The Psalmist proclaims in Psalm 63:3 "Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you". As I meditate on this truth in God's Word, I am overtaken by the weight of this statement. Do you realize what David is saying? He is saying that the consistent, everlasting, never-failing love of God is better than life itself!
How did David come to realize, experience and therefore be able to truly say such a statement? I'll tell you how; he discovered this wonderful truth by shepherding, singing and sorrowful repentance. As he grew up, he came to know His creator as almighty protector and lover of his lonely shepherd soul. God defeated bears, lions and other life-taking dangers as David watched over Jesse's sheep. When he was Israel’s king in waiting, the troubled king Saul attempted to take his life by spear and sword. Even then, David experienced the better-than-life love of God upholding, guiding, and protecting him.
When David had succumbed to sin as an adulterer, a murderer and deceiver, he was able to truly know God's everlasting love. Here are his words in Psalm 51:1a, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love." What hope did David plea against for God’s mercy? His steadfast love, of course. He knew that he must cry for mercy and repent "up against" the attribute of God's consistent, never-changing love in order to receive forgiveness from his God.
And so it is with you and I. Our hearts will come to know through the experiences of this wonderful, Christian life that God's steadfast, rock-solid, never-shifting love will always be there to see us through anything! Therefore, we can know that this kind of love is far better than life itself.
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