#Time to Reflect

Daily Reading: Psalm 16:1-10

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[b] one see decay.

Psalm 16 is one of the most underrated Psalm in the entire Bible.  Contained within the lyrics of this Psalm is the secret of contentment (Psalm 16:2) and great gladness even in pressing times (Psalm 16:7-9); and also it speaks powerfully of what Jesus’ work accomplishes for us (Psalm 16:10-11).

Theologian John Trapp said that verse 1  is the “most powerful plea…. for to trust God is the highest honor we can do him,” and really trusting God comes as we reflect on our past in order to believer the promises God made about our present and our future.

We learn in verse 2 that every thing we have that is good is a gift God has given us.  Another way to reflect on this is: apart from God – what do we really have? Because with God we have it all.  In verse 4 we need to understand that it is not that God is causing the suffering of those people- it is that as they run after other gods- they will not find fulfillment. They will find no good thing. Their actions will only hurt themselves but those things and that suffering God can use it to have it be the very thing that leads them to realize that what they were pursuing is not worth anything.

Finally,  David acknowledges the inheritance he has comes from the Lord.  David was the youngest in a relatively poor family- what inheritance awaited him? Sheep tending. Hard labor, meager wages. Surely, I have a delightful inheritance David said. My portion isn’t in my profession, or my family’s wealth, it is in you Lord alone. You make my lot secure and as I look back on my life, as I reflect I see where you have taken me from a shepherd boy to the King of a nation and part of the family of God. You are the one who filled me up- oh how the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.

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