Psalm 16 New American Standard Bible
The Lord, the Psalmist’s Portion in Life and Salvation in Death.
A [a]Mikhtam of David.
16 Protect me, God, for I take refuge in You.
2 [b]I said to the Lord, “You are [c]my Lord;
I have nothing good besides You.”
3 As for the [d]saints who are on the earth,
[e]They are the majestic ones; all my delight is in them.
4 [f]The pains of those who have acquired another god will be multiplied;
I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood,
Nor will I take their names upon my lips.
5 The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You support my lot.
6 The measuring lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
Indeed, my inheritance is beautiful to me.
7 I will bless the Lord who has advised me;
Indeed, my [g]mind instructs me in the night.
8 I have set the Lord continually before me;
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will dwell securely.
10 For You will not abandon my soul to [h]Sheol;
You will not [i]allow Your [j]Holy One to [k]undergo decay.
11 You will make known to me the way of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Throughout Scripture we see countless examples of God meeting with man and countless lives being transformed as the result.
These examples are in Scripture to stir our faith and fill us with a desire to meet with our Creator.
When we read about the life of David, we should be filled with a longing to live as he did, centered around meeting with our heavenly Father.
When we read about Gideon or Moses, we should long to know our God as they did. When we read about Jesus coming down to us or his heart for the woman caught in adultery, we should respond by pursuing encounters with our Savior.
When we read of Pentecost, the birth of the church, the entry of God in world community and Jesus’ second coming, we should seek out the fullness of God’s presence available to us on this earth in preparation for the age that is to come.
As we look at God in community with His children down through the ages, may all our hearts be filled with a wholehearted desire to pursue a meeting with God.
God’s Heart to Meet with David
The meetings between God and David shaped human history forever.
David knew what it was to be in the presence of God.
Being in God’s presence was his fuel, his strength, joy, and source of courage.
In Psalm 16:11 David writes, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
In verse 5 he writes, “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.”
In verse 8 he writes, “8 I have set the Lord continually before me;
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
In verse 10 he writes, “For You will not abandon my soul to [h]Sheol;
You will not [i]allow Your [j]Holy One to [k]undergo decay.
David was a man with many faults and failures who consistently chose to meet with God over filling his days with the fleeting, unsatisfying things of the world.
Despite his faults and failures, Kingship, He centered his life around meeting with God, and changed the history of not only his nation, but nations to come.
1 Samuel 17:34-37, we see a glimpse into the impact of David meeting with God early in his life. Scripture says,
1 Samuel 17:34-37 New American Standard Bible
34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a sheep from the flock, 35 I went out after it and [a] attacked it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth; and when it rose up against me, I grabbed it by its mane and struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has [b] killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, “The Lord who saved me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, He will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.”
Out on the fields, David learned of God’s power and desire for deliverance.
He learned what it was to meet with God in the daily work of life.
And he carried that knowledge with him into every battle, trial, and failure.
We see it in Psalm 16:1-2 where David prays, “Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.’”
King David, the greatest king that ever sat on the throne of Israel, claimed, “I have no good apart from you.”
David, about whom 1 Chronicles 29:28 says, “Then he died at a good age, full of days, riches, and honor,” claimed he had no good apart from the Lord.
David knew that God’s presence was the best part of life.
He knew better than most people of his day that meeting with his heavenly Father was surely far greater than any victory, possession, status, or honor.
And it was for that reason that he lived a life full of the very thing he sought: the daily community he shared with God, in maximum presence of the living God.
Your heavenly Father longs to be in community, meet with you as he did David.
He loves you the same, He loves me the same as he loved David -and through the powerful sacrifice of Jesus, you have even greater access to the heart of God.
You have the divine community of God, the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit dwelling within you.
I have the divine community of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit dwelling within me.
All of God’s children have the divine community of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit dwelling within them – because God created them.
Choose today to be in community, to seek your meeting with God above all else.
Center your life around the presence of your heavenly Father the way David did.
Live for transformational encounters with God and watch as the things of this world simply fall and fade away into their proper places – being their obscurity, providing us His transcendent peace, strength in the midst of any circumstance.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
1. Meditate on David’s longing for the presence of God. Allow Scripture to fill you with a desire to meet with your heavenly Father as David did.
“The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.” Psalm 16:5
7 I will bless the Lord who has advised me;
Indeed, my [g]mind instructs me in the night.
8 I have set the Lord continually before me;
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11
“Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.’” Psalm 16:1-2
2. Allow these other Scriptures to fill you with faith to encounter the presence of God. The Holy Spirit is dwelling within each of us, ready to lead us all into a transformational encounter with the divine community of our heavenly Father.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will dwell securely.
10 For You will not abandon my soul to [h]Sheol;
You will not [i]allow Your [j]Holy One to [k]undergo decay.
“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” Psalm 139:7
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
3. Take time to enter into divine community to meet with God. God, to reveal his nearness to you; ask Him to give you a passion for his presence like David had; choose to center your full life around the goodness of his nearness today.
“For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Psalm 84:10
Psalm 100 New American Standard Bible
All People Exhorted to Praise God.
A Psalm for [a]Thanksgiving.
100 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Serve the Lord with jubilation;
Come before Him with rejoicing.
3 Know that the Lord [b]Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and [c]not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter His gates with [d]thanksgiving,
And His courtyards with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting
And His faithfulness is to all generations.
How much better would our lives be if we simply chose to center them around meeting with the eternal, living, and active God of love?
What would it be like to seek his counsel throughout our days?
What would it be to live wholly loved, liked, set free, filled with his presence?
Through Savior Jesus, more has been made available to us than we know.
We have each been granted max access to the fullness of life, love, and freedom.
All which is required of us is to deliberately make fresh space in our days and to intentionally seek community, meeting with the fullness of God above all else.
May the church, the bride of Christ choose to love our bridegroom above all else.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 