Читать книгу The Psalms - Herbert O'Driscoll - Страница 23

Psalm 16

O Lord, you are my portion and my cup;

it is you who uphold my lot

We live in a culture that mistrusts value judgements. If at all possible, we try to avoid making them. Such an attitude is utterly irreconcilable with the world of the psalms.

In our culture, to say, “All my delight is upon the godly” and the “noble among the people,” commending those who are committed to the same concept of God as myself, may be barely acceptable. But to dismiss those who have chosen otherwise, and aspire to “run after other gods,” is quite unacceptable unless we are prepared to enter a world of fundamentalist religious stance.

To go even further, to promise trouble for those who differ from us in matters of religious faith, to say that they “shall have their troubles multiplied,” puts us outside the bounds of moral behaviour.

Beyond these opening verses the psalm has much that we can heartily agree to. For us, God can indeed be “my portion and my cup,” the source of nourishment and satisfaction for the hunger and thirst of our spirits.

It is indeed God who sustains us in the stresses and challenges of daily living, “who uphold[s] my lot.” It is indeed the Holy Spirit of God who makes us aware of blessings already received, and helps us to appreciate the ways that life can sometimes be “a pleasant land” and “a goodly heritage.” It is indeed God who can be our source of guidance, “who gives me counsel.”

Notice how the psalmist roams through three levels of human experience and claims that God brings grace into all of them. First he maintains that the “heart teaches me, night after night.” We know the truth of this. It is often during our night musings that we come to see things with a clarity that eludes us in the day’s busyness.

Then there is the claim that, to sense the presence of God in our ongoing activities—that God is “at my right hand”—helps us to stand firm in the face of what life can bring. We will be given courage and stamina to persevere.

Finally the psalmist dares to claim the ultimate. He trusts that the presence of God will be with us at the moment of death itself, and even beyond death. “You will not abandon me to the grave.” The psalm ends with a lovely, almost extravagant expectation of “the path of life … fullness of joy … pleasures for evermore.” With God we will know ultimate fulfillment.

Every day things happen to make you happy or sad. Every day decisions need to be made. Consider sharing happenings with God, and checking decisions with God, in daily conversation. Continually enter God’s presence and listen for God’s guidance.