“Unfailing Love, Better Than Life”

If I live to see August 19, 2020, I will reach the 5-decade milestone of 50 years old. This past Wednesday, in our Evening Becoming Session, I shared with the Zoom Becoming Session participants that last week, I received my official AARP card in the mail (AARP was formerly called the American Association of Retired Persons). I do not believe that I am close to retirement. Still, it is good to know that I have reached a place in my life where I can enjoy some of the benefits of my senior years and offer my prayers and support to Jo Ann Jenkins (I have a newfound appreciation for AARP commercials 😊). 

As I approach the big “5-0,” my time as a child, adolescent, teenager, and young adult seems like only yesterday. As I ponder my past, I am thankful that my mother helped know Christ at an early age. In 1978, at the tender age of eight-years-old, I got saved and baptized. I wish I could say that from the time I became a Christian, things always went well.

Like many believers, I have had moments when I felt close to God, and there have been moments when I felt distant from God. As a young Christian, I did not understand how to handle those moments when I did not feel close to God. I thought that once I became a Christian, I would always feel the presence of God in my life. I know that I am not alone in my sentiments. Every person who develops a relationship with God will eventually enter a season or point when one feels distant from God. 

One of the great patriarchs of the Old Testament felt distant from God. At one point in King David’s life, he felt distant from God. Some scholars believe that at the time David wrote Psalm 63, he was in the wilderness and on the run from his son Absalom, who conspired to take over David’s kingdom (2 Sam. 15:1-14). In the wilderness, David yearned for God’s presence (Ps. 63:1). The action verbs “seek,” “thirsts,” and “yearns” depict David’s desire to be in God’s presence (Ps. 63:1-2). Why would David feel distant from God when the psalmist declared that God’s presence is inescapable to the extent that death cannot hide us from God (Ps. 139:7-8)?

During David’s time, the people of Israel equated the tabernacle with God’s presence. Since David was away from Jerusalem and the tabernacle, he felt distant from the presence of the Lord. Thus, he longed to be in the Lord’s presence (Ps. 63:1). When David said, “My soul thirsts for you,” it means that David longed for God with his whole being and person. Since he was away from the very place that he associated with God’s presence, what was David to do? 

Memory Activation

Beth Tanner said that David started “activating his memory.” We see David activating his memory when he said, “Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory” (Ps. 63:2). Why did David choose to activate his memory? David decided to activate his memory because he knew that he could not change his geographical location. Sometimes in life, we will not be able to change our location or position that makes us feel distant from God. God can allow us to encounter some problems and places in life that make us feel distant from Him. When we cannot change our location, we need to “activate our memory” and remind ourselves of God’s power and presence in our lives. Memory activation can help us to remember our experiences with God’s presence, which can lead to a greater appreciation for God and His divine attributes.           

Unfailing Love

After David engaged in memory activation, he pondered one of God’s moral attributes when he used the word “lovingkindness” (Ps. 63:3). Ronald B. Allen noted that the word “lovingkindness” is a “hendiadys,” which is a combination of two words that describe “one concept.” Contextually, “lovingkindness” highlights God’s loyal and unfailing love for those who are in a covenant relationship with Him. Every believer is in a covenant relationship with God through the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ. He instituted a new and better covenant (Heb. 7:22; 8:6). What is the significance of God’s unfailing love? In life, things can fail, such as our health, our jobs, our transportation, our relationships, and our faith. However, our faith can rest in God to never fail us. Our heavenly Father will always be there. Whenever we face life’s failures, we can count on God to be there and bring us through those moments when we may feel distant from God and unable to press our way through our present predicament(s).       

Better Than Life

Before I studied Psalm 63, I asked David a question. I asked, “How can God’s “lovingkindness” be “better than life”? (Ps. 63:3). David helps us to understand that since we will encounter life’s failures, to know and have God’s unfailing presence is more valuable than life itself. Nothing is more precious and valuable than one’s relationship and trust in God for every provision, especially His presence and unfailing love during times and seasons of barrenness at any stage or age in the believer’s life.