Abba's Dearly Beloved

Delving deeper into the verses of this psalm, we uncover further gems unveiling as revelation of finest gold the altogether lovely one; Christ our treasure. Let these truths seep into your spirit to refresh you and point you once again to the reflection of Christ and his saving grace, majesty and splendour in the word of God.

Ever Present Companion

Jesus is the Good Shepherd and because he is just that, does not leave us as orphans to fend for ourselves, that is not in his nature, rather he comes to us (John 14:18) and not just once but is our continually present Emmanuel – God with us. Even if we can sometimes feel on our own, this is not the case:

I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Psalm 16:8 (NIV)

What does it mean to keep your eyes on the Lord? It is to rest in the truth that his loving presence persists through our failures and shortcomings having nothing to do with how we perform and everything to do with his unfaltering goodness and desired love for us; it is to view front and centre Christ in the midst of our struggle and battle or to call to mind the promises of God to be our strength when we have no strength to go on; finally, when our heart grieves at the offence or wrong we may have just committed, it is to behold the beauty of Christ’s finished work of undeserved and lavished love poured out at the cross that melts our hearts, decrees us righteous and fathered by God and neutralises the accusing voice of the enemy.

The upholding, supporting right hand of God referred to above, brings the hopeful promise of our Lord himself carrying us when we cannot venture on and to lift burdens from our shoulders that are too heavy to bear. It is a promise testified to by David, who must have encountered God’s supporting and comforting hand on several occasions, in his devotional songs and poems dedicated to the Lord:

My soul [my life, my very self] clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.

Psalm 63:8 (Amp)

Present Eternal Joy

David as the psalmist saves the richest truth for the final verse in this psalm:

You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Psalm 16:11 (NIV)

This is a beautiful prophetic description of Jesus, the source of eternal pleasures, who has been revealed to us who know and follow him as the path of life: in His own words the way, the truth, and the life. The grace poured out at the cross through His Holy Spirit has filled us with newfound joy in the presence of God whom we now know by the intimate name of Abba, daddy.

The fact that Christ is the source of eternal pleasures plural rather than pleasure singular reminds me oddly of the motto on the crest of the Isle of Man but with one crucial difference: instead of “Whichever way you throw me I stand”, for me this verse speaks of whichever way you turn Christ as a pearl of great price in your hands, you find not one blemish, fault or falsity in him, but flawless in all that he is, thus the motto should read “Whichever way you behold Christ, His beauty and unfailing love stands.”

Why is this psalm described as a Mihtham? Beside the technical musical or literary term, perhaps a secondary reason revealed by the Holy Spirit is that the verses of this psalm are indeed inlaid or engraved with the shining and golden embodiment of Christ. All glory to His name, Amen.

© 2024, Benjamin Trowbridge