‘Better Than Life’

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life….

Psalm 63:3a

We value life. Under ‘normal’ circumstances and conditions, we consider that our own life, as well as the life of others, is valuable. David declares, speaking of Christ, ‘Your lovingkindness is better than life.’ How can we understand that? Perhaps the most useful way is for us to consider that the Lovingkindness of God transcends life. We can trace His Lovingkindness toward us to His choosing us in Christ, before the world began. In that sense, His ‘lovingkindness is better than life.’ The gracious, loving, long-suffering, kind, merciful, loyalty of Christ to us precedes, by far, our very conception. Also, Christ’s Lovingkindness to us is better than life, because it transcends all the current circumstances and conditions under which we find ourselves throughout this life. At every turn of this long and winding road, we can look back and say, ‘Thus far has the Lord helped me.’ This recounting of His mercies reminds us that His ‘lovingkindness is better than life.’ This gives us great hope for the future. It is the testimony of Scripture, and of all the saints of God, who have gone before us, that, ‘Your lovingkindness is better than life.’ The lovingkindness of Christ will continue throughout this scene of time and all the way through an endless eternity. That is ‘better than life.’  As precious as life is, what Christ brings to our life, is even more precious.

Our Great Lord of Life,
we rejoice that Your Goodness unto us,
far exceeds the very life which You have given us.
We praise You, that only eternity will reveal
the extent of Your Lovingkindness to us.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

‘I Have Looked…In The Sanctuary’

So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.

Psalm 63:2

David’s desire after God was a lifelong pursuit. To put it in evangelical terms, His desire after Christ was persistent and pervasive. In solitary labors as a young shepherd of the flock, he sought Christ. As a fugitive, ‘in the wilderness of Judah,’ He sought Christ. In every season of life, we see evidence of his seeking Christ. Our text for the past two days reveals David’s seeking Christ, even in his darkest hours. Our text today speaks of his sight of Christ, ‘in the sanctuary.’ He had beheld Christ by faith through the means of Grace which God had provided for his generation. It is even so for us. God has provided for us the means of Grace whereby the Holy Spirit takes the things of Christ and shows them to us. The reading of the Scriptures, the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and especially the preaching of Christ, are means whereby God reveals Christ to us. We should go to ‘the sanctuary’ seeking to see Christ. This places great responsibility upon the teacher of the Scripture to ‘cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.’ Here is the standard by which teaching and preaching stands or falls. What is there of Christ for me to see here? ‘The sanctuary’ is a place, not for any less purpose than to lift up Christ, and to make much of Him. Let us seek Him elsewhere, but most of all, let us seek Him there.

O, Christ of our salvation,
we long to see more of You.
Show us Yourself more clearly,
by the power of Your Spirit,
and so teach us, to imitate You.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

 

‘In A Dry And Thirsty Land’

O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.

Psalm 63:1

Our circumstances are often not what we desire them to be. This describes much of David’s life. If we catalogue briefly his adversities, we realize quickly that he often had reason to doubt, in human terms, that the outcome would be good. We may speak of facing the lion, the bear, the denigrating opinion of his brothers, the giant, the evil designs of the king, and his need to flee for his life, and we conclude that his life hung in doubt before him as often as not. He found himself, ‘in a dry and thirsty land.’ Where could he look for hope? In evangelical terms, he looked to Christ. Christ is the hope of the destitute soul. David was in ‘the wilderness of Judah.’ Saul was pursuing him and discontented people were surrounding him. He had, in human terms, a very uncertain future. For whatever future that was, David would need the ‘Friend that sticks closer than a brother.’ We are much the same. We may have, in human terms, a very doubtful future. We may find ourselves, for quite some time to come ‘in a dry and thirsty land.’ Wherever we are, and whatever our future holds, we are going to need ‘the Friend that sticks closer than a brother.’ David’s Christ is our Christ. David’s Friend is our Friend. Regardless of our circumstances or our future, let us look to Him. Jesus never fails.

Our most Gracious and Loving God,
You give to us, in the dry and thirsty land,
that which will satisfy our souls.
We praise You, that You never fail us, nor shall You ever fail.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

‘Early Will I Seek You’

O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.

Psalm 63:1

We are creatures of habit. Our habits are both the evidences of our character, and are the things which reinforce our character. What we do habitually will continue to perpetuate who and what we are. For us, whom God has transformed by free and Sovereign Grace, we have found that He has transformed our habits. It is not natural for us to seek the Lord at all. It is even more unnatural for us to seek Him ‘early.’ The Psalmist, in the portion of the verse which serves as our text for today, declares, ‘Early will I seek you.’ Here is the habit of the spiritually transformed soul.  Whom is it that we seek? It is Christ. The earlier we seek Him, and the more we seek Him, the more satisfying it will be for us. David understood this in some of the worst hours of his life. He wrote this Psalm when he was hiding in the wilderness of Judah from the venom of Saul, his enemy. Regardless of where you are today; regardless of how difficult your circumstances are, or how much your life hangs in doubt before you, your best recourse is to seek Christ, and that right early. Interaction with Christ will bear you up. Interaction with Christ will carry you through this day. Tomorrow is another day, and will require a fresh interaction. To seek Him early is all to your advantage.

O, Sun of Righteousness,
We look to You each morning,
we praise You that You ‘arise with healing in Your wings.’
Evermore, shed Your light upon us.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning