A father's love

As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him. - Psalm 103v13

Sometimes the word picture painted in the Bible just really say it all. As a long time parent and now grandparent I am pretty familiar with the relationship between parents and their children. The verse reminds us of that relationship.

When we, well at least when I read the word 'pity' today I tend to think of the idea of feeling sorry for someone and taking that into account in how they treat them. It also draws up images of someone being pitiful and miserable.

Pity is not really too far off from that. It does not have to have a negative connotation. Pity is the ability to see the needs of one and take compassion in dealing with them. That kind of pity describe the proper relationship between parents and their children.

None of us like to see our children hurt. That doesn't mean that we always do whatever they want done. It means that we see them with pity, or, of you will, an abundance of compassion when we deal with them.

This kind of pity doesn't change. It endures. It is the same compassion that God has for His children.

George Strait said it well in his song about a father's love. It speaks of a son 'in trouble' with his dad. I got sent home from school one day with a shiner on my eye
Fighting was against the rules and it didnt matter why
When Dad got home I told that story just like Id rehearsed
Then stood there on those trembling knees and waited for the worst 
And they said, Let me tell you a secret, about a fathers love
A secret that my daddy said was just between us
You see daddies don't just love their children every now and then
Its a love without end, amen, its a love without end, amen 

I don't have any idea about Strait's theology, but he goes on to relate this incident to dying and wondering what would happen with all of his sins. He speaks of 'standing at the pearly gates' and hearing the words of the chorus from inside heaven.

I think we can illustrate the truth of Psalm 103v13 with those words. Indeed daddies don't just love their children every now and then. Its a love without end. Amen and amen. That includes our heavenly Daddy.