I Love You, Lord

Read Psalm 18

We continue on the topic of love.  We know that God loves us.  He loves us with an everlasting love.  His love for us is so great that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

For God so loved the world…

God loves us.  He expresses that love in so many ways.  Some we don’t recognize right away.  God said, let us make man in our own image.  You don’t do that for someone or something that you don’t love.

God is shaping our hearts and minds in the image of Christ Jesus.  We will be like him, so much so that God counts us brothers and sisters with Christ.

God will keep us with him forever.  It’s not like when the relatives visit for a week and at the end of that week, you say, man, I’m glad they’re gone.  I love them, but a week is more than enough.

God is having us stay at his place forever.

God loves us.  He has said it again and again in ways that we can understand, but how often do we tell God that we love him?

David, a man after God’s own heart, had been through some stuff.  That’s the short version.  When Paul said that he knew what it was like to have plenty and have nothing, he only had a taste of David’s ups and downs.

But David knew victory.  David knew from where his victories had come.  David was quite the warrior one-on-one with an oversized and boastful Philistine.  David was an adept military commander.  Enemies died when they opposed him.

But David also had his days of being on the run and in hiding.  Yes, God sent a prophet to select David as the king to succeed Saul, but there was no immediate gratification here.   It didn’t happen overnight.

David endured trials and tribulations and even expressed his concerns about, well, everything to the Lord.  So, when David was delivered from his enemies and became victorious over his enemies, he knew who to thank.  He thanked the Lord.

But more than thanksgiving, David expressed heartfelt, deeply emotional, life-changing love. 

I love you Lord!

I profess, proclaim, and sing to the world that you are my:

·      Strength

·      Rock

·      Fortress

·      Deliverer

·      Refuge

·      Shield

·      Salvation

David takes most of the rest of the psalm to describe what God has done for him, but his opening words are his response to the Lord.

I love you Lord! We sing a similar song of love.

I love you, Lord
And I lift my voice
To worship You
Oh, my soul rejoice!
Take joy my King
In what You hear
May it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear.

David had been through some stuff and the Lord delivered him.  That’s the Cliff Notes to 1 Kings and 1 Chronicles.  David did not live a flawless life.  He knew sin and repentance and forgiveness.

But through all of his humanness, he loved the Lord.  He sang of his love to the Lord in the assembly.

We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God, yet Christ died for us.  He took away our sin.  What song should we sing?  Sing to the Lord.

I love you, Lord…

Some of you are thinking that Tom just didn’t want us to fall asleep as he was talking endlessly making some highly theological connections knowing that we can already smell the enticing aromas from the kitchen.  He knows that some people are in the kitchen getting the meal ready and some are already eating it in their minds.

Fellowship meals are good stuff.  Just an FYI, if you are on a diet, none of the calories in any of that food count against it.

Or, maybe this is a good song to have at the ready.  When we think about being thoroughly equipped for every good work, sometimes just remembering to love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves, doesn’t help us love that person who seems unlovable.

Sometimes, we who profess to follow Jesus, just can’t forgive this one person.

I remember one time, it’s been a while now, but I had been working with a family that was out there.  As a result, their children had no compass in their lives.  We would see them briefly on Wednesday and then they went back to their insanity that they called a home.

On one occasion, after something just totally unconscionable by the parents, I went to the house and the mom came to the door.  I went through what they had done and asked, “Was this really the decision that you thought was best.”

I was rather proud of myself for my reserved and calm demeanor.  It was not easy.  There had been a season of insanity that preceded this moment.  This family was the never-ending challenge.

Then dad came to the doorway.  Apparently, he was not happy about all of this good decision-making stuff that I was selling.  He came to the doorway and bowed up a bit.  That led me immediately to a silent prayer.

Lord, please let him take a swing at me.  Lord, you know that I need to release this frustration…

The Lord heard my prayer and dad just turned around and quickly walked away.  You don’t always get the answers to prayer that you want.

Sometimes we deal with people who don’t seem to have a clue, but God said to love them.  This love your neighbor business should be like a once a year deal.  Some people just are unlovable.  How can you love the unlovable?  Really?  How can you?

Sometimes, we love the really hard cases because we love God.  Sometimes, we need to deal with the unlovable with our hearts, minds, and souls embracing our love for God.  Sometimes, we need a song to get us ready.

I love you, Lord…

You know who can get really angry with each other?  Married people.  They know exactly which buttons to push.  Sometimes, and this comes up in counseling, sometimes you just have to love or forgive or try again with your life-long partner because you love God—because God said this is for life.

I’m going to take a little license here and steal a quote from a couple of our elders who are married to each other.  I hope I get it right or at least close enough.  They said that when they got married, they redacted the word Divorce from their dictionaries and highlighted the word murder.  Divorce is not an option but there are alternatives.

Yes, there are alternatives, such as reminding ourselves how much we love God when we hit an impasse with our partner for life.  God said that he hates divorce.  He is not fond of murder either.  Perhaps when we can’t deal with our partner based on what we know God wants we have to rely upon who he is and what he has done for us.  Perhaps as we deal with what seems unworkable, we can sing a song about how much we love Lord.

I love you, Lord…

Did you know that you will have trouble in this world?  I hope that I have not surprised anyone with this revelation.  We are to take courage because Jesus has overcome the world.  He did it for us.  He did it to demonstrate how much God loves us.

Isn’t time that we said thank you on a regular basis?  Isn’t it time that we said, I love you, Lord on a regular basis.

I challenge you to take this simple song with your all week and when it comes to mind, sing it aloud or to yourself as is appropriate to where you are.

I ask that you take this simple song and sing it all week long?  Have I asked too much?

I love you, Lord
And I lift my voice
To worship You
Oh, my soul rejoice!
Take joy my King
In what You hear
May it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear.

Amen!