My God, my Father

“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you…. Because your love is better than life…”

Psalm 63:1, 3 (NIV)

As I read this psalm, I wondered what it takes to come to that point where we can honestly say to God, 

“Your love is better than life.” 

Life is filled with many good things and good times, and yet David declared that God’s love is better than life. He had many blessings in his life, but he also had many problems, especially some serious dysfunction within his own family. 

His son Absalom turned against him, attempting to overthrow and take over his kingdom. His daughter, Tamar, was raped by one of her own brothers, and then the other brothers set out to murder the one who raped her. David’s most faithful and dearest friend, Jonathan, was suddenly killed in battle while at war. 

Despite David’s overwhelming emotional grief and sorrow, at these situations in his life, his intimacy with God is what sustained him. His personal relationship with God, led him to proclaim things like, 

“Oh God, you are my God… and your love is better than life.”

As we fast forward a thousand years, Jesus introduces us to God, as His Father, but He called Him our Father too. He taught us to pray saying, 

“Our Father.” He used the title of Father more often than speaking of God, especially in his parables. God is called Father 75 times in the four gospels. Two parables were about fathers and sons, and Jesus concludes His many lessons, teaching us to think of God as our Father in heaven. Scripture tells us we are joint heirs with Christ. Before Jesus physically left this world to ascend to heaven, He said, 

“I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” (John 20:17)

We can have the same intimacy that David had with “his God,” except that we are new covenant people, and since Jesus taught us to call His Father, our Father, we can also say,

“You are my Father, and your love is better than life.”

The beauty of God is that He is Almighty enough to hold the universe in His hand, and yet He is a loving Father, who is intimate enough, to hold ours. 

I had a childhood experience that reminds me of this theme. When I was eight years old, my mother worked full time because my father was disabled from a stroke. She took a city bus to and from work each day. I had a neighbor and childhood friend named Mary Margaret, who was a few years younger than me. 

Each day, we would play outside together, until she saw my mother getting off the city bus after work, and start walking towards my home. As soon as Mary Margaret saw my mother coming, she stopped playing, and ran down the street, excited to greet her, and she always received a big hug, even before me. 

The first time I saw her do this, I was perplexed. I remember wondering why she would run with such excitement to greet “my mother?” 

I came to realize that my mother was the kind of person who was very generous with her affection, and she happened to make a little neighbor girl feel loved and welcome enough, to run into her arms each day. 

I was secure in knowing that I was my mother’s child and would always be loved by her, so I got accustomed to Mary Margaret always running ahead of me to receive the first hug. In fact, I felt proud that my mother was special to someone else, who loved her too. 

Intimacy with God is knowing who we are in Christ and because we have the security of His love, we can be happy for someone else when they are blessed. 

Just as I knew the security of being loved by “my mother”, and sharing her with a friend, I know the security of being loved by “God, my Father”, and the joy in seeing others who share the same intimate relationship with Him. 

Each one of us is the child of our Father in heaven, at whatever age we are. He has so much more love to give us, if we are willing to run into His arms. Intimacy with God means knowing I am my Father’s child, and because He loves me, I have a deep sense of security and inner peace. I found there is a greater joy when I can share His love with others.

Lord, you love us as no one else ever could and your love is truly better than life. Give us the security, peace and comfort in knowing we will always be our Father’s child, and to experience the joy in sharing your love with others. Amen

I attached a song called “The truth”, which speaks of the truth of who we are in Christ. 

Megan Woods – The Truth (Official Lyric Video) – YouTube

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