“I
said to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” Psalm 16:2
God and good go together and can’t be split up. No matter how hard we try, it’s impossible to
have one without the other. If you have
God, you have what is good for “the Lord
is good” (Ps 100:5). If you have something good, God is involved because “every good and perfect gift is from above”
(James 1:17). If you take GOD out of
GOOD you’re left with O—nothing. This truth is not a clever play on words but
the striking reality which prompted David’s admission and submission in Psalm
16.
“I
said to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing”(vs 2). Faced with this fact, David bowed his heart
and said, “God, You are the ruler of my life. There’s nowhere else to go and no
one else to turn to where I can find anything of lasting value or worth.” Though we know this to be true, the siren
song of distractions and desires is strong, but when our chasing of dreams or
delights pulls us away from God, we only catch heartbreak and hurt, for “the sorrows of those will increase who run
after other gods” (vs 4).
To avoid the pain of vain pursuits, vow with David, “I will not pour out their libations of
blood or take up their names on my lips” (vs 4). In other words, make sure your worship and
your words aren’t giving your best to what isn’t best because only God has “made known to you the path of life”(vs 10),
only God “will fill you with joy in
His presence”(vs 12), and only God
has prepared for you “eternal pleasures
at His right hand”(vs 11).
God
isn’t only in the good; God is the good.
Submit and stay close.
There’s
nothing good about not being near God.
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