Relay// Psalms 5
Well, our good friend, Caleb, is on vacation and he's asked me to fill in with a few posts for our devotional series. This week, I want to encourage you with a psalm that has had a dramatic impact on my life over the years and has become one that I continually return to for perspective and joy -- Psalm 16.
I can vividly remember the season when the Lord opened this psalm up to me and it burned like a fire in my soul. It was during a time when I was struggling with a hope that had been deffered and godly desires that were unfulfilled.
God used this psalm to communicate profound truths to me that led to contentment and joy in Christ, though nothing in my circumstances had changed. There are so many riches to mine in Psalm 16 that a brief post won't be able to scratch the surface. So, what I want to do is whet your appetite to study this psalm for yourself.
Listen to these God-inspired words of King David (a man after God's own heart) and as you meditate on them, may they transform your perspective and fill you with contentment and joy.
I have no good apart from you.”
3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
in whom is all my delight.
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or take their names on my lips.
you hold my lot.
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
in the night also my heart instructs me.
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
my flesh also dwells secure.
or let your holy one see corruption.
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
Have you ever struggled with discontentment? Have you ever been disillusioned in the midst of the difficulties in your life? Have you ever had desires for something that hasn't panned out and that you're not sure will ever pan out?
Psalm 16 takes us back to what really matters in life. In the midst of the unrest in our souls, it reminds us that the only thing we need is God Himself. "I say to the LORD, 'You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you' (v.2). The psalmist is in effect saying, "He's not just God; he's my God, and if I have the Lord and nothing else, I have everything I ever need and more than I could ever deserve." That's a heart of contentment.
It's not enough for God to be my professed LORD. He must be my functional Lord, as well. He must be who I am living for. This psalm tells us that those who run after other gods will only increase in sorrow (v. 4), but in the presence of God there is fullness of joy and at his right hand there are pleasures forevermore (v. 11). That joy isn't dependent on circumstances or position in life. It's a joy in God.
That's why David ran to God for refuge (v.1). Where do I run for refuge? Do I run to the God I profess and experience the joy of knowing Him? Or do I run to other false refuges?
This psalm humbles me because it tells me that I'm not God. I'm not unlimited in my abilities or my influence. I'm not omnipotent. I have boundary lines and those boundary lines have been set by an all-wise and all-powerful God (v. 6).
Discontenment looks at the edge of the fences of God's grace and covets what's outside the boundaries that have been assigned by God. It grumbles and complains at where the lines have been set. Contentment, on the other hand, focuses on what is inside the fences of God's grace and worships the Lord in awe for His goodness and His love.
What's inside the fences of his grace for every Christian?
This is where it gets astounding: David says, "The LORD is my chosen portion" (v. 5). Now this is amazing. Regardless of all my limitations (which are many), what falls inside the boundary lines for me is a relationship with God Almighty. What else do I need?!
What a wonderful lot I've been given by God! It's a secure lot (v. 5); the lines have fallen "in pleasant places"; Indeed "I have a 'beautiful inheritance' (v. 6). I have a relationship with God! He's my refuge (v. 1); he's my counselor (v.7); he's my protector (v. 8); he is my Savior; one day I'll see him face to face and know the joy of his presence and at his right hand, I will experience pleasures forevermore! HE'S ALL I NEED!
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