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[0:00] as God by his spirit may help me I would turn your thoughts this evening to Psalm 103 I'll read verses 13 and 14 Psalm 103 verses 13 and 14 Like as a father pitieth his children so the Lord pitieth them that fear him for he knoweth our frame he remembereth that we are dust There are almost an infinite variety of facets and aspects of the word of God and as you read them you may be rebuked by some Be ye holy for I am holy who can read that in the middle of the week and feel complacent with their own condition before God

[1:04] There are those things which instruct us instruct us in our attitudes and in our actions in life We only need to read Romans chapter 12 and perhaps Philippians chapter 2 and such chapters to show that we need that instruction There are other aspects which bring to us something of the wonder of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ The wonder of the way of salvation that he has procured for poor sinners But particularly in the Psalms as we turn to them there does seem to me to be an uncovering not only of the human heart but of the heart of God himself And there are passages and verses in these Psalms which do not rebuke us do not bring us to examine the practical aspect of our life so much as to bring comfort to our hearts

[2:11] And we if we are God's people need comfort at times We if we live as we ought in this dying dark world shall know what it is to have the opposition of the world and Satan and the opposition of our own fallen natures against us so often We shall need to be comforted It is a wonderful thing to me to think that God is so merciful and so full of grace that he has filled his word with such statements regarding his character which enables us to see that he is a God of comfort a God of grace a God of mercy And these verses that we have before us here tonight remind us of this wonderful fact Remind us that the Lord the Lord looks upon his people with pity and laugh looks upon them because he knows what they are and what they need that he deals with them never now on a basis of merit or justice or law but he deals with them ever in grace and in mercy

[3:40] He deals with them now not as an offended judge but as a gracious kind father This is the God my friends tonight before whom we stand if by his grace we are his children we need to be encouraged as we consider the character of God we need to be comforted by his words well what I would like to do tonight then is very simply to look at these words and to confine our thought largely to them Like as a father pitieth his children so the Lord pitieth them that fear him for he knoweth Ephraim he remembereth that we are dust It's ever so necessary with this text as in many other cases to be careful to note the character to whom this verse is addressed to note for whom this verse is true

[4:46] You see we live in a day of confusion a day when men will glibly take the name of God as their father upon their lips without any warrant at all for is the general way of course that God is our father because he is the creator of all things we owe our origin to his creative power but that most certainly is not what the psalmist is speaking of here he is not speaking of the general fatherhood of God as creator but he is speaking of God's fatherhood toward a particular people and we need to note the character of that people it's given to us in two ways if you look at verse 12 he is speaking to those from whom transgression has been removed and he is dealing in verse 13 with another aspect of the same people those that fear him and God is a father to all such

[6:03] God is indeed a father by his gracious adoption to every poor sinner who knows the reality of their transgressions being removed from them and who now fear him and none else this is not a statement of God's general benevolence it's a statement of God's special love and special care to those he is loved with an everlasting love so my friend tonight before we can take any encouragement or comfort from these verses we need to examine ourselves to see whether in fact we are amongst those transgressions being removed and this other aspect and evidence do we now fear him how is it that a man knows that his sin his transgression has been removed well the apostle

[7:08] Paul tells us very clearly doesn't he by grace are ye saved through faith it is by grace through faith that our sins are forgiven it is according to John that as we confess our sins he will be faithful and just to forgive us our sins and so these are aspects of our life which we can look to if we have experienced these things and come to a conclusion on them are you and I amongst those who have been conscious enough that we were sinners to bring us to confess our sins you see that is not a natural experience at all we wonder sometimes why men and women can pass these chapel buildings without a second thought well the reason is this they're dead in trespasses and sins they have not been given new life enough for them to recognize that they're sinners who are on the road to hell and who need above everything else cleansing and forgiveness and so if you're amongst those tonight oh what a wonder it is and what a miracle has been wrought in your life

[8:39] God by his spirit has sovereignly come to you there may be some here tonight with me that know what it is to be where that prodigal was to have rebelled against a kind Christian home and to have gone into the world and spent the best years of my life in the world or if there's young people here who are only saying once I can get away from home I'll live as I want to beware God may let you God may let you and that's a fearful thing but you see although some attempted to escape from God he would not let them go and they began at some period in the life maybe late maybe early to recognize where they were and what they were and what they needed the world lost its charm when

[9:56] God asked the question what shall it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul has God said that to you has he forced an answer from you has he brought you to realize that it would profit you nothing this is how God begins he awakens us to our need because he convicts us of sin awakens us to know our need of a saviour and he brings us to see the relevance and the freeness of the way of salvation held before us in the gospel to the day comes when you hear his gracious call to you come unto me all ye that labour and I will give you rest you came you came to Jesus as you were weary and weak and sad you found in him a resting place you found in him forgiveness you knew the reality of sin forgiveness that's the only way that a man may know his transgressions to be removed his own natural hardness may so blur his conscience that he becomes almost unaware that he is a sinner but that does not remove them there is one thing alone removes the sin of a sinner and it is as he comes to the saviour like the publican and cries

[11:33] God be merciful to me a sinner that is the way that sin is dealt with that is the way that transgressions are removed from us have you been there do you know what that is you see that is the first evidence the first characteristic that the psalmist holds before us the Lord is a father that pitied his children when they know the reality of transgression being removed from them so that the Lord can have nothing to do with them because he has taken away their sin by the sinless life and sin atoning death of the saviour when he has paid their debt they owed to that broken law and when he has clothed them with

[12:34] Christ's perfect righteousness I say do we know just a little about that how it should make our heart leap if we do because that is not a natural experience it's supernatural it's something that God brings his children to experience in the realities of life but there is another evidence here or another characteristic that he brings before us like as the father pitieth his children so the Lord pitieth them that fear him if God by his spirit has so dealt with us that we have known that we were lost sinners who needed above all things else the forgiveness of sin then he has done a mighty work in us he has not merely if I might use that word carefully he has not merely dealt on a legal basis with our sin and its guilt he has given us a new heart he began the work you see he gave a new heart a new life spiritual life in our new birth and that is what enabled us to realise that we were sinners who needed salvation if you have been to the foot of

[14:05] Calvary's cross as a convicted lost sinner and you have known something of the reality of sin forgiven your life today won't be like it was before that event will it John again in his first epistle makes a point of that by saying if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie in John's word that means just this that if we say that we have known forgiveness through faith in Christ and we continue to walk in the darkness of sin we lie if we have been forgiven our sin we have been given a new heart and that new heart will begin to make its presence known in a changed life in changed affections in changed ambitions in a new outlook on life altogether we shall be those now who fear the

[15:16] Lord we shall fear to walk contrary to his commandments and to his precepts we shall fear to offend and grieve our gracious saviour and thereby forfeit the sense of his presence in our hearts we shall seek to honour him in our lives and glorify him with our bodies you see there are two aspects to a true conversion it's not just someone making a decision for Christ that is not a biblical concept at all it's God visiting them by the power of his spirit and bringing them to conviction of sin and then bringing them to see the suitability of the saviour and then as they go on in life for their life to testify to the reality of that changed heart these two aspects are in every true conversion and let us not be satisfied with ourselves or satisfied with the testimony of others that do not contain these two evidences guilt forgiven adoption into the family of God and a changed life

[16:35] John's first epistle was written in order that we might examine ourselves by it and it's written in this way there are those tests my attitude to the world my attitude to sin my attitude to the brethren and so on these practical tests well the psalmist here is lumping them together as it were he's called it fear in the Lord well I say what a miracle it is if there are those here tonight and I'm persuaded there are that have known God's activity in their life in the way that has brought them to cry for mercy and in a way which has now turned them from that which captivated them so that those things which once they loved they now hate and those things that they once hated they now love that is the change that is wrought by God in the work of conversion now why have I said all that because this verse these verses apply only to such people because only such men and women are God's true children only those have the privilege of calling the ever blessed

[18:00] God their heavenly father so if tonight you by his grace can see that he's dealt with you in that way to some extent or the other then he is your father and this verse brings us this comfort this wonderful assurance that this father pities us as a father pities his children this word pity has the meaning of loving compassionate pity well you say that it would be expected from a father a good human father would love his children with compassion and pity how his heart bleeds for his children when he sees them going in a wrong direction or coming into difficulties and dangers but you see how much more wonderful it is when you consider that this word

[19:09] Lord here in verse 13 printed in capitals the psalmist here is speaking of Jehovah the great I am the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the one who is the creator and sustainer of this universe the eternal God the Lord of heaven and earth the one who brought all of this universe into being and sustains him he is the one who pities his children like a father he has power and he has love he has majesty and he has compassion oh what a saviour have we have been granted what a privilege it is what an unspeakable blessing it is tonight to be able to look back over our lives and see that a change has been wrought this God the eternal

[20:16] God is now our father what does the father do for his children well I suppose he does everything for them really doesn't he if we are privileged to have had good parents if we are parents ourselves we should know that a father is responsible for his children he is responsible for their welfare for their food for their clothes for their education for their training for their future the father has a tremendous responsibility in a family and a good father takes that responsibility very seriously too but he is limited his resources his health his situation may limit what he can do he may attempt to do his very best for his children but that very best falls far short of the ideal but there's no such difficulty with our father he is the lord of heaven and earth he is the one who owns the cattle upon a thousand hills infinite in glory and power and majesty nothing can interfere with his dealings with his children the child doesn't have to keep pestering the father to provide him clothes and provide him no the father takes responsibility and assures the children that it will be well with them they feel the security don't they can you look back to your life to your early days

[22:04] I can always call to mind a certain place when I was a boy in the country no street lights no shade of light from a nearby town there wasn't one pitch dark I used to walk a Saturday evening up to the chapel that I was brought up in when my father used to go up and light the fire light the fire an old coke fire and I used to be alright when we started from home and I used to be alright as we got to the chapel there was a light in the road but in between I used to hold his hand as tightly as I could and I felt quite secure because he was there there's a verse in the sermon on the mount which says this if ye then be in evil know how to give good gifts unto your children how much more shall have me father give good things unto those that ask for them you see

[23:05] I say what a privilege a privilege words mean nothing do they really when you begin to glimpse something of the wonder of being a child of God well why is it then that he who is the Lord of heaven and earth why is it that he can come and deal with us as he does he is the Lord of heaven and earth and we are poor fallen ignorant weak needy creatures well the text tells us doesn't he knoweth their frame he remembereth that we are dust he knows your condition and mine much more clearly than we know it ourselves he sees the ravages of the fall within us much more clearly than we recognize it ourself he sees that by nature by birth we are those whose minds are of enmity against him and the imagination of our hearts are prone to evil continually but he knew all that before he called us didn't he there's a hymn somewhere that says ere he called me well he knew what a heart like mine could do because he knows our frame he remembers that we are dust he knows that we are fallen creatures he knows that without him we can do nothing he knows that without his way of salvation we should be eternally lost and it is because he knows what we are that he has made provision to deal with us as we are like as a father pitieth his children so the lord pitieth those that fear him because he knows our frame he remembers that we are dust isn't that an amazing statement that the lord of heaven and earth has made provision for us because he knows just what we are unworthy and ever shall be have an old nature which prone is prone to wander prone to depart it was when we were enemies and afar off that he saw us and laid his hand upon us he loved he saw me ruined in the fall yet loved me notwithstanding all why if he loved me then he's loved me from all eternity that's why yea

[26:14] I have loved thee with an everlasting love therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee you see sometimes we forget that God knows us knows us through and through and we equally forget that every provision that he has ever made in the gospel he has made for such as we are whose frame he does know those that he does remember are but dust before him what grace that is isn't he he has made provision to meet you and I where we are if he had made any other provision it would not have been salvation for us if he had asked one of us to contribute one iota to that salvation if he had asked us to just make ourselves a little better and then he would come and save us that would have been no salvation that would have suited you and

[27:23] I it wouldn't have suited the prodigal would it if the father had said to him well you must make yourself fit to come back into my house no when he was yet a great way off the father ran and met him met him as he came from feeding the swine he made provision for such a one he brought forth the best robe and put it on him and this is what Christ has done as we come to him as lost sinners we come seeking his mercy that is the transaction that there takes place we are clothed with his righteousness a righteousness not our own a righteousness which is perfect a righteousness which is acceptable to the father this is the provision that God makes for poor sinners because he knows what they are salvation is absolutely designed for those who are bankrupt and poor and needy those that cannot save themselves those that can do nothing without him that is the whole wonder of the grace of

[28:44] God in the work of salvation and in the way that he leads his people forward because this is a constant necessity isn't it it's not only when they come to saving faith but he goes on like this providing for us and dealing with us because he knows our continuing frame we shall never be any better our old nature will never ever be subdued and quieted never God deals with us because he knows what we are but there's another reason too why he can pity us with this loving pity it's because he has been where we are in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ you see if your son comes home from work college wherever and he says dad

[29:49] I've got a terrible problem and he pours his heart out to you and you say I've been there I know exactly what you're going through well I hope that's not an irreverent illustration of the fact that the one who is now our saviour but is also our advocate and rep whoever lives to make intercession for us he was tempted in all points as we are and in that second chapter of Hebrews we've just read together the closing verse because he was tempted he can succour those that are tempted isn't that a wonderful reason why he treats us with such compassion and such loving pity because he knows not only what we are but he knows where we are he knows what temptations are he knows what the world can do he knows what Satan can do he had not where to lay his head how Satan would have taunted him you the son of

[31:08] God how he did taunt him how he did test him there in the wilderness for forty days but his life was a life of hardship and privation he knows what sore temptations are for he has felt the same and so we can go to him with the full knowledge that he will understand our worst condition we never need stay away until we feel to be better or if we tarry till we are better the hymn says we shall never come at all we go to him in our worst condition and he'll know he knows our frame he remembers we are dust and he has been where we are he knows what earthly temptation and travail is we can go to him and there is something else we can go to him with as well that is our spiritual needs do you ever feel that you have become so hard hearted so dried up because of what you still are sometimes he hides his face from you and you cry out with job oh that I knew where I might find him we can go and confess such a wretched condition to him and he'll understand that because he was for Satan of God if we are his children we only feel to be deserted of God he was deserted by God as he hung on the cross my God my God why hast thou forsaken me we can go and confess our worst condition our worst desertion our worst fear to him because he knows our frame he remembers that we are dust and he has been where we are he being tempted therefore can succor those who are tempted we are speaking of

[33:35] God the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the God of infinite power and wisdom and majesty the great and the glorious creator of all things the Lord of heaven and earth I say we can go to him because we go through that God man equal in power and majesty with the father yet with that human heart he still retains and that heart can be touched with a feeling of our infirmity does that amaze us does it humble us does it draw from our heart at time praise and thanksgiving that we of all people we who sinned against light and love and entreaty could go where the prodigal went does it amaze us that he's devised a way whereby we can come back into his presence and know that all our lifetime he will be pitying us and dealing with us kindly now all that I've said doesn't of course in fact in any way promise us an easy life does it if you go back to the example of the human father again when we love our children we have to deal with them in order that they understand certain things you see our children our grandchildren that we see shouldn't make it very obvious that they are fallen creatures we don't have to train them to be disobedient do we but we have a life's work attempting to make them obedient and you and I in God's family are very little different from that and he will see to it that like as a father chastens his children so the

[35:56] Lord will chasten those that he loves the writer to the Hebrews reminds us sometimes we rather like Paul we may seek him to remove thorns in the flesh and difficulties in our circumstances which we suppose would enable us to be the more effective and efficient in the work of the gospel even the work of the church and yet he says no why is that because he loves us why did he say no to Paul well Paul explains it later in that same chapter that if he had been allowed to go on after that revelation that he had his pride would have lifted him up God can't use proud believers he needs to humble them and so he brought that thorn in the flesh he may bring you a thorn in the flesh he may bring you into weakness into affliction into loss into problems in your family and you may cry out to

[37:16] God to remove it but he may say no but when he does say no he will always add that my grace is sufficient for you some have to live realizing in ways that they never once expected to learn that his strength is made perfect in their weakness but God is still dealing with us because he knows our frame and remembers that we are dust and he is dealing with us because he loves us he's dealing with us in these ways to do us good at our latter end always God in your life if he is it's not always that he is going to give you a convenient and a smooth pathway it may well be that he brings you into difficulties and trials which will be your lifelong thorn in the flesh

[38:19] I'm not saying that lightly it may be how much better to be dealt with by God in that way than to be let alone of God to be left to have all that we want in this world though he is reminding us by these things that he loves us and he is reminding us too that here we have no continuing city but he will make provision for us not only does he express this fact but like as a father pitieth his children he will make provision for us you see he does not stand helplessly on the sidelines to see his people suffer no he is with them in the trial and he will make provision for them every step of the way those great covenant promises that he has made to his children fear not

[39:26] I have redeemed thee I have called thee by thy name thou art mine when thou passest through the waters I will be with thee we shall pass through the rivers and the waters we shall be called upon to go through some fires but rather than to prove that that is his weakness he said I will be with thee in it he has made that great and wonderful and comprehensive promise to each one of his children I will never leave thee nor forsake thee he has made that promise and he will work it out he will appear for us when we think all hope is gone when we know not which way to turn he will open the door for us have we not proved that time and again not only does he promise to be with us he makes that promise which is equally comprehensive that he will see to it that he over rules every circumstance of our life for our eternal good we know that all things work together for good to those that love

[40:48] God same people you see those that love God those that are the called according to his purpose can you believe it there are times when you cannot understand it even if you can believe it how can this possibly work for my good or for anyone else is good but he has spoken he who cannot lie he who is infinite in power and majesty power and wisdom has said that he will see to it that all the circumstances of our life do work together for our good he said that he will supply our every need according to the riches of his grace God's people know the reality of these things some in one way some in another but he may deal with us you see in the debts and in the fire he may deal with us to prove his promise true by dealing with us as he dealt with

[42:00] Elijah everything dried up so he sent it to the one little stream that was flowing fed him with ravens but that stream dried up he moved him on to a widow woman who was so destitute she had nothing to feed herself with God moves in mysterious ways to fulfill the promises he's made to his people and he often moves in ways which try our faith to breaking point but he'll never he'll never ever make a promise and fail to keep it no because he is who he is Jehovah of the great I am each one who by his grace he has adopted into his family will know the wonders of his grace his provision his care his fatherly tender pity over them they'll know his love too they'll know his love too can you look back your children your grandchildren when something has happened and you you hug them don't you just to let them know how much you love them the

[43:24] Lord does that with his people he brings us into his banquet in house times his banner over us his love sheds abroad his love in our hearts he manifests the love of our saviour to us again he speaks words of comfort words which make this poor barren world receive and we begin to glimpse something of the wonder of his love and perhaps at times glimpse something of that inheritance which he has reserved in heaven for those that love him those that are kept by his power through faith under salvation or if by his grace he has brought you to see that you're a needy bankrupt sinner he has brought you to seek his mercy has brought you to know the reality of sin forgiven then according to his word according to that word that

[44:31] Asaph has said so many years ago he will continue to guide you by his counsel and afterward receive you to glory it may be true as he says it will be true that in the world he shall have tribulation but with Paul we shall be able at times to go on and say this light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding weight of glory oh may God give us the faith and the grace we need and not to look at that which is temporary and passing but that which is spiritual and eternal may he come and manifest his grace his mercy and his love to us in a way which keeps us in that close walk with himself this evening's service with him 120 joy we meditate in the grace of our high priest above his heart is made of tenderness his bowels melt with love 120 feet

[46:04] OH I'll see you next time.

[46:48] I'll see you next time.

[47:18] I'll see you next time.

[47:48] I'll see you next time.

[48:18] I'll see you next time.

[48:48] I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time.

[49:00] I'll see you next time.

[49:32] I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time.

[49:44] I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time.

[49:56] I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time.

[50:08] I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time. We do thank thee, our gracious God, for thy word, that word which discloses to us something of thy gracious nature, thy changeless character.

[50:38] O Lord, we praise thee. We thank thee tonight that by thy grace have thou sought us and found us and brought us into thy family.

[50:49] O Lord, we pray tonight, if there are those here who do not know of thee as their saviour and their heavenly father, that thy gracious spirit may come to them and awaken them as we were awakened to see the emptiness of this world, to see the urgency of the need that they had of cleansing and forgiveness.

[51:13] Open their ears to hear that same gracious overture and call, come unto me and I will give you rest. Do part us now with thy blessing.

[51:25]  Take us each home safely and abide with us. We ask it for Christ's sake. Amen. Amen.