Psalms 103:13
in Psalms 103As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Like as a father pitieth his children, So Jehovah pitieth them that fear him.
KJV
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
⋯
This verse in Psalms 103
Commentary
6 notes on this verseLike as a father pitieth his children,.... When in any affliction, disorder, or distress: the Lord stands in the relation of a Father to his people; they are his children by adopting grace, through the covenant of grace with them; by a sovereign act of his own will he puts them among the children, predestinates them to the adoption of children; and sends his Son to redeem them, that they might receive it, and his Spirit to bear witness to their spirits, that they are his children; and towards these he has all the affections of a tender parent.
This site's exposition
As a father has compassion
on Psalms 103:13-14
The picture is a father's ordinary tenderness toward his own children. Then comes the ground of it: God knows the frame He made and remembers it is dust. He formed the man from dust at Genesis 2:7 and pronounced the same over him at Genesis 3:19.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
on Psalms 103:13-14
Observe, (1.) Whom he pities-- those that fear him, that is, all good people, who in this world may become objects of pity on account of the grievances to which they are not only born, but born again. Or it may be understood of those who have not yet received the spirit of adoption, but are yet trembling at his word; those he pities, Jer. xxxi.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. To those who truly reverence his holy name, the Lord is a father and acts as such. These he pities, for in the very best of men the Lord sees much to pity, and when they are at their best state they still need his compassion. This should check every propensity to pride, though at the same time it should yield us the richest comfort.
IN the former part of this Psalm, the Psalmist sang of God's deeds of love, His gifts, His benefits and His acts of kindness. But here he goes deeper into the Divine motive and, therefore, he finds sweeter incentives to devout gratitude. There is a fullness of consolation in the fact that the heart of God is towards His people. He not only dispenses blessings—so does the sun, so do the clouds, so do the fruitful fields—but He takes a warm interest in our welfare and has a feeling towards us of kindly, gentle affection.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2639: “Our Heavenly Father's Pity” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
WHAT a blow this is for our pride! Then God's children are pitiable objects, notwithstanding that He has crowned them with glory and honor, has given them perfection in Christ Jesus, has breathed into them the breath of spiritual life, has set their feet upon a rock and established their goings—yet they are and they always will be, so long as they are here below—pitiable objects! It is like tolling the death-knell of all our pride to talk about God pitying us!
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
He remembers that we are dust He remembers and has not forgotten that we are dust and He knows that: “As for manhis days, etc.”
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כְּרַחֵ֣ם | kerachem | as has compassion | H7355 → | 47 times |
| אָ֭ב | ʾav | a father | H1 → | 1212 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בָּנִ֑ים | banim | children | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| רִחַ֥ם | richam | he has compassion | H7355 → | 47 times |
| יְ֝הוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יְרֵאָֽיו׃ | yereav | [those] fearing him | H3373 → | 64 times |
כְּרַחֵ֣םas has compassion
kerachemH7355 →47 times
אָ֭בa father
ʾavH1 →1212 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
בָּנִ֑יםchildren
banimH1121 →4930 times
רִחַ֥םhe has compassion
richamH7355 →47 times
יְ֝הוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
יְרֵאָֽיו׃[those] fearing him
yereavH3373 →64 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 103:17But from everlasting to everlasting the loving devotion of the LORD extends to those who fear Him, and His righteousness to their children’s children—
it leads to
- Psalms 100:5
For the LORD is good, and His loving devotion endures forever; His faithfulness continues to all generations.
- 2 Timothy 1:9
He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began.
- Ephesians 2:4–7
But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
- Exodus 20:6
but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
- Romans 1:17
For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
- Psalms 100:5
Through
Jeremiah 31:20Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares…
it leads to
- Isaiah 55:7
Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely…
- Micah 7:18–19
Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
- Lamentations 3:31–32
For the Lord will not cast us off forever.
- Isaiah 55:7
Where this verse is studied
By subject
Love35 verses
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About Psalms
This page draws on Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1650: “God's Fatherly Pity” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2639: “Our Heavenly Father's Pity” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.