Jump Start # 913

Psalms 63:3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.

David loved the Lord. David attained a relationship with the Lord that many never do.  It was close, personal, practical, and real. He talked to God as if the Lord was sitting directly across from him. He had not just an intellectual understanding about God, he had an emotional love for the Lord. God was everything to him. That deep relationship carried David when he was chased and harassed by king Saul. David knew that God was leading him and helping him. The analogy of the shepherd and the sheep, from Psalms 23, the Lord is my Shepherd, grew out of this trusting relationship that David had with God.

Why is it that so few feel that way today? When we read Psalms it is hard for us to admit to the same relationship and the same feelings as David had. Something is missing. What makes this even more puzzling is that David’s Bible would have covered Genesis to Judges. That’s it. No Ecclesiastes. No Prophets. No Gospels. No Acts. No New Testament. His Bible didn’t include Jesus, the cross, the prodigal son, the good Samaritan, or the stirring scenes from Revelation. David could have a relationship with the Lord apart from all the facts, prophesies, promises and hope that you and I have. It seems that if anyone ought to have this amazing relationship with the Lord, it ought to be us. But so few do.

Could it be that we have a factual knowledge about God but do not have a relationship with God. You and I know stuff about God. We can go toe to toe with an evolutionist. We can list miracles, parables, explain demons, second coming, resurrections and understand doctrines, and this and that, but we don’t have a relationship with God. In the darkness of night, we wonder if we are forgiven by God. In the loneliness of a hospital waiting room, we struggle with what words to pray. Facts about the Bible and God are important. Without that foundation, we do not have a beginning nor a basis of understanding God. Without a study of what the Bible says, we do not know God’s will and are incapable of pleasing God. Yet our relationship with God must be more than a classroom, academic setting. Trust, love and feelings grow and exist outside of that technical type of relationship.

It could also be that many of us live our faith through the church. Instead of a direct line to God, our connection to God is through the church. For too many, their source of Biblical information is through the church. The church becomes their personal beacon of faith and hope. So, when things are great at church, their faith is great. However, when things are sour at church, so is their faith. They live through the church. Their relationship with God is through the church. David didn’t do that. His connection to God was not through the tabernacle. It was direct.

How can I move my faith to a deep, personal relationship, similar to what David had? That’s a great question. It is one that true believers all want. It is the type of relationship that will make a difference. The valleys are not so deep when one has this relationship with God. The peaks seem so much higher when one has this relationship. A person doesn’t have to remind themselves to pray, worship, or read God’s word when this type of relationship is thriving in them. They love God. They love that God loves them. They love everything that God loves.

First, David loved God’s word. Scan that long chapter, Psalms 119 and you’ll quickly find that David loved God’s word. Remember what David’s Bible consisted of? He didn’t have Mark, and those thrilling miracles. He didn’t have Luke and those amazing parables. David had Numbers. He had Leviticus. Those books seem tedious to us. Not to David. He loved God’s word. That’s a good place to start. Learning to love what God has given us.

Second, David thought about God, a lot. He mediated. His time was spent singing hymns to God. He was God aware and God focused. We let stuff and the schedules of today keep God pushed to the back of our minds. We let meetings and school and appointments and shopping and sports and traveling and this and that occur our time, mind and heart. We are so busy with busyness that about the only time we have for God is on Sunday and a few moments before we go to sleep each night. David was different. First, last, and through out the day, he was thinking about God. Deep thoughts. Deep insights. He lowered his nets to a depth that made him develop a love, a trust and a longing to be with God.

Third, David flat out liked God. We don’t talk that way much. We know God. We have a guarded love for God but to like God? To want to spend time with God? To view God as one of my best friends? To share life with God? To include God? To invite God? That’s where David was. This is why, as our verse states, God’s love was better than life.

You can have such a relationship with the Lord. You can have a depth of love, trust and feelings that you have never realized before. The Bible can become exciting and alive to you. You can have a prayer life that is rich and intimate with the Lord. Your mind can be filled with spiritual thoughts that will guide you and shape your day. David did it and so can you.

Those who have this relationship are blessed. Worship is not stale nor dry to these folks. Prayer is not the same ole’ words said over and over. Bible reading is not dull and boring. God is so good. God is so good to us.

Your love is better than life…

Roger