Psalm
16 provides a challenge for me. The
focus of this psalm is on the joys and benefits of life with God. David recognized the blessings that come from
living in relationship with God. There
were certain assurances that his belief in God provided. “Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue
rejoices;” he writes, “my body also will rest secure, because you will not
abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.” (Psalm
16:9-10) David knew that death would not
be the end for him. Death was not
something to fear because God will provide new life. However, the end of life is not where the
challenge exists for me. It lies in the
living of that life.
Earlier
in the psalm, David focuses on allowing God to lead us and following his
counsel for our lives. This is a
challenge for me. I have a hard time
discerning God’s will for my life. Like
many people I’m prone to figure out my own plan and then pray for God’s
blessing. Knowing that, it then becomes
a challenge to figure out where my will ends and God’s begins. The desire to help lead worship in church –
is that just coming from my own love for music, selfishly justified as “offering
my gifts and talents to God;” is it really part of the ministry that God has
called me to? How does my work fit into
God’s plan for my life? David expresses
so much profound relief and security knowing that God has a plan for him. It’s not that David never wondered what the
plan was. Psalm 13 clearly expresses
David angst at not knowing the plan. It’s
just that David is able to also find his way out of that angst into a place
where he can be content knowing that there is a plan. David may not know the details, but there is a plan and that is enough. God reveals His plan on a need to know
basis. We don’t need to see several
hundred yards down the way; we just need to see the next few steps to take. That is the challenge – learning to trust God
to lead me each step of the way without needing to know the final destination.
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