Today I want to go back to a verse of scripture that I have written about before. Sometimes God reveals new truths to us through verses we have read many times before, and that is the case here with Psalm 63:3.
Psalm 63:3 is a wonderful statement of praise written by King David when he was wandering in the wilderness of Judah. David makes a statement of intent to praise God because of his love, and although it is unwritten, despite his circumstances. David recognizes God’s love and care as being absolute and unshakable and instead of worrying about what tomorrow might bring, he chooses to praise God instead. And so should we all!
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips will praise You. Psalm 63:3 (NASB)
God brought to my mind recently the first phrase of this verse, “your lovingkindness is better than life”, and an amazing truth came out of it. Taking a look at life, we are prone to letting our current circumstances and our current location become our foundation. We get comfortable with where we are living, the things we have and the people we spend time with. In general, we cling to what we know and shun uncertainty.
But if we are to take God’s word as truth, and we should, then Psalm 63:3 tells me that God’s care and God’s love is better than any of those things and indeed, better than all of them put together! In other words, whatever God has for me, be it life or death, will be better than anything that I call “mine” here on this earth.
While it is true that we are called to be good stewards of the resources that God has provided for us, we do wrong when they begin to define us. They, like us, are temporary and secondary to that which God has for us and His work on earth. Sometimes, we need to “loosen our fingers” and allow God to direct us without worry or care about the things we own or the money we make. God is faithful and will always provide what we need.
Going back to our verse of scripture, we are assured that His lovingkindess is better than life and because of that we can be confident that whatever we give up for the sake of God will be far, far less than that which God gives us in return. Let us be reassured that God’s way is the best way and be comforted by His Word and the truth therein.
Author’s note – On a personal level, I find this truth and this verse of scripture to be extremely liberating when I apply it to my life. My affection for “stuff” weakens and my love for God grows in response. How amazing is that?