Loved and Liked

Have you ever heard the distinction between liking and loving someone else?  For a young man looking for love it was disheartening to be "friendzoned" by a woman they are taken with, to be viewed at most a friend when the heart of the love-struck fellow is set on much more.  I have also heard this distinction made among family members:  "I love my family member, but I do not like him or her at all."  It is possible to love someone with whom we are not currently pleased and thus do not "like" due to circumstances.  The seeming contradiction between loving someone we do not like is resolved when we realise our natural love is not God's love at all.

I was struck by how amazing God's grace and love is towards us today by a statement David made in 1 Chronicles 28:2-5:  "Then King David rose to his feet and said, "Hear me, my brethren and my people: I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made preparations to build it. ³ But God said to me, 'You shall not build a house for My name, because you have been a man of war and have shed blood.' ⁴ However the LORD God of Israel chose me above all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever, for He has chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father, and among the sons of my father, He was pleased with me to make me king over all Israel. ⁵ And of all my sons (for the LORD has given me many sons) He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel."

A man after God's own heart, David remained humble even as ruler over Israel.  By grace God chose Judah out of the 12 tribes to be one that ruled, the house of Jesse was also chosen by God and David, though the youngest son, was chosen to be king.  David had not desired to be king, yet God delighted to bring him from the sheepfold to the throne.  David did desire to build God a temple, and God instead chose David's son Solomon to sit on the throne after him and build the temple.  Verse 4 says God "was pleased with me to make me king over all Israel."  The KJV puts it, "among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king..."  Isn't it great to hear God chose David by grace because He liked him?  God made David king out of all Israel because it pleased Him.  God loved and liked David, and this was displayed in graciously promoting him and also preventing him from doing what David really wanted to do.

When human beings "like" someone else, in their eyes the one they like can do no (or little!) wrong.  Though God was pleased to make David king, it did not give him a free pass to sin without consequences.  Also it did not mean God's love or liking was restricted to David alone, for His choosing of David and finding pleasure in him was all of grace.  The God who does not and cannot change has seen fit to create all human beings with a unique, distinct soul and personality.  I am told no two different snowflakes or fingerprints are identical, and consider the creative genius of God to make everyone and their talents, perspectives, likes and loves different from one another!  The elders said before the LORD in Revelation 4:11:  "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."  God created all things--including every person--because it pleased Him to do so.

Do you realise God knit you in the womb of your mother because it pleased Him?  David was convinced he was chosen of God for his role because God liked him, and blessed is the man who has received the love of God by faith, knowing He also favours us.  God showed grace to David by choosing him to be king, and He showed grace by giving the task of building the temple to Solomon.  It pleased God to not have David build the temple, but he was not loved any less.  For God so loved the world He sent His only begotten Son Jesus that whosoever believes in Him will have eternal life, and those who receive His love by faith begin to realise God likes us too, undeserving though we remain of such grace.