February 6: Psalm 16

Today's Reading.

Kathy said my posts have been getting longer and longer. I have tried to avoid it, but am having a difficult time paring down when there is always so much to be said. So, for the coming week, I am going to discipline myself, keep it as brief as possible, and if you have questions about the passage, ask me in the comments. I'll be more than happy to answer. :)

Ok. 300 words. Starting... now.

There is contentment written all over this psalm. The psalmist takes refuge in the Lord (16:1), has the Lord as his inheritance (16:5-6), is not shaken because the Lord is before him (16:8), has joy and confidence because he is in the care of the Lord (16:9-10). He can be content because of all these things. The Lord himself is his inheritance, and so it makes sense that he would be content in that; when you will have EVERYTHING, why be discontent that you have nothing?

The psalm climaxes in the last verse with the line "at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (16:11).  Our world promises pleasures galore to be had in any number of different places. But nothing and no one in the world promises "pleasures forevermore," merely pleasure here or there, for a moment, after which you'll have to go find more, elsewhere. This world's pleasures are fleeting, temporary, impermanent, passing away. Pleasures at the Lord's right hand are everlasting.

And we all know Who is seated at His right hand, right (Heb. 1:3)? Jesus is the source of pleasures forevermore.

Whatever pleasures you are tempted to find in the world today, remember the perfect, eternal pleasure we have in Christ. The forgiveness of sins, the presence of the Spirit, adoption by the Father, eternal life, all are ours in Christ. Don't look for what is temporarily pleasant. Jesus is the Ever-Pleasant One. Only he can satisfy. Seek him today and find contentment in him.