Inspiration & Worship
A Love Story S
tudents of the Bible know that God lavished David with a remarkable compliment when he described him as “a man after my own heart.” (I Sam. 13:14 & Acts 13:22). They also know it wasn’t because David’s behavior was always pristine. Far from it. God loved David because David trusted God completely. Rather than hiding after sinning, David clung to God’s embrace and begged forgiveness. He had faith in God’s mercy. He didn’t allow his own sin to break his bond with the God he so much loved. David loved spending time with God. He didn’t praise God out of duty; his childlike wonder at God’s goodness overflowed from his soul. David wanted to please his Creator. He found words inadequate, but tried to use them, along with music, dance and art, to express his love for God. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. – Psalm 143:8 (KJV) In this one verse alone, David put God first in his day, declared his trust in God, asked God to reveal His will and expressed his willingness to lift up his soul to God. Other translations of the same verse: Let me experience Your faithful love in the morning, for I trust in You. Reveal to me the way I should go because I long for You. (Holman Christian Standard Bible) Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. (New International Version.) What does it mean to ‘lift up our souls’ to God? Is it an emotion of the heart? A decision of the mind? An untethering of the weights which prevent us from leaping into His arms like a trusting child? All of these things? The answer is profoundly important. About 1,000 years after David lived, a man asked Jesus Christ to name the greatest commandment of God. He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment.” (Matthew 22:37 & 38) God not only gives us our every breath but also redemption through Jesus Christ. That’s more than David ever had. How do we express our love in return? ❚ – Janine Pumilia 14
Smart Living Fort Wayne
February 2022 • I
To Advertise Call 260-212-8968
