He Remembers That We are Dust

We'll be reading from Psalm 103 today. I've really enjoyed David lately and his perspectives. We've actually been watching that show. I don't know if I suggest the show necessarily because it definitely takes liberties away from what's actually in scripture. But I mentioned this before, it's called House of David. It's on Prime, I think.

But I'm a visual person and I enjoy seeing the things I know to be true and the events that happened according to the word of God. I enjoy seeing them happen. It helps me to like put myself there and kind of understand a perspective of the reality of it rather than just words on a page. And the story of David is miraculous, as is almost everything that's in here. And it just had me thinking about him quite a bit, so I ended up going to some of his Psalms, and this is one of them. So it's Psalm 103, and I'm gonna read 10 through 17.

He does not treat us as our sins deserve, or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. For he knows how we are formed.

He remembers that we are dust. And that's the title of the message today. He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass. He flourishes like a flower of the field and the wind blows over it and it is gone. And its place remembers no more. but from everlasting to everlasting, the Lord's love is with those who fear him and his righteousness with their children's children.

So there are moments in life When it's not, doubt is obviously a regular part of life for all humans, believers as well. We are equally flesh and equally spirit, whether that spirit is alive or not. And in those of us that do have spiritual life, we still have that flesh and we are all very, very familiar with that.

So doubt is a very normal thing for us to have. in all aspects, including spirituality, including the things of God. But we hate doubting. Any type of doubts create more doubts, because automatically we think, well, if I'm doubting, do I really believe? Would a believer doubt as much as I do? and it creates a cycle, which so often happens in the human mind when emotions are involved. We tend to put ourselves in a cycle of despair, a cycle of doubt. One spurs another. But the doubt, quite often for a believer, is not whether God exists.

It's more along the lines of how could he possibly love me? because we are all too familiar with who we are. Now there are times in life when we don't see that as much. But if you've been given eyes to see the truth, and your heart is no longer of stone, thanks to the Spirit of God, you will have that doubt. How can I possibly be a child of God? How can God know every aspect of who I am? every moment that I've lived and love me. And we're not talking about the version of you that people see.

We're very, very good at hiding who we are and putting on a show. This is like basically what builds our life. This is what we build our life upon, is the Eric that people see. That's what most of my effort goes towards. And that's not right, but that's just who we are.

I'm talking about the real you, the one who knows every thought you've had and everything you've done, everything that you regret. The version of you that no one else fully sees. We learn how to present ourselves in a way that feels acceptable to the world. And we should, there's no reason to expose what we really are to everyone. What good does that do? But we are very good at hiding it. We choose what to share, we choose what to hide, and over time, we can build a version of ourselves that looks pretty put together to the outside world.

But inside, there's a gap. There's a separation. A gap between what people see and what you know to be true. It can feel like you're living two different lives. I have that. It can feel like I'm living one life of what I really am. And then I have to put on this mask and facade of what people see. And it feels like I'm living two different lives.

And that is the truth for all of us. That gap creates questions in our hearts. If people really knew me, where would that lead? Where would that leave me? And that's just people. The next question is, so according to scripture, God does know me. And if that's true, where can that lead? Where does that leave me? The question sits quietly in your heart quite often.

I carry it around. Sometimes it's louder than others. It shows up at all different times. Randomly when you're in bed at night or in the middle of a prayer. If God really sees everything and really knows me to the core, better than I even do, Something has to have changed. Something, maybe something shifted. It's a terrifying thought. Maybe something broke. Maybe I'm not who I thought I was. Maybe grace was never mine. These are normal thoughts.

How can I say that I believe? How can I say that Christ died for me and continue to live the way I do? And if we are not careful, that will create a distance. Not because we're pulling away, but our natural instinct to think about those things is to think God must have already pulled away. We assume he already did. But here, when it comes to that voice that we live with, is what scripture tells us about that voice. This internal conflict, this turmoil that we constantly have.

In Revelations 12.10, he calls Satan the accuser of the brothers and sisters, who accuses them day and night.

Never stops. That voice that we hear isn't neutral. It isn't just happenstance. It isn't accidental. That voice is intentional. That is the voice of Satan, telling you, reminding you, of everything you've done. A voice that takes what you've done and tells you this isn't just what it means about you, this is who you are. He doesn't say that was wrong, he says you are wrong. He doesn't just remind you of a moment. He makes you build your identity off of those moments. This is what I am.

And then the next step in that is the whisper, God cannot possibly see you and love you. God must relate differently to you now. God has to have taken a step back after all of this. These are the whispers of Satan. Do they sound familiar? There's no way something hasn't changed, he says. Grace was given to you and you continue to spit in its face.

How can you be a child of God? maybe you were never his in the first place. And if you listen to that voice long enough, you don't have to be told to distance yourself from God because you assume that God already has. But Psalm 103 separates those voices, takes that voice and destroys it with the truth of what God says, not the voice of Satan in your mind. What does God tell us? That's what matters. And we have to look there. It's going to show us that this was, you know, Satan is what accusation sounds like, the accuser of the saints. But in Psalm 103, it is what God actually says. Go to verse 13.

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him, for he knows how we are formed and he remembers that we are dust. This is how God describes himself and his relationship to his people, which is all that matters, not distant, Not cold to the choices and the decisions you've made? Not disappointed and sad in who you are? A father with compassion. God sees you clearly. clearer than you even see yourself, every aspect of who you are. And there are many dark moments in everybody's life. He sees them all and he responds with compassion. And notice why he says, he knows how we are formed. He remembers that we are dust. God understands you completely. He made you.

He knows your tendencies. He knows all of your weaknesses. He knows the patterns you wish you could break. He knows the thoughts you wish you didn't have. He knows the things you wish you didn't do. He knows the moments you replay and live with. He knows the moments you hate and yet still repeat. He knows the tension between who you want to be and who you actually are.

He understands the flesh and the spirit. He knows all of it and it says he remembers that you are dust. That full knowledge of him knowing who you are and remembering that you are dust does not make him pull away. His response to that is not turning his back. His response to knowing every aspect of who you are is compassion. We don't understand that because that is not how we operate. We do the opposite, which is why we assume that's what he would do in this situation.

We see who we are and we know how we would respond, so that's what we assume God would do. We see weakness, we pull back. We see inconsistency, we get frustrated very quickly. We see failure, we create distance. This is who we are. But God does not operate like that. He remembers that we are dust. And that's not a statement of hopelessness. It's a statement of reality. We are dust. We are human. We are frail, we are weak. We are dead in our transgressions and sins.

You are sin from your first moment to your last, and God already knows that. He's not discovering that about you. He's not surprised by it. So the parts of yourself that you feel need to hide, you need to hide so desperately, God already sees clearly and he does not turn away. Continue to verse 15.

The life of mortals is like grass. They flourish like a flower of the field. The wind blows over it and it is gone. And its place, its place remembers it no more. David being very honest here, very clear. Life is like grass. Our lives are like grass. They grow, they flourish, it looks strong, and then the wind blows and it's gone.

And what's left behind doesn't even remember you. It's a harsh truth, but that is the life we live. A full generation passes after you die and most people won't remember you lived. Two generations, it's like you never were. That's the truth. It's harsh and sad and oh, some are like, well, I mean, more than that. No, not here. Just like a flower, you grow, you flourish, you're strong, a wind passes and you're gone. And its place remembers it no more. That's how temporary everything is.

And if we're honest, we spend most of our lives building our identity on those things that don't last. We're focused on those things that don't last. What people think, how we're perceived, what we can accomplish, what we haven't accomplished, our failures, our successes. We are so focused on all of this. the things we wish we could undo, the things we wish we could do.

We carry those things like they define us forever when they do not. David says this, they don't last. And that doesn't mean life doesn't matter. It just means it doesn't last. It's not the ultimate. It is not what will define you for the rest of eternity. It will end. And it will be gone. And that changes what matters most.

Think about this, we relive these moments, these hard moments in our lives, whether they're difficult moments for us or things we regret doing, moments we can't seem to escape that won't even exist in the scope of eternity. Think about your hardest moments, your biggest regrets, your biggest pain. where you just focus on those things, your biggest aspirations. All of these things that consume our day-to-day lives, those moments won't even exist in the full scope of eternity. I especially love to think about the things I regret not existing.

It's the truth. As much as we can't seem to escape those burdens, they will be gone. We define ourselves by these things. The good things we've done or the bad things we've done, that will not last. And then David follows that with consistently one of the better words in scripture, but.

He's focused on how none of these things last and how they all come to an end and they won't even be remembered by the areas that they were existing. But he goes right into everlasting to everlasting. The complete opposite of what I was just talking about. Everything here is going to end and never be remembered. Turn the page everlasting to everlasting. No beginning, no end, always is. And what does he say is everlasting to everlasting?

The Lord's love for his people. everything else ends. Your strength will change, your body will change, your circumstances will shift, your story will move, your life will end like grass in the wind. But there is one thing that does not move, and this is not my idea, it says it right here in the scriptures, this is written in the word of God from everlasting to everlasting, the love of God for his people has always been and will always be No beginning, no end. Before you existed, his love existed. And everything in this life fades. His love remains. Everything else comes to an end. His love never ends. He never ends. So how can his love? And nothing else can say that.

So your identity If it's tied to anything temporary, which is everything outside of the grace of God through Christ, it will eventually shake and it will eventually fall. But if your identity is tied to Christ, if you are found in him, it is as unshakable as Christ himself. Now step back in Psalm 103 back to verse 10 through 12.

He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities, for as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him. He does not treat you as your sins deserve. That's something we talk about constantly and we're all very familiar with, but that is so incredible. He has every right to treat you as your sins deserve.

He has no reason, according to us, to treat us any other way. But yet, according to his will, him knowing we are dust, he chose compassion for his people. If he treated us according to our sins, none of us would stand. None of us would live. Every one of us would point to the things we say and do. And if that defines me, I am done. I have no chance.

But God does not respond that way. For his people, he responds with compassion. It says in verse 12, as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. I love east is from the west. You can't measure that. You can't measure how far east is from the west. It's unending. That is how far away your sins have been moved. Can't be measured, can't be reversed. That is how completely he removes your sin.

And yet, as we live in this life, we revisit them. We replay them. We carry them with us. We define ourselves by it. We can't escape what we've done. We hold on for dear life to what God has removed. We revisit what God has already taken away. God is not holding on to your worst moment and holding it over top of you. He has removed it further than you could ever imagine and it will never come back.

In Isaiah 43, it's one of my favorite pieces of scripture, he says, I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. I have redeemed you. That is personal. I have called you by name. I mean, that's clearly pointed to show how personal that is. That is your identity.

You are mine. Your identity is not tied. If you are a child of God, let go of the burdens of you and your life. That is not your identity in the eyes of God. He says, you are mine. That is your true, eternal identity. not your actions, not your worst moments, not your best moments. Would you rather be identified by your best moments or simply identified as one of the children of God? That's what God says. You are mine. Not earned, not declared, your worst moments do not get the final say. God gets the final say. And what does he say? As a child of God, you are his.

But then we go back to the beginning of this, where I started with the doubts. And it's so funny, we can hear all of this scripture and truth. And we get to that point where he says, you are his. And that little voice is back. It says, how can that be? How can I be his? The answer is Christ Jesus. That is the only possible way you could be His. And if that is your answer, then you are absolutely guaranteed you are His.

Absolutely every part of your salvation, of your sonship to God, your adoption as a child of the Father, Every part of the everlasting love and compassion that God shows you and will continue to show you for eternity is owed to Jesus Christ. All of it.

It says in Romans 5.8, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And in 8.1, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

There's no gray area in those statements. I don't want any gray area. Black and white. Hard truth. Give me a firm statement from the creator of the world that says, if you are in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation for you. Only compassion. God doesn't ignore sin.

It says he knows you are dust. He knows who you are. He knows every aspect. He sees how you live. But he already dealt with it. He dealt with it fully. So when he says, you are mine, it's because you're paid for. You can enter the perfection of heaven alongside the creator of the world and fit right in because your sin is gone. Because Christ has secured that place for you.

So again, if you're carrying around the aspects of life that prove that you're dust, the decisions you've made, the decisions you continue to make, the thoughts you've had, the thoughts you continue to have, the actions you take, the actions you continue to take, the proof of the body of death that you still carry around, of the flesh that you are still a part of, proving daily that you are, in fact, dust. You carry that around, it's very, very heavy, not just what happened, but what you think it means about you. And underneath is that question, am I loved? And here's the answer for the child of God, not for me, From scripture, in Psalm 103, he knows you are dust and he shows compassion. He removes your sin as far as from the east is to the west. His love for you is as great as the distance from here to heaven. That's his answer to your struggle. Isaiah 43.

I have called you by name. You are mine. All of this that you're holding onto, I know you're dust, but I've shown you compassion in the greatest possible way ever, by sending my own son to pay for your sin. And that's enough. And now because of what he's done, you are mine. I have called you personally.

You are more known by God than you realize, and you are more loved than you believe. You are known and you are loved, regardless of all the baggage that you carry, because your baggage is no match for what Christ has done. Because of Christ, You are his. Carry that around. Put your bags down. Let go of the things you've done. Let go of the guilt that follows you around. Let go of that awful voice that sits inside your heart and makes you question everything. Go to what God says.

What does God say? You're mine. I know who you are and I respond with compassion. If he is responding with compassion and has already paid for those sins and has decided I have called you by name and you are mine, he isn't holding on to what you are holding on, then why are you?

I look forward to the day when I can let go of this body. I don't wanna die, death is scary for everybody, but man, someday we will just see this all so clearly. What he has done for us, how he sees us now. Our sins are gone. I can't wait to fully understand that. But God shows us in beautiful ways, just like this. that while we're here and we're so struggling with it, we don't have to.

And even if we continue to, it doesn't change anything. Nothing changes the truth. And the truth is that he responds for his people to the fact that they're dust with compassion and love and action. And he made a way through his son that you can be loved eternally. And he made a way that you are his. That's the truth that will never change.

So you can walk out of here feeling much better about things and maybe focus on the fact that you are his for two, three hours, maybe a day. That's about as far as I can go. Or you could walk out of here and forget immediately and get right back into that accuser of the saints inside your heart. And guess what? It doesn't change the truth. That's what we lean on. It doesn't change the truth. It doesn't change what God has done. It doesn't change what Christ has accomplished.

You are his. I'm so grateful that my weakness shows his power. Because man, I have a ton of weakness. And as weak as I get, it only shows that I cannot affect his power. So yeah, it's comforting to let go of these things and to lean on him and to look to him, but even if you struggle with that, know this, the truth never changes.

God has saved his people through his son, Jesus Christ, and that is forever. that is finished, and every one of those who were saved through the actions and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ belong to God forever. So hold on to that if you can, and if you can't, that's okay too.

Our Father, thank you so much for your love. Thank you for your unchanging love and the power of what you've done through your son. We do ask, Lord, that you give us strength and give us comfort as we live this life and walk through the valley of the shadow of death on our way to Zion. We ask for those things, Lord, but we also know that whether you make our path easy or hard, we know where it ends. that is guaranteed by our Savior. We thank you for absolutely everything you are, for your choice to show compassion and love for a people that deserve none of it. We thank you, Christ, for paying for our sins and moving them so far away from us, it is an unmeasurable distance. We thank you, Christ, we thank you, Father. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. You can take out your hymnals once again, and we'll turn to number 168, when I survey the wondrous cross. Number 168, and we'll stand as we sing. 186, I mean.

He Remembers That We are Dust

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He Remembers That We are Dust

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