Psalm 16 - Fullness of Joy

LINK: Psalm 16

BACKGROUND

I am thinking that David wrote this after he became king because he proclaimed that God had made his lot secure and that the boundaries had fallen for him in pleasant places. This is a man who had learned to trust in the Lord through many trials, and now God's promises to him had been fulfilled. 

REFLECTION

In Your presence is fullness of joy 

and pleasures forever.

(16:11) 

This is one of my favorite verses. The only place to have full and meaningful joy and pleasure is in the presence of God. I cannot reiterate that enough. It seems too simple to be true, but it really, really is.

After I posted this, a friend reminded me of this famous C.S. Lewis quote that gets at the heart of this verse:

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. (The Weight of Glory)

APPLICATION

Seek Him Bible Book Club members! Seek His face continually!

Since I wrote this post many years ago, I have added a spiritual practice to my life that has brought me, like the verse says, much pleasure and joy in God's Presence.

I resisted this practice for so many years! I remember trying to read a book about it at a retreat center and thought, "This is just not for me!"

Fast forward many years later during my spiritual direction certification training. I was to pick a spiritual practice that I have never tried before. The only one I had never tried was this practice: Centering/Silent Prayer. My objection was that I like talking to God, and I thought it was weird to just sit there in silence before Him and not talk to Him. 

But I was willing to give it a try, and I LOVE this type of prayer so much that I co-lead a group in it two times a week. (Contact me if you want to join in: https://bodyandsoulcompanion.com/contact,

I think my first clue was that I had been practicing Lectio Divina meditation, and I started noticing that I was moving into silence (contemplatio) quite naturally because they were just God moments where a "holy hush" came over me. 

So, I encourage you to try it. Here is a post I wrote about it, and a handout that you can download. 

Silent Prayer: Contemplative Rest in a Busy World

Post

Handout

I pray you have much pleasure and joy as you dwell in His presence today!

PRAYER 

Pray responsively through this Psalm.