Psalm 16:11

(Today’s post is the last post in a series on Psalm 16. You can find all the posts on my Psalm 16 page.)

 

You have made known to me the path of life;

You will fill me with joy in Your presence, 

With eternal pleasures at Your right hand.  Psalm 16:11 (NIV)

 

Path – manner; way; well-traveled path; way of living

Life – age; living

Joy – glee; pleasure; mirth

Presence – face; in the face of; in front of

Eternal – continual; never ending; everlasting

Pleasures – pleasant; sweet; lovely; agreeable things

Right hand – literal right hand. Often used in the Old Testament as a symbol of God’s divine blessing, favor, protection

 

In his final verse, David wraps up Psalm 16 with a declaration of God’s goodness and praise for what He has done for him.

He acknowledges God has shown him which path he wants David’s life to take.

David says he knows God will fill him with joy when he comes into God’s presence, and that God will fill him with never-ending goodness because he trusts in Him.

David knows he has good things ahead for him, both in this life and in the life to come, simply because he trusts and walks with God.

 

God will do the same for us.

Because He loves us and wants good for us, God will show us the path of life He wants us to take.

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Category: God, Old Testament, Scripture Study, Teaching | LEAVE A COMMENT

On Being Vulnerable

I recently wrote a post on how I like to journal (read it here).

In the post I mentioned being vulnerable before God.

 

Sometimes, we try to hold back and not talk to God about certain things.

Things we’re ashamed of, embarrassed by, hurt from.

 

Here’s the thing. – God already knows about it!

 

Because God is all seeing and all knowing (omniscient), He knows absolutely everything about everyone and everything already.

There are no thoughts we can think that He doesn’t hear.

There is nothing we can do He doesn’t see.

 

So, when we try to hold things back from Him we are only fooling ourselves.

Not only that, all these things we keep holding back from Him are the very things He wants us to bring to Him.

 

Bringing ourselves before the Lord and laying our hearts open can be scary.

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Category: God, Journaling, Trust | LEAVE A COMMENT

Isaiah 41:10

So do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)

 

Fear is a big problem for a lot of people.

If we aren’t careful, it can bind us up so tightly that we can’t do anything.

It will hinder us from doing even the most basic things.

We don’t have to live that way.

 

In this verse, God reminds us that we don’t have to be afraid.
He is with us.

He isn’t some distant being who sits far away and lets whatever might happen, happen.

He’s right here with us, up close.

Because He is with us, we can be encouraged and optimistic.

We don’t have to be afraid of anything.

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Isaiah 41:10

Someone in my life occasionally makes my life difficult for no apparent reason.

I’m not sure why but nothing I do ever pleases them.

To make matters worse, for a lot of reasons it is not someone I can just walk away from.

The last few days have been some of those days when they made things tough.

Yesterday was especially stressful.

I spent an entire day upset, almost to the point of tears.

I kept asking God, “Why is this happening?”, and, “Why won’t You do something?”.

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Category: Faith, Prayer | LEAVE A COMMENT