Psalm 16
Preaching
A Journey Through the Psalms: Reflections for Worried Hearts and Troubled Times
Preaching the Psalms Cycles A, B, C
This psalm is a beautiful utterance of loyalty. More than that, it is a profession of oneness, of unity, of an almost sublime acceptance of God's sovereignty in one's life. The quality shown here is a melding of submission and adoration. In this comes the acceptance of limitations in life.
"The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places." How incredible it is to sense one's limitations and accept them. This is no easy thing. We are weaned on the expectation that we will go beyond our limitations. Bursting boundaries and borders is the accepted means of "getting ahead" for most of us. The ambitious among us chafe at boundaries and resist those who would set them. It brings to mind an advertising campaign for one of the major automakers. The leading phrase that touted the product line was, "No boundaries." Frankly, that is a dangerous assumption. Boundaries are everywhere. We find them even in natural law. If one jumps off a cliff, gravity takes over and you fall. It's a boundary. If we dump tons of polluting gases into the air, global warming will happen. It's a boundary. Human relationships are made stronger with healthy and clear boundaries.
Boundaries, in fact, are a hallmark of human existence, and with God such boundaries exist. God gives us "counsel," and "instruction," and shows us the way to go. Choosing God as our sovereign, as our Lord, means that we no longer go our own way. It means that we have chosen a path. It is for us, "the path of life."
Within these holy property lines the people of God can find security, for at the root of it all is the trust we place in God. We accept the boundaries because we trust. And, because we trust we find security and peace, strength and inner joy.
It is as the psalm suggests. "We have a goodly heritage." It is a heritage of faithfulness, of fealty to the one who created us -- the one who came so that we might have life ... and that in incredible abundance.
Yes, this heritage has pleasant boundaries. They are borders that make clear our identity. They are the surveyor's marks that tell us we are on the right path. And they are lines that we choose not to cross because we have chosen to trust in God's counsel and to keep "the Lord ever before us."
"The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places." How incredible it is to sense one's limitations and accept them. This is no easy thing. We are weaned on the expectation that we will go beyond our limitations. Bursting boundaries and borders is the accepted means of "getting ahead" for most of us. The ambitious among us chafe at boundaries and resist those who would set them. It brings to mind an advertising campaign for one of the major automakers. The leading phrase that touted the product line was, "No boundaries." Frankly, that is a dangerous assumption. Boundaries are everywhere. We find them even in natural law. If one jumps off a cliff, gravity takes over and you fall. It's a boundary. If we dump tons of polluting gases into the air, global warming will happen. It's a boundary. Human relationships are made stronger with healthy and clear boundaries.
Boundaries, in fact, are a hallmark of human existence, and with God such boundaries exist. God gives us "counsel," and "instruction," and shows us the way to go. Choosing God as our sovereign, as our Lord, means that we no longer go our own way. It means that we have chosen a path. It is for us, "the path of life."
Within these holy property lines the people of God can find security, for at the root of it all is the trust we place in God. We accept the boundaries because we trust. And, because we trust we find security and peace, strength and inner joy.
It is as the psalm suggests. "We have a goodly heritage." It is a heritage of faithfulness, of fealty to the one who created us -- the one who came so that we might have life ... and that in incredible abundance.
Yes, this heritage has pleasant boundaries. They are borders that make clear our identity. They are the surveyor's marks that tell us we are on the right path. And they are lines that we choose not to cross because we have chosen to trust in God's counsel and to keep "the Lord ever before us."
