Psalm 16:
(0) Mikhtam. By David:
(1) Protect me, God,
for you are my refuge.
2 I said to Adonai, “You are my Lord;
I have nothing good outside of you.”
3 The holy people in the land are the ones
who are worthy of honor; all my pleasure is in them.
4 Those who run after another god
multiply their sorrows;
To such gods I will not offer
drink offerings of blood
or take their names on my lips.
5 Adonai, my assigned portion, my cup:
you safeguard my share.
6 Pleasant places were measured out for me;
I am content with my heritage.
7 I bless Adonai, my counselor;
at night my inmost being instructs me.
8 I always set Adonai before me;
with him at my right hand, I can never be moved;
9 so my heart is glad, my glory rejoices,
and my body too rests in safety;
10 for you will not abandon me to Sh’ol,
you will not let your faithful one see the Abyss.
11 You make me know the path of life;
in your presence is unbounded joy,
in your right hand eternal delight
[Complete Jewish Bible]---------------------
Trust me! Sometimes I feel like I say this more than a hundred times a day in working with, teaching, and playing with my two boys. I get lots of questions from their young forming minds--sometimes multiple questions asking the same thing. At some point, I just have to say, "trust me."
The words of Psalm 16 are words of trust. It is as if in the midst of life God has asked the psalmist to "trust me." The psalmist responds with eloquent words of radical and unconditional trust--on matters ranging from protection, to seeking wisdom, to good counsel and to physical health. But the psalmist does not stop there. In Verse 10, the psalmist expresses a trust in God that goes even beyond and through the grave, confessing that God's presence and redemption will not be overcome by death and the grave.
"Trust me," God says to us as well. We can, indeed, in part because the psalmist gives us the words to speak and helps us know that in every moment of life, God, Immanuel, is indeed present with us.
Faithful God, in the everyday moments of life as well as in the intense moments, remind me of the trust I can place in you, knowing that you are present with me in all the moments of life and even in the moment of death and beyond, into the final resurrection that is yet to come. Amen.
Scott McAnally
Lead Pastor, Lutheran Church of Hope Broomfield, Colo.
Master of Divinity , 2004
Psalm 16: 1 Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."
3 As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble, in whom is all my delight.
4 Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips.
5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage.
7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.
8 I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure.
10 For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit.
11 You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.[New Revksed Standard Version]
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