Compelling Love

God is the source of all mercy, truth and love, as exemplified in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Psalm 85 declares, “Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed.” This is a prophetic description of how mercy and truth would meet together in the cross of Jesus Christ. Righteousness and peace kissed as Jesus bore the judgment of sins for all who believe in him. Now through the Holy Spirit, the risen Lord makes His footsteps our pathway.

Psalm 85
A Psalm of the sons of Korah
¹⁰  Mercy and truth have met together;
Righteousness and peace have kissed.
¹¹ Truth shall spring out of the earth,
And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
¹² Yes, the Lord will give what is good;
And our land will yield its increase.
¹³ Righteousness will go before Him,
And shall make His footsteps our pathway.

God’s love for the world is revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus was the first missionary. Pastor Blenn Ramos writes, “The purpose of missions is joining God in His passion to redeem and reach the lost by giving Himself to the world for the glory of His name”. “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)

David referred to the Son of God as “my Lord” in Psalm 110, where he declares in verse 1, “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool’”. In Psalm 108, David worships God with his whole being, praising Him for his mercy and His truth, and praying for His glory to be over all the earth.

Psalm 108
A Psalm of David.
¹ O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.
² Awake, lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.
³ I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples,
And I will sing praises to You among the nations.
⁴ For Your mercy is great above the heavens,
And Your truth reaches to the clouds.
⁵ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
And Your glory above all the earth;

In Psalm 25 David declares that because God is good and upright, He teaches the humble His way, and guides them in paths of mercy and truth.

Psalm 25
Good and upright is the Lord;
Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.
9 The humble He guides in justice,
And the humble He teaches His way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth,
To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.
11 For Your name’s sake, O Lord,
Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.

Psalm 115 sets our priorities in order, giving God all the glory, because of His mercy and His truth.

Psalm 115
1 Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of Your mercy,
Because of Your truth.

Chapter 1 of John’s Gospel describes how grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 1
The Word Becomes Flesh
¹⁴ 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.
¹⁶ And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

In John 13, Jesus sets a new standard of love for his followers:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)

Paul encourages believers to grow together by speaking the truth in love.

Ephesians 4
¹⁵ but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Peter urges believers to love one another fervently with a pure heart, in keeping with their new life in Christ.

1 Peter 1
The Enduring Word
²² Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, ²³ having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,

Paul prays that believers would abide in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit.

2 Corinthians 13
¹⁴ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

John prays for believers to abide in grace, mercy, peace, truth and love:

2 John 1
³ Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

Paul offers a key in Ephesians 1:6, urging believers to live “to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, https://compellinglove.net/  2/14/2016

The Bible teaches that Jesus is the Mediator of the new covenant in which God promises, “I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 8:10; 9:14-15). Psalm 37 prefigures the new covenant, where David describes the heritage of those who trust in the Lord and commit their way to Him. Living with the law of God in their hearts, none of their steps shall slide.

Psalm 37 (NKJV)
³ Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
⁴ Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
⁵ Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
⁶ He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.

²³ The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.

³⁰ The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom,
And his tongue talks of justice.
³¹ The law of his God is in his heart;
None of his steps shall slide.

Likewise in Psalm 91, God promises that those who trust and set their love upon Him will dwell with Him and He will show them His salvation:

Psalm 91
¹ He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”

¹⁴ “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
¹⁵ He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation.”

“Yeshua” (Jesus’ actual name in Hebrew) means “salvation”. An angel of the Lord directed Mary’s husband Joseph to call him by this name, “for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21) David himself knew Yeshua as the Son of God long before the Incarnation, as shown in Psalm 110 where he describes a conversation between God and His Son, the coming Messiah, whom he calls “my Lord”. In this Psalm, God says to His Son, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek”, pointing to the new covenant in which Yeshua (Jesus) would be the royal priest and righteous king for all who believe in Him. Fittingly, the name “Melchizedek” in Hebrew means “King of righteousness”:

Psalm 110
¹ The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
² The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion.
Rule in the midst of Your enemies!
³ Your people shall be volunteers
In the day of Your power;
In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning,
You have the dew of Your youth.
⁴ The Lord has sworn
And will not relent,
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”

Jesus describes the love of God and his mission as the Mediator between God and men in John 3:16 and John 14:6:

“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)

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

Paul explicitly describes Jesus as “the one Mediator between God and men”:

For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, (1 Timothy 2:5-6)

Paul declares that nothing can now separate believers from the love of God:

Romans 8
³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul urges believers to respond to the love of Christ by no longer living for themselves, “but for Him who died for them and rose again.” Believers are new creations in Christ and ambassadors for Him:

2 Corinthians 5
¹⁴ For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; ¹⁵ and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
¹⁶ Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

²⁰ Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. ²¹ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Peter exhorts believers to love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again of incorruptible seed, through the word of God now living in their hearts:

“Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,” (1 Peter 1:22-23)

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, https://compellinglove.net/
1/31/2016

Our God is our Creator, Redeemer and King, and He desires to have a personal love relationship with His people. To understand and believe that He is our Creator is a first step forward:

Genesis 1 (NKJV)
“¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” … ²⁶ Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; …” ²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Psalm 100 describes a people in relationship with their Creator; Revelation 4:11 declares that He has created all things for His pleasure, and that includes you and me!

Psalm 100
¹ Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
² Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
³ Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Revelation 4:11
¹¹ Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

After man’s fall from grace because of disobedience, God spoke to the deceiving serpent, and announced that the “Seed of the woman” would bruise his head, pointing to the Redeemer who would be born of a virgin. The devil would bruise His heel (pointing to His atoning death on the cross).

Genesis 3 (NKJV)
¹⁵ And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”

Job 19 declares, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth”; Isaiah 53 gives further prophecies about the coming Redeemer’s atoning work.

Job 19
²⁵ For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
²⁶ And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,
That in my flesh I shall see God,
²⁷ Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!

Isaiah 53
⁴ Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵ But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

In the fullness of time, Yeshua, Jesus, the Son of God came in the flesh fulfilling these Messianic prophecies, as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Jesus taught that whoever believed and received him would be born from above and have everlasting life. He is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.

John 1
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 men. ⁵ And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. ¹¹ He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ¹³ who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. ¹⁴ 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.

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

John 3:16
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 10
¹⁴ I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. ¹⁵ As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. … ²⁷ My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸ And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

Our Creator and Redeemer is also King of kings and Lord of Lords:

Revelation 17
“¹⁴ These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”

In Ephesians 3, Paul prays that believers would come to know the fullness of God’s love in a very personal way.

Ephesians 3
¹⁷ that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— ¹⁹ to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, https://compellinglove.net/  1/17/2016

Psalm 100 reminds God’s people to give thanks to him and praise his name, for He is good and his love endures forever. We are called to walk with Him with an enduring faith, hope and love, as exemplified by the author and finisher of our faith, Yeshua (Jesus), our Savior and Lord. He is our refuge and strength at all times.

Psalm 100 (NIV)
⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵ For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 46 declares, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”  Even though the world is going through a period of great travail at this time, God is helping His people in every nation.  He says to believers, “Be still, and know that I am God”.  He will never cease to be the refuge and the strength of those who trust in Him:

Psalm 46 (NKJV)
¹ God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear,
Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
³ Though its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah
⁴ There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,
The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
⁵ God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.

¹⁰ Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
¹¹ The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

Isaiah 53, written about 700 BC, describes how a loving Messiah would suffer an atoning death, taking the judgment of God’s people upon himself. Starting in verse 10, there is a strong suggestion that the Messiah would afterwards be raised from the dead. Indeed, 700 years later Yeshua (Jesus) took the judgment for our sins upon Himself, rose from the dead and is alive forever more! “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Heb. 7:25) Even nonbelievers in Yeshua acknowledge that Isaiah 53 reads as though it was taken straight out of the New Testament.

Isaiah 53 (NKJV)
⁵ But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
⁷ He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
⁸ He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
⁹ And they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
¹⁰ Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
¹¹ He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.

Jesus knew that after enduring the suffering and death that was set before him, he would be raised from the dead and have the joy of “bringing many sons and daughters to glory.” (Heb. 2:10) In John 10, he describes his mission and predicts his resurrection.

John 10 (NKJV)
¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” … ¹⁷ “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

We find rest for our souls by coming to Jesus (Yeshua), giving our lives to him, and taking his burdens in place of our own:

Matthew 11 (NKJV)
²⁸ Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Those who receive Jesus as Lord and Savior and follow him “have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us” (Heb. 6:18b), based on the sure promises of God. The passage continues: “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” Hebrews 12 renews the call to keep our faith, hope and love alive and strong by continually “looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross”. He did it all for us.

Hebrews 12 (NKJV)
¹ Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, http://compellinglove.net  1/3/2016

John’s Gospel declares that the Son of God was with the Father as the Word of God before anything was created. All things were made through Him, and in the fullness of time, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” full of glory, grace and truth:

 John 1 (NKJV)
The Eternal Word
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 men. ⁵ And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The Word Becomes Flesh
¹⁴ 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.

To those who receive Him He gives the right to become children of God, born from above by the Spirit of God:

¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. ¹¹ He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ¹³ who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Believing in the living Word of God, and loving Him, is of utmost importance for our lives. Psalm 95 calls upon God’s people to worship the Lord joyously, acknowledging Him as our Maker, and the Shepherd of our souls. The final portion of the Psalm recounts that the Israelites who did not believe His promise to help them take the Land were not among those who entered the Land victoriously.

Psalm 95 (NKJV)
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
² Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
³ For the Lord is the great God,
And the great King above all gods.
⁴ In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the hills are His also.
⁵ The sea is His, for He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.

⁶ Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
⁷ For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep of His hand.

Today, if you will hear His voice:
⁸ “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion,
As in the day of trial in the wilderness,
⁹ When your fathers tested Me;
They tried Me, though they saw My work.
¹⁰ For forty years I was grieved with that generation,
And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts,
And they do not know My ways.’
¹¹ So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’”

Hebrews 4 quotes from Psalm 95, encouraging God’s people to learn from the mistakes of the Israelites who did not believe His promise and consequently did not enter the Land. The chapter also describes a promise of rest for the people of God. This is a rest in which His people will cease trying to earn the Lord’s approval by their deeds, but rather they will know that they are loved and will serve Him out of love.

Hebrews 4 (NKJV)
The Promise of Rest
¹Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. ² For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. ^3a For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said:

“So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest,’

⁷ Again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said:

“Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.”

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. ⁹ There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. ¹⁰ For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

The next portion of Hebrews 4 explains that God sees our lives completely, and we are judged by His Word which is “sharper than any two-edged sword”. All things are “open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” We receive eternal life not by our works but by faith in our King and Priest, Jesus the Son of God, who took upon himself the judgment for our sins. The chapter goes on to describe the atoning work of our compassionate High Priest, encouraging us to receive it by faith, and to “come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb. 4:16)

Author Isabelle Esling recounts this deep word she received from Yeshua (Jesus) about walking by faith in Him as the Lord of mercy and love:

“My dear child, even if you failed at everything in accomplishing your mission, and still had a loving heart for your Lord, I would carry you with tenderness and compassion. You have nothing to prove to me. I love you as you are. I am immersing you into the warmth of my love. I will strengthen you. Do not worry in advance about what I will ask you to do. Live your life with joy. I want to rejoice with you. I have beautiful projects for you. Let me love you and guide you. Trust me. The Lord of the Lords is marching with you and will never forsake you. … My dear child, I am your light. Just follow my path of love and compassion. Remember I am with you. I love you tremendously.”

(Esling, Isabelle (2015-06-19). An Encounter With Yeshua (Kindle Locations 2998-3009). Northern Books. Kindle Edition.)

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, http://compellinglove.net
12/20/2015

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.” John 1:9 declares that He was “the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.” Even in the Old Testament, people had encounters with this true light, as the pre-incarnate Son of God. Receiving light from God makes all the difference in a person’s life as illustrated by Psalm 73.

This psalm deals with the age old question of why, in so many cases, do the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer? The Psalmist (traditionally believed to be Asaph) was very troubled by this perception until he had a heart to heart encounter with God who gave him true light. Asaph almost stumbled spiritually because he was envious of the prosperity of the wicked:

Psalm 73 (NKJV)
¹ Truly God is good to Israel,
To such as are pure in heart.
² But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
My steps had nearly slipped.
³ For I was envious of the boastful,
When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

At this time, his view was superficial. He had not yet come into the confidence of the writer in Psalm 84 who declares, “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness”. He then describes the superficial good fortune of some boastful people who oppress others and scoff at God, “setting their mouths against the heavens”:

 ⁴ For there are no pangs in their death,
But their strength is firm.
⁵ They are not in trouble as other men,
Nor are they plagued like other men.
⁶ Therefore pride serves as their necklace;
Violence covers them like a garment.
⁷ Their eyes bulge with abundance;
They have more than heart could wish.
⁸ They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression;
They speak loftily.
⁹ They set their mouth against the heavens,
And their tongue walks through the earth.

According to Psalm 2:4, God will laugh derisively at such boastful people: “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision.” God sees the end from the beginning, but Asaph was only seeing a small part of the picture. Yet to his credit, though he was troubled by his misgivings, he refused to speak against God, lest he lead people astray:

Psalm 73
¹⁰ Therefore his people return here,
And waters of a full cup are drained by them.
¹¹ And they say, “How does God know?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?”
¹² Behold, these are the ungodly,
Who are always at ease;
They increase in riches.
¹³ Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain,
And washed my hands in innocence.
¹⁴ For all day long I have been plagued,
And chastened every morning.
¹⁵ If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.

Asaph was beginning to learn what Proverbs 3:5-6 would later declare: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” He then went into the sanctuary, and God gave him true light on the larger picture:

¹⁶ When I thought how to understand this,
It was too painful for me—
¹⁷ Until I went into the sanctuary of God;
Then I understood their end.
¹⁸ Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
¹⁹ Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment!
They are utterly consumed with terrors.
²⁰ As a dream when one awakes,
So, Lord, when You awake,
You shall despise their image.

The prophet Daniel later would similarly describe how at the resurrection of the dead, God will honor the righteous and he will show contempt for those who showed contempt for Him during their lives. They will miss out on the glorious gift of eternal life in His presence.

Daniel 12
² And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
Some to everlasting life,
Some to shame and everlasting contempt.
³ Those who are wise shall shine
Like the brightness of the firmament,
And those who turn many to righteousness
Like the stars forever and ever.

When God showed Asaph this vision, and gave him this understanding, he repented for having doubted God’s goodness. He then thanks Him for being continually with him, guiding him, and leading him to eternal glory.

Psalm 73
²¹ Thus my heart was grieved,
And I was vexed in my mind.
²² I was so foolish and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.
²³ Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You hold me by my right hand.
²⁴ You will guide me with Your counsel,
And afterward receive me to glory.

God was showing Asaph that for the righteous there was eternal glory ahead. This glorious future comes through the living Word of God, who was encountering him in that place. Jesus said in John 10:10, “I am come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly.” He declares in John 11:25-26, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. ²⁶ And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” This is the free gift of God received through faith in His only begotten Son: “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)

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, 12/6/2015, https://compellinglove.net/

Paul declares in Colossians 3:15 that God’s people are to be one body with His peace ruling in their hearts, and to be thankful: “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.” We have so many things to be thankful for! David declares some of the key things in Psalm 62, namely that God is our salvation and our glory, the rock of our strength, and our refuge:

Psalm 62 (NKJV)
⁵ My soul, wait silently for God alone,
For my expectation is from Him.
⁶ He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my defense;
I shall not be moved.
⁷ In God is my salvation and my glory;
The rock of my strength,
And my refuge, is in God.
⁸ Trust in Him at all times, you people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah

David was drawing in part from the song of Moses in Exodus 15:2, which includes similar words of praise:

 “The Lord is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation;
He is my God, and I will praise Him;
My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.”

The prophet Isaiah later picked up on this theme of God’s salvation which is both a corporate and individual redemption. For example in Isaiah 12:2-3, he writes:

^2 “Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
‘For YAH, the Lord, is my strength and song;
He also has become my salvation.’”
³ Therefore with joy you will draw water
From the wells of salvation.

To better understand the writings of King David and the Prophet Isaiah, it is helpful to know the time periods in which they lived. Born in 907 BC, David reigned as king of Israel for 40 years, dying at age 70 in 837 BC. The Prophet Isaiah was born about a century later, in 740 BC, and died at age 59 in 681 BC.

In the Isaiah 12 passage above, the prophet is rejoicing at the promised victory the Messiah was going to bring, described in the previous chapter, for God’s righteous people both in Israel and scattered throughout the nations. Isaiah 11 begins with a description of the coming Messiah:

¹ There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
² The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

This passage is referring to the lineage of the coming Messiah, namely that he would be in the line of Jesse (King David’s father). It also describes aspects of the Spirit of the Lord that would rest upon him. The chapter goes on to describe the victories that the Messiah will bring about, ending in a world restored, where the earth will be “full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (v. 9). The last part of the chapter describes his gathering of God’s scattered people to be united in Israel: “He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the Earth” (v. 12).

These latter events are still in the future, to be fulfilled when Jesus (Yeshua), the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world, comes again. In his first coming Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of taking the sins of God’s people upon himself, as pictured in the slaying of the Passover lamb. Isaiah describes this primary work of the Messiah in Isaiah 53:

Isaiah 53
⁴ Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵ But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

This passage in Isaiah 53 is describing events that actually occurred when Jesus laid down his life as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. Jesus spoke about his atoning work in John 3:16, “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.” Paul sums up this Good News in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

All who believe and follow Yeshua the Messiah, Jesus Christ, can confidently claim the promises that David declares in Psalm 16:8-11:

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 statement in verse 11, “Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption” is a prediction of the Resurrection; of all the people who have lived and died, only the body of Jesus did not see corruption. Jesus is the Lamb of God, who died for the sins of His people, rose from the dead and is alive forevermore. He is coming again to bring restoration to his people, and to all the earth.

There is also a promise of healing in Isaiah 53:5 above, “And by his stripes we are healed”. 1 Peter 2:24 sums it up this way: “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness – by whose stripes you were healed.”

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, https://compellinglove.net/

God created man in His image and likeness, with the intent that His people would express qualities of His nature in their lives. Three outstanding facets of His nature to be expressed in His people are mercy, truth and glory. Psalm 25:10 declares, “All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.” The Psalms repeatedly encourage us to give glory to God’s name because of His mercy and His truth.

Psalm 115
¹ Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of Your mercy,
Because of Your truth.

Psalm 57
⁹ I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing to You among the nations.
¹⁰ For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens,
And Your truth unto the clouds.
¹¹ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.

Psalm 85 says God’s mercy and truth have met together, and Proverbs 16 speaks about the atonement this brings. This was most especially demonstrated by the atoning sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ: “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)

Psalm 85
¹⁰ Mercy and truth have met together;
Righteousness and peace have kissed.
¹¹ Truth shall spring out of the earth,
And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
¹² Yes, the Lord will give what is good;
And our land will yield its increase.
¹³ Righteousness will go before Him,
And shall make His footsteps our pathway.

Proverbs 16
⁶ In mercy and truth
Atonement is provided for iniquity;
And by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.

Mercy and truth are written on your heart when you trust and acknowledge the Lord continually:

Proverbs 3 (NKJV)
³ Let not mercy and truth forsake you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart,
⁴ And so find favor and high esteem
In the sight of God and man.
⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

Mercy and truth shine from the face of God upon His people, causing them to rejoice all day long:

Psalm 89
¹ I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever;
With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.
² For I have said, “Mercy shall be built up forever;
Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.”
¹⁴ Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
Mercy and truth go before Your face.
¹⁵ Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!
They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance.
¹⁶ In Your name they rejoice all day long,
And in Your righteousness they are exalted.
¹⁷ For You are the glory of their strength,
And in Your favor our horn is exalted.
¹⁸ For our shield belongs to the Lord,
And our king to the Holy One of Israel.

His people give thanks for His goodness, for his enduring mercy and truth:

Psalm 100
¹ Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
² Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
³ Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
⁴ Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
⁵ For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.

John 1:17 says “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” The love and joy God desires to share with us through Jesus Christ is intensely passionate and personal, giving lasting joy and peace:

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. (John 15:9-11)

³³ These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Jesus prayed that believers would see His glory and share His love eternally:

John 17
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, https://compellinglove.net/  11/8/2015

The greatest demonstration of God’s love for the world is declared in John 3:16: “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.” Describing the significance of this sacrifice, Paul states in Romans 8:32, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” The Bible teaches that God wants us to not just know of His love, but to know His love experientially in our lives. This was the essence of Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:

Ephesians 3 (NKJV)
¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, ¹⁶ that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, ¹⁷ that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— ¹⁹ to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

God knew you and loved you before you were born:

Ephesians 1
⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,

Psalm 139
¹⁷ How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
¹⁸ If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You.

God hears you when you call out to Him. This is a first step in coming to know His great love for you.

Psalm 77
¹ I cried out to God with my voice—
To God with my voice;
And He gave ear to me.

Psalm 96 describes giving to the Lord “glory and strength”, and worshiping Him in the beauty of holiness:

Psalm 96
⁷ Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Give to the Lord glory and strength.
⁸ Give to the Lord the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come into His courts.
⁹ Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
Tremble before Him, all the earth.

The Song of Solomon can be understood as an allegory of God’s passionate and personal love for the believer who loves Him in this way.  It describes a heartfelt giving of oneself to another, the type of relationship God invites each of us to have with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus sees each person whose heart is fully turned to him as someone specially beautiful, with the light of His love shining through their eyes. This is depicted poetically in verse 15 of chapter 1:

Song of Solomon 1
The Beloved:
¹⁵ Behold, you are fair, my love!
Behold, you are fair!
You have dove’s eyes.

The deep love of God causes us to delight in sharing His love with others, inviting them to enter into it too:

Song of Solomon 2
The Shulamite to the Daughters of Jerusalem:
⁴ He brought me to the banqueting house,
And his banner over me was love.

The deep and personal passion of God’s love toward those who give themselves unreservedly to Him is poetically expressed through these verses in chapter 4:

Song of Solomon 4
The Bridegroom Praises the Bride
The Beloved:
⁹ You have ravished my heart,
My sister, my spouse;
You have ravished my heart
With one look of your eyes,
With one link of your necklace.
¹⁰ How fair is your love,
My sister, my spouse!
How much better than wine is your love,
And the scent of your perfumes
Than all spices!

The glorious intensity of the pure love of the believer in response to the personal love of the Lord is depicted in verses 6 and 7 of chapter 8:

Song of Solomon 8
The Shulamite to Her Beloved:
⁶ Set me as a seal upon your heart,
As a seal upon your arm;
For love is as strong as death,
Jealousy as cruel as the grave;
Its flames are flames of fire,
A most vehement flame.
⁷ Many waters cannot quench love,
Nor can the floods drown it.
If a man would give for love
All the wealth of his house,
It would be utterly despised.

God is eager to show He “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” as we respond to His love (Ephesians 3:20). What He has prepared for those who love him far exceeds all that we can ask or think, causing us to rejoice with “joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8).

1 Corinthians 2:9
But as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

 David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com,10/25/2015

The glorious joy awaiting believers eternally gives hope, joy and strength here and now, outweighing any afflictions we may experience. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”. Nehemiah 8:10 declares “…the joy of the Lord is your strength.” David knew this and looked forward to enjoying the presence of God forever. He trusted in God and sang songs of praise when his life was in jeopardy, as he fled from Saul into the cave.

Psalm 16:11 (NJJV)
You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 57
¹ Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!
For my soul trusts in You;
And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,
Until these calamities have passed by.
⁹ I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing to You among the nations.
¹⁰ For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens,
And Your truth unto the clouds.
¹¹ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.

Psalm 149 encourages believers to be joyful in glory, even singing aloud on their beds:

Psalm 149
⁵ Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud on their beds.

In Isaiah 61 the Lord promises to console His people, and to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy, and the garment of praise, so that they may be called “trees of righteousness”, and He will be glorified in them.

Isaiah 61
³ To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

Peter describes genuine faith that will bring “praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ”. They will rejoice with “joy inexpressible and full of glory”.

1 Peter 1 (NKJV)
⁷ that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, ⁸ whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, ⁹ receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

Jesus Christ is God’s gift of love bringing salvation to all who believe in him:

John 3:16
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.

Hebrews 1 describes Jesus’ mission in detail:

Hebrews 1 (NKJV)
God’s Supreme Revelation
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, ² has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; ³ who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ⁴ having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

Hebrews 2 describes Jesus’ motivation in giving his life for us:

Hebrews 2 (NKJV)
¹⁰ For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. ¹¹ For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, ¹² saying:
“I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”

Jesus looked forward to the joy of bringing many sons and daughters to glory. Hebrews 12 declares that Jesus endured the cross for the sake of the joy that was set before him.

Hebrews 12
¹ Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jude describes how the Lord himself will keep believers from stumbling and present them “faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy”.

Jude 24
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,

Peter encouraged believers in to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ “ (2 Peter 3:8). He exhorts believers to rejoice even during fiery trials, knowing that “when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.”

1 Peter 4 (NKJV)
¹² Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; ¹³ but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, https://compellinglove.net/,10/11/2015