Speaker: Bonnie Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. Psalm 103:14 NASB

The God of the Bible is a deeply personal God.  The Bible tells us that he “knit us together in our mother’s womb.”  He knows the numbers of hairs on our heads, knows when we sit down and rise up and knows what we’re thinking from afar (Luke 12:7, Ps. 139).  And it is exactly because He knows us so well that He has compassion on us and offers us grace in our weaknesses.  Think about it:  He is intimately aware of your unique struggles.  He knows, that perhaps, you need grace for anxiety because of a tumultuous childhood.  Maybe He knows all about about your desire to impress others because, underneath it all, you feel incompetent.  You need grace to comprehend His great love for you and to live in His acceptance.

Psalms 103:14 is a hugely comforting verse for all of us.  “For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust (NASB).  Created from dust and deeply fallible.  He knows it and He offers us a way to rise above our dust-natures.  God’s Word tells us that other people—greats of the faith, have also had their “but dust” moments. Like a man named Gideon.  Gideon was one of the mightiest warriors in all of the Bible. And he was scared.

Judges 7 (ESV) tells how God had given Gideon a mission, had hand-selected a fighting force for him and told him he was going to win. “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand,” God said (v. 9). Here’s the best part: “But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp (v. 10-11).

When Gideon and Purah snuck down to the outposts of the camp they heard a man recounting a dream he had which foretold that Gideon and his 300 men were going to decimate the enemies that “were like sand on the seashore in abundance.” Gideon’s response? “As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped” (v. 15).  As it ended up, all Gideon and his men had to do was to surround the enemy camp, blow some trumpets, smash some clay jars and yell.  “While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled,” the story concludes (Judges 7:20-21).

God knew Gideon. He knew Gideon’s “frame,” his personality and his weaknesses. He knew that Gideon was going to be afraid and that he would need reassurance. He not only allowed Gideon to see for himself how scared the enemy was but even sent Purah, Gideon’s servant, to go with him on the spying mission.

God sees you today, in your weakness. He does not look down on you for your neediness.  Instead, He offers something called grace, His unmerited favor.  If you are a Christ- follower and have surrendered your life to Him, He makes provision for your unique weaknesses, your “frame” as Psalms 103 calls it.  Think back.  Where have you seen His perfect-for you grace at work in the details of your life? This is what 2 Corinthians 12:9 is talking about when it says, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” That’s why, Paul, the writer of that book of the Bible continued by saying, “So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”

Struggling?  He remembers what you are made of and promises to provide you with exactly the grace that you need.  Simply ask.

Reference Reading:  Judges 7:1-25