life. All flesh is grass, even our so-called righteousness, that which is comely and commendable when it's compared to someone else. But we're all as a worthless, fading flower. Man at his best state is altogether, he's nothing but vanity.

And we find this out when the Spirit of God blows upon it, when He makes us know the truth about ourselves in the light of His holiness, in the light of who He is. Well, Psalm 103, look at verse 16. The wind passeth over it, and it's gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more. There's not even a remembrance of it. So frail, so frail that when the wind passes over it, it's gone. The beauty of that flower is gone. The fragrance of that flower is gone. In the book of Job, we read this, he shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him anymore. no longer known or seen among the men of this earth.

I'm gonna tell you, I'm very thankful. These are truths and truths we must be taught, but I am so thankful that Psalm 103 does not end with verse 16. Look at verse 17. But I tell you, That must be one of the most glorious words in Scripture, one of the most comforting words in Scripture. Three letters. But, how many times do we read that word in Scripture?

In Genesis, we read, if you go back there, remember, God saw, He looked on the earth, The thoughts of man was only evil continually. It repented him that he'd created man. He determined to destroy the earth and everything in it. And then we read this, but, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. In Exodus 11 verse seven, God was, God's gonna destroy the firstborn in Egypt.

Wrath and judgment's gonna come through. But we read this, but against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue. Against man or beast that you may know. What are we going to know? That the Lord hath put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.

But, In Acts 13, 29, it says, when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, all that was written of the Lord Jesus Christ, they took him down from the tree. He had been crucified. And there he died on the cross. It says, when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and they laid him in the sepulcher. Sure wouldn't want it to end there, would we? But God raised him. from the dead.

Ephesians 2.4, but God, who is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace are you saved. Just a few scriptures. Listen to our text. Again, verse 17 of Psalm 103, but the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his righteousness unto children's children. The mercy of the Lord is everlasting.

You know, everything about man is frail. Everything about man is feeble. Everything about man is fleeting. He's dust. We just read that. He's dust. He's the flower of the field. He's grass. He's here today and gone tomorrow. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. That's quite a contrast, isn't it? The fading flower and the everlasting God.

God's people are objects of his mercy. The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. His people are objects of his mercy, partakers of his grace. In one place we're called vessels, vessels of mercy. It's no wonder that this passage of Scripture, this 103rd Psalm, starts and begins with, bless the Lord, O my soul, His abundant mercy, the forgiveness of sin, that which is according to the multitude of His tender mercies. The whole of salvation.

Not by works of righteousness, but the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, listen, which endures forever. Eternal life to them that fear him and his righteousness unto children's children. Verse 18, to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember His commandments to do them. To do them.

In James 1.22, we read this. We're to be doers of the Word. Not just hearers only, but doers of the Word. God's Word is to be believed. It's to be loved. It's to be obeyed. His commandments are to be not just admired, but put into practice. His ordinances, His principles, these things written in His Word. Well, quickly, Psalm 103, verse 19. The Lord hath prepared His throne. Whose throne is it? It's His throne. an eternal throne. That throne, O God, is forever.

Now the kings and rulers of this earth, they're appointed by God. Scripture says this, the powers that be, they are ordained of God. And that's true, listen, where there are good kings like good earthly kings, I guess we'd say, like Hezekiah or David, or whether they're wicked men like Pharaoh. God said this of Pharaoh. He said, for this cause, Pharaoh, for this cause have I raised thee up to show in thee my power, my power, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. And two things, two things are true about those who rule on this earth. Now, the first is, listen, there is no power but of God. That's clear in scripture. The powers that be. What's scripture say? They are ordained of God.

Pilate told the Lord, Shortly before his crucifixion, he said, he said, Don't you know? Now think about this. This is Pilate talking to the Lord and he said, Don't you know I have power to crucify you? Do you, Pilate? I have power to crucify you. I have power to release you. How did the Lord reply to him? Do you remember that? Jesus answered and he said this, You have no power at all against me except that which was given from above. No power but of God. And listen, the kings of this earth, their rule, at best, is temporary. Go back in history.

This man sat on a throne and what's happened? Either he died or his throne was taken from him and another was raised up in their place. Kingdoms throughout the ages raised up and down and fall. And the same is true of earthly kings. But write this down.

The Lord's reign is eternal. He reigns sovereign and he reigns Eternal. The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens and his kingdom ruleth over all. Nebuchadnezzar learned that, didn't he? It took him a little while, but the Lord taught him that. That he is king of kings, and he is Lord of lords. Well, let's just finish reading the rest of this passage.

Verse 20. Bless the Lord, seeing that he's King of kings and Lord of lords and that his throne is eternal. Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, ye his angels that excel in strength that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye his host, ye ministers of his that do his pleasure. Verse 22, bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. All right, I pray the Lord be pleased to bless this study, to bless his word, and cause us to bless him, to praise him who reigns eternal. All right, Isaac, come lead us in a closing hymn.