Psalms 90:13 (ESV)
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
In Psalm 90 we read a prayer of Moses. It begins the fourth book of the Psalms. In this song we read the plea of Moses for God to have pity on the nation of Israel for their sins. He regencies that God is in a high and lofty place and from everlasting. But, we are in at temporary space, ready to pass away and full of sin. That is the purpose of the above lines of the poem. He knows that our sin separates us from a holy, righteous God. The only way to combat that is to pled for mercy (pity). All these verses in other books of the Bible speak of the same aspect of pity:
Ps. 106:45; 135:14; Ex. 32:12; Deut. 32:36; Judg. 2:18; Jonah 3:10;
The word for “pity” carries the implication that God turns back from what He intends to do and does so out of His extreme mercy. The Jonah 3:10 passage probably conveys the meaning of the word the best:
Jonah 3:10 (ESV)
When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
When we turned to God in our wickedness and admit we need His divine pity, we are recognizing His profound awesomeness and our incredible and deep uselessness. It is not until we repent and relent of our sin and recognize that we are but dust that God bestows on us His GREAT pity. This takes humility on our part to recognize who we are. Note how young David responded to Saul’s attacks even though God had already told him he would soon be king and take Saul’s position:
1 Samuel 24:14 (ESV)
After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog! After a flea!
Even though he knew what God told him about his future, David still considered himself nothing but a flea on the back of a dead dog. That is humility and that is when God shows up with His pity ... His divine mercy!
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