Thoughts on Psalm 16
Psalm 16 is a Psalm of trusting and relying on God.
The Psalmist starts off by crying out to God to preserve him, and that the Psalmist puts his trust in God. He then says how his goodness is nothing apart from God.
From reading the opening lines of this Psalm, we can see how much the Psalmist trusted God. He places his trust in Him, and prays that God will preserve him. when we are faced with seemingly impossible circumstances, what do we do? Do we place our trust in God, or do we just fall apart?
The Psalmist goes on to describe how those who follow other Gods will suffer, and will have far more sorrows. He further says that he will not help them with their worship, or even mention the names of their gods.
This is a powerful statement. When he saw people who were worshipping other gods, he did not help them with their worship. He would not even mention the names of their gods. He was completely given over to God, there was no room for anything else to be worshipped in his life. Too often, we let other things crowd into our life, and they quickly become the centerpiece of our life. We should rather follow the Psalmist’s example and let NOTHING come between us and God.
Continuing, the Psalmist describes how much God has blessed him. He says that God has set his lines in favorable places. What that means is that God has blessed him with much land. He says that he has a good heritage, and that he will praise God, because God has given him much.
He then describes how he has God in front of him, and he shall not be moved. Because of this, he says he is glad, and he will rest in hope, because God will not leave him in hell.
How about us? Is God in front of us, as the only God we have? Or is he off to the side, and something else is in the front? God should be at the front of our life, and not off to the side.
