Slices
Prepare
Has there been a time in your life when you felt threatened or in danger? Perhaps that time is now. Call on God to protect you.
Bible passage
A miktam of David.
1 Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.’
3 I say of the holy people who are in the land,
‘They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.’
4 Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.
5 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
11 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.
Explore
At the start of this psalm, David prays for the Lord to protect him (vs 1–4). He also praises God because he has seen God’s goodness and guidance throughout his life (vs 5–7). It is always helpful to look back and recognise how faithful God has been in the past because it gives us confidence to trust him in the future.
So, in verses 8–11, David expresses his confidence in God’s faithful protection. He anticipates that God will always keep him safe and secure (vs 8,9), and he is confident that God will never abandon his people, not even when they have to endure death itself (vs 10,11).
As Christians, we have an even greater perspective on the truths expressed in this psalm. We are confident in the face of death because Jesus has conquered death. David finishes the psalm with this hope-filled statement: ‘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’ (v 11).
Respond
In light of Jesus’ victory over death, we can rejoice with Paul’s great quote: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ (1 Corinthians 15:54b,55)
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Amos 1,2; Revelation 6
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray that the seven-day Emerging Leaders conference planned by Scripture Union Fiji this month on the theme ‘Just Like Jesus’ will empower and inspire each of the 300 plus young leaders from around the Pacific who will attend.
