Embracing God's Compassion: Our Perfect Father's Love

But I want you to hear that David's not saying God is like your father. He's saying God is the father that your heart has always been longing for. He's the father you've always been reaching for. He's not a reflection of your dad. Your dad is maybe a shadow of the good father, but he's the perfection of fatherhood itself. [00:49:38] (20 seconds)

To fear God is to recognize who he is and surrender to that reality. It's to trust that his way is better than ours. It's to trust that his wisdom is deeper than ours. It's to trust that his love is more satisfying and more secure than anything else that you try to cling to. [00:55:27] (17 seconds)

God's compassion isn't something that just flows to us despite our weaknesses, it's not like God is begrudgingly showing compassion in the face of all of our weakness and sin, it flows to us because of our weaknesses. That's the reason why God shows compassion, that's the reason God is the kind of father that he is, because he knows our frame and he knows that we need him. [01:00:27] (24 seconds)

We're like grass, but God's love isn't. Our lives are fleeting, but God's compassion towards us is steady. We don't just need a creator, we need a father who doesn't fade when we do. And who can hold on to us, right? A relationship with someone who lasts for eternity. [01:04:36] (20 seconds)

It's his steadfast love, or in Hebrew, it's the word hesed. It's one of the most important words that you'll find in the Old Testament. It shows up everywhere, and it's not just love in the way that we tend to use it. It's like this loyal love, this covenant love, this committed love. It's a love that sticks. It's a love that doesn't walk away. It's a love that keeps showing up, even if it's not reciprocated. It's a love that shows up even when it's resisted. It's a love that shows up even when it costs something, and it's a love that can't be hindered from accomplishing its purpose. [01:05:31] (33 seconds)

``Because Jesus isn't just the way back to God. He's the way into this relationship that we were created for. He lived the life we failed to live. He died the death that we deserved. And he rose so that we could become children of the father. Not guests in his house, not strangers who are just tolerated on the porch, sons and daughters who are welcomed at his table. [01:10:49] (19 seconds)

You're dust and yet you're loved by an eternal God who knows your name and whose compassion is personal for you and whose love is given to you. And so let that shape how you pray. Let it shape how you obey. Let it shape how you repent. Let it shape how you worship. Let that relationship be the center of your life. Not just in concept, but in practice. [01:12:50] (22 seconds)

Our culture talks about how we might define ourselves by all kinds of things. Performance, popularity, you name it. But David says you're dust and yet you're loved. And in Christ, you're more than dust. You're a child. And so don't just acknowledge God as a compassionate father today. Live like that's true. Run to him. Rest in him. Walk with him. Because that's what you were made for. [01:13:12] (24 seconds)