The Father Embraces the Returning Prodigal SonBible World
103:13Psalms 103:13
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
Like a tender father feels toward his own children, so the Lord feels toward those who reverence Him, and this pity belongs to His mercy and loving-kindness. Those who fear Him are those who trust Him and love Him, surrendering to Him, remaining loyal, returning when wayward, and heeding His Spirit, and they may come to Him without cold dread with a child's confidence to become sons and daughters of the Most High. His pity means He does not deal with them according to their sins but forgives transgression, removes it far away, heals and renews for Christ's sake, because He remembers they are dust and knows the secrets of the heart and human weakness. Like the father of the prodigal he longs to embrace the repenting son who returns, not stern and exacting or watching to condemn, but bringing him home as a son without taunting or reproach or holding the forgiven past against him. This fatherly love was fully shown in Jesus, whose meek and gentle receiving, blessing, suffering, and dying reveal that God abhors sin but loves the sinner, and it is a tender refuge in weakness, sorrow, affliction, and sickness, a model for parents and all His people to show the same gentleness and forbearance to others.
Father's Pity Explained
Like a father feels toward his own children, so the Lord feels tender, fatherlike compassion toward those who fear Him. This pity belongs to His mercy and loving-kindness. It means He does not treat them according to their sins, but removes their transgressions far from them while remembering that they are frail and made of dust. It includes readiness to pardon their sins when they surrender and remain loyal to Him, granting pardon for Christ's sake by laying sin's punishment upon His Son. It is pity and tender compassion for those who love as well as fear Him.
That compassion is personal, for God is not an impersonal force or abstraction but a tender Friend who pities people and hears their need. He is an almighty Friend whose pity meets the soul amid sin and sorrow and pain. He reveals Himself as One who can be trusted and who will uphold.
This fatherly pity reveals His strength through gentleness and condescension, fully displayed in His becoming manifest in flesh. It is seen in the tender love Jesus showed when He kindly received the mothers and their children whom the disciples would have sent away, laying His hands upon them and blessing them because of such is the kingdom of heaven. That same Jesus still speaks today to the weary and heavy-laden to come to Him for rest, to be healed of infirmities, to be inspired with hope, and to have the heart filled with His love and compassion.
Those Who Fear Him
Those who fear Him are those who put their trust in Him and love Him, and His fatherlike compassion means He loves and cares for them. They can trust Him to bless them, to give them peace, and to keep them happy. His pity assures the weak and afflicted that His love has not failed them and will not fail or forsake them.
They include sinners who surrender to Him and remain loyal to Him, for whom pardon is ready with transgressions removed far away for Christ's sake through sin's punishment laid on His Son. His mercy and pardon remain open to sinners who return to Him and heed the pleading voice of His Spirit. Toward the wayward His pity is a waiting tenderness that listens for confession, accepts penitence, and watches for returning gratitude as a mother watches for the smile of recognition from her beloved child, never forgetting one soul that trusts and fears Him amid trials and temptations.
Despite His greatness and majesty they need not approach Him with cold awe, but may come with the confidence of a child and address Him as Father and Friend. Those who strive to obey His precepts need not conclude from sorrow or trial that He has forsaken them. By this fatherly pity believers may become sons and daughters of the Most High, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. His loving care is not limited to those who serve Him according to human rules, for He cares for every lost soul and the whole world, both good and evil, receives His care.
Forgiveness and Forbearance Shown
His pity means He does not deal with those who fear Him according to their sins, but forgives transgressions, removes them far away, and heals, redeems and renews the sinner. He remembers that they are frail and made of dust, knowing human weakness, the secrets of the heart, and their defects. Pardon is granted for Christ's sake, by laying the punishment of sin upon His Son, and is given readily when sinners surrender and remain loyal to Him. That compassion embraces even those whose faith and courage fail and whose favors are undeserved, with sympathy and patient love. The abundance of this forgiveness is displayed in Christ's life, suffering and death, showing that God abhors sin yet loves the sinner.
Because He knows how frail people are, He bears with their mistakes and looks with tenderness upon their weakness. He does not willingly grieve or afflict them, and when they err He does not forsake or forget them nor leave them to their own ways. He treats them with greater mercy than people often show one another, in contrast to harsh and heartless judgment. This is especially seen toward sins committed without willfulness, and toward the wayward and disobedient who continually grieve Him yet whom He does not meet in anger. His way of dealing with such erring ones becomes the call for patience and compassion rather than severity, and the model for correcting children gently and kindly.
His mercy and pardon remain open and extended to sinners, calling those who have wandered to return so that He may heal their backsliding. They remain available to those who return and heed the pleading voice of His Spirit. His pity is shown in readiness to pardon, to heal backsliding, and to continue loving and guiding His people, for He knows their frailty and remembers they are dust.
Like the father of the prodigal, He longs to embrace the repenting son who returns, covering his misery and bringing him home as a son and not as a servant. He is not stern and severe, hard and exacting, tyrannical and relentless, watching to denounce and condemn, nor unwilling to receive the sinner. There is no taunting or reproach, and the forgiven past is not held against the one who comes back. Those deceived view God as hard and His law as a restriction on happiness, as the prodigal once viewed his father, but one whose eyes are opened by the love of Christ beholds this fatherly pity and makes the verse his own exclamation. As the forgiving and compassionate Saviour who lifts up the bowed-down, He is to be met with praise and thanksgiving for His goodness.
God Revealed in Christ
Jesus represents the Father through meek and gentle character, pitying love, and benevolence. Through faith in Jesus and through the lessons and promises of God's Word, people learn to trust and come to know God's parental love. That love and care of God for those who fear Him with a father's pity is revealed through Jesus Christ.
The pity of the verse is strength revealed through gentleness and condescension, fully displayed in God manifest in flesh. It means the tender love Jesus showed when He kindly received the mothers and their children whom the disciples would have sent away, laying His hands on them and blessing them because of such is the kingdom of heaven. That same Jesus still calls the weary and heavy-laden to come to Him for rest, for healing of infirmities, for hope, and for a heart filled with His love and compassion.
Christ held up this fatherly love as the true emblem of God's character to answer the lie that God has no love, mercy, and compassion and is overbearing and revengeful. All the goodness, mercy, patience, forbearance, sympathy, and care seen in Christ belong to God the Father. Jesus showed this same fatherly compassion toward Jerusalem as toward a loved but erring and rebellious son. He grieved over the people even as they rejected the mercy and warnings meant to turn them from sin.
Comfort in Suffering and Trial
In all human suffering and affliction there is an Eye to pity and a Heart to love, and God's tenderest care is exercised over His people in their weakness, sorrow, suffering, and affliction. Even when despondent and despairing under heavy clouds of affliction and trouble, there is light and hope ahead, because beyond the gloom is a sympathetic, compassionate Friend who does not willingly grieve or afflict the children of men. His heart yearns tenderly over those who fear Him in their trials and temptations.
That pity is waiting tenderness toward the wayward, listening for confession, accepting penitence, and watching for some return of gratitude as a mother watches for the smile of recognition from her beloved child. He patiently receives confessions and repentance, especially from wayward youth. He never forgets one soul that trusts and fears Him, so that a mother might sooner forget her child than He forget a trusting soul.
He supports the afflicted and tenderly binds their wounds, giving comfort to those burdened by suffering and sin or facing death. They can rest in Him and trust Him as a child rests in a mother's arms. He understands human weakness and remembers that people are dust.
That fatherly pity makes Him a refuge in sickness as in health who never turns from the soul that sincerely seeks Him for help. He knows how frail people are and remembers that they are dust, and does not willingly afflict or grieve them. Therefore when human strength fails and life seems slipping away it is right to remember God and ask Him for divine help, and to accept offered relief as coming from God.
His compassion includes knowing human frailty and the secrets of each heart, understanding what people can endure and knowing what lies ahead. His compassion does not mean that everyone will be restored to health. Therefore petitions for the sick rightly ask earnestly for healing while submitting and surrendering the outcome to His wisdom and will.
Because it is a Father's hand that holds out the bitter cup of disappointments, afflictions, and trials, they are to be accepted without mourning and grieving, taking up the cross and trusting Him in darkness as well as in day that He will give everything that is for good. This fatherly care makes believers sons and daughters of the Most High, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ, who may address Him as Father and Friend. It is proved by His not sparing His own Son but delivering Him up on the cross of Calvary.
So even in the night of affliction heart and voice are to be lifted in grateful praise. Sorrow or trial is no reason to conclude that He has forsaken those who strive to obey Him. The verse assures in every weakness that God loves and pities people, and that His love has not failed the weak and afflicted who trust in Him.
Pattern for Parents and Others
The way fathers, mothers, and teachers treat children can help them understand God's tenderness or can misrepresent it. The tenderness, justice, patience, and long-suffering love shown by earthly parents and teachers can help children learn to trust, obey, and revere God.
The verse teaches parents about the influence a father and mother may have over their children. Parents whose lives are a true reflection of the divine interpret that pitying Father's love to the child, so that God's promises and commands awaken gratitude and reverence. By teaching the child to love and trust and obey them, they teach him to love and trust and obey his Father in heaven. This gives him a treasure more precious than the wealth of all the ages and as enduring as eternity.
His compassion is the model for parents in correcting their children. Though they are wayward and disobedient and continually grieve Him, He does not deal with them in anger. So parents are to correct gently and kindly.
His people are to show others the same tenderness, forbearance, patience, and compassion rather than harshness. His pity includes bearing with mistakes and having tenderness toward weakness, even toward those who have sinned without willfulness, calling for patience and compassion rather than harsh, heartless judgment. Even when people make mistakes He does not forsake or forget them or leave them to their own ways, but treats them with greater mercy than people often show one another. Those who sit in meekness at the feet of Jesus gain right views of God's character and, working in union with Him, reveal that same compassion.
Like a tender father feels toward his own children, so the Lord feels toward those who reverence Him, and this pity belongs to His mercy and loving-kindness. Those who fear Him are those who trust Him and love Him, surrendering to Him, remaining loyal, returning when wayward, and heeding His Spirit, and they may come to Him without cold dread with a child's confidence to become sons and daughters of the Most High. His pity means He does not deal with them according to their sins but forgives transgression, removes it far away, heals and renews for Christ's sake, because He remembers they are dust and knows the secrets of the heart and human weakness. Like the father of the prodigal he longs to embrace the repenting son who returns, not stern and exacting or watching to condemn, but bringing him home as a son without taunting or reproach or holding the forgiven past against him. This fatherly love was fully shown in Jesus, whose meek and gentle receiving, blessing, suffering, and dying reveal that God abhors sin but loves the sinner, and it is a tender refuge in weakness, sorrow, affliction, and sickness, a model for parents and all His people to show the same gentleness and forbearance to others.
Father's Pity Explained
Like a father feels toward his own children, so the Lord feels tender, fatherlike compassion toward those who fear Him. This pity belongs to His mercy and loving-kindness. It means He does not treat them according to their sins, but removes their transgressions far from them while remembering that they are frail and made of dust. It includes readiness to pardon their sins when they surrender and remain loyal to Him, granting pardon for Christ's sake by laying sin's punishment upon His Son. It is pity and tender compassion for those who love as well as fear Him.
That compassion is personal, for God is not an impersonal force or abstraction but a tender Friend who pities people and hears their need. He is an almighty Friend whose pity meets the soul amid sin and sorrow and pain. He reveals Himself as One who can be trusted and who will uphold.
This fatherly pity reveals His strength through gentleness and condescension, fully displayed in His becoming manifest in flesh. It is seen in the tender love Jesus showed when He kindly received the mothers and their children whom the disciples would have sent away, laying His hands upon them and blessing them because of such is the kingdom of heaven. That same Jesus still speaks today to the weary and heavy-laden to come to Him for rest, to be healed of infirmities, to be inspired with hope, and to have the heart filled with His love and compassion.
Those Who Fear Him
Those who fear Him are those who put their trust in Him and love Him, and His fatherlike compassion means He loves and cares for them. They can trust Him to bless them, to give them peace, and to keep them happy. His pity assures the weak and afflicted that His love has not failed them and will not fail or forsake them.
They include sinners who surrender to Him and remain loyal to Him, for whom pardon is ready with transgressions removed far away for Christ's sake through sin's punishment laid on His Son. His mercy and pardon remain open to sinners who return to Him and heed the pleading voice of His Spirit. Toward the wayward His pity is a waiting tenderness that listens for confession, accepts penitence, and watches for returning gratitude as a mother watches for the smile of recognition from her beloved child, never forgetting one soul that trusts and fears Him amid trials and temptations.
Despite His greatness and majesty they need not approach Him with cold awe, but may come with the confidence of a child and address Him as Father and Friend. Those who strive to obey His precepts need not conclude from sorrow or trial that He has forsaken them. By this fatherly pity believers may become sons and daughters of the Most High, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. His loving care is not limited to those who serve Him according to human rules, for He cares for every lost soul and the whole world, both good and evil, receives His care.
Forgiveness and Forbearance Shown
His pity means He does not deal with those who fear Him according to their sins, but forgives transgressions, removes them far away, and heals, redeems and renews the sinner. He remembers that they are frail and made of dust, knowing human weakness, the secrets of the heart, and their defects. Pardon is granted for Christ's sake, by laying the punishment of sin upon His Son, and is given readily when sinners surrender and remain loyal to Him. That compassion embraces even those whose faith and courage fail and whose favors are undeserved, with sympathy and patient love. The abundance of this forgiveness is displayed in Christ's life, suffering and death, showing that God abhors sin yet loves the sinner.
Because He knows how frail people are, He bears with their mistakes and looks with tenderness upon their weakness. He does not willingly grieve or afflict them, and when they err He does not forsake or forget them nor leave them to their own ways. He treats them with greater mercy than people often show one another, in contrast to harsh and heartless judgment. This is especially seen toward sins committed without willfulness, and toward the wayward and disobedient who continually grieve Him yet whom He does not meet in anger. His way of dealing with such erring ones becomes the call for patience and compassion rather than severity, and the model for correcting children gently and kindly.
His mercy and pardon remain open and extended to sinners, calling those who have wandered to return so that He may heal their backsliding. They remain available to those who return and heed the pleading voice of His Spirit. His pity is shown in readiness to pardon, to heal backsliding, and to continue loving and guiding His people, for He knows their frailty and remembers they are dust.
Like the father of the prodigal, He longs to embrace the repenting son who returns, covering his misery and bringing him home as a son and not as a servant. He is not stern and severe, hard and exacting, tyrannical and relentless, watching to denounce and condemn, nor unwilling to receive the sinner. There is no taunting or reproach, and the forgiven past is not held against the one who comes back. Those deceived view God as hard and His law as a restriction on happiness, as the prodigal once viewed his father, but one whose eyes are opened by the love of Christ beholds this fatherly pity and makes the verse his own exclamation. As the forgiving and compassionate Saviour who lifts up the bowed-down, He is to be met with praise and thanksgiving for His goodness.
God Revealed in Christ
Jesus represents the Father through meek and gentle character, pitying love, and benevolence. Through faith in Jesus and through the lessons and promises of God's Word, people learn to trust and come to know God's parental love. That love and care of God for those who fear Him with a father's pity is revealed through Jesus Christ.
The pity of the verse is strength revealed through gentleness and condescension, fully displayed in God manifest in flesh. It means the tender love Jesus showed when He kindly received the mothers and their children whom the disciples would have sent away, laying His hands on them and blessing them because of such is the kingdom of heaven. That same Jesus still calls the weary and heavy-laden to come to Him for rest, for healing of infirmities, for hope, and for a heart filled with His love and compassion.
Christ held up this fatherly love as the true emblem of God's character to answer the lie that God has no love, mercy, and compassion and is overbearing and revengeful. All the goodness, mercy, patience, forbearance, sympathy, and care seen in Christ belong to God the Father. Jesus showed this same fatherly compassion toward Jerusalem as toward a loved but erring and rebellious son. He grieved over the people even as they rejected the mercy and warnings meant to turn them from sin.
Comfort in Suffering and Trial
In all human suffering and affliction there is an Eye to pity and a Heart to love, and God's tenderest care is exercised over His people in their weakness, sorrow, suffering, and affliction. Even when despondent and despairing under heavy clouds of affliction and trouble, there is light and hope ahead, because beyond the gloom is a sympathetic, compassionate Friend who does not willingly grieve or afflict the children of men. His heart yearns tenderly over those who fear Him in their trials and temptations.
That pity is waiting tenderness toward the wayward, listening for confession, accepting penitence, and watching for some return of gratitude as a mother watches for the smile of recognition from her beloved child. He patiently receives confessions and repentance, especially from wayward youth. He never forgets one soul that trusts and fears Him, so that a mother might sooner forget her child than He forget a trusting soul.
He supports the afflicted and tenderly binds their wounds, giving comfort to those burdened by suffering and sin or facing death. They can rest in Him and trust Him as a child rests in a mother's arms. He understands human weakness and remembers that people are dust.
That fatherly pity makes Him a refuge in sickness as in health who never turns from the soul that sincerely seeks Him for help. He knows how frail people are and remembers that they are dust, and does not willingly afflict or grieve them. Therefore when human strength fails and life seems slipping away it is right to remember God and ask Him for divine help, and to accept offered relief as coming from God.
His compassion includes knowing human frailty and the secrets of each heart, understanding what people can endure and knowing what lies ahead. His compassion does not mean that everyone will be restored to health. Therefore petitions for the sick rightly ask earnestly for healing while submitting and surrendering the outcome to His wisdom and will.
Because it is a Father's hand that holds out the bitter cup of disappointments, afflictions, and trials, they are to be accepted without mourning and grieving, taking up the cross and trusting Him in darkness as well as in day that He will give everything that is for good. This fatherly care makes believers sons and daughters of the Most High, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ, who may address Him as Father and Friend. It is proved by His not sparing His own Son but delivering Him up on the cross of Calvary.
So even in the night of affliction heart and voice are to be lifted in grateful praise. Sorrow or trial is no reason to conclude that He has forsaken those who strive to obey Him. The verse assures in every weakness that God loves and pities people, and that His love has not failed the weak and afflicted who trust in Him.
Pattern for Parents and Others
The way fathers, mothers, and teachers treat children can help them understand God's tenderness or can misrepresent it. The tenderness, justice, patience, and long-suffering love shown by earthly parents and teachers can help children learn to trust, obey, and revere God.
The verse teaches parents about the influence a father and mother may have over their children. Parents whose lives are a true reflection of the divine interpret that pitying Father's love to the child, so that God's promises and commands awaken gratitude and reverence. By teaching the child to love and trust and obey them, they teach him to love and trust and obey his Father in heaven. This gives him a treasure more precious than the wealth of all the ages and as enduring as eternity.
His compassion is the model for parents in correcting their children. Though they are wayward and disobedient and continually grieve Him, He does not deal with them in anger. So parents are to correct gently and kindly.
His people are to show others the same tenderness, forbearance, patience, and compassion rather than harshness. His pity includes bearing with mistakes and having tenderness toward weakness, even toward those who have sinned without willfulness, calling for patience and compassion rather than harsh, heartless judgment. Even when people make mistakes He does not forsake or forget them or leave them to their own ways, but treats them with greater mercy than people often show one another. Those who sit in meekness at the feet of Jesus gain right views of God's character and, working in union with Him, reveal that same compassion.