Feeling and thinking in Psalm 16: Joy in being together
(Maybe it could make you sad?)
It's Monday morning again and I have found a new favourite Psalm. I said I would explore humanity in all its emotions and mental struggles, and surely one of those must be knowing how good life can be. Whether you have observed it from afar, imagined it in your dreams or once experienced it yourself, it is the joy of life that often plagues us with sadness. That is not the case for me today but, when I see the pure bliss of this Psalm, I am floored with hope, love and longing for the presence of God. Maybe even moreso, thankful. Today I feel like I can see this blessing. I know I have been blind to it before. I know that the cares of life have hidden from view the lofty highs of rapture from walking with God. But today I am filled with thanksgiving, and so this Psalm resonates a pure tone on the strings of my heart as God reveals His promises to me.
I have not forgotten those dark days of struggle and I admit that I fear you may be in one of those moments in your life as you read this jubilant little essay of love for God. And to you I say, see. You can see it. You might not feel it today. But you have felt it or hoped for it to be true. What I have you want. You want it because it is desirable. You may be sad since the fears and troubles of life have loomed too large on your horizon or you may be sick, stinging from a painful hurt or just dull with nothing but loathing for life. At moments like that I have hated everything. Especially chipper, joyful people. But I want to tell your sad soul that it is evidence that you know a good thing when you see it, even if you are seeing it from far away in the land of pain.
I’m not just rubbing your nose in it, I'm working us up to the coolest climax of this Psalm in verse 10. If there was a place in the Psalms so far that I hear the human Jesus talking to His Father in heaven with all the vulnerability of a human, it would be here. If I can sustain this buzz, I will write more on this point of view of Jesus’ humanity in a bit, but first I need to remark that David has not always talked of the grave and death from such a hopeful point of view.
Death and absence and missing someone has got to be one of the greatest killjoys in the world. The sting of death Paul talks about is bitter and painful. I know. I have tasted death. Obviously not my own and yet, in a way, I have. People fear death. And those who have no confidence in eternal life have every reason to fear death. It is final, it is terrible, it is the epitome of loneliness. I think death and dying and suffering is often so terrible because we do it for the most part all alone. And if you have no hope of eternal life and no hope of resurrection and no belief in God, then you are left with no one but yourself and the cold loneliness of forever.
But knowing God and having hope of resurrection and the assurance of eternal life and the joy of God's presence make us giddy with hope. We are overflowing with thankfulness and expectant of literally unending chances to be happy, to get it right, to try something new, to walk with the one who knows all things and made all things and wants me to have pleasure in it. Oh the bliss of this thought.
No wonder the Bible is so full of highs and lows. No wonder David doesn’t want to even mention the names of the false gods. They are lying, cheating, stealing, stone cold fear mongers of the imagination that can give nothing because they don’t exist or they are the filthy puppet creations of our doomed enemy, Satan the prince of darkness and the father of lies.
But we can walk in the light and speak the truth. We can be filled with thankfulness and bask in the radiance and joy of God's eternal presence and His promise to save us.
Since Jesus had to comfort himself with these thoughts revealed to David so long before the garden of Gethsemane, I think we are being taught that we too can think these lofty, hopeful thoughts.
So what other treasures are strewn before us in the vault of crown jewels on display in Psalm 16?
It's Monday morning again and I have found a new favourite Psalm. I said I would explore humanity in all its emotions and mental struggles, and surely one of those must be knowing how good life can be. Whether you have observed it from afar, imagined it in your dreams or once experienced it yourself, it is the joy of life that often plagues us with sadness. That is not the case for me today but, when I see the pure bliss of this Psalm, I am floored with hope, love and longing for the presence of God. Maybe even moreso, thankful. Today I feel like I can see this blessing. I know I have been blind to it before. I know that the cares of life have hidden from view the lofty highs of rapture from walking with God. But today I am filled with thanksgiving, and so this Psalm resonates a pure tone on the strings of my heart as God reveals His promises to me.
I have not forgotten those dark days of struggle and I admit that I fear you may be in one of those moments in your life as you read this jubilant little essay of love for God. And to you I say, see. You can see it. You might not feel it today. But you have felt it or hoped for it to be true. What I have you want. You want it because it is desirable. You may be sad since the fears and troubles of life have loomed too large on your horizon or you may be sick, stinging from a painful hurt or just dull with nothing but loathing for life. At moments like that I have hated everything. Especially chipper, joyful people. But I want to tell your sad soul that it is evidence that you know a good thing when you see it, even if you are seeing it from far away in the land of pain.
I’m not just rubbing your nose in it, I'm working us up to the coolest climax of this Psalm in verse 10. If there was a place in the Psalms so far that I hear the human Jesus talking to His Father in heaven with all the vulnerability of a human, it would be here. If I can sustain this buzz, I will write more on this point of view of Jesus’ humanity in a bit, but first I need to remark that David has not always talked of the grave and death from such a hopeful point of view.
For the dead do not remember you. Who can praise you from the grave?
I suppose technically you might not see any major difference between Psalm 16:10 and 6:5, but if you go back and read Psalm 6 and compare it to Psalm 16, I think the tone is quite different. And I have often wondered if David understood life after death as we do today. But in Psalms 16 it seems to me that David does believe in resurrection from the dead. Death and absence and missing someone has got to be one of the greatest killjoys in the world. The sting of death Paul talks about is bitter and painful. I know. I have tasted death. Obviously not my own and yet, in a way, I have. People fear death. And those who have no confidence in eternal life have every reason to fear death. It is final, it is terrible, it is the epitome of loneliness. I think death and dying and suffering is often so terrible because we do it for the most part all alone. And if you have no hope of eternal life and no hope of resurrection and no belief in God, then you are left with no one but yourself and the cold loneliness of forever.
But knowing God and having hope of resurrection and the assurance of eternal life and the joy of God's presence make us giddy with hope. We are overflowing with thankfulness and expectant of literally unending chances to be happy, to get it right, to try something new, to walk with the one who knows all things and made all things and wants me to have pleasure in it. Oh the bliss of this thought.
No wonder the Bible is so full of highs and lows. No wonder David doesn’t want to even mention the names of the false gods. They are lying, cheating, stealing, stone cold fear mongers of the imagination that can give nothing because they don’t exist or they are the filthy puppet creations of our doomed enemy, Satan the prince of darkness and the father of lies.
But we can walk in the light and speak the truth. We can be filled with thankfulness and bask in the radiance and joy of God's eternal presence and His promise to save us.
Since Jesus had to comfort himself with these thoughts revealed to David so long before the garden of Gethsemane, I think we are being taught that we too can think these lofty, hopeful thoughts.
So what other treasures are strewn before us in the vault of crown jewels on display in Psalm 16?
We feel safe, because we have a place of refuge.
David is very up in this Psalm 16, but he still faces death in it. But he can face it with joy and hope because he believes in resurrection and he longs for the presence of God. David (and Jesus and all the godly) know God's presence now. And since they have had a taste of God now, they really can’t wait to be with God forever. That is what gave Jesus joy. David got joy from it too. I have joy today thinking about it, and I hope you will too.
Mother and Child (A Goodnight Hug), 1880, pastel on paper
Mary Cassatt (1844–1926)
The Copley Family 1776, John Singleton Copley (1738–1815)
- We feel cared for because we have a Master who gives us every good thing.
- We feel united and hopeful with other godly people. v.3 (go on, take a look at it)
- Our troubles don’t multiply.
- We have a secure safety deposit box of all our valuables in God’s Swiss bank protection.
- God provides identity, purpose, belonging and a safe place of abundance in His great and precious promises. (I hope you are going back and looking at the Psalms after each statement. That’s where I am getting this all from.)
- Maybe one of the most hopeful, joyful thoughts in the Psalm is the heart change that David confesses to having when he is near God. vv7-8
“We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.”
Hebrews 12:2David is very up in this Psalm 16, but he still faces death in it. But he can face it with joy and hope because he believes in resurrection and he longs for the presence of God. David (and Jesus and all the godly) know God's presence now. And since they have had a taste of God now, they really can’t wait to be with God forever. That is what gave Jesus joy. David got joy from it too. I have joy today thinking about it, and I hope you will too.
Mother and Child (A Goodnight Hug), 1880, pastel on paper
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Mary Cassatt (1844–1926)
The Copley Family 1776, John Singleton Copley (1738–1815)
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