Thank God for His Goodness

“Preserve me, O Lord, for in You I take refuge.  I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from You.’…The Lord is my Chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.  The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance…You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” –Psalm 16:1-2, 5-6, 11 (ESV.  Read Psalm 16).

When the faithful sing the words of this “miktam of David,”(then and now)  a musical tribute to God, they proclaim that they are entrusting themselves to God’s goodness.  They are relying on His known faithfulness and expressing confidence in His continuing provision.  The writer of the Psalm used imagery from the division of the land (verses 5-6) to express contentment about getting land in the division of the Holy Land to the twelve tribes.  But it is not just contentment in this life where they have received “a beautiful inheritance” for which they are grateful.  The thanksgiving extends for the counsel God provides.  It includes  gratitude for life beyond this physical realm, where the soul will not be “abandoned in Sheol.”  And the Psalmist also expresses grateful confidence that God will continue “to make known to me the path of life.”  We don’t have to grovel and wonder which way leads to God.  God’s goodness covers guidance, available to all who seek it.  And with this confidence of God’s presence comes “pleasures forevermore.”

I have just returned from a week in the beautiful mountains of North Georgia.  While there, I drove by, and at times even walked upon land that fits the description the Psalmist gave in 16:6.  In beautiful valleys which they cleared, and hillsides on which they built barns and houses, my ancestors settled in a beautiful section of North Georgia in the early 1830s.  They received land grants earned, in a sense, by their patriotic service in the Revolutionary War.  They also bought land, extending their holdings to goodly-sized mountain farms where they continued to improve the land.  They worked to establish churches, to found schools, to establish local governments.  Indeed, they established and left for succeeding generations “a beautiful inheritance.”  Now the landscape has changed.  Many of the old homesteads are long since gone with the ravages of time and decay.  No longer do large fields stretch out along river and creek bottoms where  ancestors once plied their hard work in agricultural pursuits.  A change came, and the land itself became the drawing card for new generations as large acreages were sold off for subdivisions of various sorts.  Much of the land has been used to attract tourists and to provide housing and entertainment for visitors to the mountains.  But occasionally, still, a peaceful pasture stretches over a hillside and cattle graze in graceful contentment.  Occasionally in tawny fall colors a mown hayfield meets the eye, with well-bundled bales of hay awaiting transfer to barns to provide winter food for livestock.  Or the remnants of a cornfield, the full ears hanging from the stalks in nature’s protective shucks, await the harvester.  As I drove by familiar yet changed landscapes, I remembered growing up as a child on the farm—different in landscape then to now—but a place where we felt blessed and provided for because of God’s goodness.  I am grateful that early in life my parents taught me the value of gratitude, of praising God for His goodness.

“Count your blessings, name them one by one.”  And thank God for His goodness.

A Goodly Heritage, A Firm Foundation

“The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.  The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places:  Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.  I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.  I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.  For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let Your holy one see corruption.” –Psalm 16:5-10 (ESV).

The explanatory note at the beginning of Psalm 16 says that it is “A Miktam of David.”  “Miktam” is probably a musical liturgical term and also means that the psalm is dedicated to the saints of the land who delight David with their faithfulness to the Lord.  When the faithful, ‘the saints’ sing Psalm 16, they reinforce their faith and the faith of all those around them.  They express great confidence in the Lord’s guidance and care and the knowledge that they can take refuge in the Lord.  At this crucial time in our country, it would be well for us to read all of Psalm 16, take it to heart, and join with those saints of old who did not waver even under great duress.  They knew without a doubt that they had a goodly inheritance of faith.  “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you” (Psalm 16:2).

Scholars believe that this Psalm by David may have been written shortly after the Lord gave His gracious covenant to David and assured him of an enduring throne.  We read about this in 2 Samuel 7, with David’s confirmation of acceptance in 2 Samuel 7:29: “Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you.  For you, O Lord God, have spoken and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”  When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce that she would conceive and bear a son, and name Him Jesus, for “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”  (Luke 1: 32-33).  What measure of God’s purpose could have been understood by David, we know not.  But he did recognize and was assured by the fact that God had chosen him as king of Israel, and that his kingship would have an influence on succeeding generations.

When America was founded, the leaders who were at the forefront in establishing our Constitution and the laws of our land were aware of their calling and purpose as being God-directed.  They were not ashamed to own their faith in God or to admit their dependence on Him.  Thomas Jefferson in his “Summary View of Rights” stated:  “God who gave us life gave us liberty.  And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?  That they are not to be violated but with His wrath?  Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.” (In Notes on the State of Virginia.  Query XVIII, p. 237). David reminded us in Psalm 16 that we need to turn again and again to God for counsel and that we are to set the Lord always before us.

Prayer.   Dear Lord, Raise up stalwart and God-fearing leaders to govern our land, from local and state offices to our nation’s highest government positions.  May they seek Your counsel and lead with justice and stability on sound principles that have been tried and proven in the anvil of time.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Proverbs to Live By—Seek Wisdom

“Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.  My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.  If they say, ‘Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason;’…Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors.  Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice;…If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.”  -Proverbs 1:8-11, 19, 20, 23 (ESV).

All of Proverbs 1:8 through 9:18 is a father’s invitation to his son to seek wisdom.  This appeal takes several turns, and especially is noted in ten different entreaties in addition to the initial invitation in 1:8.  I like to imagine that Solomon, who is the wise person normally attributed as author of this section of Proverbs, although a king and responsible for a realm to govern, sits down with his son and with wise and fatherly advice gives him instruction in what is important in life.  Seeking wisdom is one of the primary pursuits if one is to succeed.  The Hebrew word for wisdom is “hokma.”  It has a variety of meanings and covers both physical skills and intellectual abilities.  It can be translated wisdom, aptitude, experience, good sense, skill, insight.  Wisdom is coupled with such qualities as understanding and knowledge. Waxing poetic, the writer of Proverbs says that his father’s instruction and his mother’s teaching are as a “graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.”  Wanting to emphasize the value of wisdom, the wise father likened it to a crown upon the son’s head and a beautiful necklace about the neck—both noticeable because of their placement, complementary to the costume and to the person.  The wise father knew, also, that in the world would be people who would seek to entice the son away from the wise teachings of his parents.  He warned the youth about these and also about becoming greedy and seeking “unjust gain.”  An inordinate love for money—both how it is gained and how it is considered, can easily “take away the life of the possessor.”  We are reminded of the wise teaching of Paul to his son in the ministry in II Timothy 6:10:  “”The love of money is the root of all kinds of evils.”

Early in the book of Proverbs, the writer sets the contrast between wisdom and folly, good and evil.  He wanted his son to understand unequivocally the strength of wisdom and righteousness in contrast to ignorance, evil and folly.  In Proverbs 1:20 Wisdom is personified and is seen crying out in the streets, market places, and city gates. We could take this to mean that wisdom is needed in every area of life, and that wisdom’s voice can be heard if people will heed and follow.  Wisdom can even ‘pour out her spirit” on those who will listen.  Wisdom is a quality rooted in the fear of the Lord (as noted in 1:7 and 1:28), then the Lord can indeed pour out His spirit on those who fear Him and seek wisdom from Him.  The good news about seeking wisdom is that the seeker will be duly and bountifully rewarded.  Note this promise in Proverbs 1:33:  “Whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.” 

The son admonished to seek wisdom had a wise instructor—his own father; and by the text we can infer that his mother, too, gave wise counsel.  Fortunate the children who are brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and are encouraged to seek wisdom.  It takes a special dedication to be firm and yet loving parents.  If you had this nourishing, thank God for it now.  If you exercised this type of parenting, be grateful that you did so.  Your children will rise up and call you blessed and they will “dwell secure without dread of disaster.”  This is God’s promise and He keeps His promises.  And we can rejoice, saying:  “Yea, we have a goodly heritage!”  (Psalm 16:6b)