Psalms 103:14

14 He knows what we are made of. He remembers that we are dust.

Psalms 103:14 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 103:14

For he knoweth our frame
The outward frame of their bodies, what brittle ware, what earthen vessels, they be; he being the potter, they the clay, he knows what they are able to bear, and what not; that if he lays his hand too heavy, or strikes too hard, or repeats his strokes too often, they will fall in pieces: he knows the inward frame of their minds, the corruption of their nature, how prone they are to sin; and therefore does not expect perfect services from them: how impotent they are to that which is good; that they can do nothing of themselves; nor think a good thought, nor do a good action; and that their best frames are very uncertain ones; and that, though the spirit may be willing, the flesh is weak. The word used is the same that is rendered "imagination", ( Genesis 6:5 ) ( 8:21 ) , and by which the Jews generally express the depravity and corruption of nature; and so the Targum here paraphrases it,

``for he knows our evil concupiscence, which causes us to sin;''

and to this sense Kimchi.

He remembereth that we are dust
^F2; are of the dust originally, and return to it again at death; and into which men soon crumble when he lays his hand upon them; this he considers, see ( Psalms 78:38 Psalms 78:39 ) . The Targum is,

``it is remembered before him, that we are of the dust:''

the Septuagint version makes a petition of it, "remember that we are dust"; and so the Arabic version. And we should remember it ourselves, and be humble before God; and wonder at his grace and goodness to us, ( Genesis 18:27 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 "Pulvis et umbra sumus", Horat. Carmin. l. 4. Ode 7. v. 16.

Psalms 103:14 In-Context

12 He has removed our lawless acts from us as far as the east is from the west.

13 A father is tender and kind to his children. In the same way, the LORD is tender and kind to those who have respect for him.

14 He knows what we are made of. He remembers that we are dust.

15 People's lives are like grass. People grow like the flowers in the field.

16 When the wind blows on them, they are gone. No one can tell that they had ever been there.