As a Father Pitieth His Children

Psalm 103:13-14 – “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.”

We may have concern and sympathy for many people, but no one has a place in our hearts like our children do. When they are injured or ill, when they are sorrowing or discouraged, we feel deeply for them in their needs. This empathy does not cease when they become older. As our adult children have struggles or difficulties, we continue to enter into their pain as though it were our own. This ability to feel the hurt of our children is not a learned behavior, but the natural sentiment of parents.

The Scripture teaches us that “as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” God loves and cares for His children. He has compassion for us when we suffer. Anyone who believes that God is somehow far removed from us and is untouched by our burdens does not know his Bible, nor does he know the Lord. The Bible tells us that He is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities” (Hebrews 4:15). Just as we empathize with our children, God is affected by our needs.

Our Father knows us even better than we know ourselves. We are never out of His sight, and He understands our grief. God is very familiar with our weakness; “he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” God knows our limitations, fears, frustrations, heartaches, and disappointments. Not only does He comprehend our circumstances, but He also has pity on us in our hardships. We can know when we cry out to God in our times of trouble that He is aware of and interested in our problems.

In this life, we are going to have times of difficulty. We are familiar with periods of discouragement or loss. The pain of rejection or betrayal is often felt by God’s people. In a sin-cursed world, we all will face the emotions of sorrow and anguish. How does God view our hurts? He cares for us the way we care for our children when they are enduring adverse circumstances. When going through the valley of trials, we can be confident that our Father pities His children, as we do ours.