Are you daddy or father?
She was not his only child. Several others of his children were walking with him. But he gently, yet firmly, grasped her little hand in his. She looked up at him, and with a smile of comfort, assurance, and freedom, she started skipping along the pathway.
The presence and chatter of her other brothers and sisters seemed oblivious and unimportant to her. She was in her father’s care! The stones and weeds along the pathway were no obstacles for her. The fragrances along the pathway enhanced the sweetness of their journey. She was in her father’s care! The sudden rustle of the branches and leaves as startled creatures resting along the sides of the pathway caused her no alarm, nor fear. She was in her father’s care! Even the length of the journey failed to hinder the pace of her steps, for She was in her father’s care!
Something about Psalm 103:13-14 captures the spirit of that little girl as she happily walked along that pathway WITH “her father.” Whatever the potential problems or obstacles there may have been, she was in her father’s care! He knew her limitations. He knew her anxieties and her fears. He knew the expectations of the other children – their hopes, and dreams, and limitations. But he ALSO knew the pathway! They were ALL on that winding pathway together! And the father cared for each of them!
Psalm 103:13 depicts the holy character of God, our Heavenly Father, and a blossoming view of God’s relationship and concern about those souls that He has placed into this awesome world. In verses 1-2, we are encouraged to lift up our praises to Almighty God for ALL of the wonderful blessings and “benefits” that God has bestowed upon the souls of mankind. In recognition of them, we are challenged to “bless” the Lord! In verses 3-5, those “blessings” are specified. He forgives ALL of our iniquities! He heals ALL of our diseases! He redeems our lives from destruction! He crowns us with His lovingkindness and His tender mercies. Then He fills our mouths to satisfaction with good things, so that we will have strength like eagles! ALL these blessings are spiritual with physical benefits.
In verses 6-19, the psalmist begins to affirm the character of God, specifying Him as being merciful, gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy! He even clarifies that God’s mercy is so great that He removes our transgressions so far away from us as the East is from the West!
Caught up in this listing of Divine Qualities and Attributes, the Psalmist describes the quality of God’s compassion and love for you and me. “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.”
That father walking with his children along that wooded pathway knew the nature and behavior patterns of each child. Some he knew could venture a little bit father up that pathway WITHOUT him. Some had to be kept in close view as they walked. Some had to walk just a little ahead of him, while his little daughter needed the close assurance of that gentle grasp of his guiding hand. THAT father knew his children, and adjusted his permissive protection of EACH child according to their specific needs. This 13th verse says that the Father expressed “pity” upon His Children.
Now the biblical idea of that word “pity” refers to more than just “Having a tender love towards another person.” That “tender love” idea involves an “understanding of that person’s limitations and abilities.” Thus, that feeling of “pity” reveals itself in acts of “compassion”! In this biblical sense, “pity” leads one to show acts of “kindness” towards that person having those “limitations and abilities.”
When You really “pity” somebody, You cannot Leave Them Alone to face the consequences of their limitations. That biblical idea of “pity” causes You to do something to help relieve that person’s needs! You engage in a “redemptive relationship” with that person that benefits them presently and for the future.
That is exactly what God does to His Children who express “fear” of Him! When the Bible speaks of “fearing God”, that idea of “fear” is NOTthat of being “scared” of God. Instead, it really refers to that inner sense of the soul being found NOT “measuring Up” to God’s expectations” of It! It is THAT sense of consciously and regretfully knowing that God is NOT pleased with what that soul has done! It is that “fear of NOT pleasing God”! And such “fear” Only Comes when that Soul’s Love Relationship WITH God is greater than its love for itself!
It is nature and extent of the father’s loving relationship with his children that distinguishes him as Father or just Daddy!
A Father establishes a Relationship with his children. A Daddy, at best, is a Resource for his children! Daddys! God wants to Relate to You as well!
Happy Relational Father’s Day to All!
The Rev. Samuel W. Hale, Jr. is the retired pastor of Zion Missionary Baptist Church.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Are you daddy or father?
