Since people are so weak, sinful, and foolish, we wonder how God could love us. Even the most mature Christian often has thoughts in his head that make him feel ashamed in the Lord’s presence. We have the assurance, of course, that Jesus has walked in our sandals. The Bible explains that “we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sinning” (Heb. 4:15).
Long before the coming of Christ, however, the book of Psalms boldly affirms God’s patience with human weakness. “He does not deal with us according to our sins,” David says, “nor requite us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust” (103:10-14).
This passage calls to mind the biblical creation account. Moses says that “the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Gen. 2:7). The very substance from which man is made suggests weakness and vulnerability. When he breathes life into Adam, God knows that the man and all his descendants will struggle with temptation, but he makes people anyway. And he has not forgotten our humble origin: “He remembers that we are dust” (Ps. 103:14). Even though our sins grieve and displease the Lord, he does understand. His patience with us is like that of a tenderhearted father pitying his children (v. 13).