God Remembers that We are Dust

Passage to be read: Psalm 103: 6-14

The Lord has mercy on those who respect Him,

as a father has mercy on his children.

He knows how we were made;

He remembers that we are dust.

(Psalm 103: 13, 14)

            There is an amazing Tamil song usually sung at funerals, when the dead body is slowly lowered into the grave. 

"Manithane, nee mannaaha irukkindraai, 

 Mannukke thirumbuvaai.

 Maravaadhe.. Maravaadhe..."

Oh human being, you are dust,

You will return to dust one day.

Do not forget... Do not forget...

           When human thoughts go wrong, we suspect our capabilities. That moment when we find it difficult to forgive someone for the eighteenth time, we feel that it is our threshold of patience. "That's all I can do about it" we may say. "Now this is beyond the breaking point" others may say. And sometimes, we wonder how it goes with God. What about God? Does He have a breaking point? Is there a limit for His patience with us the human beings? Big questions, aren't they? 

           Reading one by one the verses in the passage we have read above, Psalm 130: 6-14, and contemplating on them with all our mind, we realise how great and big is God's mercy and love on us. God does not become angry quickly, He has great love. He will not always accuse us, and He will not be angry forever. Above anything, God has not punished us as our sins should be punished; He has not repaid us for the evil we have done. How amazing is that? Doesn't it surprise to realise this truth? 

             As we remember every single moment that we had sinned, we also should remember what a load of punishments it would bring in if we were punished for all the wrongs from our side. But God has not done that. He has not, indeed, repaid us for the evil we have done. How graceful is our loving God.

           But the biggest question we have is this, "How come God is being this much patient with us?" What makes our Lord to be this graceful towards us? This one thought boils our thoughts. What is that one thing in me that makes my creator be so loving, patient and graceful towards me? The answer is here.

              "He knows how we were made, He remembers that we are dust" (Psalm 130: 14).

            Remember? Genesis 2:7 says, "Then the Lord God took dust from the ground and formed a man from it. He breathed the breath of life into the man's nose, and the man became a living person." Yes! And God remembers that moment when He made us from dust, and He knows that we are return to the same dust. He remembers that we are dust! What else does He want to love us more? 

             All the human weaknesses and failures that are stored in us may be not acceptable for the people around us, but God is able to accept. The people around us may have forgotten long back that we were made from dust, we are dust and we return to the dust one day. And forgetting this basic fact of our human life would have made it impossible for us to accept each other as people with human weaknesses and failures. But God remembers from where we came, and where our bodies return, so that He endures and accepts all the mistakes, failures and weaknesses that our human body and life on earth show up. 

              When, we as human beings, learn to remember from where we came into this world with our bodies formed, and where we return, our whole view of the world changes. We begin to accept each other, the way they are. We accept other's human failures and weaknesses when we remember we are dust. 

              God knows how we were made and He remembers that we are dust. And that's why He loves us so much. Wow! How great is our God.

             I pray that God will help each and everyone of us to remember that He loves us beyond our human capabilities. Let's us fall in front of Him each moment and learn to live this life with His grace that sees us beyond our human form. 

                May God bless you.

Yours in Christ,