I have set the LORD always before me

Posted under The Rectory Bulletin

I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Psalm 16:8

The feeling of being shaken is a disturbing one: the near miss; a phone call with bad news; life crowding in at four in the morning when you just can’t sleep. Try as you might, stray thoughts float in the air and take an age to settle.

There is a resolve in this verse: “I have set the LORD always before me”. The godly King David has determined to keep God in this mind, to walk in the ways laid out by God and to follow God’s prompting. He is always before him, he is at David’s right hand. The king will not be shaken. He is secure.

This is no abstract musing, but a reflection of a life lived in danger. Whether as a boy standing before Goliath, or as a young man fleeing from King Saul, David knew what it was to be in jeopardy. He was a man of many battles, around whom plots swirled. A general as much as a king, and yet he had found the key to peace even when under extreme pressure.

I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.


Kept in Heaven for You

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:8) - What a great hymn of praise this is from the fisherman! Densely packed phrases crowd together to give an overwhelming sense of the height, width, depth and breadth of the gospel.

Seek

If you seek him, he will be found by you (1 Chronicles 28:9) - The point is we have to seek, but as you do please be assured that in the verse above ‘if’ is quickly followed by ‘he will’.
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