Free From the Lies: A Final Meditation on Psalm 16

     Unshackled from lies, full of freedom and joy –isn’t that where we all want to be?  There is such a burden lifted when we know that our entire lives are held safely in the hands of King Jesus, even when everything else seems overwhelming or insurmountable.  Only then can we truly rest in peace.  Towards the end of Psalm 16, King David expresses this condition in his response to the beautiful promise of God’s faithfulness and abounding love for his people.

⁹Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.  ¹⁰For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.  ¹¹You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

     David rejoices!  Our flesh dwells secure with the King of all Creation!  He has gone through so much to get to this point – years of shepherding out in the fields, being brave for the name of the Lord in the face of Israel’s cowardice against Goliath, years on the run from Saul, and the list goes on.  David also struggled with his own grave sin, such as his adultery with Bathsheba.  He chose not to control his own passions, but gave in to temptation.  Yet he knew the redemption that was to come for him through King Jesus.  Can you see David with me - kneeling, hands upraised and thankful for the glorious redemption of the King which would come through his descendant Jesus?  In his song “I Will Wait”, Marcus Mumford describes well such a position of humility:

But I'll kneel down
Wait for now
I'll kneel down
Know my ground

Raise my hands
Paint my spirit gold
And bow my head
Keep my heart slow

Cause I will wait, I will wait for you

     In this position of surrender in his heart, David knows what Jesus has done for him.  Despite the mistakes and disappointments of his life, he would always be in the palm of God’s hand and would never be abandoned to an eternity away from him in hell.  The Lord would illumine his path as he walked through life.  At the end, he would rest from his labors on this earth and go to be with God.  The presence of the Lord, that deep indwelling of the Holy Spirit, was with David and would continue to be with him until he saw the face of our holy Lord himself.  There was much suffering in David’s life on earth, but pleasures and ultimate joy awaited him in heaven.

     As God’s child, I can claim these promises for myself.  We can and should rejoice in what Jesus has done for us!  He has seen us in our wretched estate, and has made us his holy ones!  He has picked me up from the dirt and filth of my lustful thoughts and my pride over my accomplishments.  He has become my portion and my cup, and I can rest in the peace of knowing that he will forever protect and guide me, no matter how I feel in the present moment.

     In conclusion, I’d like to mention some more of my personal experience with this psalm and acknowledge some of the people who have made it so precious to me.  As I said earlier, I discovered the beauty of this psalm on my own at first.  However, I went to a program through my church denomination in the summer of 2011, where this psalm became the theme psalm sung by the youth at the program.  Many times in this first year at college, I have been discouraged, wondering where God was in the midst of my campus and my struggles.  But one day, walking along to somewhere, I remembered singing Psalm 16 with these youth.  I remembered our last day together, and I saw my old friends Emory and Abby hugging each other as they cried over the bonds of friendship our group had formed and the beauty of this psalm.  I looked around and I saw people like Emily, Sidney, Jesse, Dani, Caleb, Hannah, Jonah, Ethan, Michaela, Jonathan, and all the rest of these youth who have caused me to remember that there are other students embracing God’s promises for themselves.  When I remembered our voices singing together, I was pushed on to persevere and remember that the Lord Himself is my portion.  He carries me through to this day in the midst of confusion and difficult work, causing me to rejoice in himself.  It is a perfect example of the saints cheering on those who persevere in Hebrews 12:1-2:

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

     The cry of my heart is that Christ would fix my eyes upon Him and the truth expressed in this beautiful Psalm, which has become my anthem and my song.  Mumford expresses this well again:

So tame my flesh
And fix my eyes
That tethered mind free from the lies

‘

     As you think about this Psalm, I hope that you will see the incomparable beauty and security of resting in the Lord and delighting that he is your portion and your cup.  May our minds be fixed upon Jesus, who loved you enough to endure the cross, knowing that he would rejoice in seeing us unshackled from Sheol and from corruption.

Guest Post by Elizabeth Magill