“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14, NLT).  Most of us may only be familiar with this verse as being occasionally quoted in prayer by preachers before they begin their sermon. As such, we may begin to think that this is a panicked prayer for absolution by preachers who suddenly realize that they didn’t spend enough time in preparation of the message they are about to preach! However, this verse comprises sort of a surprise ending to a Psalm of David in which he begins the song with a sense of wonder and awe of the glory of God he sees displayed in the night sky. So, I suppose it really shouldn’t be a surprise at all that David ends his song feeling humbled in the presence of God’s glory. His response is what should be the response of any child of God when we find ourselves surrounded by His glory. It is the same response of the prophet Isaiah when he was given a vision of God sitting on His throne, attended by the heavenly Seraphim:  “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips…” (Isaiah 6:5, NASB).  It also happens to be the same response of the Apostle Peter when Jesus revealed Himself through a miracle catch of fish so large that it threatened to sink two boats, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man” (Luke 5:8, NLT).   In the presence of our precious Savior we will always become aware of our own humanity.

In the presence of Jesus, we also become overwhelmingly aware of His unconditional love. Jesus declared that the greatest commandment is, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37, ESV).  When we have accomplished loving God, we then are ready for our next commandment from Jesus:  “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34, ESV).  When we have then conquered loving God and loving one another, we are ready to fully grasp this spiritual truth:  “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13, NIV).  Simply, without love – love for God, love for our fellow believers, and love for the lost of this world – there can be no faith and hope.

Want to know what love is? Read the first 12 verses of 1 Corinthians 13.
For God So Loved the World,
Dan