Loving God from the Heart II

As I was reflecting on yesterday's passage on creation, I was remembering some of the hymns I grew up with: "All Creatures of our God and King," "Morning Has Broken," "Praise to the Lord the Almighty", "When Morning Gilds the Skies", "This is My Father's World," as well as the aforementioned "How Great Thou Art." Truly the "awesome wonder" of creation calls forth our love as creature for our creator God. As great as creation is at stirring our love for God, our own experience of his presence and faithfulness does so even more.

Psalm 18

This longer hymn of David is exultant, as he celebrates how God has rescued him from the edge of defeat and despair and given him victory. At the base of emotional love for God is the sense that we can count on Him, especially when we have felt overwhelmed. Notice the pictures of God, our "rock" in his faithfulness: deliverer, rock and shield (vs. 2), a helper and rescuer from death (vs.6), the powerful force that gives him victory (vss. 7-19), the rewarder of his righteous behavior (vss. 20-26), the provider of light in the darkness and confidence in the time of battle (vss. 27-45), and a living hope in the real challenges of his life (vss. 46-50). My guess is that this Psalm had some force and rhythm to it.

It was a pleasure this morning to hear Tim Ebelthite share his witness with us at United Methodist Men. He did not quote large volumes of scripture, but instead shared with us his story of Christ. You could see his heartfelt love for the LORD on his face. What is your testimony? What roles has the LORD played in your life - healer, Savior, reconciler or any that would be part of your story? Why not take time to write some of those roles down and thank God for being there at just the time you needed Him? We each have our reasons for loving God with all our hearts!

Psalm 138

This is another Psalm of David. He begins, "I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart!" It is written in the form of a morning prayer, with a much calmer style than Psalm 18. The Psalm shows a developed quiet yet steady love for the LORD that has been cultivated on a regular basis (daily or even several times a day). As he expresses his love to God, his priorities for the day are aligned, with God's name above everything.

David then sings, "Great is God's glory." The concept of the glory of the Lord goes back to the days when the children of Israel were nomads in the Sinai peninsula. A cloud would descend on the Tent of Meeting at the center of the camp with a brightness that let the people know that God was in the camp. The word kavod also means "heaviness." It is awesome to be in the presence of God. When we express our love to God, we must never forget that God has expressed his love first. And there is something marvelous when love is shared from both sides. It brightens and lightens our lives. At the same time, it is beyond words, heavy beyond description.

There's a song that sings, "Lord, I praise you because of who you are, not for all the mighty things that you have done." How long has it been since you have told God you loved Him just because of the relationship you enjoy together! Have a great day in the love and joy of the LORD.