Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder
Be With Me is a daily 7 minute chronological walk through the New Testament hosted by Michael Smith. It is for everyone who is curious about what Jesus actually said and did in the gospels. Most episodes will leave you with at least one good thought to chew on for the rest of the day. We start with the Bible and hopefully end with Awe. We are walking through the chronological events of Jesus' life and then thoughtfully considering them. It is meant to spur the devotional life of the Christian and the not-yet-Christian. We occasionally venture into the Old Testament when it helps our understanding of the New Testament events. Everybody has 7 minutes. Everybody needs to wonder. Be With Me is hosted by Michael Smith who has absolutely no special qualifications to do a podcast. He is not a pastor. He has not been to seminary. He does not lead a mega-church. He is not a professional and he has no more credentials than you do. He does, however, follow a great God with an observant eye and a curious heart. Each day, he starts with a study bible and aims for astonishment. ‘be with him’ for 7 minutes as he sets out daily to discover the God who invites us to ‘Be With Me.’
Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder
Something “better than life” s30e122 Ps 63
David tells us about something that is "BETTER THAN LIFE". He comes up with a valuation that declares this particular "thing", God's faithful relationship with people, is WORTH MORE than life itself.
It is an an audacious e-value-ation. See if you agree with David: God's steadfast love to humans is more valuable than LIFE ITSELF. Join me for 6 minutes in Psalm 63:
https://youtu.be/fmps48w1pyM
Something “better than life” s30e122 Ps 63
Look and LONG with me at Ps 63.
I desire that we desire the same things as David
He here seeks, thirsts, faints for such is the Christian life
To be a Christian is to long every day
To be a Christian is to seek and thirst and faint for God.
We are created to crave
To be a Chrisitan is to forever long for more of Him, until you get all of Him in heaven.
Watch as David uses his LONGING as worship
This posture of using the not-yet-fulfilled, DISSATISFACTION of his heart to declare his ultimate satisfaction in the Lord: ie: WORSHIP
He uses his temporary dissatisfaction to declare his final satisfactio
“I want more of You” and this WANTING is my WORSHIP
63 A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands. . “I want more of You” and this WANTING is my WORSHIP
In Ps 63 we watch a man, David, WORSHIP God by WANTING God
Notice that David here, says something quite Radical
Your steadfast Love is better than life
Something is better than life; If I had to choose my LIFE or this reality, I’d give up my life
WHAT WOULD YOU give up your LIFE FOR?
For David, it is HESED. It is this concept of the perfectly faithful relationship from God’s side of the relationship ledger.
WHAT IS HESED?
It is when God butters the bread on both sides—generous
It is when we have aright to expect noting and get EVERYTHING
It is when God extends kindness to the ungrateful and uncooperative
His HESED, faithful love to a mostly unfaithful people, His steadiness in contrast to wobbily people
We can be still in HIM because He has not been still: He’s been working and redeeming and maintaining relationship
All of this denotes and describes our VALUE to Him
His steadfast love for me demonstrates my value to Him
Hesed is God’s relational solidness, predicated on His own character and His relationshiop with His own WORDS; own promises
God does not forsake His PEOPLE because God does not forsake His PROMISE.
Think about how important HIS faithfulness is: Without His PERFECT faithfulness, our imperfect faithfulness cannot be imperfectly expressed.
Hesed is THE essential character of God that allows a relationship with humanity
CAN I TRUST HIM Without Hesed: NO
?Has He demonstrated past faithfulness enough to warrant the placement of my trust going forward to the future.
Looked at His this track record. HESED, steady character
Why should I trust God in the future?
Why should I ENTRUST myself to Him? Because of His proven track record with
You should go forward with God because of what has already passed
HOW VALUABLE IS GOD”S HESED TOWARD US?
Conversely, David values God’s relational faithfulness by what he is willing to exchange:
Some time? Some gold? Some effort?
No, David compares and is willing to exchange HIS LIFE for it
The Lord’s hesed is a part of His Character and characteristics
I value You valuing me, so much, that it is better than life.
Here’s an assessment: David you are bonkers. This cannot be true.
You’ve gone over the top.
Or, perhaps my assessment of David is wrong.
Maybe Your steadfast love really really IS BETTER THAN LIFE
I’d better get my head around it and my heart, and re-evaluate it so that I can re-value it. Is it really BETTER THAN LIFE.
I’d give my life for this.
Your hesed toward me is better than life. Without HESED=no life
How important is it?
. Think with me about this in the future: Lets say 1000 years from your death, God stops being of the character of HESED. Faithful loyalty to His knucklehead people somehow stops. (Yes, I realize that this is actually HERESY)
If He is unfaithful, then we all fall out of heaven. *********
It, HESED, was the pillar upon which we were standing before Him for eternity
Without the pillar of HESED, 1000 years from now, we ALL FALL OUT OF HEAVEN
For if there is No steadiness with God,
there is nothing to stand on or at least nothing to stand on for long
Here is an amazing new thought: we absolutely depend upon the HESED character of God to put us into heaven, (or at least allow us a way that we could get there) AND we depend upon it for our continuance there**********.
David says that HESED is the more valuable that LIFE
Do you agree with him?