Dear Friends,
We hope this week's devotional will encourage you in your spiritual walk. You are welcome to share this and include it in your church newsletters if you wish; we just ask that you please give credit to NTC and the author. Thank you!
Psalm 16
1 Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
3 I say of the holy people who are in the land,
“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
4 Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.
5 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
11 You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Devotional
This psalm is not a petition for safety but more a confident statement of rest in God. It contains four statements of belief: a profession of faith (v.2), a refusal to idolatry (vv.3-4), a commitment to Yahweh (vv.5-8), and an expression of confidence and joy in God (vv.9-11).
The psalmist asks for protection more in continued favour from God than as deliverance. It is an extension of Ps 15, that committing to God and emulating the character exhorted in the body of the poem will lead to entering God’s presence.
For us, in our contemporary setting, the question is where do we find our security? Can we confidently follow the law and order our leaders proclaim or are we set for disappointment and deception? How about the increasing devastation caused by natural disasters and domestic and international terrorism, not to mention wars and rumours of war? While in prison awaiting execution for attempting an assassination against Hitler during WW2, Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer intensely experienced God’s presence. In our most difficult situations, we also can and have experienced the peaceful and reassuring presence of our Saviour. It is our “delightful inheritance”, our “sure assurance”, and “a pleasant place.”
Charles Wesley wrote a song full of hope for God’s presence in everyday life. It ends with v.11 in mind: “And closely walk with Thee to heaven.”
Prayer
Lord God, make our joy, pleasure, and contentment our cup and portion as we journey in this life for and with You, until we step into your presence eternally. Amen!
Andrée Pursey
Librarian