Run With It: My Whole Being Rejoices

Psalms 16:4-6 ESV

“The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;

    their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out

    or take their names on my lips.

“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.”

What is “another god”? It isn’t just an idol carved in wood or precious stones. It is anything which takes God’s rightful place in our hearts as King. It is anything which supersedes God as Lord (master) of our hearts. And it is anything to which we give our hearts, devotion, praise, adoration, time, affection, passion, and desire in place of or above God.

So, anyone who runs after another god could be anyone who is making something other than God his idol. His idol could be himself or another person, or it could be his possessions, his money, power, prestige, popularity, or praise from others. His idol could be his pride or bitterness or resentment or the lusts of his flesh and pornography or whatever.

His idol could also be a false Jesus and a false gospel which he has received in place of the true gospel because it requires nothing of him and it allows him to continue in his deliberate and habitual and premeditated sin while he ignores God and his commands, and while he ignores how his sins hurt other people, too. And this is because he is focused on self, not on others.

Their sorrows are increased. I have a question about that one. Many who are following after the idols of this world appear to be at peace or happy with their lifestyles of choice. They choose their idols over God because they can then live how they want without conscience or without guilt. And they may only feel guilty if they are around Christians who are walking with the Lord.

It appears that the original word translated “sorrows” could mean “sorrows” or “idols.” I tend to lean toward the idea that their idols increase or are multiplied, because they are never satisfied, because idols don’t satisfy but they leave the idolater always wanting more. Many sex addicts begin with one fetish, but then they keep adding more and more.

In the end, though, they will have great sorrow when they stand before God, and he tells them that he never knew them and that they who are workers of iniquity are to depart from him. And they will have great sorrow when they are cast into hell, and they do not get to go to God’s heaven which their false gospel promised them.

But we who profess Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives are not to be those who chase after other idols. The Lord is to be our chosen portion and cup. He is to be our only God whom we worship. He alone is to be the one to receive our undying devotion and loyalty and our fidelity, other than our spouse who comes second to God.

Psalms 16:7-10 ESV

“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.”

If Jesus Christ is truly the Lord of our lives, then he is our master, our boss. We live and work for him, and he is the one who decides how we live our lives and what we do. Our job is to listen to him and then to follow him in obedience to his commands and in obedience to his calling upon our individual lives, too. For he has both gifts and ministries which he has assigned to us.

Thus, we are to be listening to his counsel daily, inquiring of him as to what he has for us each day. Now, I understand people work full-time jobs to provide for their families. And I understand that people who have children living at home must take care of their children, and they have house chores to do and groceries to buy, etc., so much of their time is spoken for.

But we don’t separate our secular lives from our spiritual lives. All should be under God’s control and his direction and guidance. He should have mastery over every aspect of our lives, and we should be seeking his guidance and counsel in whatever it is we do each day. He is not to just get a small part of our day, but he is to get 100% of our lives.

So, we should always have our ears tuned into the Spirit’s voice so that we can receive his guidance and counsel throughout our days and throughout our daily chores and activities and responsibilities. And we should be sensitized to divine opportunities to share Jesus with the people of this world, too, in whatever way the Lord leads, but never in compromising or backing down from truth in order to make people like us.

When Jesus Christ is our Lord, and when we are following him in his ways and in his truth, and we are listening to him, and we are seeking his guidance, and we are walking in holiness and in righteousness in his power and strength, those are indicators that our faith in him is genuine and that we are in true relationship with him, and therefore we can claim heaven as our eternal destiny and be assured that we will inherit eternal life.

Psalms 16:11 ESV

“You make known to me the path of life;

in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

The “path of life” is the way of the cross of Christ in dying with him to sin and in living to him and to his righteousness. It is the way of obedience to our Lord and to his commands. It is also the way of surrender of our lives to Jesus Christ in making him truly Lord (owner-master) of our lives.

It does not include walking in the ways of the flesh and of the world and living in deliberate and premeditated and habitual sin against God. For, if we are not obeying our Lord and if we are walking in sin, making sin our practice, then we are not walking in the path of life, but we are still walking in the way of sin and of the flesh, and we will not inherit eternal life with God.

There is fulness of joy in the Lord and peace beyond measure when we are walking in his ways and in his truth and when we are not giving the devil a foothold in our lives to where we obey Satan and the flesh over God. For, there is no greater joy than walking with the Lord in victory over sin and in obedience to the Lord’s will for our lives. No better place to be ever!

Praise You in This Storm

Mark Hall and Bernie Herms

I lift my eyes unto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes unto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohYhdqXg6is

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