Our greatest fellowship is with God. He desires for His love and joy to be perfected in us as we walk with Him. David experienced this close fellowship with God when he was in the wilderness of Judah fleeing from king Saul who out of jealousy sought to take his life. He prays in Psalm 63:3, “Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!”
Psalm 63 (NLT)
1 O God, you are my God;
I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you;
my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in your sanctuary
and gazed upon your power and glory.
3 Your unfailing love is better than life itself;
how I praise you!
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
5 You satisfy me more than the richest feast.
I will praise you with songs of joy.
6 I lie awake thinking of you,
meditating on you through the night.
7 Because you are my helper,
I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.
8 I cling to you;
your strong right hand holds me securely.
David’s steadfast hope and trust in God brings to mind the testimony of Job who declared, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth.” (Job 19:25 NKJV) Like Job, David longed to meet the Redeemer who would one day stand upon the earth. He refers to Him in Psalm 16:10 as “Your Holy One” who would not see corruption. He prays in Psalm 16:11, “In Your presence is fullness of joy.”
Psalm 16 (NKJV)
7 I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;
My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
8 I have set the Lord always before me;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will rest in hope.
10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
11 You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
The hopes and expectations of Job and David for their coming Savior are fulfilled in Jesus Christ who declared, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
The revelation of God’s love that comes with receiving and following Jesus leads one to declare like David, “Your love is better than life!” His abiding love is more precious than life itself. He is the light of life, as declared in John 1:4, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
John 1 (NKJV)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus declares in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” A close walk with Jesus is a walk in light and love. At the Last Supper, after washing the disciples’ feet, he declares in John 13:34-35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
In John 15, Jesus continues to teach about His love and joy being perfected in those who follow Him:
John 15 (NKJV)
9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.
Jesus prayed in John 17 that His followers would behold His glory and abide in the love that He shared with the Father before the creation of the world.
John 17 (NKJV)
24 “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. 26 And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, 7/21/2019, https://compellinglove.net/
Photo credits:
(1) https://www.theaweandwanderco.com/shop
(2) https://manna.amazingfacts .org/amazingfacts/website/amazingfacts/images/scripture-pictures/psalm-16-11.jpg
(3) https://www.bibleverseimages.com/john-3-16.htm
(4) https://revwhitehous .com/2018/02/21/revolution-verse-of-the-day-02-21-18/
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