(Psalms 18:1)  “To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said, I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.”

This statement of David, “…And he said, I will love thee, O LORD…” is a statement of fact – not, I will, if you will; not something that had to happen for David to love God, and now that You have, then I will love You. No, for David’s love for God was based on the Revelation to him of Who God was, and is, to him.

The believers in Christ love Him, not first because He has done something; but, because He has been revealed to the believer in the believer’s spirit, to have done something for them personally. This is Christ has given the believer “an understanding” of Who Jesus is: He is God in the flesh, yet without sin; and Who they are in Jesus (1 Jn. 5:20 – “an understanding”); that Jesus is:

1. Revealed to be the believer’s Sacrifice for his sin debt; as the Ransom Price to satisfy God the Father, to redeem the believer out of the slave market of sin (Eph. 1:7);
2. Revealed to be the believer’s Substitute in the sinner’s place before God, paying the debt of the sinner’s sin (2 Cor. 5:21);
3. Revealed to be the believer’s Savior from the penalty, the punishment, and the practice of sin, and the power of sin for all eternity.

Therefore, Jesus is the sinner’s Sacrifice, Substitute and Savior. And thereby, as such, Jesus Reconciled, Redeemed, and Justified, and Sanctified the sinner in the Works of God in the flesh, in and through Jesus Christ. (1 Cor.1:29-31) “That no flesh should glory in his presence. (30)  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (31) That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”

And the sinner “in Christ” learns that he is not under condemnation (Rom. 8:1-4); no longer under the law of sin and death – but is now under the law of the Spirit of Life. Hallelujah! Worthy is the Lamb of God.

The Good News for the sinner is not that he loved Christ first; but, that God loved the sinner first. (1 Jn. 4:9-10) “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.  (10)  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation (satisfaction) for our sins.”

God’s love for the sinner began in eternity past; even before the foundation of the world. The sinner was in the Covenant of Grace in Christ before the world began according to (Rev. 13:8; Eph. 1:4-11; Rom. 8:29-30). Praise God; Christ is the One Who seeks out the sinner first (Jn. 4:4); and not the sinner seeking Him. Therefore, all praise and honor and glory goes to the Savior, Jesus Christ; Who is the Source and Supply of the sinner’s salvation (Jon. 2:9). Praise God; that the sinner’s salvation was not left up to the sinner’s merits; but to Christ, and to Him alone (Eph. 2:8-9).

Conclusion:

The prayer for you, reader of this devotion, is: If you can’t say with David, “…And he said, I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.” That you will come to confess that Christ is the One Who you love, with your all; even your body, soul and spirit. That you will come to confess that Christ is your “Sufficiency” (2 Cor. 3:5) and Him alone.  Oh, happy day it is when a sinner comes to rest in the Salvation of Christ by the Grace of God. Oh, happy day it is when the sinner comes to confess, acknowledge, and understand that he is “in Christ,” and Christ is in him. Oh, happy day it is to unashamedly confess, acknowledge, and understand that Christ is his “Help,” and in Him is his Hope; even, Christ is his All in all.