continually before me

I read the following verse at 7:30 or so this morning, from the 16th Psalm:

‘I have set the Lord continually before me; because he is at my right hand, I will never be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.’

The preceding words summarize better than anything I have read recently the otherwise nebulous goal of my current ‘mission’. What is the goal of spiritual discipline if it is not having the Lord set ‘continually before me’? Particularly when the result of that practice is here described as gladness of heart and great joy! I find it tragic that my desires so infrequently coincide with what will truly bring me joy.

The content of the Psalm (the context of the quote above) is David’s exaltation of God over and against all gods and all things. He takes delight in the saints (v. 3), his inheritance in God (v. 6), the counsel of the Lord (v. 7), the knowledge of God (v. 11), the presence of the Lord (v. 11) and the pleasures at God’s right hand (v. 11). These are set in stark contrast to the ’sorrows of those who run after another god’ (v. 4), when there is’no good apart from [the Lord]‘ (v. 2). The scales tilt drastically in favor of the Lord in this Psalm above all other ‘goods’. In thinking over these words I was struck by how easy it seems in daily life to reject all the good held out to us in the Lord, turning rather to the broken cisterns of fleeting pleasures, vain pursuits, the praise of men or the security of my possessions. Even now, as I compose this entry, I notice myself unconcsciously becoming more and more concerned that someone here at work will see this in passing and begin a new round of criticism or ridicule. Whether I like it or not, I am engaged in a battle to trust God. To continually set Him before me. If only I would take more notice of the beautiful corollary – ‘because He is at my right hand, I will never be shaken.’

My mission, then, a large part of which currently includes the mastery of spiritual disciplines, is not only very important but incredibly relevant. To have the glory, the counsel, the knowledge and the pleasures of the Lord set before us continually is the key to standing firm in the world, day after day after difficult day. It is the door to joy. It is what will bear up the heart among the millions of idols in daily pursuit of our affections. The view of David’s heart in this Psalm is another testimony to the truth that God’s commands are given for our joy.

‘Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.’

Deuteronomy 6:4-9