Love of my life.
“Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.” (Psalm 63:3-4)
A conditional statement is one that requires specific conditions to be met in order to get an outcome. We use them all the time. “If it rains, I will watch church online,” “if he loved me he would treat me differently.” Often, as humans, we understand the world around us based on certain patterns. We rely on circumstances around us to determine our actions. Technically, this is not a bad thing! If the light is red, I would hope that affects whether or not you continue driving. If your stomach rumbles, it’s okay to eat. The problem lies when we put the wrong conditions on our ability to worship God, and live for him fully.
Sometimes our prayers sound like “Lord, if you get me out of this situation, I will go back to church” or “Lord, if my loved one survives this disease, I will live for you for real.” Other times we are not as honest verbally, but our hearts hold the same posture: God, my obedience is dependent on you meeting my conditions. Let’s take a moment to repent for not being completely surrendered to the God who is worthy despite our feelings and circumstances.
In today’s passage, David sets a major example for us of the only appropriate conditional statement we should hold towards God. Instead of saying “if” he uses “because”. There is confidence here because nothing is greater than God’s love; no negative outcome is bigger than God’s love. God’s love is better than life! It’s better than the blessings and promotions I can earn in life. It’s better than the child, marriage, or business opportunity I’ve been praying for. His love is even better than my literal life, and even if my life should end early, even death is not enough to separate me from that love (Romans 8:38)! As a result of this statement, the only worthy condition to follow is that we use our lips to glorify God. We trade complaints and bitterness for gratitude and honor. As long as you live—not as long as life feels good—will you make a decision to praise God?
Prayer:
God, thank you for your love! Thank you for being the perfect example of what love is. I know I will spend my whole life trying to be better in this area, but won’t you help me begin with you? I can’t love myself or others well until I experience your love first. Help me to honestly say “your love is better than life” and please help me to praise you regardless of what that life brings. You are the love of my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.
