Hymn to the Mercy of God
V. 13. Like as a father pitieth his children, showing them his fatherly mercy, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him, His children through faith in Christ. V. 14. For He knoweth our frame, just how we are put together, our weakness and frailty; He remembereth that we are dust, for out of it was man originally formed, Gen. 2, 7.
V. 15. As for man, his days are as grass,emblem of perishableness, 1 Pet. 1, 24; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth, Job 14, 1. 2, its beauty of the very briefest duration. V. 16. For the wind passeth over it, the scorching wind coming up from the desert, and it is gone,withered and perished; and the place thereof, the spot of ground where it spent its brief existence, shall know it no more. Compare Is. 40, 7. 8; Job 7, 10. In wonderful contrast to this evanescent frailty of man stands the grace of Yahweh as revealed in the Gospel-message.
V. 17. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting, with an eternal power outlasting the frailty of all creatures, upon them that fear Him, trusting in Him by faith in the Messiah’s redemption, and His righteousness unto children’s children, shown and given to those who follow in the footsteps of their believing parents, Ex. 20, 6; 34, 7; Deut. 7, 9; v. 18. to such as keep His covenant, that of His grace, offered to all men in the Messiah, and to those that remember His commandments to do them, making their entire life conform to the rule of God’s holy will.
V. 19. The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens, established it firmly as the ever-blessed and all-powerful God, 1 Tim. 6, 15. 16, and His kingdom ruleth over all, since He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the Sovereign in His kingdom of power.
V. 20. Bless the Lord, ye His angels, leaders of His invisible creatures, that excel in strength, they are heroes of strength, having been equipped by God with unusual might, that do His commandments, in acts of prompt obedience, hearkening unto the voice of His word, for to hear the Lord’s command means, in their case, to execute it at once. V. 21. Bless ye the Lord, all ye His hosts, the great armies of the heavenly spirits; ye ministers of His that do His pleasure, that being the work of the angels, individually and collectively. V. 22. Bless the Lord, all His works, in all places of His dominion, the entire inanimate creation joining in His praise and thanksgiving; bless the Lord, O my soul, the last admonition of the psalmist repeating the thought with which he opened his powerful hymn.
Truly, the believers of all times have every reason to praise and exalt the immeasurable mercy of the Lord as revealed to them in Jesus Christ, the Savior.