He Knows We are But Dust: Lent Devotional

Please Read: Psalm 103:8-14

Here is the setup to almost every action movie: There is a villain who exemplifies pure evil and desires
total world domination. That villain battles the completely selfless hero, whose only goal is to protect others. The villain is eventually slain and we all cheer because good has won again. We don’t shed a tear for the demise of the villain. The villain is one-dimensional and doesn’t require personal connection or personal response. We don’t have to actually engage because the story is flat and without complexity.

When we look at God one dimensionally, we can have a problem. Do we see God as only the God of love and forget His wrath? Do we see God’s wrath and forget His love?

When we have a view of God void of complexity, it prevents us from engaging Him. It prevents a personal response from us. We don’t need a God we can put into a box.

This psalm is presenting a multi-faceted view of God. It acknowledges His compassion, mercy, forgiveness and His unyielding, self-sacrificial, steadfast love. But the psalmist also identifies qualities about us that have the potential to anger Him.

When we fully understand who we are in relationship to God, that we are sinners, unworthy, like dust, it can be easy to desire theological answers that make us feel better. We might ignore mercy, or we might ignore wrath. Let us, instead, embrace God as our Father. As parents care for their child, He cares enough to set standards and have expectations for us. When we fail (although it may anger
Him), He forgives and will not hold onto anger in a way that hurts us.

Our God is not one-dimensional. Our God is triune. God the Son fulfills God the Father’s justice. Through Christ, we are offered forgiveness and love forever, despite our flesh.

May we find balance in accepting rebuke in love. May we find balance in giving rebuke in love.
God, please help us to see you for the divine mystery that you are. Break down the simple answers we have and teach us to see the fullness of who you are. Help us to come to your word humbly, without pre-conceived notions, as children thirsty for the Spirit. Teach us to see your image in others and to see others for the complex creatures you have created in your image. Father, thank you for the gift of your Son. Jesus, thank you for your life, death and resurrection. Spirit, thank you for guiding us in our life of mystery. Amen.

- Colin Whitehurst