Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.
Psalm 16, our reading for this week, speaks to the security found in God. He is the refuge of his people (v. 1), the only actual good we have (v. 2). There may be some things which are good in an earthly way, but they eventually run to sorrow (v. 4).
The Psalmist draws a sharp distinction between allegiance to God and allegiance to the gods of this world. Some will say that all religions are essentially the same. Not so in Psalm 16. The religions of this world have offerings and significant words to say, but the Psalmist will have none of it (v. 4). Those offerings and incantions go with bondage and sorrow. Rather than pinning our hopes there, the Lord holds our lot. He is our portion and cup (v. 5). This is a pleasant hope.
Some will view Christianity as something burdensome, as bondage to rules and regulations. The opposite is true. In God’s word, with God as our inheritance, we find freedom. It is a pleasant place, a beautiful inheritance, a place of stability.
Why is this? In verse 10, applied in Acts chapter 2 to Jesus, we have a savior who was not abandoned to the underworld. He rose again to show us the hope we can have in eternal life, the life of the resurrection. This is the hope found only in Christ. It is indeed a message of security.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.