Psalm 16 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 16 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
Verse 2I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."
Verse 3As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble, in whom is all my delight.
Verse 4Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips.
Verse 5The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
Verse 6The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage.
Verse 7I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.
Verse 8I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Verse 9Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure.
Verse 10For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit.
Verse 11You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Devotion
When I arrived at Luther Seminary in September of 1957 my first dormitory room assignment was a basement room in an area that was affectionately called Sheol. Today we read the Psalmist's chant, "For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit." (v.10) Sheol meant "the grave" and "the underworld of the dead." David was confident of his future, that he would not be lost forever and forgotten in the Pit. We have all stood on the edges of open graves, often covered with fake grass and a suspended casket so that it is difficult to look down into the dark damp hole called Sheol.
While our Sheol day is yet to come, today we can listen again to the words of the unnamed angel outside of Jesus' Sheol, "He is not here, for he has been raised." The risen Jesus is now our refuge and hope. We "have no good apart from" him. As we begin another day, let us, like the Psalmist "keep the Lord always before" us. We may not have the eyes to see him but by faith we know "He is at outright hand. We shall not be moved." That's more than good enough.
Prayer
Risen Lord, you were raised from your Sheol on that Easter morning. Raise me again this morning to experience afresh the new life you have given me and all believers. Though I will look around me today and see lots of evidence of the Pit, stay before me this day and let me sense your presence at my right hand. Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed!