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Psalm 103:13
Like a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
11For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him.
12As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13Like a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
14For he knows how we are made. He remembers that we are dust.
15As for man, his days are like grass. As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
Notice
A father's compassion makes God's tenderness concrete, and the phrase “those who fear him” links that tenderness with reverence toward him.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
How does your experience of a father's care affect your reading of this comparison?
Write on thisWhat changes in your understanding of fearing God when compassion appears in the same sentence?
Write on thisWhere do you need the compassion of the God who remembers that you are dust?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Isaiah 49:15“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will not forget you!Both passages describe God's care through a parent's compassion; Isaiah also names the possibility of human forgetfulness.
Luke 11:11–12“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?Both passages draw on a father's care for his children, with Luke describing a son's request for food.
Psalm 128:1A Song of Ascents. Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways.Both name those who fear the LORD as recipients of his goodness: compassion here and blessing in Psalm 128.
Hebrews 12:5–11You have forgotten the exhortation which reasons with you as with children, “My son, don’t take lightly the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are …Both use parent-child language for the Lord's relationship with his people; Hebrews addresses how children receive his correction.
Luke 15:21–22The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’The shared thread is a father and child; Luke's supplied verse records the son's confession without describing the father's response.
Psalm 103:17But the LORD’s loving kindness is from everlasting to everlasting with those who fear him, his righteousness to children’s children,Both name those who fear the LORD as recipients of his care, expressed as compassion and enduring loving kindness.
Jeremiah 31:20Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I still earnestly remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him. I will …Both portray the LORD's compassion through a parent-child bond; Jeremiah names Ephraim as the dear son who receives mercy.
Proverbs 3:12for whom the LORD loves, he corrects, even as a father reproves the son in whom he delights.Both compare the LORD's care with a father's relationship to his child; Proverbs describes correction rooted in love and delight.
Jeremiah 31:9They will come with weeping. I will lead them with petitions. I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they won’t stumble; for …Both use fatherhood to describe God's care; Jeremiah expresses that care through his guidance of weeping Israel.
Luke 7:13When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Don’t cry.”Compassion belongs to the Lord in both passages; Luke describes his compassion toward a woman he sees crying.
Malachi 4:2But to you who fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings. You will go out and leap like calves of the stall.Both connect fearing the LORD with receiving his goodness: compassion in the psalm and healing in Malachi.
Malachi 3:16–17Then those who feared the LORD spoke one with another; and the LORD listened and heard, and a book of memory was written before him for those who feared the …Both describe God's care toward those who fear him; Malachi shows the LORD listening to them and hearing their words.
Where this verse fits
Feeling distant from God. parenting. guilt and confession.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
YHWH knows how you are made and remembers your frailty. His compassion toward those who fear him takes human weakness into account.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).