Our Scripture reading tonight comes from Psalm 103. As we turn there, we remind ourselves that we have the inspired Word of God. Inspired, it is therefore infallible and inerrant, and it is a Word that is to be authoritative over our doctrine and over our life. And so we give careful attention to the reading of the Word of God this evening from Psalm 103 of David. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. 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. As for man, his days are like grass. He flourishes like a flower of the field. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word. Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers who do his will. Bless the Lord, all his works, and all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Thus far for this evening, our reading from the word of God. a congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, and maybe this introductory statement applies more specifically to the young people, or even the boys and the girls, but have you ever wondered what someone else thought about you? Have you ever wondered what someone else thought about you? Maybe it's a classmate. Maybe it's another young person in the congregation. Maybe it's a neighbor. And you wonder to yourself, maybe after a time in which there's been a fight between you, or maybe there's the appearance of some coldness between you, and you wonder in your own mind, how are things between us? Of course, that's not just for the young people and for the children, but also as adults, we at times have moments where we wonder. What does he think of me? What does she think of me? Now, I do believe that the older you grow, typically speaking, especially if you are of a Dutch heritage, the less you care what people think of you. At times, I tell individuals, well, if my elders are happy with me and if my wife is happy with me, then it doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks. And that's a good spot to be at. to have a sort of indifference about someone else's opinion of you? Because at the end of the day, someone else's opinion of you, what does that really matter? But I want to look a little bit deeper tonight. Have you ever thought what God thinks of you? Have you ever wondered maybe in the quietness of an evening or the stillness of a morning or the busyness of a day, What are things like between me and my God? What does God think of me? Psalm 103 verse 13 shows us. It's a most beautiful picture. It's a most comforting picture. If you want to know what the heart of God is towards his people, he himself tells us what it is in Psalm 103 verse 13. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him." Now, you'll notice in the title of the sermon, since I worked with the new King James, it's entitled, The Pity of the Heavenly Father. But you could very easily substitute, The Compassion of the Heavenly Father. And so I want to consider briefly tonight this theme, the compassion of the heavenly Father. Noticing first of all the description of this compassion. Secondly, the objects of this compassion. And then thirdly, the blessing of this compassion. The compassion of the heavenly Father. The description, the objects, and the blessing of this compassion. So first of all then, the description of this compassion. What exactly does this mean? That the Father, the heavenly Father, representing the fullness of the triune God, that the Heavenly Father has a hard attitude of compassion. Well, beyond the truth that this God is a personal God with real affections, with a real heart, so to speak, with relationships, inter-Trinitarian relationships between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but then also flowing out of those inter-Trinitarian relationships, God has established a covenantal relationship. with his chosen people, with his elect ones. And those individuals are the objects of his compassion or pity. The word is used in our text twice, compassion. And as I always remind my own congregation, the Holy Spirit never repeats himself unnecessarily. It's always there for emphasis. So when you're reading your Bible, and if you ever see a word repeated, You know, if a minister repeats himself, you yawn and you look at your watch and you say, okay, enough, move on. But if the holy scriptures repeat themselves, you pause and you humble yourself and you say, why this emphasis? Why this emphasis on compassion? Well, it's a beautifully rich word and a concept that reveals a heart attitude of deep, deep, tender mercy. A mercy that is a hard attitude towards those who are in distress. That's really the concept of mercy, grace and mercy, the twin sisters of God. They're connected, but they're different. Mercy looks upon a person who's in need of help, who's in need of assistance. That's why we read Psalm 90. There Moses is, and he says, we're suffering underneath the experience of your wrath. Oh God, have mercy upon us. Remember us. with this favorable attitude. It is a fatherly compassion in light of the frailty and the perishableness of man." So two truths that we ought to be reminded of tonight. The first is that you and I are frail. You and I are perishable. I know at times we like to boast in our own strength, but as Moses asked the rhetorical question, what is the boast of our 70, 80 years? Quickly, they're gone. Quickly, the strength of youth gives way to the weakness of the elderly years, whether that's in the physical body or whether that's in the mind or whether it's in a combination of both. The human being is a frail, a frail object. And we do well to be reminded of that, especially in the context of a boastful and arrogant humanism that so pervades our culture. A man will tell you everything that he is and everything that he will become. And yet the Word of God comes and it reminds us, what is your life? What is your life but a vapor? Here today, gone tomorrow. But in the contrast to that perishable nature of humanity is set this deep compassion that the Lord has for His children that moves Him to action. So this compassion, it doesn't just look at people and say, Well, that's too bad that they are in such a state. That's too bad that they are perishable. That's too bad that as they age, their strength flies away. But this is an attitude of the heart that moves God to take action, the action of His saving work, the action of redemption. Because when you think of it, why is man so perishable? Why is the length of our days only 70 years, or if by reason of strength, 80 years? Because death comes. Because death comes and does its afflicting work upon the human person. And God, you can think of Him as He looks upon Adam and Eve as they have plunged the human race into sin and misery. He doesn't just stand by as an unconcerned observer. But rather, as our Belgic Confession says, God runs after man. As man goes running and trembling and shaking to hide himself from God. God Himself comes with this compassion. which moves him to salvation, which moves him to give to Adam and to Eve as they're trembling there in their sin and in their misery, a promise that they can bank on, that they can stake their eternity on. A promise that not that man would do something, not that Adam would find a way back to the tree of life, not that Eve would design some way back to the tree of life, but God comes and He says in His sovereignty that He would do something. More specifically, that he would do something through the coming savior, the mediator, that he would crush the head of the serpent, that he would redeem the people of God. And all of this is motivated not because God looked at Adam and Eve and said, oh, they are wonderful, fine specimens of humanity, but simply because God has an attitude of deep compassion. that moves Him in His mercy and in His love and in His grace to provide a way of salvation. Allow me to reference 1 John 3 verse 1. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God. Look at this, is what John is saying. Behold, observe, what manner of love or what type of love is this? This is heavenly love. This is supernatural love. This is something far above and beyond the here and the now and the experiences of inter-human relations. and not only His love, but you can also think of what John says in his account of the gospel, John 1, verse 16, and of His fullness we have all received and grace for grace. I think at some level, we would all concur that 2020 has been a difficult year. 2020 has been a difficult year. Now maybe in your own personal life there are other reasons for the difficulty of 2020. Maybe you've struggled with loss, with conflict, with disappointment. But all of us have experienced the uncertainties of a so-called pandemic and of a tumultuous, to say the least, election cycle. All of us have had our lives interrupted at some level or to some degree, and for me at least, it's comforting, and I hope it is for you also. Just to reflect for a Sunday evening, as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion. has a heart that is characterized by mercy. He sees us in our time of trouble. He recognizes us in our times of distress. Well, that allows us to look a little bit more specifically in our second point at the objects of this pity. And the first thing we want to say, and I say this because it's becoming increasingly common for some reason that I have not been able to specifically identify, the compassion of God, the saving love of God is not universal. The text is very, very plain, so the Lord shows compassion. To who? To everyone? to those who fear Him, to those who are His children. And perhaps we need to do a better job educating and instructing at all the various levels, but God's saving love is not a universal love. God's saving love channels itself through His Son Jesus Christ to those whom He has chosen unconditionally unto salvation. That's why it states God has compassion on His children. God has compassion on those who fear Him. So it is a particular pity or a particular compassion for a particular people. The Lord pities, first of all, those with the status of a child. The Lord picks up in this verse the relationship, that bond of affection that there is in the family, the deep paternal bond between a godly father and all his children. And all of you who are fathers will know. The moment you look upon your own child, there is a bond, a bond that is perhaps described with the words of love, but also protection, of pride, a deep bond, an unbreakable bond. And woe to the man, you say, who breaks the hearts of your daughters. And woe to anyone who interferes with the success of your sons. That's the heart of a father, and that's what the Lord picks up on. And when you see your little children as they experience the difficulties of life, you guard them, you watch over them, you help them, you assist them, you guide them. Why? Because it's daddy's little girl, or it's my young man. And that's what the psalmist is getting at. That's what God is getting at. The Lord has compassion for those who are His children. Now, of course, this is an adoptive relationship. The Father only has one eternal, only begotten Son who shares the divine nature. But the Christian, you and I who profess to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have a unique relationship with the God of heaven and of earth. We have been adopted by His grace and by His mercy and by His love into His family, so that the Holy Spirit works within us, so that we can actually cry out, and we actually do cry out, Abba, Father. And as Galatians 4, verses 4 through 7 says, But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who are under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, and daughters also, but because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father. Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. And that brings with it certain rights, and that brings with it certain responsibilities. But allow me just to remind you tonight of your status. If indeed you are a child of God, if indeed you are characterized by a genuine, sincere, personal exercise of saving faith, you are a son or a daughter of the living God. And He has a heart that is characterized by mercy and by grace, by love and by compassion for you, the object of His eternal love. He loved you before you were ever born. He loved you before the world was ever created. He loved you in that eternal decree of the covenant of redemption when he gave you to his only begotten son in the decree of election, when he wrote, as it were, your name in the book of life. The compassion of the heavenly Father. for his children dear is unfathomable. It moves him to not only redeem them, but also to renew them. And so the Lord pities those with the attitude of a child, the status of a child and the attitude of a child. And so the proper attitude of the child is seen in the second part of the verse, those who fear him, his children fear him. Now we need to be careful to define properly this fear. This fear is not some type of trembling, servile, slavish fear, like a fear of rejection, or the fear of some type of emotional dismay, or even the fear of physical threatening. That's not the proper relationship between a father and his children. but rather one of respect and one of reverence. To fear the Lord means to have this childlike fear and reverence for God, to recognize God as God, and to respond appropriately with the proper humility. And when redemption is accomplished and when redemption is applied, as the Holy Spirit takes up residency within the hearts of the children of God, the Holy Spirit produces this attitude so that they do have the beginnings of a reverence and the beginnings of a fear of the Lord, and they do worship the Lord. And they do walk in righteousness, not perfect righteousness, of course not, but in a newness of life. And so tonight also, we need to make clear, absolutely clear, because of false doctrines that are constantly bombarding the church. So let us make this clear. The Lord does not have compassion on His children because they fear Him. The Lord does not have compassion on His children because they fear Him. Like He looks down from heaven and says, oh yes, I see that one there fears me. Now I will be moved with pity or compassion towards them. It's the other way around. The children of God fear the Lord because… because He is compassionate towards them. And as the Christian begins to understand and see something of the depth, of the compassion, the grace, the mercy, the love of the Heavenly Father, it fills their heart with this reverence, with this awe. God has an attitude of compassion for me? Then I must have an attitude of reverence for Him. as the father pities the son. Ecclesiastes 8 verses 12 and 13 remind us of this important truth. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God. I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God. That is an eternal truth. That is an absolute reality. It will be well for those who fear God. But the Bible is a book of contrast, and so Ecclesiastes continues, but it will not be well with the wicked. And notice how succinct and how blunt, it will not be well with the wicked. Oh, it may appear for a time to be well, Psalm 73 is that great perplexing question. Why do the wicked seem to prosper? Well, you need to go and you need to consider the end of the matter. You need to look upon this life from the realm of eternity and then you see it will not be well with the wicked. Nor will he prolong his days which are as a shadow. But now, listen to this, because he does not fear before God. And so as I try to proclaim to you tonight the attitude of the heavenly Father to be one of compassion towards you, so I also must ask you as I ask myself, do you fear God? Do you fear God? Boys and girls, you remember that when Jesus Christ was crucified, there were two other men there, wicked men, terrible sinners. thieves, murderers. They had just lived their life with no regard for anything that was right or true. In fact, they were mocking Jesus as they were being crucified. But then one man changed his attitude and he changed his view of Christ. And he said to the other thief, Dost not thou fear God? Don't you fear God? And that's the question I put before every one of you tonight. Do you fear God? If you have seen something of His compassion towards you, then you will fear God, and then it will be well with you. But if you have not seen His compassion, then you do not fear Him. then I have to tell you it will not be well with you unless you repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Because the blessings, as we consider them in our third point, are only for the children, only for those who fear God. The blessings that flow out of this compassion are a paternal deliverance, a rescuing of the father, of the children, in this case death. And so, think about it as we try to bring it all together. The Father has this heart of compassion upon His elect children that moves Him to action. What action? The action of actually saving them, of redeeming them. Well, now what does God save us from? What does God save us from? I would think probably with the catechism instruction and the home instruction and the school instruction that the children of Dutton have, many of you probably would say, well, He saves us from our sins and that's exactly right, and yet more can be said. God saves His children from eternal wrath, from condemnation, from the sentence of eternal misery and alienation. And I do firmly believe that the church needs to rediscover what we are saved from and how we are saved. God through the work of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. By the transaction that took place upon the cross. takes all of the sins of his children, of his elect objects of favor, of love, and of grace, and he places them in a transaction upon his son, who is sinless in and of himself, but nevertheless becomes the scapegoat, just as the priest in the Old Testament would lay his hands upon the scapegoat and confess the sins of the people of Israel, and then that scapegoat would be led away, signifying the removal of the sins, That's what happens at Calvary. That's the essence of the Christian gospel. The blessing is that our sins have been removed and therefore we are no longer the objects of God's wrath, but rather of God's favor. His face shines upon us. And we can sincerely hear those words, grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit. And my friends, if that doesn't move us to worship Him and glorify Him, then perhaps we are nothing more than stalks and blocks, because that is the most wonderful transaction that ever could have occurred. that my heavenly Father had such compassion upon me that He took away my sentence of eternal death and He gave me the right to be called a son and to be an heir of everlasting life. There is this judicial pardon then that is motivated by grace and by mercy. that ought to not only produce praise, but that also ought to give a certain measure of comfort to our hearts. And so, we ask in closing, have you ever wondered what somebody thought of you? Have you ever wondered what maybe a friend, a classmate, a neighbor, an extended family member, have you ever wondered what someone thought of you? Have you ever wondered what God thinks of you? Well, I can assure you, based on the authority of Scripture in our text tonight, that if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, God thinks well of you. He has a heart that is filled with compassion, that moved Him to save and to bless. And if God has a heart of compassion for us, well, what can we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Let us then, as the Christian church, go forth with this understanding. with a measure of comfort and peace, even in the midst of the uncertainties of living out life in a fallen and broken world. Amen. Our Heavenly Father, we do glorify your name as we reflect upon your goodness, but we also thank you for this evening in the midst of all that appears to be so wrong within this world and within our own lives. that you, through your scriptures, show us your own heart, and that you come to us and you tell us, as a father has compassion upon his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. May those words comfort our hearts, and may we then respond with lives of praise and of thanksgiving. We ask this for Jesus' sake and in his name, amen.