"You, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life" (Jude 20–21).

As I read these verses in Jude, I heard the Spirit quietly whisper: "David, I want you to enter the fullness and joy of my love. You have the theology right. But you have not yet experienced the true rest of soul that comes with keeping yourself in my love. Up to now, you've only been in it up to your ankles. There is a whole ocean for you to swim in."

Here is one of the most quoted and oft-sung verses in all of God's Word: "Because Your  lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You" (Psalm 63:3). You may ask, "What does it mean that his lovingkindness is better than life?”

The truth is, life is short. It fades like the grass, which is here one season and gone the next. Yet God's lovingkindness endures forever. A million years from now Jesus will be as tender and loving toward us as he is now. Others can take your life away from you, but they can't take away God's lovingkindness.

Jonah was a prophet who fully understood the lovingkindness of the Lord. But he was a man who could not enjoy or appropriate it. Instead, Jonah turned God's lovingkindness into a burden for himself.

Here is a powerful weapon for every follower of Jesus: Cry! Cry out with all of your heart as David did (see Psalm 34:6). Go to the Lord and confess your sin and appeal to his lovingkindness, saying, "Lord, I know you love me and are ready to forgive me. I repent before you right now."

It is well known that King David fell into horrible sin, committing adultery and covering it up with murder. Moreover, we know David was full of the Holy Spirit, so he must have been miserable.

The prophet Nathan confronted him, saying, "You have brought reproach on God's name." David could only go for so long carrying the weight of the horrible acts he had perpetrated and he immediately confessed and repented. Even as he was still weeping Nathan assured him, "The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die” (2 Samuel 12:13).

The Bible promises that it is possible to understand the Lord's lovingkindness. What is that key? King David said, “Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord” (Psalm 107:43).

David received an awesome revelation of God's gracious, forgiving heart. And he discovered it simply by looking at God's past record of dealing with his beloved children. David reports it this way:

The foundation for all victory over sin is the understanding that God is tender and full of kindness and love.

“Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth’” (Jeremiah 9:23–24).

In the Old Testament, God's people forsook him again and again, yet each time he restored them and blessed them incredibly. The Lord had every right to give up on Israel, but he remained ever faithful to them. Nehemiah sums up this wonderful truth about God’s nature:

Throughout the Bible we hear these wonderful words spoken by many of God's servants: "Your God is merciful, kind, gracious, anxious to forgive, full of lovingkindness, slow to anger." These words about God's lovingkindness are recited again and again by great men such as Moses, Jonah, David, the prophets and the apostle Paul (see Exodus 34:6, Deuteronomy 4:31, Jonah 4:2, Joel 2:13, Romans 2:4).

Do you believe God is willing to come quickly to solve your problem? Here is where many Christians fall short. They know God has all they need and they admit he cares. But when he doesn't answer their cry right away, they think of all kinds of reasons why he must not be willing to come to their aid.