Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. (ESV)

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. (NIV)

Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! (NLT)

Dive Deeper:

I struggle deeply with the need to achieve and prove myself to others. I find value in performance and productivity, whether at home or work. For some reason I think achievement and progress will make life better and fulfilled. While there is something to be said about diligence and hard work, I need the reminder that this can’t be what life is ultimately about.

Some of you might struggle with materialism, lust, gluttony, or drunkenness. Perhaps you think a social media following or the praise of humanity will satisfy. Whether your struggle is like mine in thinking achievement will produce the ultimate joy in life, or a different battle, we all need the reminder that God’s love is better than anything this world will offer.

The life of Jesus shows us what true fulfillment looks like. Jesus lived to glorify the Father and to love others. In doing so, He demonstrated that life is not about what we achieve or accumulate, but about knowing and reflecting the love of God.

Jesus’ perfect walk on earth helped prove what life is truly about, and King David’s words in Psalm 63:3 state it perfectly. David writes, “Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.” (ESV). David said it and Jesus lived it—God’s love is better than anything this life provides.

The word David used to describe God’s love in the original Hebrew language is the word ‘hesed.’ This type of love is a loyal, unfailing, faithful love that God shows His children. The word is used 249 times in the Old Testament, usually referencing God’s loyal love. It’s inherently different from the flippant kind of love we often throw around (i.e., I love college football). This kind of love is different from the love we show one another. Even in our marriage or parenting our love can be conditional. God’s hesed love, rather, is not dependent on our behavior or performance. Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins was not conditional on our behavior. We don’t deserve His grace, which thankfully is not dependent on good works. David says God’s love is better than even life itself and the life and death of Jesus is all the evidence we need!

If you and I truly believe this truth about God’s love, that it is better than anything the world offers, then the only right response is to praise Him with our lips, our words, and our lives. The inclusion of the word ‘because’ indicates causation, that because His love is better than life, that our lips (and our lives) ought to lead to praise to and for the Lord.

 What would your life look like if you lived consistent with the truths of Psalm 63:3? It would change how we spend our money and time, and would change our motivations in everything we do. Our lives would be marked by the pursuit of praising God, and not by the pursuit of the things of this world. Wouldn’t we look a whole lot more like Jesus and the way He lived His life?

Written by Scott Kedersha