Psalms 16:8
I have set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
Tag: What we set before us determines our peace!
In Exodus 20:3, we read the following:
“You shall have no other gods before me. ...”
This is the first commandment given on the tablet of Ten Commandments, as recorded by Moses. It is first and foremost in the lives of all believers, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. This IS the greatest struggle in our human existence in regard to truly loving and worshiping God. The above line from Psalm 16 goes on to say, “... because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.” The thought here is that as I put God at the center of my life, I really have nothing to fear or to disrupt me. Even if my life is disrupted with pain or sorrow or corruption, He WILL deliver me. God knew that the nation of Israel (who were given the Ten Commandments) would violate all ten. In fact, as Moses was receiving and recording the Commandments, his brother Aaron was leading the nation in violation of this very first commandment. As God spoke “no other gods,” Aaron made a golden calf. Our temptation is to always have something “golden” at the center of our worship ... something other than God. Typically the center of our worship is US! We like to worship our lusts. We put things in front of our eyes that we bow down to in spirit and in pleasure. If it is not us, it is our second favorite object of worship: OTHERS. We love the pleasure and acceptance of others and we worship it when we put it before the commands of God and the love for God. We worship things and put golden “things” before our eyes. In the above Psalm David is stating that he puts God before his eyes. However, in the story of him and Bathsheba we know this not to be true. He, for that one night, put sexual pleasure before his eyes. The result? His world was shaken!! Yet, in this Psalm he recognizes that when we put God at the center of our lives we don’t have to worry about being shaken. Peace comes from our focus. When we don’t worship unholy things we have God at the center. God at the center means no matter what happens in my life, I will not be shaken. David doesn’t say his life will be full of ease. David states that as we “set the Lord always” before us, He will be at our right hand and we will not be shaken. God can keep us safe, even in the midst of the storm.
No comments:
Post a Comment