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Heavenly Soul Food (Psalm 16)
“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15)
Job was undergoing severe trials when he spoke those immortal words: the loss of his children, his flocks, most of his servants, his health, and the support of his wife; his friends weren’t much help, either, thanks to their faulty theology. These are trials beyond anyone’s comprehension — except those of Christ. Jesus
underwent a trial that no one has ever undergone: the suffering of an eternally innocent man consigned to the total absence of God’s goodness.
Psalm 16 is known as “The Prayer of the Messiah.” Although penned by David, its words carry us into the very heart of Jesus. He alone could fulfill its thoughts and predictions in his perfect life and resurrection. However, because we are in Christ, we get what he gets, including the hope he had in his heavenly Father!
We don’t know what trials brought on David’s call for preservation in Verse 1. It doesn’t matter — it wasn’t as bad as what the Son of David suffered. Nor is any tribulation we can suffer, terrible as it may be. Therefore, we can share in the hope of this beloved psalm.
Why should God preserve the sufferer? Because he or she takes refuge in God, as proved by the succeeding verses.
In Verse 2, the believer has one, personal, good God. Everything he has comes from God: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17).
David values the right companionship — that of the saints who share his faith (v. 3). Not only does this prove his devotion — he finds support and comfort in their fellowship. He also maintains a social distance from those who worship any form of non-God, and won’t imitate them or mention the name of a false god, often a form of prayer or invocation. David will not touch the unclean thing (2 Corinthians 6:17).
The king also realized that, when all is lost, God is still his. Not only so, but the loving Father has placed him where he is (vv. 5, 6). Like Queen Esther, “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14). As difficult as these times are, we can rejoice in knowing that we are in God’s place in God’s timing (even if it’s a cross on a lonely hill).
God can be trusted because He is all-wise, and Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor (Isaiah 9:6). The Hebrew word for “heart” in Verse 7 is “kidneys.” Granted, my kidneys sometimes instruct me in the night, but that’s not quite the same. Deep inside, 24/7, God’s Spirit gives good advice for life.
Keep your eyes on Christ and stand strong; He is always near (vv. 8, 9).
Even after death, there is joy for the Christian (v. 10). Death is part of the path of life (v. 11).
In summary, there is joy for the believer, no matter the circumstances, because this ain’t all there is. Though Satan and microscopic particles buffet us, the worst they can do is send us into God’s presence forevermore!
– Alan Allegra
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