Accusation, particularly when it comes from within, doesn’t make soil well-suited for a new heart to grow well. Psalm 103, however, helps us remember the truth about the Lord: He forgives, heals, redeems, crowns, satisfies, and shows compassion. There’s no denial of the reality and pain of sin here, but there is refusal to allow sin to to dictate the heart of God towards His people.
 
There are myriads of reasons our hearts can grow cold and hardened; rebellion, shame, pain, fear, and long seasons of disappointment can all teach us to guard ourselves even against God Himself. We can know the language of grace while still living and feeling as though the Lord is mostly disappointed in us, reluctant, and distant.
 
This Psalm helps to bring this distorted view back into focus. He is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love, even when … and especially when … we aren’t. One of my favorite statements in the entire Psalm is that He knows what we’re made of. He knows and remembers we are dust, predisposition for sin and drift away from Him. I’m grateful He doesn’t treat us in accordance with what we deserve because of our sin. That doesn’t minimize our sin, but it does make His mercy unfathomable.
 
I know we often remind each other He has forgiven us on the cross and His forgiveness is present and ready for accepting at any moment, and thank goodness that’s true. But that’s not the end of it. The truth is we need more than forgiveness. We need our souls trained to bless the Lord because His mercy is real and everlasting. We must remember over and over again that God removes our transgressions farther than we can measure. The same god who gives us new hearts doesn’t do it reluctantly with clenched fists; He renews us with the compassion of a loving Father.
 
I don’t know about anyone else reading this, but my heart needed this today. God isn’t waiting for us to become less needy and more spiritually sturdy before He shows us mercy. He knows how fragile we really are on our own … that we are dust. He knows our wounds, our weaknesses, our fear, and our failures … and still His faithful love stretches from eternity to eternity for those who fear Him.
 
The path to a softened heart begins with simply remembering who He is.

What type of picture of God most often shapes your inner life: compassion, disappointment, distance, or mercy? How might your heart be softened if you truly believed God remembers that you are dust and is merciful anyway?

Father, in my darkest moments of failure and sin, help my soul to remember Your mercy. Remove from me the accusations of both the enemy and my own heart. Let your faithful love soften what fear and shame have hardened in me. Amen.