Thy lovingkindness is better than life;This cute little ditty was part of the "contemporary worship" movement in its early days. A product of Scripture, it seems to be pretty good. Still, I wonder sometimes. Take, for instance, the actual passage:
Thy lovingkindness is better than life.
My lips shall praise Thee,
Thus will I bless Thee.
I will lift up my hands unto Thy name.
Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee (Psa 63:3).In this passage, there is a cause and effect. Praise is the result of God's lovingkindness. Because God loves us steadfastly, we praise Him.
Okay, true, small deal and possible to draw out of the song. I get that. But here's the part that makes me wonder. Do we actually believe that? Do we actually believe that God's love is better than life? Is it true for you that you would rather enjoy God's love than, say, your spouse, your favorite TV show, the best meal you've ever had, the company of your children, the comforts of home, the thrill of travel, your favorite game, the joy of friends and family ... you get the idea.
Two related truths. First, God's love for us is indeed better than life itself. We need to call that to mind often, especially when our lives and the lives of those around us become more important to us than God's love. Second, we tend to love and appreciate those things around us that are so important to us more than we love and appreciate God and His love. Today is a good day to work on changing that.
2 comments:
Is it true for you that you would rather enjoy God's love than, say, your spouse, your favorite TV show, the best meal you've ever had...
I would have to answer truthfully: no I don't.
Good morning, Stan!
Answering your question, "Do we really believe that?", I guess I'd think the answer is no for most people. When that passage says "life", I assume it means this current life here on Planet Earth, and boy do most of us fight hard to hang onto it! It seems most people think that death is THE worst thing that could ever happen to people.
If something takes someone from us "before her time", we so often get mad at the injustice, the pain and sorrow it causes us, and even at God for doing or permitting such a terrible, tragic thing. WHY would He do that???
But what if she really IS going off to a far, far better place and being spared years of some of the many hardships the rest of us are left here to endure? Oh sure, we'll still probably have some good times ahead, but let's face it, life "down here" isn't always a piece of cake. Who knows what she have gone on to? Dying might have been the best thing that ever happened to her. (It can be so hard to think this way though when grieving the loss of a loved one.)
And beyond the eternal perspective, in the here and now, if we are in right relationship with Him, THAT should be THE best thing ever. The rest of the good things ~the other things with which He blesses us~ should just be the icing on the cake.
Priorities.
"Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee." Yeah, maybe that just really IS true. You're right; today is a good day to work on changing our tendency to love other people, things, and events more than our Creator, our Heavenly Father.
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