Psalm 16
The psalmist recognizes God’s goodness and the benefit of remaining in Him. How often are we led astray by the idols of this world? How unfaithful are we to forget who God really is and instead seek pleasure from other gods? Money, drugs, sex, drugs, relationships, food, spiritism, power, and many other things vie for our worship and attention. It’s interesting that these things gain power by receiving our love and allegiance. God is already all powerful and therefore does not need our love and allegiance. In fact, He gives us the opportunity to love, trust, and obey Him. This is good for us because as a result, we are able to enjoy our lives to the fullest when we seek to live in His presence.
The end of the psalm talks about God’s goodness, joy, peace, and provision. We will not perish if we remain in Him. We will be cared for if we remain in Him. We will be filled with incomparable joy if we remain in Him. We have no need or worry if we remain in Him. These are the benefits of being a child of God. Too often we seek blessings from God that are comparable to this world only: a good relationship, money, fame, control…these things are but distractions! God says that if we trust in Him, these things will not matter and we will be comforted and full of peace and joy whether we have them or not! Wouldn’t you rather not care or worry about those things instead of have them in the first place? Once we have them, we begin to worry about losing them. We place our trust and security in something that is not permanent. The rich worry about keeping their money while the poor worry about getting it. Both ends of the spectrum suffer. God doesn’t even exist in this spectrum. This is why Jesus says in Matthew 6:
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. 25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28 “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Let us recognize who God really is, who we are because of Him, and the life He has prescribed for us as one of ultimate benefit. It’s not that we have to do these things, but that He empowers us to do them so we can experience the fullness of life He has provided. After all, He created us, so don’t you think He would know how we operate best?
