Psalm 16

Psalm 16 (NRSV)
1 Protect 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.”

Lord,
“Protect me.”
Lord, I mean no impertinence nor disrespect but I need to ask, what kind of protection can we expect from you? Today, we prayed for more than a dozen people in my congregation who have cancer. I know a young woman recently abused. I have buried children and adolescents and men and women before their aloted time. I have watched the horrors of war and seen children and youth maimed only because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. We have seen horrific storms take the lives of persons too many to count. My mother died of Alzheimer Disease and my Dad sacrificed years of his life to take care of her. He would have it no other way. Even Paul was beheaded and Jesus was crucified. Lord, what kind of protection can we expect?

This I have seen. I have seen your people struggle with life’s toughest challenges and hold on to courage and faith. Perhaps I should say, I have seen you hold on to them. I have seen those whose bodies have been destroyed but never lost their souls. If that is the protection that you promise, then I believe. Strengthen the weakness of my belief.

And I believe in resurrection. The realities of life may indeed take this life from me. Indeed, this life will be taken from us all. But eternal life belongs to you and you alone and that is forever protected.

Is that all? Is there something more? Are there other protections that you offer? I hope so but that is enough.

Dear Lord, I indeed take refuge in you. “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”

PERSONAL PRAYERS:
Ask God to protect you in the dangerous places in life.
Ask God to strengthen you to meet whatever life may bring.
Name 5 things for which you are grateful and say “Thank you” to God.
In Christ’s name,
Amen.

3 As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble,
in whom is all my delight.
4 Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows;
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or take their names upon my lips.
5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
I have a goodly heritage.
7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
8 I keep the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
my body also rests secure.
10 For you do not give me up to Sheol,
or let your faithful one see the Pit.
11 You show me the path of life.
In your presence there is fullness of joy;
in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
[1]

[1] The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989