Devotional Messages

Psalm 103:11-14 – For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us.  As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.  For he knows how we were made; he remembers that we are dust. (NRSV)

Everyone knows that if you really want a congregation to remember something, you should put it in the children’s sermon, not the regular sermon.  Psalm 103 almost has that feel in these short verses.  How high are the heavens above the earth?  How far is east from west?  The kids could stretch out their arms wide, but what answer do we have besides, “Really far”?

The point is that we don’t need to know the details – and probably we couldn’t comprehend them anyway – to get that God is huge and wonderful and amazing.  And that God loves us, “as a father has compassion for his children.”  The contrast is stark.

For there at the end is that reminder of our humble origins.  God’s grace, which we are called to embody, is so incredible.  Following Jesus seems so challenging.  The expectations of the faithful are so high.  And yet, then again, God knows us through and through.  “He remembers that we are dust.”  Probably more often than we do ourselves.  And so God has compassion on our pitiful attempts at being good.

God knows us and loves us.  God works on us and through us.  It is God’s breath that gives our dust life, and God made the dust too.  God gives us the free will that allows our transgressions, and God’s mercy removes those transgressions from us.  How far?  Really far.