Psalm 16 - "My God Is Still The Same"

The Lord took me to Psalm 16 this morning. I read it in different translations and was blessed by these words of David. In The Passion Translation this Psalm is divided into three sections. David speaks to God as "My Protection...My Portion...My Praise." God is all of these things to us when we allow Him to be. This Psalm is entitled "The Golden Secret" for a reason. David found the secret to life in being in relationship with God. I found this tidbit of information interesting as I dug into this Psalm. 

The Hebrew word used in the inscription is michtam. There are many variations of translation for this word. Here are the major ones: “golden,” “graven,” “a permanent writing,” “precious,” “hidden,” “a spiritual secret,” or “jewel.” The Septuagint renders this “a sculptured writing of gold”; other translations call it a “golden poem.” Perhaps the most accepted translation of michtamis “engraved in gold.” This speaks of the divine nature engraved into our hearts by the Word. A new humanity is now stamped with God-life, engraved in his golden glory.

Woo hoo! I love this! "...the divine nature engraved into our hearts by the Word." This is what occurs when we accept Him into our life. He is forever 'stamped' on our life. He assumes the role of being our Protector, our Portion, and our Praise as we allow Him. He is our Safe Place in times of turmoil. I love verses five and six that describe Him as our Portion. They read in The Passion Translation: Yahweh, you alone are my inheritance. You are my prize, my pleasure, and my portion. You hold my destiny and its timing in Your hands. Your pleasant path leads me to pleasant places. I'm overwhelmed by the privileges that come with following You!. Woo hoo! Yes! He is my Portion and I praise Him for all He is in my life! Verse seven speaks of God speaking to us in the night. Many nights I am awake praying multiple times. Sometimes those prayers are for others and sometimes for myself. Verse eight reads in The Passion Translation: Because I set You, Yahweh, always close to, my confidence will never be weakened, for I experience Your wraparound presence every moment. Yes! We can have confidence that God is in control no matter what is happening in life when we turn everything over to Him. We cannot 'fix' things but He can and will make things the way He desires as we allow Him. We cannot manipulate circumstances. When we do, we just get in His way. Shame on us! I feel His wraparound presence in these 'tough' days through people praying for me, sending me messages, calling me, giving me hugs, etc. I know He is with me. I know He is in control. I know He is healing Rickey. Plain and simple. I know. All I have to do is to not allow my humanness to kick in and cause issues. David set the example on how to keep God in the forefront of his mind. Yesterday Chris made the statement, "For me the hardest thing is to let go and let God." There is so much truth in this statement. We all need to allow God to take care of things and as He does we need to be ready to walk in obedience to His will. I love the last verse of this Psalm in The Passion Translation. Because of You, I know the path of life, as I taste the fullness of joy in Your presence. At Your right side I experience divine pleasures forevermore! Woo hoo!

Dear Jesus,

Thank You for another day of life! I pray You will cleanse me so You can fill me with more of You. May You flow from my words, actions, attitude, and thoughts today in a mighty way. Thank You for all who have made contact with me over the last week! It seems like it has been longer than a week since I called the squad for Rickey. Lord, my You continue to be with him and heal him. I pray Your strength not only for him but for Anna, Michael, Matt, and myself. Lord, we need Your love and peace to come down upon us. I pray the same for many going through 'tough' days. My Momma; my sisters Linda, Sally, and Mary; Ben and Colleen; Pete and Delores; Steve; Tony and Madeline; Cait; Mike; Norma Hall; Carrie; Little Jensen who needs a heart; many with COVID; Sharon Sebolt; the Pottenger Family; Serena's husband; some young ladies with anxiety; a man in rehab for anger issues; a young man out of rehab who needs strength in his daily walk; a teen in a volatile home situation; a husband/father separated from his wife; and many others. I also pray healing prayers over many who are having treatments for 'c'...Doug and Gay; Sharon's daughter Ashley and niece Amy; Chrissy's cousin; George and Sharon; Cait's friend with leukemia; and Little Ivy. I praise You for the report of no cancer with the breast cancer survivor that had something show on a CT scan! I praise You for continuing to be with Donald with his therapy! I praise You for giving Marion what she needed to go to therapy yesterday even though she was in such pain! I praise You for continuing to get me through these 'tough' days as I wait for You to be glorified through Rickey's health! I praise You for revealing the next sermon series You desire me to preach! Thank You Jesus for being My Golden Secret! Amen.