Read: Psalm 103:1-13; Romans 8:14-17
As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. (Ps. 103:13)
The psalmist affirms God’s fatherly compassion for his children. Henry Lyte’s hymn “Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven” puts it beautifully: “Father-like he tends and spares us.” Jesus said God is not just like a good father; he is a good father, our heavenly Father (Matt. 6:9; Luke 11:2). The Son of Man called God “Abba” (Mark 14:36). In Ephesians 3, the apostle Paul refers to God as “the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named” (vv. 14-15). God is the Father. The best fathers are like him, not the other way around.
Even the very best fathers sometimes fail their children, but God never will. If you are a believer, then the Holy Spirit is living in you, and you can know that you are God’s beloved child. “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Rom. 8:15).
I was sitting in an airport lounge very early one morning, waiting for a connecting flight. The only other people there were a couple, apparently Jewish, with a little boy. He was running around excitedly, looking at everything and peppering his father with questions. “Abba, what are these things? Abba, where are those planes going? Abba, how soon do we leave?” And then, I heard him ask, “Abba, why do you love me so much?”
And I thought, “Abba, why do you love me so much?”
As you pray, rest in God’s love.
David Bast is a writer and pastor who served for 23 years as the President and Broadcast Minister for Words of Hope. In his more than 40 years of devotional writing and preaching, he has been encouraging believers around the world to be shaped by God and his Word.
Prior to his ministry and work at Words of Hope, Dave served as a pastor for 18 years in congregations in the Reformed Church in America. A graduate of Hope College and Western Theological Seminary, he is the author of nine devotional books and Bible studies, including God of My Days,Why Doesn't God Act More Like God,Christ in the Psalms, andA Gospel for the World.
Dave and his wife, Betty Jo, have four children and eight grandchildren. Dave enjoys reading, growing tomatoes, and avidly follows the Detroit Tigers.
