He Remembers That We Are Dust

From Psalm 103:

The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.

He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.

The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.

He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are 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 shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.

This is a famous psalm, and for me the most comforting line is this:

"He remembers that we are dust."

I take great comfort in the fact that God has very low expectations. He remembers we are dust.

We are frail, feeble, weak, lost, anxious, scared, confused, impulsive, uncertain, unsteady, simpleminded, vulnerable, frightened, thoughtless, wavering, unsure, unreliable, insecure, gullible, limited, perplexed, inept, helpless, irrational, defenseless, broken, adrift, wandering, foolish, unthinking, rash, immature, and stubborn. To use just a few words to describe us.

And God remembers all this. And according to Psalm 103 graces flows from that recognition. God will not deal with according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. And why?

Because God knows our frame:

He remembers that we are dust.