Psalm 16
English Standard
Version (ESV)
You Will Not Abandon My Soul
16 Preserve me, O God, for
in you I (B)take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
(C)I have no good apart from you.”
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
(C)I have no good apart from you.”
4 The sorrows of those who
run after[c] another god shall multiply;
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or (E)take their names on my lips.
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or (E)take their names on my lips.
5 The Lord is (F)my chosen portion and my (G)cup;
you hold my (H)lot.
6 (I)The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
you hold my (H)lot.
6 (I)The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
7 I bless the Lord who (J)gives me counsel;
in (K)the night also my (L)heart instructs me.[d]
8 (M)I have (N)set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my (O)right hand, I shall not be (P)shaken.
in (K)the night also my (L)heart instructs me.[d]
8 (M)I have (N)set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my (O)right hand, I shall not be (P)shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is
glad, and my (Q)whole being[e] rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
10 For you will not abandon my soul to (R)Sheol,
(S)or let your (T)holy one see (U)corruption.[f]
my flesh also dwells secure.
10 For you will not abandon my soul to (R)Sheol,
(S)or let your (T)holy one see (U)corruption.[f]
11 You make known to
me (V)the path of life;
in your presence there is (W)fullness of joy;
at your right hand are (X)pleasures forevermore.
in your presence there is (W)fullness of joy;
at your right hand are (X)pleasures forevermore.
I have friends that could be
anything they set their minds to being and yet they chose to go into the
ministry. They chose a lesser salary in
order that they may serve the Lord. Now,
that is getting your priorities straight!
They don’t live in poverty by any means but they could live in a million
dollar home. A lot of people know them
but they are not famous by any means. It
is not fame and fortune that we are here and they have realized that. I believe that is the secret of contentment
and joy. Being able to say at the end of
the day that you served the Lord with the gifts that He has given you. So why do I struggle with contentment? What happened to my joy? Is it because I am not giving enough of
myself to His service? Is it because I
want what He does not want me to have?
Is it satan trying to convince me that I am not worth anything? Or is to my stubbornness and sin to always
want more?
One thing I have realized over
the past two years is that God will take care of us. After losing my job our paycheck was dramatically
cut. When you have two incomes and one
is cut it makes you take a long hard look at what you are spending you money
on. We had no lost an income that we that we had counted on for almost 20 years was
gone. I ended up applying for
unemployment, what a humiliating experience that was. Then, I got a part time job which helped some
but still only 1/3 of what I had been making, but we managed. We stopped going out and eating first of all
and then watched what we spent and we survived.
God is good, He does provide. It
is not the job we have or our income that keeps us going, it is God.
Just the other night I was crying to the
Lord asking, why I wasn’t content. Working now 2
part time jobs, setting my own hours at one of those, and making it with the
income we are getting, why am I not content?
Then the next morning, wouldn’t you know, He gave me Psalm 16 which is all about
contentment. Contentment comes when you
recognize that God is in control and that He has you where you are for His
service. So why don’t I feel that
contentment? Maybe because I keep
searching for something He doesn’t want for me and I have to keep questioning
Him when I don’t get it. Maybe it is
because satan keeps telling me that I am no good. Maybe it is because I have a sense of
abandonment from friends. I don’t know
but I ask the Lord to penetrate in my mind, in my heart, in my entire being a
sense of His contentment and a stamp of His approval on everything that I
do. Will I someday be a millionaire, the
president of the United States, or a popular speaker? Not likely.
I don’t know what the future holds on this earth but I do know I have an
inheritance waiting for me in Heaven and I look forward to the day that I can go
and see all that this life is about.
Seek Him not other gods, and know
that He is the One True God, Controller of all things the only place you will
ever find contentment is when you are walking fully in His will and seeking Him
all day long.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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