April 2, 2019

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
—Psalm 103:13

Our heavenly Father shows himself compassionate to us is in our weakness.63 Children cannot do much, they have little strength, especially little children, too helpless to run alone. The mother does not despise, she rather dotes on the babe she has to carry because it cannot walk. Her heart is not hardened against her infant because the wee one is unable to help itself.
Our heavenly Father knows our weakness. Some of you know something of your own lack of strength; you are bowed down under a sense of your infirmity tonight. Do not let your weakness lead you into unbelief or mistrust of God. He knows our frame; he remembers that we are only dust. An infant’s incapacity never excites a parent’s ire. You, being evil, know how to be tender with your offspring. How much more will the Father of our spirits sympathize with our weakness?
If you have guided your class in their studies but cannot find anything instructive to teach them, or if you are a minister and the words fall frozen when you hoped they would fire volleys from your lips, there may be some solution for your weariness. If it is pure weakness—whether from the body or from the mind that you are weary, disorganized, depressed, and bowed down—do not think of self-reproach, but hear the text say, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.”
Some seem to think we are made of cast iron; they would have us preach all day and all night. They make use of bitter language when some servant of Christ cannot, through physical or mental weakness, do all they want. A person in perfect health and strength may joyfully accomplish what another cannot even think of undertaking. So are God’s servants misjudged by the sterner sort, but they are not misjudged by God, for he has compassion on the weakness of his people and blames them not. God sees the efforts of his servants. They would drive the church before them and pull the world behind them, if they could. And if they seem unable to do it, does he blame them? No, truly he has compassion on the weakness of those who fear him.
—C. H. Spurgeon