Psalm 16

Psalm 16 is a beautiful prayer for us as Christians.  It displays the heart of a person who is dependent on God and desires His presence in all aspects of life.  It is a picture of a person walking through this world of sin, struggle, hurt, temptation and distraction while striving to keep his heart and mind set on God. 

This psalm starts with salvation.  “Preserve me, O God!”  The Hebrew word translated “preserve” in the ESV has a sense “keep me” or “watch over me.”  It is a prayer of one who has been saved and does not want to fall away. 

Salvation is where a right relationship with God always begins.  We cry out to God because He has saved us.  Our past experience informs our present reality.  God came to us as our savior in Jesus, and it is in Him (Jesus) that we know God as our loving Father whom we can call upon in every trouble.  Without Jesus, God remains unapproachable; a holy judge standing over us in our sin.  So we always begin our walk with God as those God has rescued; ones He keeps and watches over. 

This puts us in a special place.  Not only do we have the privilege of being saved, but we can say to the LORD, “You are my Lord.…”    People always have some kind of lord in their lives.  There is no one – not even the most devout atheist (if an atheist can be devout) – who doesn’t serve some lord.  Not all of these lords are personal deities (Allah, ancestors, Vishnu, etc.) but they all place demands on people’s lives and have dominion in them.  Even the person free of deities would find that his god is probably himself.  In this sea of gods we get to call the LORD -YHWH, the Great I AM, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who came to us in the person of His Son Jesus, whose name means, “YHWH saves”, and who dwells among us by His Holy Spirit – we get to call HIM our Lord. 

God said to the people of Israel, “I will be your God and you will be my people.”  Through Jesus’ salvation we get to be God’s people and we get to claim Him as our God.  That changes our relationship with the world.  As St. Paul says, “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him….”  (Philippians 3:7-9 NIV)

“The LORD is my chosen portion.”  Of all the pieces that come together to form our lives the LORD is the best part.  Indeed, “The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places,” and, “I have a beautiful inheritance.”  The LORD has given us the best that He can give!  He gave His Son to redeem us!  What more can we ask for?  He has washed away our sins and restored us to Himself.  We have received reconciliation with the Father, and that is an awesome, pricey, treasure. 

With that marvelous gift before us, how can we not say with the psalmist, “Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.”?  In Christ, this life is good.  Not only is this life good, but we live in the promise that God will not abandon our souls to Sheol – that is, he will not leave us in death.  Just as Jesus rose from the dead, we too shall rise.  He has given us eternal life and resurrection!

“You have made know to me the path of life,” the psalmist writes.  Indeed, Jesus says, “I am … the Life.” 

My Lord, help me to see the wonder of the life you give me and rejoice in it.  Keep me.  Watch over me.  Preserve me.  Let my life show your goodness and serve to draw others to you for Jesus’ sake.  Amen.