Always before me Psalm 16
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.
I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night my heart also instructs me.
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 fullness of joy;
at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. ~Psalm 16
The Lord is my CHOSEN portion...I HAVE SET the Lord ALWAYS before me...
This is an intentional lifestyle that goes down to the core of conviction deep within me. I have a choice. Not a one-time choice. God gives us the gift of choice and every moment of every day is a new opportunity to use this incredible gift. Such power He has entrusted us with by giving us this gift of choice!
Our enemy hates this gift. I believe in the supernatural, spiritual realm. I believe that God exists along with the angelic hosts. I believe that evil exists, and also that Satan and demons exist. They have a job description: to steal, kill and destroy. Anywhere we see those three things happening, it's demonic activity. Satan hates this gift of choice because within it is the great possibility that we will choose God over self. The stealing, killing and destroying are his overplayed hand to work against us, doing everything possible within reach to cause us to choose something, anything but God. We also have our very own flesh that wants its own way rather than God's way.
Our lives daily hang in the balance of choice...God's kingdom or the fading sinking ship kingdom of earth and I'm coming face-to-face again, as I'm studying the kings in the Old Testament, with my own self-reliance that wars against dependence on God. It's rare (not to say I don't do it or am not capable of it) that I deliberately choose to disobey God. I know better. No, more often sin in my life comes simply because I don't seek God and I choose to rely on my own wisdom, abilities and resources without acknowledging Him. It reminds me of my daughter Evelyn...she loves to "help" me empty the dishwasher. (Reality: She loves to throw the dishes out of the dishwasher so she can climb inside!) Sometimes, if I'm not quick enough, her pudgy, sweet inexperienced one-year-old hands will try to grab a knife or peeler or the apple cutter. She thinks she's capable of carrying such a tool by her own logic. But there are things in life she still has to grow up into, things she has to be taught so that she can handle them with maturity and safety. She needs our help, our direction and our timing as her parents.
There are things in God that I assume I'm capable, in all my wisdom (lol!) of carrying. All things are available to me through Christ Jesus. But I have yet to attain all there is to know about God - His ways, His character, His power, HIs reasoning. I still need to grow up into Him and learn how to maneuver and live with maturity. I need His help. David understood this when He wrote this song, Psalm 16. "I set the Lord ALWAYS before me." Not just during certain times of the week that may seem more holy than others. No. ALWAYS. So many of our issues come because we lack the humble acknowledgement that God knows and we don't, that without Him we can do nothing. At age 43, in God's Kingdom I'm still a one-year-old Evelyn wanting to do all the big kid stuff without the responsibility of seeking help and wisdom from my Father.
But there are great rewards when we set Him ALWAYS before us and God, in His kindness, is challenging me to test Him in this.
*Verse 9 promises that our whole being will rejoice and our flesh dwells secure as we do this.
*Verse 10 promises that God will not allow our souls to see corruption when we set Him ALWAYS before us.
*Verse 11 promises that God will make known to us the path of life, that we'll experience the fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore!
Not a bad pay off in exchange for laying down my immature "I think I knows." These are the results of setting the Lord ALWAYS before us. It's a radical lifestyle. It sounds like the "city on a hill" Jesus called us in Matthew...who wouldn't be drawn to a people who were actually joy-filled and offering eternal pleasures!! This lifestyle will look different than everyone else around us. It will contradict culture. It will bring solutions and deliverance to a world still tormented by the demonic. It will leave us in the world but not fighting the world's fight the way the world fights it. Supernatural strategies for a natural world.
Worship is so much more than singing a righteous tune! It's the moment to moment choices to set the Lord before us, in all our ways acknowledge Him, to lay down our right to be right for His thoughts that are higher. Choices. What a gift! What an offering we get to give back. What a sacrifice. Choose this day whom you will serve. Choose.
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