how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who spoke to the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said,
“I love You, O Lord, my strength.”

How great is Your goodness,
Which You have stored up for those who fear You,
Which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You,

Before the sons of men!

How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.

For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear,
Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,
Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.

but just as it is written,
“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

God is love

The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

And he

No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

General references

Better is a dish of vegetables where love is

Than a fattened ox served with hatred.

Then my people will live in a peaceful habitation,
And in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places;

By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.