Prayer and psalm 16

By: Chris Gaffney

Central to this psalm is the theme that God is the full and eternal portion.

Verse 2 says, “I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord, apart from you I have no good thing."

These words are reiterated in the Gospel of John. There is no need to look elsewhere in that, it is a vain search. The good thing, whatever the good thing might be, comes out of the relationship with God. When the psalmist says, apart from you, he is talking about points where he would break from the relationship, even for a moment, and strike out on his own. Here he is saying, he will keep the relationship firm for every good thing he might have or is seeking. So every good thing for him will stay within the relationship, or he will lose it quickly.

One of the good things in mentioned in the very next verse, his own relationship with the saints of the times. Verse 3 says," As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in who is all my delight." Here he is talking about the delightful company of others who share this close affinity to the Lord and to whom the Lord is also in close relationship with. He is grateful to the Lord that they are close by and he can actually enjoy their presence which he considers a blessing of the Lord to him.

In verse 4 it says," The sorrows of those will increase, who run after other gods, I will not pour out their libations of blood, or take up their names on my lips."

Having anything to do with those who are running after other gods, would contradict what he was saying in first 2, about not being apart from the Lord. He sees this danger and recognizes he cannot go the way of those who have turned away. He washes his hands of having anything to do with them and their activities.

Verse 5 thru 9 says," Lord you have assigned me my portion and my cup, you have made my lot secure, The boundary lines for me have fallen in pleasant places, surely I have a delightful inheritance, I will praise the Lord who counsels me, even at night my heart instructs me, I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is shaken, and my tongue rejoices, my body will also rest secure."

People might say, well, this is my lot. For David, his lot has fallen or landed in particularly pleasant places. The boundaries are somewhat artificial, but do have a form of concreteness. Hearing a great song, seeing a great sunset, isn’t something that has a natural boundary line, but that you can appreciate it is a gift that has fallen to you, just like snowflakes falling from the sky.

God has given the psalmist some great gifts, including the ability to enjoy them and appreciate them, itself a gift.

Part of the pleasantness is the Lord’s council, as the Lord is always there to advise him, even in the night. In prayer you could ask the Lord for his pleasant counsel or pleasant advice also taking note of how God’s answers have come in a pleasant way in the past..

When David says, the boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places, he is more saying that there are few bounds or that it is almost boundless, other than maybe the natural boundaries man is subject too. It really is just about limitless as far as the pleasantness God will bring to David, the boundary line being just staying with Him and his presence.

The counsel spoken of in verse 7, can also and will also come thru the saints mentioned in verse 3 as well as heart to heart from the Lord.

Verse 10 and 11, the final verses say, “Because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay, you have made know to me the path of life, you will fill me joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."

What David is speaking of here with certainty, is that he will be filled; speaking of him retaining his individual identity, with eternal pleasures as he receives ultimate salvation to the presence of the Lord, and even his body will be secured when this takes place.

As pertaining to prayer, this psalm is speaking of a raised consciousness towards the closeness of God in prayer and not being apart from Him, a raised consciousness to the need for fellowship with his saints in prayer and a separation from those who are not with the Lord, and a raised consciousness as to this all extending into eternal fellowship secured with salvation from the Lord.

Article Source: http://www.articles.narrowisthepath.com

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