Introduction: We use the word "love" to mean many different things. For example: I love ice cream... I love my children... I love my hat... I love the Vols... I love God...

In Psalm 18 David begins be declaring his love for Jehovah, and then he explains at length what he means by that. It is OUR duty to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30). We can learn a lot from this psalm about how to do that.

HOW DID DAVID LOVE GOD? There are four words that summarize David's love....Trust, Treasure, Loyalty and Recognition.

I. TRUST. David trusted in God to preserve his life. Loving God means trusting God (Ps. 18:1-6). Abraham loved God, and thus relied on God to preserve Isaac's life (Genesis 22:7-13). If we love God, we will trust Him, and depend on Him.

II. TREASURE. David obeyed God's laws. Loving God means obedience (Ps. 18:20-24). David highly treasured God's Word (Psalm 119:97).

A. Grace and obedience are two sides of the same coin. We are saved by God's grace. No one can adequately keep God's laws. However, all who love Jesus and receive Him as Savior, will also strive to live by God's laws (John 14:15, 23; I John 5:2-3).

B. Just talking about God's Word isn't enough (Matthew 15:7-8). People who flaunt God's laws are proving that they DON'T love Him. Do we treasure God's Word to us?

III. LOYALTY. David recognized Jehovah as the only God (Ps. 18:31 and see also Psalm 96:3-5). Allah, Buddah, Krishna, the Great Spirit, and so on, are all creations of the imaginations of men, seeking to run away from the one true God. If we love God, we will be loyal to Him alone.

IV. RECOGNITION. David gave God the credit for all his abilities and success in life (Ps. 18:32-36, 39-40, 43). Those who love God recognize that all they are and have is by the gift and grace of God.

Conclusion: We ought to have emotions and feelings about God. Jesus commanded us to love Him with heart, soul, mind and strength. But loving God is more than a feeling, and it may be that our feelings are the least important aspect of what it means to love God. To love God means:

1. Trust. To depend on Him.
2. Treasure. To treasure God's Word to us. To obey His commandments.
3. Loyalty. To be loyal to Him as the only God.
4. Recognition. To give Him the credit for all we are and have.

May our love for God grow stronger everyday. Amen.