Psalm 16
To the believer there is much joy in present state. There
is, also, bright hope of rising to eternal life. May this joy and hope be
our abiding portion!
1. "Preserve me, O God; for I put my trust in You."
The Spirit draws aside the veil, and shows that Jesus is
mainly present in this psalm. May we peruse it walking by His side,
listening for His voice! He who was emphatically a Man of Sorrows was
emphatically a man of faith. As such He was, also, a man of prayer. In all
the trials of His low estate, the mind of Jesus rested on His God. When
perils came as a devouring flood, He looked upward for preserving aid. Happy
the members who trust and pray in the meek spirit of their Head!
2, 3. I said to the Lord, "You are my Master! All the
good things I have are from you. The godly people in the land are my true
heroes! I take pleasure in them!"
Jesus professes that His inmost soul claims God as His
God. Happy are our souls when they respond, O God, You are our God. The
blessed state of God is perfect; it is infinite; the heaven-high pyramid
cannot receive a higher stone. Redemption's work, which manifests His glory,
cannot augment His bliss. Let not the foolish thought be ours that we can
enlarge infinitude. We read the wondrous word, that from everlasting,
Wisdom's delights were with the sons of men. In the days of Christ's flesh,
the calm retreat of Bethany, the converse with His chosen followers, reflect
this truth. Blessed be God, there still are saints on earth! Blessed are
they who hold communion with them.
4. "Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after
another god; their drink-offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up
their names into my lips."
How prone is man to cast away the true and living God,
and with deluded mind to rush to idol-worship! To multiply gods is to
multiply sorrows. They are all devils, and their work is to torment. The
godly man abhors their offerings, and spurns their very names. There was an
offering of blood which Jesus offered; may we delight in it as all
salvation.
5, 6. "The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and
of my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant
places; yes, I have a goodly heritage."
Our blessed Jesus more than walked patiently in all His
path below. There was joy set before Him which gladdened His every step. In
Christ God is our God forever. Can we desire more? How rich is this
portion! How reviving is our cup! How can we bless His grace enough who
has called us to this ennobling state? Angels are ours to guard us.
Providences are ours to secure our bliss. The God-Man's blood
is ours to wash out every sin. A righteousness is prepared to robe us
for the courts above. Heaven is promised as our endless home. We have
a goodly heritage.
7. "I will bless the Lord, who has given me counsel;
my heart also instructs me in the night seasons."
Jesus bears the sweet name of Counselor, and sweetly does
He execute His office. He sends His Spirit to admonish and gently to direct.
This is His gracious work. To Him be all the praise. He adds instruction in
times of silence and of solitude, when the world is far away. He visits the
deep recesses of the heart. He communes with the secrets of the soul, and
deeply writes His lessons of pure wisdom. Let us again say, "Bless the
Lord."
8, 9. "I have set the Lord always before me; because
He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad,
and my glory rejoices; my flesh also shall rest in hope."
The mind of Jesus ever rested on God's will. He came to
earth, He lived, He worked, He died to glorify His Father. He knew that God
was ever by His side. He feared not the assaults of men or devils. His cause
could never totter. He surely marched to triumph. Therefore in all His
trials His heart was tranquil and His lips sang praise. He knew indeed that
He must hang a dead man on the Cross; He must exhaust death's bitter cup.
But His tomb was bright in prospect that the dark bed would soon be
left. All His members share this trust. May this faith be largely ours! The
eye that ever looks for God may ever see Him. He is ever near, and near to
help. Can he be moved on whose right hand God stands?
10. "because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor
will you let your Holy One see decay."
The Spirit here foreshows the glorious truth that death
could not detain our Lord. Christ breaks the icy shackles; He leaves the
short imprisonment. No corruption taints the sacred body. He stands again
alive on earth. Infallible proofs demonstrate that He who was dead is now
alive. Except the Lord's near coming should prevent it, we too must sleep
the sleep of death. We are not screened from corruption. Decay will riot on
these frames. But short will be death's triumph. The trumpet will sound.
Corruption shall put on incorruption.
11. "You will show me the path of life; in Your
presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand there are pleasures
forevermore."
The heart of Jesus was sustained by joys before Him; joys
in His Heavenly Father's throne—joys which should have no end. Shall not we
too lift up expectant heads? The voice of truth assures us, "The glory which
You gave Me, I have given them." Thought staggers. Minds are narrow to
embrace the bliss; but faith entirely believes. Hope bounds toward the
fulfillment. Happy the hours which flow in meditation on fullness of joy and
pleasures with God forevermore! To gaze on this glorious prospect is heaven
begun. What will the reality bestow? Lord grant that we may quickly know!