“True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections”
-Jonathan Edwards

This Week

The Psalms express and teach us a lot about love for and satisfaction in God. The Psalmist gives us two important insights in Psalm 116.

1. Love for and satisfaction in God flows from meditating on his saving grace.

The Psalmist spends the first half of this Psalm reflecting on the salvation he experienced by God’s grace. Reflecting on the faithfulness of God’s goodness will ultimately warm our hearts to God and lead us back to finding satisfaction in Him. This is why preaching the gospel to ourselves is such a vital practice. We need to constantly keep our mind’s eye turned toward the salvation that God provides so that we can cultivate a heart that is burning with love for God.

2. Love for God leads to a life of worship and service of God.

After reflecting on his salvation, the writer begins to consider how he should respond. With such love and satisfaction in his heart, he longs to express it in very tangible ways toward God. He has absolutely no notion of earning God’s favor with worship and service, for he recognizes his total helplessness and God’s abundant graciousness. Rather than working for his salvation as in every other religion, he realizes that he simply must respond to his salvation—not because it saves him, but because his heart is overflowing.

Think about it. Anytime we are captivated by someone or something, we long to make it known and to express that love. When I dwell on how amazing my wife is, I immediately begin to think of ways that I can express that: flowers, a date night, etc. This is how our worship and service should be fueled. We don’t do it because we have to, but because we love Him.

So may we be a people that cultivates love for God in such a way that we are characterized by our worship and service of God.