Pó is the Portuguese word for dust. Powder. Two little letters that indicate something infinitesimal, insubstantial. Something that you would brush off your coat sleeve, something that you might blow out the window. And the Portuguese Bible says :“lembra-se de que somos pó”
.... ..“He remembers that we are dust”.
I like it. Two simple letters. Reminding me of my total insignificance in the light of eternity. In the light of anything, really. We think we are something and we’re really not. The title of an early Chemical Brothers track was “In Dust we Trust” and it sometimes seems like that. That everything created adn fored and fashioned by humankind, this tottering edifice, is nothing more than so much dust. And as such, without God in the picture, it is all built on insubstantial crumbling foundations. This month, with elections in the air here in Portugal, and with so much bluster along the corridors of power, it is good to be reminded that theres a lot more to life and reality than our human dust.
Getting back to the psalm, its the juxtaposition of the two phrases “we are dust” and “He remembers” that makes it so amazing. It tells me that the One, the Eternal One, knows me. He knows who I am. He knows how I am formed, and how easily I fall apart sometimes. But, more than that, it communicates to me His, (and here’s that hugely significant Bible word), “COMPASSION”. He has compassion on me, my being, this dust bug. He showers me with His love, and has such a huge personal concern for all that I am and hold dear. Truly amazing stuff, and no matter how often I read it, still can’t fully take it in.
But there it is in prophetic print for all to read.
I like it. Two simple letters. Reminding me of my total insignificance in the light of eternity. In the light of anything, really. We think we are something and we’re really not. The title of an early Chemical Brothers track was “In Dust we Trust” and it sometimes seems like that. That everything created adn fored and fashioned by humankind, this tottering edifice, is nothing more than so much dust. And as such, without God in the picture, it is all built on insubstantial crumbling foundations. This month, with elections in the air here in Portugal, and with so much bluster along the corridors of power, it is good to be reminded that theres a lot more to life and reality than our human dust.
Getting back to the psalm, its the juxtaposition of the two phrases “we are dust” and “He remembers” that makes it so amazing. It tells me that the One, the Eternal One, knows me. He knows who I am. He knows how I am formed, and how easily I fall apart sometimes. But, more than that, it communicates to me His, (and here’s that hugely significant Bible word), “COMPASSION”. He has compassion on me, my being, this dust bug. He showers me with His love, and has such a huge personal concern for all that I am and hold dear. Truly amazing stuff, and no matter how often I read it, still can’t fully take it in.
But there it is in prophetic print for all to read.
The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
........slow to anger, abounding in love.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
........so great is his love for those who fear him;
As far as the east is from the west,
........so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
........so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
For he knows how we are formed,
.........he remembers that we are dust
Psalm 103
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