I was looking through some verses on love from the book of Psalms. I was searching for one to use as a thought of the day on the Grow Barefoot Facebook page. I chose Psalm 17:7.
As I highlighted it to copy into the Facebook status update box, I wondered about the word wonder. When I read about the wonder of God’s love, it makes me think God will show His love to be amazing, incredible, or wonderful. Yet the prompting inside me said to look up the Hebrew word, so I did.
The word is palah; it means, “to be distinct, marked out, be separated, be distinguished.” That’s a whole different meaning than what I think of when I hear the word wonder.
God’s love is distinct. It is separate and distinguished from any other love this world has to offer. That’s an incredible thought! The last half of the verse tells us why God’s love is distinct from others – it reveals what separates it.
His love is distinct because He saves us by His love. “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10).
The psalmist also goes on to tell us who God saves – He saves those who take refuge in Him. He will save any and all who come to Him for refuge because of His love.
And you know what, the flip side to all of this is important too. God’s love is distinct because it saves us; the other side of that statement would be that no other love can save you.
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