Better Than Life

Jun 17 2025 - Eric Buresh

“Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, 
My lips shall praise You.” 
Psalm 63:3 

Psalm 63 is, for me, a spiritual check-up passage. As you read David’s expressions of thirst and longing for the relational presence of God, let the Holy Spirit sift your affections while asking yourself, on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being a robust echoing of David’s feelings), where are my heart’s affections? And then let David’s example draw you up the scale. 

The soul of David was in a dry and weary land when he penned Psalm 63—not seated on a throne, but wandering in the wilderness. His body was parched, his heart pursued—but his joy was secure. Why? Because he had something better than life itself. 

What is better than life? Ask the world, and it will give you a thousand answers: wealth, pleasure, safety, freedom, family, health. But David answers with a single word: “lovingkindness”—chesed—the steadfast, covenantal love of the Lord. 

    This is not a passing affection, but a promised devotion. 
    Not fickle fondness, but an eternal oath. 
    Not love based on our worthiness, but love rooted in God's own faithfulness. 

Chesed is the love that called Abraham out of Ur, the love that split the sea for Moses, the love that spared Nineveh in Jonah, and the love that sent Christ to the cross. It is not love that waits to be deserved but love that descends in mercy. It is the love of a God who binds Himself to His people and says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 

And David says, “This love is better than life.” Better than breath. Better than being spared. Better than health or home or comfort. If everything else is stripped away, and this love remains, the soul has lost nothing. 

This is the spiritual check-up: Do you believe this? If God took your comforts and left only Himself, would you still praise? If He led you into the wilderness to show you His face, would you count it a loss or a gain? 

When trials come—and they will—run not first to relief, but to remembrance. Remember His chesed. Remember His cross. Remember the blood that speaks better things than your sins. Remember the Savior who loved you and gave Himself for you. Let that be your song in the night. 

Shall we join David’s cry? Let us praise not because all is easy, but because He loves us!