April 15, 2008
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“Because Your love is better than life…”
Psalm 63:3
This is probably one of the most striking verses in the Bible, to me. It’s so counterintuitive in the world and even in the churches. Just listen to a handful of prayer requests when you’re in a small group or scan the list on the church bulletin. Often, our number one prayer request is to petition God for someone to be restored back to good health. And while it is not wrong to pray for good health, it may be somewhat revealing of our hearts that perhaps one of our greatest priorities and values is “to live as long as possible with as little pain as possible”. And yet, in such vivid contrast, the psalmist says to God, “Your love is better than life.“ The declaration echoes the profoundest of truths that –
“Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere” Ps 84:10
“You fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.” Ps 16:11and reminds us that our greatest priority and prayer ought to be:
“I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” Ps 84:10
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.” Ps 42:1
“My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” Ps 42:2a
“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you.” Ps 63:1An echoing of these heart’s-cries will put us on the right path of thinking that the greatest value in life is not to live as long as possible with as little pain as possible but to live as much as possible in His satisfying presence, so that we might know that His love is so inexplicable that it truly is better than this life.
Comments (4)
That is AWESOME, Mary Ann. Sometimes I just love God’s Word. It reels me in and brings me back to where I ought to be.
This is so true. It makes me think of that guy Job in the Bible who had everything taken from him — children, wealth, livestock, and livelihood. The point of the story isn’t when God restores to him two-fold of everything he had previously, but it’s in the lessons that he learned through all the hardships and waiting — lessons of humility, knowing that God is God (and we are not), that He is sovereign, that bad things happen but God sustains. It seems the same way with us — that what may be more valuable is not the actual answer to our prayers, but rather the journey that God takes us on to knowing Him.
“to live as much as possible in His satisfying presence”…I long for that, and so often forget how. Thanks for reminding me!
i do remember that verse from a Bible study in college. it struck a chord in me, and i just have to smile when i hear that verse. how can you not smile?