The Golden Psalm

This week I read and meditated on Psalm 16, The Golden Psalm. Scholars call it golden because it is filled with precious, valuable truth. It reminds us that God is our treasure, the One we should search for more than earthly pleasures. 

I invite you to join me in making God our treasure, or as David says, "our portion". If God truly is our portion, our heart’s one desire, what should our life look like? Do we truly live like God is our portion? 

Matthew Henry’s poetic words shed light on David’s psalm. I will share with you a few excerpts from both godly men's writings. Before you continue reading, I encourage you to open your Bibles to Psalm 16. Let God’s word speak for itself, and then ponder Henry’s heartfelt reflection on The Golden Psalm. 

I say to the Lord, you are my Lord; I have no good apart from you. Psalm 16:2

“Has thou said unto the Lord ‘Thou art my lord?’ Say it again then, stand to it, abide by it, and never unsay it. Hast thou said it? Take the comfort in it, and live up to it. He is my Lord, and worship thou him, and let thy eye be ever towards him” (Henry).  

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. Psalm 16:5-6

“Let me have the love and favor of God and be accepted of him; let me have the comfort and communication with God, and satisfaction in the communications of his graces and comforts; let me promise to everlasting life and happiness in the future state; and I have enough, I need no more, I desire no more to complete my felicity...

Thou that hast by promise made power over they self to me, to be mine, wilt graciously make good what thou hast promised, and never leave me to myself to forget this happiness, nor leave it in the power of my enemies to rob me of it. Nothing shall pluck me out of thy hands, nor separate me from they love” (Henry).

Neighbor, friend, beautiful child of God, you get to live your life like God is your portion. You not only have God’s land but His love. He works mercy and goodness toward you continuously. Who else would you envy? What better thing could you crave? You have every reason to say “God is my portion” and every reason to be abundantly satisfied in Him. 

“Though I covet more of God, I never covet more than God”  (Henry).

How foolish are we to crave our sensual pleasures and delights more than God. He is our portion, our eternal inheritance. He is our cup, our source of nourishment and refreshment. He holds our lot; our souls are in His capable hands. 

Have faith that He is the better choice, for He is the best choice. 

“If indeed I have taken God for my portion and preferred spiritual and eternal blessings before those that are sensible and temporal, we must acknowledge the power and goodness of divine grace directing and enabling us to make that choice” (Henry). 

This psalm reflects the very heart of Jesus. On earth, Jesus delighted in the Lord, lived out God's will, sought the Provider for nourishment, ran to His Father for counsel, and made the King's glory His highest goal. May we continually renew the vow, "God is my portion". May we live like it, take comfort in it, proclaim it, and preach it.

He is yours and you are His. He gave you a beautiful heavenly inheritance. He keeps no good from you. He provides refuge for you. He clears a path of life for you. He satisfies your soul with complete joy. He hands you eternal pleasures. He steadies your feet. He makes you rejoice! 

I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fulness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

On earth, joys are incomplete, sorrow is our lot, and pleasures are deceptive. But as Christians, we have hope of full joy in heaven! Why? Because Jesus despised the shame and endured the cross pressing on toward heaven’s future joy. Jesus set the Lord before him saying, “Into your hands I commit my Spirit.” God did not reject His Son. He received Him in full splendor. He will not reject us either if God is our Adonai, “our stayer”, the strength of our heart. 

"If we have the pleasure of it, let God have the every praise of it" (Henry). 

Our soul and flesh dwell secure. Our heart is glad and our whole being rejoices! May His glory be our highest end! 

The joys of this world are so incomplete, but in God's presence, our joy is so full!

☎︎

The Girl Next Door