Meditations on God's Watchcare in the Psalms

"Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him" (Psa. 103:13).

God as a Father refers to God's tender, personal interest in His creatures. God knows the "frame" of each of His children and He pities them. God is described in Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son as the Father who is anxiously waiting for the wayward one to return, rushing out to meet the repentant son when he is still a long distance away (Luke 15:20). Every good father pities his children. Racham, the Hebrew word translated pity, is elsewhere translated love and mercy. Even if the father is a man who doesn't easily express his care verbally, he has tender emotions toward his children; he wants the very best for them; he desires to help them in every way possible; he is ready to forgive their offenses; he desires their love and yearns to be close to them. How much more does the Lord pity His children (Mat. 7:11). The best father who has ever lived is but a dim image of God's fatherhood.

(Friday Church News Notes, October 18, 2013, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

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