March 30, 2019
As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
—Psalm 103:13
There is a sentiment that is accepted by many Christians that God puts us to much sorrow, wisely and for our good, while his own heart is callous to our suffering, because he foresees the good that will come out of it.60 An analogy might in that case be suggested between God and a skillful surgeon, who cuts to remove a cancer from the flesh. The surgeon would be too intent on the success of the operation to bestow much sympathy on the sufferings that will effect a permanent cure.
But I pray you not to think that it is exactly so with God. Of course, in a higher scale, he has all the wisdom of the physician, and he does view our afflictions in light of that hereafter when he will heal all our diseases and give us beauty instead of ashes, gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. Still he does not steel his heart to the present trouble of his people, but, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.”
The surgeon can look at the patient, while causing pain, with the intrepidity of one whose nerves cannot easily be shaken. But a father must leave the room, he cannot bear it; the mother cannot look on—they are carried away with the immediate distress. And so it is with God; even though his wisdom and foreknowledge enable him to see the end as well as the beginning, yet like a father feeling compassion for his children, so the Lord feels compassion for those who fear him. [The verse] is in the present tense and carries the idea of continuity: at this very moment he has compassion on those who fear him. Though he knows your trials will work for your good, yet he has compassion on you. Though he knows that there is sin in you, which may require discipline, yet he has compassion on you. Though he can hear the songs and glees that will ultimately come of your present sighs and griefs, yet still he has compassion on your groans and wails, for “he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men” (Lam. 3:33). In all our distresses and present griefs he takes his share; he has compassion for us as a father has compassion for his children.
—C. H. Spurgeon
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