Real Hope: Definition of LoveSample

Getting A Grip On Love

The shortest psalm is… Psalm 117. In this Englishlanguage translation, it’s only 29 words long. Quite the pocket rocket.

I love Psalm 117’s brevity and sharp focus upon the praising and glorifying of our Lord God. If you ever want to know if humans are the centre of the universe – or not – take a dose of Psalm 117.

As it calls upon everyone, everywhere, to rightly revere the God who is above us all, it gives only one reason why. If someone asks why we should praise and glorify God, what do you say?

Psalm 117 says it’s because God’s love is great and faithful. Reading quickly over such a description of God’s love can undersell what’s being revealed. Where you and I can struggle to faithfully love each other throughout all of our days, God’s faithful love endures forever. Eternal. Never ending. Falling out of love can be almost easier for us than falling into it. The extreme opposite is true of God.

Given this pithy psalm celebrates the forever expanse of God’s love, I take it that ‘great’ must be of a similar magnitude. We can use ‘great’ like we use ‘good’ – politely, often and with diminished meaning. ‘Great’ can be such a common description that it actually doesn’t seem that great anymore. But the greatness of God’s love fleshes out the most colossal understanding of what ‘great’ can be. The best way to get a grip on the great, faithful love of God is to get a grip on Jesus. Basically, Jesus is the perfect definition of what Psalm 117 is on about.

Written by BEN MCEACHEN