Do Not Be Shaken

“You will show me the path of life. In Your presence is fullness of joy. In Your right hand there are pleasures forever more” -Psalm 16:11

Real confidence is rare. Most people play it cool. It’s easy to straighten our shoulders, arch our backs, stick out our chests, and talk tough. For most of us, the emotional confidence and security of our souls are hard to find.

It’s not a surprise that all of us are sinners, and we are surrounded by sinners, in a fallen world. How can any of us truly experience the deep peace and joy of authentic confidence in a world that wears masks of security?

David shows us a significant path from fear to confidence, from instability to security, from anxiety to authenticity. His lasting joy begins with the plea in Psalm 16:1

“Preserve me, God, for I take refuge in You.”

Then amazingly verse by verse, he declares with confidence, “ I will not be shaken” in verse 8.

There is so safer place to hide than the arms of God.

David has a change of heart. Realizing who God is for us can transform everything.

What we believe about God can be life and death for us today. It can make all the difference if, we like David, know God to be our reliable Savior, He should become our greatest treasure.

A reliable Savior

God saves us from harm by being both our safest refuge and our trusted counselor. There is no safer place to hide in the arms of the omnipotent God. Psalm 16:7 says, “I bless the Lord who gives me counsel.” Not only does He protect us, He provides wisdom from within through the leading of His Holy Spirit.

God can save us from the fears that threaten us, and guards us by intervening to guard us from harm’s way, and guides us out of trouble. Knowing God as our savior, both as refuge and counselor inspires confidence that, what ever comes our way is a resource beyond compare. He is not only our Savior, He is sovereign.

Sovereign Lord

David says in Psalm 16:5, “The Lord assigned my portion and my cup. You made my lot secure.” Whether we are drawing straws, rolling the dice, or seeking our next breath, whatever happens to us is from God. He rules over our lives, not just in the big picture, but in all the little details.

When life is difficult it might not seem comforting that He is in control. But if we know ourselves to be God’s, and let God be ours, then this knowledge can become stabilizing. It doesn’t mean that we will not walk through pain or defeat, but it does mean that we are assured the final victory. It doesn’t even mean we will win every battle, but it means we will win the war.

God is not only our reliable Savior and sovereign Lord, but He is our greatest treasure. David says, in Psalm 16:6, “The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Yes, I have a good inheritance.” David is rejoicing in the sovereignty of God and that leads to embracing Him as the greatest treasure.

Greatest Treasure

David says in Psalm 16:2, “You are my Lord, I have no good apart from you.” God is the ultimate good. He is the foundation of the river of all delight. All other hoods are truly good only when they are in Him. Apart from Him, all other good things will prove empty in the end.

But what does David mean in the next verse, verse 2, “As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.” How can all David’s be in other people, and God still be his greatest treasure?

David does not say that he delights in God’s people rather than in God, but that people who reject his God give him no pleasure. Godless people living in godless ways, do not meet with his approval and admiration. He is to captivated by God not to see the folly in godless living. because he enjoys God as supreme as well. His love for God spills over in love for those who love God. His love for those who love God doesn’t compete with his love for God, rather it complements it. Delight in others is an extensive of his delight in God.

True Solid Joy

David closes with assurance. Having begun with a plea for God to preserve him, he finishes in confidence and hope. He has moved from a place of anxiety to awe, from pleading to praising. His troubles now basked in the glory of God.

“My heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices, my flesh also dwells secure. For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life, in Your presence there is fullness of joy, at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” Psalm 16:9-11

As solid as David’s confidence is, ours can be even more solid today, Jesus took came in the flesh, and lived without spot of wrinkle, and bore our curse on the cross, and God did not abandon His soul to Sheol, the place of the dead. God’s raised Jesus us to complete His conquest of Satan and rip the doors off there hinges from the inside. In Jesus’s victory over the grave, we are freed from our fear of death.

“Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing Him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” -Hebrews 2:14-15.

Jesus is now seated at His Father’s right hand, He is the final destination on the path of life. H is our fullness of joy. In Him are pleasures evermore.