Psalm 16:8 I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. This Psalm touches the high-water mark of the religious life in two aspects — its ardent devotion, and its clear certainty of eternal blessedness beyond the grave. These two are connected as cause and effect. I. THE EFFORT OF FAITH. "I have set the Lord always before me." It took a dead lift of conscious effort for the Psalmist to keep himself continually in touch with that unseen God. This is the very essence of true religion. Mark how the Psalmist came to this effort. It was because his whole soul clave to God, with the intelligent and reasonable conviction and apprehension that in God alone was all he needed. If a man does not think about God and His love it is all one as if he had not Him and it. II. THE ALLY OF FAITH. The second portion of the text is to be interpreted as the consequence of the effort. "He is at my right hand." The Psalmist means that by the turning of his thoughts to God and the effort he makes — the effort of faith, imagination, love, and desire — to bring himself as close as he can to the great heart of the Father, he realises that presence at his side in an altogether different manner from that in which it is given to stones and rocks and birds and beasts and godless men. That Divine Presence is the source of all strength and blessedness. "At my right hand"; then I stand at His left, and close under the arm that carries the shield; and close by my instrument of activity, to direct my work; my Protector, my Ally, my Director. III. THE COURAGEOUS STABILITY OF FAITH. "Not be moved." That is true all round, in regard of all the things which may move and shake a man. The secret of a quiet heart is to keep ever near God. We shall not be moved by circumstances. How quietly we may live above the storms if we only live in God. The Psalmist feels that the great change from life to death will not move him, in so far as his union with God is concerned. A realisation of true communion with God is the guarantee that the man who has it shall never die. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.WEB: I have set Yahweh always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. |
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