Psalm 103:13

Psalm 103:13

The Lord's compassion

One of the lovely names that we have for the Lord our God is “Abba.’ (That is the Aramaic root of the surname “Abbott” by the way.) Abba is an expression that evokes endearment and paternal closeness, it can be translated “papa” or “daddy.” For centuries the Jews had argued over the names of God and the Bible in Hebrew is full of them, the most sacred being YHWH, which we have translated as “Lord.” It was a blasphemy to the ears of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day to hear Him speak of God as “Abba”, how dare anyone call Him by that name! But it was not just Jesus who spoke in that way, He encouraged the disciples to do the same – and they did! The Epistles refer to God as father too, this was unheard of, it suggested intimacy and a familial relationship with the supreme being who had always been regarded as unapproachable and unknowable, such was His status. 

We too may call Him father, for we are born into His spiritual family, and He sees us as no less than His children. This father figure is compassionate above all else, He loves His children, that’s you and me. He loves us! He loves all who reverence Him and acknowledge Him as God. All who refuse to break the commandments and worship idols or anything on earth or in the heavens that is regarded as a god. He rejoices and has a tender heart towards all human beings who elevate Him as their God and who recognise His majesty. As a consequence of our faith and our going against the tide of human rejection, the Lord eagerly adopts us as His children and from that moment on, He envelopes us with His compassion. Remember this today, the Lord has compassion on you. Hallelujah!

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 4:1 Smear campaigns

Psalm 4:1    Smear campaigns   The background to this Psalm is so familiar; David is being slandered and maligned by his detractors.  It seems that some calamity has befallen the nation and the king is getting the blame! Lies are being told, a smear campaign has begun, and the reputation of the Sovereign is under threat.  As usual, if something goes wrong, culpability is laid at the feet of the one in charge.  David, quite rightly, turns to the Lord his God and prays for relief and for mercy. The Satan is a master of such campaigns and his emissaries gleefully turn on Christians in leadership positions although the whispering campaign can affect all of us. The whispering starts in our own heads, but it can also come from the lips of our detractors. It goes something like this: - You’re the reason it went wrong You messed up again You should have seen it coming Surely you know better You are not worthy You don’t know what you’re doing Someone else ought to be in c
Read more

Psalm 74:16

Psalm 74:16 God established the sun and the moon “ In  the beginning   God created   the heavens   and the earth.   2  Now the earth was formless   and empty,   darkness was over the surface of the deep,   and the Spirit of God   was hovering over the waters. 3  And God said,   “Let there be light,” and there was light.   4  God saw that the light was good,   and he separated the light from the darkness.   5  God called   the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”   And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” These, so familiar, words from Genesis 1 remind us of who is in charge! There would be no light without God. There would be no day or night without God. There would be no earth without God. And there would have been no living things unless God had created order out of chaos. The sun, moon and stars would not be fixed in their orbits without God and you and I would not exist unless He ordered our conception. It is because we see God as glorious, righteous
Read more