"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.  Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not His benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your lie from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good....as a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.  For He knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust" (Psalm 103:1-5a,13-14)

Sometimes talking to yourself is not a bad thing - David reminds us of that this morning.  If you're anything like me, your perspective gets warped by sin, self and circumstances - when that happens you need to tell yourself to get a renewed perspective of who God is and of who you are.  This Psalm is David showing us just how to do that.  David tells himself to remember all the incredible goodness and greatness of God, which he is privileged in God's grace to be a beneficiary of.  It is such a privilege because why should Almighty God care about some animated dust?!

Whatever is going on in your life today, it's good to know that God is a God of compassion.  That means that He feels pity towards those who are miserable, helpless and suffering; and that moves Him to action to help the person.  The word 'compassion' is a close cousin of the Hebrew word for 'womb', which shows that God's compassion towards us today is like the instinct of a good parent who sees their child in some kind of distress and immediately goes to help and care for them.  God knows you are only dust today and He knows that life in this world is tough and scary; but we just need to have a right perspective that remembers our Heavenly Father's great goodness towards us and His intimate, loving care over us as His children.

Pray Today:

• For the ministry going on in the cafe today to volunteers and to customers.  Pray for Elaine as she has great plans for developing the conversation ministry in the cafe and training up the volunteers to be better equipped for this vital work.
• For the work going on in Wallyford.  Pray for Andrew as he deals with the growing responsibilities of a growing church.  Pray for the new large Christianity Explored group starting soon and for the renewed work with the young people in the coming weeks.

Praise God Today: "Spirit Wind"