First off, I know I said I was going to use this for my lyrics. I am! But I'm going to use this for other things as well, such as this entry.
*Psalm 18:17-19: “He rescued me from my powerful enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. They confronted me in my day of distress, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a wide-open place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.”
*Psalm 18:47: “My God avenges me, He subdues people underneath my feet.”
Our God is a God who AVENGES us. Think about that word. Avenge- it means: to punish for wrongdoing on behalf of someone. Okay, here it is again. Our God is a God who AVENGES us. That is incredibly powerful and profound. No matter where we go, God avenges us because He DELIGHTS in us. Delight-it means: extreme satisfaction.
To the ends of the Earth our God pursues us like a lover. He wants to be wrapped up in every aspect of our lives. We were created in His image, though we’re not worthy of Him at all. His love is the purest of love, because He IS love, and He sets the example in everything. Want to learn more about love? Then look to Christ and let Him teach you. He is the only one who truly can. When people on this Earth fail us, it is then we realize it is their humanity, their inability to love like Christ and receive it in return that is what fails us. It is what brings those arguments, the rumors flying around that we believe, the selfishness not willing to put others first, that causes relationships to fail. It is easy to lose heart, wondering what is wrong with this world. It is because we don’t know how to love like Christ.
And in the darkest of moments when you feel as people have betrayed you, even those you have trusted most, it is then we realize there is a hope greater than we can ever imagine. As I read Psalm 18, I tried to read it as if I were in David’s shoes. David has just escaped the persecution of Saul and delights and praises the Lord because of it. David’s eyes have been opened to the power of God, because it is God who rescues him from his enemies. Because of him striving for righteousness, he sees how God returns it. “To the faithful He shows himself faithful, to the blameless He shows himself blameless, to the pure he shows himself pure” (vs25-26). David has seen how we are created in God’s image, but it is only through Him we can be imitators of Christ. He sees how His God delights in him, loves him so much more than anything that He will avenge him. God fights for David in a way David never thought possible, and because of this, David vows to “praise His name to all of the nations (vs 49), for “who is God except our Lord? And who is the rock except our God? It is God who clothes me with strength and makes my way perfect” (Vs 31-32).
I think that first we need to understand how God pursues us, delights in us, avenges us, before we are able to even come close to succeeding in how we treat people in this world. God has called us to “be imitators of Christ,” and to “love [people] as I have loved you.” But how can we do that before He teaches us what that is, what it involves? And how can we understand that before we know Who He is and what He has done? “For God so loved the world He gave His only Son” (John 3:16). Think about that verse. Throughout the ages He has been pursuing His people with a passion, doing everything He can to bring us back to His love. He delights in us more than we’ll ever comprehend. And through that love, He avenges us, lays down everything for us, because He loves us that much. Nothing we ever go through can keep us from Him because He fights for us. He puts us first because He is love.
We must learn to love in that way. We can’t learn it from anyone except He who is love. Unconditionally He loves us, unselfishly He loves us, and He loves us more than we can ever come close to understanding. Who wouldn’t want to be wrapped up in that love? And the amazing thing is, as Christians, we have both the responsibility and privilege to love in that exact same way. We can love others as Christ loves us. We can be the messengers of Christ’s love. And I think once we bear that responsibility and privilege, we’ll see how people change in the way we treat one another, in the way we relate to one another. We’ll see more and more people turn to Him because God and His love are contagious-no one can turn away from it! Therefore, let us be messengers of love, as we learn to love as He first loved us.
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