The Picture of Trust and Psalm 16
Psalm 16 reads as follows from the NIV version of the Bible;
Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing."
3 I say of the holy people who are in the land,
"They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight."
4 Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.
5 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
11 You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
David is facing significant threats and is giving his trust to the Lord in the face of these threats within this psalm.
Verse 2 raises the issue of being apart from the Lord and it may not be that David himself has done this, it could be that he is observing others who have separated from the trust of the Lord and this could go as far as denying that he even exists and you can see that same pattern in this day and age, where people who had been seeking the Lord separate totally to the point of denying his existence/
Verse 2 from the NIV version of the bible says:
I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing."
It could also be that, while some things have been put before the Lord in faith and trust, by David or others, it doesn't follow that all things, all issues, problems and concerns are before the Lord and with regard to a given area people might separate away from the Lord in any given area while still going to his presence in prayer and meditation in other areas.
While verse 2 in this psalm is referring every single thing to the Lord, people in fact may be attempting, keep separate slates, where they are trusting or attempting to put trust in the Lord for this area of concern, but other areas they would consider handling strictly on their own.
It might not be totally intentional but effectively issues are absent from the Lord in prayer as people do withhold on areas of concern and there needs to be help and aid in try to bring things into an order of priority in that besides general trust, there is also the call to specific trust in the Lord.
In any event, the good goal according to verse 2 is not to be seeking anything apart from the Lord.
When David is talking about how separating from the Lord in verse 2, it might not be that he is referring to the possibility of his own points of separation, he might have been mostly steadfast, and it is easy enough to observe and have discourse with others who are doing this,, that is people who have maybe a superficial trust in the Lord, or a stronger trust in one area and a much weaker trust in another area.
But really from this psalm there should be a uniformity of trust, a high level of trust in the Lord on points A, points B, and points C rather than just A and B.
You might not even be discussing C with the Lord, where it might be a matter of importance and priority as well within the Kingdom.
In this era, there are people who had a relationship with the Lord, and now want nothing to do with the Lord, to the point in some cases of denying his existence and part of the reason might be how they are juggling their own personal issues and in some cases people have felt restricted in certain churches by rules and regulations and in coming up for air have ditched everything to do with the church..
Indeed, some reasons given are the feeling reasons, people felt restricted in the church and not having to adhere to rules and precepts they are saying is relieving. A burden.
But areas of trust include emotions, feelings as well as intellect as the trust called for is all inclusive.
Or for various reasons, it comes down to actual doubt and actual disbelief rather than just spiritual convenience, as the reasons given for a total jettisoning of the faith.
In any event, whether it was David just observing others, or observing his own behavior, he was seeing that there was the issue of putting apart some things from the Lord and only trusting him on a percentage of things, but not 100 percent of things.
If there was a 100 things people were involved with, maybe 20 things were entrusted to the Lord and the others were more of less not brought before the Lord into the realms of trust.
The question becomes "what does it mean to trust in the Lord" all the way to "why trust the Lord". And then there is the group that doesn't believe at all, yet are still in the debate and discussion which is a little bit of a contradiction of sorts.
If baseball doesn't exist at all, why am I even talking about it?
People who don't trust the Lord or don't outright believe, are still involved with trust in that if they get on a train they are trusting it will not derail.
The people, who David is referring to in verse 2, have tried to make a go of it without the Lord and without seeking the Lord and this can take many forms all the way to denying that he even exists and David is observing that this doesn't work to well ultimately
And of course this can be the partial, where I only want to present to the Lord what is already neat and dandy, keeping the impression good but doing this amounts to going apart from the Lord in the given area you are attempting to sequester away and the way prayer really does work is that the Lord deals with the whole person and the whole of the issues surrounding the person and involving the person.
It could be argued that you are opening of the windows of trust by going into prayer, but that is debatable and you do want to unlock areas of concern and at least mention them to the Lord in passing,
For the praying person, this might be difficult, disappointing and hurtful areas, but at least touch on it briefly in prayer if it is difficult to delve
And then people might be prospering and doing great, but nothing like that should be a point of separation. Whether prospering or not, you want to make a go of it having all things before the Lord.
There might be pockets of good times, pockets of security but you can't put a fence around it and only the Lord can draw the lines for the good, the better and best for you whether you acknowledge that, as verse 2 does, or whether you deny that.
There are universal areas of concern, everybody needs protection no matter what their placement is in society, there are continued risks out there and the prayer for protection should be included, as however apt and agile you are, it is obvious protection is needed.
Other gods can be anything that is trying to be secured, where in fact nothing can be secured, even the wealthiest, the most powerful in society, can't put a fence around that and ultimately secure it. Only by the Lord's good grace and mercy, can you hold onto anything, material, spiritual or otherwise.
People can go through periods of peace and prosperity where there doens' t seem to be the need for any help.
But the reality is, there is always the potential that more distant threats can come close, and then what?
People can be content with and want nothing to do with churc or, seeking the Lord in prayer and meditation, while things are running smoothly this can be a contented place and nothing hard is coming down the road.
But turn the tables, into difficulties and hardships, then not having that cultivated place of trust, might be something that is now wished for.
The picture of trust is given here by David in this psalm, that the Lord has for the indiviudal a personal presence of goodwill and power, with an offering of personal communion to the soul in the watches of the night, itn watching for the good. This is for the, here and now as David says in this psalm his physical body rests secure and the outlier of this relationship is the offering eternal companionship in paradise as per the last verse
Within the context of this psalm , David is facing threats and is wise towards the reality of these threats, whther hard times are here for him, or close at hand, or about to come across from the distance, he is in touch with the reality of significant threats.
In the great movie, the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy was the picture of innocence, with her dog Totto, carrying around her basket, back home in Kansas and suddenly the real threat of a real tornado is upon her and her friends and relatives as she scrambles for some sort of shelter.
The house she is in it taken up in the storm high into the sky and subsequently lands in some unknown place that seems magical but also contains dark forces.
The house lands on the wicked witch of the east, and she is lauded as a hero by the hometown crowd munckins. who had been harassed and threatened by this wtich.
But suddenly the sister witch, the scary wicked witch of the West appears, and also shwoing up right then and there is the good witch of the North, who quickly snaps the ruby slippers, and places them on Dorothy's feet, even as wicked witch is making threats against her.
The ruby slippers where an enabling, that could be related to the power of prayer, although Dorothy was uncertain as to the power of the ruby slippers and how to use them.
The landing of the house on the wicked witch of the east was inadvertent for which Dorothy was unfairly credited, and Dorothy was an innocent who was thrown into a battle between good and evil in the mysterious post tornado land far from home
She is pointed to the yellow brick road to Oz, where it is expected that she can be helped by the wonderful Wizard of Oz.
The are lines of pleasantness, and possible wonder for Dorothy, she can follow the yellow brick road to the land of Oz and the wizard of Oz, and as it says in this psalm, there will be lines that are already being worked on by the Lord, and since he is the one doing this, creating these lines of pleasantness, it is with the creator of these lines that we want to trust and consult.
And Dorothy did have some lines to follow and hits on a immediate crossroad where she doesn't know which way to go, until she meets her first new friend the scarecrow, at the crossroads..
Before the yellow brick road, hits upon the dark forest, she now has two friends with her, that have gained her trust and this is part of her picture of trust.
She may not have known in advance about this dark forest, but she was surely glad have two friends traveling with her as oppossed to now.
They meet the lion in the dark forest who gives on picture then comes forth with the real story.
So as she travels along the yellow brick road she picks up three friends with the own issues, the lion, scarecrow and tin man.
She quickly trusts these new companions through the dark forest and along the yellow brick road, but the threats are still hovering and intensifying, and there is something like a battle for her soul, going on.
Dorothy has it all out front, her deepest wish and desire of getting back home to Kansas and bring her also her dog Totto to safety as well.
Her friends how their issues out front and their hopes are not hidden and seperated away from the story..
There are agents of goodwill operating with power on her behalf against the mounting threats.
Dorothy was innocent, and was still embroiled in threats, symbolized initially by the tornado itself and the presence of evil now coming close amid some real pleasantness. She wasn't alone in facing these threats, and on balance there were others with her and for her.
Far from home, which was Kansas, she wasn't totally deserted and abandoned at the same time this new group, her and her three friends, were putting there trust out there, for each of their individual issues and putting their trust also in each other.
She was on the personal watch of the good witch of the North and despite all there were the unfolding lines of hope for her, starting first with the yellow brick road which kept going even in the dark forest.
And somewhere over the rainbow, skies could be blue.
Now in this story, it is unquestioned by the viewers of the movie, that Dorothy given her circumstances would want the help of the good witch and the aid and help of her new found friends all of whom with she formed and quick trust and bond.
If they weren't there would she have been able to contend with the forces against her and have a chance to get back to Kansas?
It is at times easy to have the stand off and stand away policy, but of course we want the help, the angels, the agents of goodwill from the Lord and why deny or stand away this benefit for any reason?
It is possible to get ditched totally and Dorothy might have been absolutely ditched.
From 2 Timothy Chapter 4 it says:
16 At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them.
17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. 18 And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!
He was ditched, in some specific way but Paul says the Lord stood by him irregardless.
This verse Timothy does actually show that value of good loyal company and by ditching Paul, these people were doing him a disservice.
And people today can have a sense of being ditched, maybe caught in the corporate malaise, the hustle and bustle, just a face in the crowd and this is where the Lord comes in, and helps the lonely and abandoned, and indeed that can be someone in the crowded stadium.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)
The main application of this psalm is eternal but it also applies to temperol mattes, if you lose your way, the Lord will draw new lines for you, another yellow brick road will be formed for you, so you can follow the ways of the Lord, and if you lose that one good path, get ditched as Paul did at that time and place, the Lord will set other good lines, or paths to follow.
Then, the only thing left is the person himself or herself breaking away out of free wilk,as the only point of seperation..
Dorothy didn't seperate and the friends she was with didn't seperate and they held together for the each of their hopes for good and did stand by each other, other the lion was going to run off on his own, wiselhy he didn't..
The Lord has all the love, all the goodwill and all the power for you and why not take this,a not stand seperate from it.
The picture of trust is that will be a uniformity to the goodness of the Lord for you and everything you could deal with can have the stamp of the Lord's goodness for you and there is no need to have contradictory elements to your forming and maintaining trust..
There is a degree of suffiency and skill that we do have but we don'[t need to be nor are we called to be totally reliant on this.
David was considered skillful.
Psalm 78 verse 72 says, :
And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;
with skillful hands he led them.
David was considered skillful, but there were points where his skills went only so far and he had to hand the baton to the Lord and his inventions.
As the psalm progresses, David is giving in several verses a sweeping picture of what he is trusting in and ultimately the last verse of this psalm is a view of an everlasting paradise and before that, trust that the Lord will keep him and keep things pleasant and part of the pleasantness is the spiritual communion and personal communion with him in the night watches.
Dorothy, need to trust not only the good without, but the good within as she sought to overcome and get back home to her beloved Kansas.
The good friends will also help in helping the individual soul find and further realize the good within
There are threats out there but the presence of the Lord according to verse 6 will bring about those good lines and like it was Dorothy there will be a yellow brick road for all those who trust.
Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing."
3 I say of the holy people who are in the land,
"They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight."
4 Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.
5 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
11 You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
David is facing significant threats and is giving his trust to the Lord in the face of these threats within this psalm.
Verse 2 raises the issue of being apart from the Lord and it may not be that David himself has done this, it could be that he is observing others who have separated from the trust of the Lord and this could go as far as denying that he even exists and you can see that same pattern in this day and age, where people who had been seeking the Lord separate totally to the point of denying his existence/
Verse 2 from the NIV version of the bible says:
I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing."
It could also be that, while some things have been put before the Lord in faith and trust, by David or others, it doesn't follow that all things, all issues, problems and concerns are before the Lord and with regard to a given area people might separate away from the Lord in any given area while still going to his presence in prayer and meditation in other areas.
While verse 2 in this psalm is referring every single thing to the Lord, people in fact may be attempting, keep separate slates, where they are trusting or attempting to put trust in the Lord for this area of concern, but other areas they would consider handling strictly on their own.
It might not be totally intentional but effectively issues are absent from the Lord in prayer as people do withhold on areas of concern and there needs to be help and aid in try to bring things into an order of priority in that besides general trust, there is also the call to specific trust in the Lord.
In any event, the good goal according to verse 2 is not to be seeking anything apart from the Lord.
When David is talking about how separating from the Lord in verse 2, it might not be that he is referring to the possibility of his own points of separation, he might have been mostly steadfast, and it is easy enough to observe and have discourse with others who are doing this,, that is people who have maybe a superficial trust in the Lord, or a stronger trust in one area and a much weaker trust in another area.
But really from this psalm there should be a uniformity of trust, a high level of trust in the Lord on points A, points B, and points C rather than just A and B.
You might not even be discussing C with the Lord, where it might be a matter of importance and priority as well within the Kingdom.
In this era, there are people who had a relationship with the Lord, and now want nothing to do with the Lord, to the point in some cases of denying his existence and part of the reason might be how they are juggling their own personal issues and in some cases people have felt restricted in certain churches by rules and regulations and in coming up for air have ditched everything to do with the church..
Indeed, some reasons given are the feeling reasons, people felt restricted in the church and not having to adhere to rules and precepts they are saying is relieving. A burden.
But areas of trust include emotions, feelings as well as intellect as the trust called for is all inclusive.
Or for various reasons, it comes down to actual doubt and actual disbelief rather than just spiritual convenience, as the reasons given for a total jettisoning of the faith.
In any event, whether it was David just observing others, or observing his own behavior, he was seeing that there was the issue of putting apart some things from the Lord and only trusting him on a percentage of things, but not 100 percent of things.
If there was a 100 things people were involved with, maybe 20 things were entrusted to the Lord and the others were more of less not brought before the Lord into the realms of trust.
The question becomes "what does it mean to trust in the Lord" all the way to "why trust the Lord". And then there is the group that doesn't believe at all, yet are still in the debate and discussion which is a little bit of a contradiction of sorts.
If baseball doesn't exist at all, why am I even talking about it?
People who don't trust the Lord or don't outright believe, are still involved with trust in that if they get on a train they are trusting it will not derail.
The people, who David is referring to in verse 2, have tried to make a go of it without the Lord and without seeking the Lord and this can take many forms all the way to denying that he even exists and David is observing that this doesn't work to well ultimately
And of course this can be the partial, where I only want to present to the Lord what is already neat and dandy, keeping the impression good but doing this amounts to going apart from the Lord in the given area you are attempting to sequester away and the way prayer really does work is that the Lord deals with the whole person and the whole of the issues surrounding the person and involving the person.
It could be argued that you are opening of the windows of trust by going into prayer, but that is debatable and you do want to unlock areas of concern and at least mention them to the Lord in passing,
For the praying person, this might be difficult, disappointing and hurtful areas, but at least touch on it briefly in prayer if it is difficult to delve
And then people might be prospering and doing great, but nothing like that should be a point of separation. Whether prospering or not, you want to make a go of it having all things before the Lord.
There might be pockets of good times, pockets of security but you can't put a fence around it and only the Lord can draw the lines for the good, the better and best for you whether you acknowledge that, as verse 2 does, or whether you deny that.
There are universal areas of concern, everybody needs protection no matter what their placement is in society, there are continued risks out there and the prayer for protection should be included, as however apt and agile you are, it is obvious protection is needed.
Other gods can be anything that is trying to be secured, where in fact nothing can be secured, even the wealthiest, the most powerful in society, can't put a fence around that and ultimately secure it. Only by the Lord's good grace and mercy, can you hold onto anything, material, spiritual or otherwise.
People can go through periods of peace and prosperity where there doens' t seem to be the need for any help.
But the reality is, there is always the potential that more distant threats can come close, and then what?
People can be content with and want nothing to do with churc or, seeking the Lord in prayer and meditation, while things are running smoothly this can be a contented place and nothing hard is coming down the road.
But turn the tables, into difficulties and hardships, then not having that cultivated place of trust, might be something that is now wished for.
The picture of trust is given here by David in this psalm, that the Lord has for the indiviudal a personal presence of goodwill and power, with an offering of personal communion to the soul in the watches of the night, itn watching for the good. This is for the, here and now as David says in this psalm his physical body rests secure and the outlier of this relationship is the offering eternal companionship in paradise as per the last verse
Within the context of this psalm , David is facing threats and is wise towards the reality of these threats, whther hard times are here for him, or close at hand, or about to come across from the distance, he is in touch with the reality of significant threats.
In the great movie, the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy was the picture of innocence, with her dog Totto, carrying around her basket, back home in Kansas and suddenly the real threat of a real tornado is upon her and her friends and relatives as she scrambles for some sort of shelter.
The house she is in it taken up in the storm high into the sky and subsequently lands in some unknown place that seems magical but also contains dark forces.
The house lands on the wicked witch of the east, and she is lauded as a hero by the hometown crowd munckins. who had been harassed and threatened by this wtich.
But suddenly the sister witch, the scary wicked witch of the West appears, and also shwoing up right then and there is the good witch of the North, who quickly snaps the ruby slippers, and places them on Dorothy's feet, even as wicked witch is making threats against her.
The ruby slippers where an enabling, that could be related to the power of prayer, although Dorothy was uncertain as to the power of the ruby slippers and how to use them.
The landing of the house on the wicked witch of the east was inadvertent for which Dorothy was unfairly credited, and Dorothy was an innocent who was thrown into a battle between good and evil in the mysterious post tornado land far from home
She is pointed to the yellow brick road to Oz, where it is expected that she can be helped by the wonderful Wizard of Oz.
The are lines of pleasantness, and possible wonder for Dorothy, she can follow the yellow brick road to the land of Oz and the wizard of Oz, and as it says in this psalm, there will be lines that are already being worked on by the Lord, and since he is the one doing this, creating these lines of pleasantness, it is with the creator of these lines that we want to trust and consult.
And Dorothy did have some lines to follow and hits on a immediate crossroad where she doesn't know which way to go, until she meets her first new friend the scarecrow, at the crossroads..
Before the yellow brick road, hits upon the dark forest, she now has two friends with her, that have gained her trust and this is part of her picture of trust.
She may not have known in advance about this dark forest, but she was surely glad have two friends traveling with her as oppossed to now.
They meet the lion in the dark forest who gives on picture then comes forth with the real story.
So as she travels along the yellow brick road she picks up three friends with the own issues, the lion, scarecrow and tin man.
She quickly trusts these new companions through the dark forest and along the yellow brick road, but the threats are still hovering and intensifying, and there is something like a battle for her soul, going on.
Dorothy has it all out front, her deepest wish and desire of getting back home to Kansas and bring her also her dog Totto to safety as well.
Her friends how their issues out front and their hopes are not hidden and seperated away from the story..
There are agents of goodwill operating with power on her behalf against the mounting threats.
Dorothy was innocent, and was still embroiled in threats, symbolized initially by the tornado itself and the presence of evil now coming close amid some real pleasantness. She wasn't alone in facing these threats, and on balance there were others with her and for her.
Far from home, which was Kansas, she wasn't totally deserted and abandoned at the same time this new group, her and her three friends, were putting there trust out there, for each of their individual issues and putting their trust also in each other.
She was on the personal watch of the good witch of the North and despite all there were the unfolding lines of hope for her, starting first with the yellow brick road which kept going even in the dark forest.
And somewhere over the rainbow, skies could be blue.
Now in this story, it is unquestioned by the viewers of the movie, that Dorothy given her circumstances would want the help of the good witch and the aid and help of her new found friends all of whom with she formed and quick trust and bond.
If they weren't there would she have been able to contend with the forces against her and have a chance to get back to Kansas?
It is at times easy to have the stand off and stand away policy, but of course we want the help, the angels, the agents of goodwill from the Lord and why deny or stand away this benefit for any reason?
It is possible to get ditched totally and Dorothy might have been absolutely ditched.
From 2 Timothy Chapter 4 it says:
16 At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them.
The Lord Is Faithful
17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. 18 And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!
He was ditched, in some specific way but Paul says the Lord stood by him irregardless.
This verse Timothy does actually show that value of good loyal company and by ditching Paul, these people were doing him a disservice.
And people today can have a sense of being ditched, maybe caught in the corporate malaise, the hustle and bustle, just a face in the crowd and this is where the Lord comes in, and helps the lonely and abandoned, and indeed that can be someone in the crowded stadium.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)
The main application of this psalm is eternal but it also applies to temperol mattes, if you lose your way, the Lord will draw new lines for you, another yellow brick road will be formed for you, so you can follow the ways of the Lord, and if you lose that one good path, get ditched as Paul did at that time and place, the Lord will set other good lines, or paths to follow.
Then, the only thing left is the person himself or herself breaking away out of free wilk,as the only point of seperation..
Dorothy didn't seperate and the friends she was with didn't seperate and they held together for the each of their hopes for good and did stand by each other, other the lion was going to run off on his own, wiselhy he didn't..
The Lord has all the love, all the goodwill and all the power for you and why not take this,a not stand seperate from it.
The picture of trust is that will be a uniformity to the goodness of the Lord for you and everything you could deal with can have the stamp of the Lord's goodness for you and there is no need to have contradictory elements to your forming and maintaining trust..
There is a degree of suffiency and skill that we do have but we don'[t need to be nor are we called to be totally reliant on this.
David was considered skillful.
Psalm 78 verse 72 says, :
And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;
with skillful hands he led them.
David was considered skillful, but there were points where his skills went only so far and he had to hand the baton to the Lord and his inventions.
As the psalm progresses, David is giving in several verses a sweeping picture of what he is trusting in and ultimately the last verse of this psalm is a view of an everlasting paradise and before that, trust that the Lord will keep him and keep things pleasant and part of the pleasantness is the spiritual communion and personal communion with him in the night watches.
Dorothy, need to trust not only the good without, but the good within as she sought to overcome and get back home to her beloved Kansas.
The good friends will also help in helping the individual soul find and further realize the good within
There are threats out there but the presence of the Lord according to verse 6 will bring about those good lines and like it was Dorothy there will be a yellow brick road for all those who trust.
Source...