Psalm 18:1 – I love you, O Lord, my strength.
THEME OF THE DAY: WHEN A PERSON TRULY LOVES THE LORD. Today’s scripture is a profound prayer. Think about it. The God who is always present and knows all things is being addressed by the Psalmist with very revealing words. To be able to pray, “I love you, Lord” with confidence is a huge big deal and requires at least three things in one’s heart before this prayer may even be considered.
First, there can be no allowed hypocrisy in one’s life. That means we cannot be neglecting the Word, prayer, fellowship with other Christians, be sporadic at church, inactive in spiritual service and presumptuously say, “I love you, Lord.” It doesn’t match up. To neglect known commands of obedience and say, “I love you, Lord” to the God who knows us inside and out is simply hypocrisy. Now don’t be discouraged. The Psalmist did not practice perfect obedience. Nor do we, but we are required to practice consistent and sincere obedience and that we can do.
Another thing which must be present in the heart that may boldly pray, “I love you, O Lord” is a life not attached and consumed with the world. If we are more shaped by the world in its attractions and time-consuming activities than the Word, we cannot come to the all-knowing God with this prayer. He knows better. He knows the world is more attractive to us than the Word. And we are told in strong words, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). One cannot be a friend of the world and a friend of the Lord at the same time.
A third necessary attitude in a heart able to pray, “I love you, Lord” is a yearning for the Lord’s presence. And if this is true of us, then our lives will be obsessed with being with Jesus. We will long for His Second Coming. Daily we will find our hearts “homesick” in thinking of heaven and coming face-to-face with our Lord. But this desire will be manifested in this life by our seeking of “heaven on earth” now. We will spend unhurried time in His Word and prayer to behold His glory. Our Bible times will be seeking times; seeking times to encounter and enjoy the Lord’s Presence (2 Corinthians 3:18).
These three heart attitudes are workings by the Holy Spirit in us. They each point to what Jesus told us is the chief evidence of loving Him; a life of obedience – “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). It is extremely important and necessary we take time to evaluate the obedience level in our Christian lives. Go back over the past few days, weeks. Did conscious and purposeful obedience flow from our lives? Let’s not drift into a mindless Christianity and neglect making direct steps to obeying known commands. We must. Remember Jesus said such a life shows we truly love Him.
Yes, today’s scripture is a profound prayer and one we each are to strive to pray, but it isn’t just words to utter. Sadly, I have heard Christians say, “I love the Lord” or Christians speaking of another person saying, “He or she loves the Lord”, but the lives of both show little evidence of obedience in the fight against sin, in the work of the Gospel, and sacrificial commitment to God’s people, the church. To pray, “I love you, O Lord, my strength” demands a life rooted in the other world, and enamored with the holy beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ so our lives enable us to pray this prayer with sincerity. And as we do, we will sit back with confidence that the God who knows all things, knows it is true; we really do love Him because our hearts and lives affirm the words we are praying.
PRAYER: “Lord, may I learn to love you more and more by longing for you more and more”
QUOTE: “It is not difficult to know if we love the Lord. Just ask yourself how much time you spend with Him.”