By Psalm 103:14 is perhaps one of the most direct statements on God’s empathy with us.
For he knows our frame;
Psalm 103:14
he remembers that we are dust.
God knows that we are not everything that He is. We are not perfectly holy. We are not almighty. We are not all-knowing. We are not perfectly patient. We are not in control of life. We do not always know what to do, and even if we know what to do, we so often fail in how we do it. God is empathetic to us because He knows that we are made from the dust of the earth with all the limitations and frustrations associated with it. On top of that, we sin, which makes our situation even worse.
But God’s empathy is not just a state-of-being that is true of God in Heaven. God’s empathy results in His sympathy toward us on this earth. The verse just before the one on God’s empathy is about His great sympathy.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
Psalm 103:13
so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
The rest of Psalm 103 is filled with evidences of God’s great compassion to those who fear Him, yet are still so frail. God forgives our sins and heals us after every sickness (Ps 103:3). God grants us promised love and mercy (Ps 103:4). God disciplines us at times, but always for much shorter and with much less anger than is deserved (Ps 103:9-10).
As you meditate on God’s empathetic sympathy to you, join the Psalmist in blessing the LORD today with all who obey His Word (Ps 103:20-22).