“He remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14).

Have you wondered what God really thinks about you?

Our greatest barrier to knowing God better may be how much we know about how much God knows about us. We struggle with God because we feel so bad about ourselves, and if we know the truth about ourselves, think of how much more God knows us!

We can’t fool him.

Sometimes we don’t want to pray or read the Bible or think about God because when we look in the mirror, we feel like saying, “You’re a big disappointment” or “You ought to be a lot better by now.”

We’ve all felt that way from time to time, and I imagine that many people reading these words feel that way right now. It’s been a hard week, or a bad month, and now we’re near the end of what seems like a wasted year. Sam Storms captures the truth in one simple sentence:

I think we run from God rather than to him because we know our own hearts all too well and his barely at all.

I probably don’t need to spend any time convincing you that you are a sinner. You probably know the truth about yourself all too well. But it’s the other side that we need to talk about. We don’t know God’s heart very well.

That’s where Psalm 103 can help us tremendously. Perhaps no other chapter in the Bible so clearly reveals God’s compassion for his people. If you’re wondering what God thinks about you, let’s take a journey through Psalm 103 and discover seven liberating truths about God’s heart.

1. He Loves to Help the Needy.

“The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel” (vv. 6-7).

The “oppressed” are those who can’t help themselves. In the Old Testament the word especially referred to widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. When we are tempted to take advantage of others because we are strong and they are weak, God says, “Think about that first.” He takes the side of the weak. Our God keeps his eyes on the helpless, and when others hurt them, he moves to balance the scales of justice. In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., “The arm of the universe is long but it bends toward justice.” There are days and times when this is hard to believe, especially in light of events like the terrorist bombing in Mumbai. But this truth stands like a solid rock for the believer. If all of history is a book, we haven’t reached the final chapter yet. We’re somewhere near the end, but we’re not sure how far away we are. But we know this much. Eventually God will bring everything to light, and he will judge with impartiality. In that day there will be no hiding, no excuse-making, no bribes, and no way of escape.

All those who labor for a better world and a more just society and those who stretch out a helping hand–you have to believe this or you can’t go on. The words of James Russell Lowell come to mind:

Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne,-
Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.

Are you needy? The answer is yes whether you know it or not. You are needy and God is on your side. That’s a great place to start.

2. He Shows Mercy to Those Who Don’t Deserve It.

“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” (v. 8).
See the four great attributes of God in this verse:

1)      The Lord is compassionate-He pardons us.
2)      The Lord is gracious-He gives us what we don’t deserve.
3)      The Lord is slow to anger-He is patient with us when we fall.
4)      The Lord abounds in love-He loves us more than we can imagine.

There’s no fishing like fishing in the sea.
There’s no eating like eating at the king’s table.
There’s no love like God’s love.

When he saves, he saves completely.
When he forgives, he forgives all my sins.
When he sets free, we are free forever.

The King James Version translates the last phrase of verse 8 by saying that God is “plenteous in mercy.” Spurgeon (in The Treasury of David) takes that phrase and offers this application (italics added):

All the world tastes of his sparing mercy,
those who hear the gospel partake of his inviting mercy,
the saints live by his saving mercy,
are preserved by his upholding mercy,
are cheered by his consoling mercy, and
will enter heaven through his infinite and everlasting mercy.

I like that! Six kinds of mercy in just one sentence. That’s plenteous mercy for anyone who needs it.

3. He Tempers His Wrath.

“He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever. He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities” (vv. 9- 10).

Have you ever known anyone who loved to argue? We all know people who love to keep a quarrel going because they are so angry. God is not like that. He is willing to end the quarrel and welcome us back home. Sometimes the real problem is that we want to keep fighting him.
He’s more ready to forgive than we are to be forgiven!

When we forget to pray, he remembers to feed us.
When we forge to give thanks, he sends us restful sleep.
When we idle in sin, he sends his Holy Spirit to convict us.
When we refuse to give, he keeps on giving still.
When we fall, he lifts us up.
When we disappoint ourselves and others, he still calls us his children.

He even blesses those who don’t believe in him. An unbeliever like Christopher Hitchens writes a book called “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything,” and sells a boatload of copies, along the way merrily debating every religious-type person he can find. He is clever, witty, a gifted wordsmith, widely read, quick with a comeback, and completely committed to debunking religion of every type and even more committed to the concept that God is simply not necessary. But see the mercy of God. Instead of crushing him like an empty eggshell, the Lord feed him and nourishes him and gives him health and love and life. It is the longsuffering of God that allows Christopher Hitchens to deny him. And why would God show such kindness to someone utterly dedicated to eradicating his influence in the world? Because if there is a God at all, he is not in the least intimidated by Christopher Hitchens or Richard Dawkins or Sam Harris. If you think of them as part of the atheist artillery, they shoot at God on ground he provides from them. And the fact that God withholds punishment to his enemies, that too is evidence of his mercy for “God’s kindness leads you toward repentance” (Romans 2:4).