Love the LORD, all you his saints!
The LORD preserves the faithful
but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the LORD!
How do we know what we love? Probably the easiest way to answer that question is to see where we put our money, our time and our attention. Those who say they love their family the most but choose time at work or play over family, might be deceiving themselves. Those who say they love spouse more than life itself (a typical Valentine Day card), but their credit card shows more that they value themselves, is completely fooled. In the end of Psalm 31 we read the above words. The writer of this poem/song is King David. Apparently something is happening in his life that is not favorable. He has numerous adversaries who are attacking him and scheming against him. He has enemies on each side. This is the time of life that you get focused on what is important and what you truly love and care for. When we start loving something other than the God who redeemed us, we might find ourselves in the same place. God tends to stripe away those things we rely upon and those things we love, when they come between Him and our love. These last couple of verses tell us that he “preserves” those who are faithful to Him (in love), but also knows (and repays them) those who act out in the pride of their heart and love themselves more than God. God demands our love and shows us what that looks like by sending Christ to die for us. We know what love is. It is sacrificing ourselves for others. But, pride prevents that. Loving others is setting our pride aside and giving our complete focus on God and His plan for us.
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