Psalm 16 - Devo - The Lord is My Counselor

Hey friends!

It’s Germ here again.

And we’re on day 18 of our 21 days in Psalms as we lead up toward Easter, which is this weekend. I hope you all are staying safe and are having a relatively good week so far, that you’re doing your social distancing thing and keeping healthy and safe.

Before we jump into our passage this morning I just want you guys to know that our youth team misses ya! And I’m looking forward to us all getting back together once we have this pandemic behind us!

So, this morning we’re going to look at . So grab your bibles and we’re going to hang together for a little while. I’m going to continue our normal rhythm of reading the passage, talking about it a little and then praying to finish our time together. We were actually in the last time that we were together but we’re going to focus on another section of this chapter that I think will be a really cool benefit to us.

Let’s jump into it. a Psalm of David says starting in verse 1, “

16  1  Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

2  I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;

I have no good apart from you.”

3  As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,

in whom is all my delight.

4  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.

5  The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;

you hold my lot.

6  The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

7  I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;

in the night also my heart instructs me.

8  I have set the Lord always before me;

because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

9  Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;

my flesh also dwells secure.

10  For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,

or let your holy one see corruption.

11  You make known to me the path of life;

in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

We know from the bible that the guy who wrote this book Psalms, is a man who really went after God’s heart. The Psalms are prayers and worship toward God from this man who was definitely not perfect but knew that God had everything under control.

In this Psalm we see David hit on a few points; what he knows about God, what he understand about the world, and then what he knows as being true.

Today we’re going to focus on verse 7. “7  I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.”. With the idea that the Lord is my Counsellor.

in the night also my heart instructs me.”. With the idea that the Lord is my Counsellor.

In this amazing Psalm we read that David affirms his confidence in God and in God as his refuge and hope which draws him into knowing that God is his counsellor. His place where he can take his worries and fears.

We actually read in another chapter in Psalms where David says this in , “Your statues are my delight; they are my counsellors”. What David recognized was that this view of God being his counsellor, the place where he can retreat to leads him to treasure every word of God. To run to his word for that comfort and care and counselling.

In it says, “12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” And that’s what we want from the bible, to really reveal how we need to live, to let us know what is right and wrong. To guide us because it’s sometimes hard to know what to do, isn’t it?

12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

Tyndale House Publishers. Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2015. Print.

I remember back when I was going to University I was having a hard time trying to figure out which was the right one for me to go to, I had a few to choose from over on the East Coast. I struggled to know how to choose which would be the best for me. I wracked my brain, but it wasn’t until I looked for guidance, for counselling, but some trusted friends and mentors, who were Christians, did I come to the decision that was probably the best choice I could have made. I ended up at a great place where I felt comfortable and made friends that I’m still really close with today!

What it took from me was to trust God, trust his counsel, to trust the counsel of the people that he’s put around me and to be obedient and open to what his plans are. But you know what it doesn’t mean that there weren’t times that were hard and really sucked. But in it I knew that God was in control and anything that was going on he was doing for my benefit. John Piper says a cool quote, he says, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him”. And that’s the truth. Our job, our goal is to trust and be ok with God’s plan and know that he has a purpose in all of it. To understand and trust that even in the midst of this COVID-19, self-isolation and being in this place where we might feel like we are missing out on everything, that God has a plan in it.

And we can trust in verses like when it says, “11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Guys God is our counsellor, he’s the person we can take our hopes, worries and fears to because he know’s what’s best for us. He has our best interest at heart, because he loves and cares for us. Because he has great plans for us.

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

Let’s pray.

Tyndale House Publishers. Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2015. Print.