Psalm 51 “Let God Love You”
INTRODUCTION
Words can be very powerful and have a great effect on our lives. Perhaps the most powerful words in the English language are, “I love you.” We long to hear these words, and it seems as if we cannot hear them enough. Most of us can remember the time when we first heard those words from a special person. There are also those times, which we remember, when we craved to hear those words and we never did.
It is important for us to hear these words from other people and from God.
CONDITIONAL LOVE
Much of the love in our lives is conditional love. This love is a cheap imitation of true love. This love is based on circumstances.
· We are well liked and popular because of a quick smile and an outgoing personality, but no one supports us in a tragedy or stands up for us against an unjust rumor.
· We receive praise and appreciation at school or at work when we get good grades and achieve goals, but it is withheld in failure, or because of unmet expectations.
· Our parents seem to love us more when we are less of a problem, do what they want us to do, and make as few waves as possible.
· We are loved only when we don’t “cost” anything for the person who loves us.
There are times when we are surprised at how conditional the love of other people is. At other times, we are surprised by the fact that love we though was conditional was really unconditional. For example, out parents come though and love us in the midst of personal struggle and tragedy.
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
The greatest gift that we can give and receive is unconditional love. This is the type of love that is expressed in this Psalm and in the story behind the Psalm.
David, a person who was describe as a man after God’s own heart, sinned greatly. He raped Bathsheba and murdered her husband. The prophet Nathan delivered God’s message of judgment and David was convicted of his sin. This is his psalm of repentance.
In this psalm, David writes of God’s need to create a new, clean heart within him. He writes about the truth that God doesn’t want ritual sacrifices. God wants humble servants who are faithful and obedient.
All of David’s prayers that are contained in this Psalm are based on God’s steadfast love. God loves us and God’s love is not based on anything that we have done or will do. God’s love is unconditional.
LET GOD LOVE
God loves us even when we fail. Constant success is not humanly possible. God loves us when we succeed and when we fail.
God loves us even when we sin. Jesus Christ died for our sin. Jesus Christ died for us when we were still enemies of God. God still love us—all of us—even when we are disobedient and sin.
There are times when everyone turns his or her back on us. People may reject us, but God never does.
CONCLUSION
God loves us. We cannot escape this truth.
As we have been loved—unconditionally—God invites us to love others so that they, too, may experience what God’s love is like.
Amen
