Praying Psalm 16 (and a couple of other notes)

Note: some of this departs from strict exegesis and begins to become subjective application.

Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

-especially from the world, my flesh and the devil.

I confess that You are the Lord. I have no good apart from you.

-I'm sorry for the times I look for good other places.

Please help me to delight in the saints.

(And, therefore, to be influenced by them in contrast to the idolaters we read about in the next verse.)

I confess that my sorrows multiply when I run after other gods. Please help me not to pour out their drink offerings of blood or take their names on my lips

-especially with the idolatrous sins that have become unconsciously habitual in the last 47 years.

Lord, I have chosen the portion that you have chosen for me.

-Please help me to actively, repeatedly choose it.

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed I have a beautiful inheritance

-especially in Jesus and His Kingdom and specifically in Christine, Elizabeth and Wil.

Bless You, Lord. Thank you that You counsel me and my heart instructs me at night.

I have set the Lord always before me; when You are at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

-Please help me to set You before me.

Therefore my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices, my flesh also dwells secure.

-Please help me to be glad and rejoice.

Thank You that You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

('Holy one' was for David, the King, and especially for Jesus, but I am holy now in Jesus and can live forever in Him.)

God, You make known to me the Path of life, which is Jesus and is in Jesus.
(He said 'I am the Way' in John.)

In Your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

-Please help me to experience your joy and the eternal pleasures of Your presence.


Just a little recap of the benefits of choosing God ('a beautiful inheritance') in this psalm:

• My heart is glad
• My whole being rejoices
• In your presence there is fullness of joy
• At your right hand are pleasures forevermore

Remember that old bumper sticker 'God is my copilot'? Then there was a counter-bumper sticker that said something like 'If God is your copilot, switch seats.' That's a false dichotomy according to this psalm. We all have decisions to make and actions to take that only we can. We all have a 'right hand' where something or someone has to sit. There is a valid point to be made in saying God should be our Pilot or 'let go and let God', but it will never change the fact that we are ultimately responsible for our choices and we have to keep making them, even if we want to be guided or led by God.