Praise as Confession of the Love of the Lord

Bible Reading:

[Mark 14:3,6,8,9]

While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the house of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head

... said Jesus. "... She has done a beautiful thing to me."

"She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial."

"I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."

[II Samuel 7: 2-5, 11, 16]

He said to Nathan the prophet, "Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent."

Nathan replied to the king, "Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you."

That night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying:

"Go and tell my servant David, 'this is what the Lord says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? ... The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you... Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.'"

[Matthew 25:40]

The king will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

[I John 4:21]

And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

My reflections:

If I had to choose two people who expressed their love of the Lord the best in the Bible, I would pick, in the New Testament, the woman who broke her alabaster jar to pour very expensive perfume on Jesus and, in the Old Testament, David, who was described as a man after God's own heart (I Samuel 13:14). David's expression of love reached its acme, when he showed passion to build God's temple. God, in reply, promised that he would establish David's house, which will endure forever. What is common in these two people's expression of love of the Lord is that their love was directed to the Lord's body. Their love was shown to the Lord Incarnate or for the Temple, symbolizing the Body of Christ. Because of their love, the woman and David were blessed by the Lord beyond any measure.

We likewise can express our love of the Lord similarly. We can do so, by loving our brothers and sisters in the Lord, who are the building blocks of the Church, the Body of Christ. The Lord said that whatever we do to the least of the brothers amounts to doing the same for the Lord himself. He gave us a new command that we must love one another. He furthermore said that whoever has not resolved a conflict with his brother is not worthy to partake in the worship (Matthew 5:23,24). It is also written that if anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar (I John 4;20).

When we sing praises to the Lord and wish that our love expression of the Lord would be heard by the Lord, we must first begin by showing love of our brothers and sisters.