Attention to details

I was so embarrassed.  There in my PowerPoint presentation was a rosary.  Why hadn't I seen it earlier?  I guess it is because I don't always pay attention to details.  I would make a terrible witness.  What was the colour of hair? Did she wear glasses?  What colour was his eyes?  What was he wearing?  I can seldom answer these questions because I don't pay attention to the details.
I taught mathematics and in mathematics I always stressed the importance of details.  Signs, brackets, equal signs, etc.  The details always are important in mathematics but they are also important in life and certainly in Bible study.
In the parable of the prodigal son if you miss the details you miss much of the message of the parable.  The father was watching for his son, the father ran to his son, and so much more.  There is always truth at the surface but as you dig deeper into the Word of God you will discover greater and greater riches.  I need to learn to pay attention to details.

We would see Jesus.

In John 12 some Greeks had come to Philip with a request.  The request was that they wanted to see Jesus.  Philip then had the honour of taking them to the Master.
When we read the Psalms we should want to see Jesus.  Psalm 16 is a Psalm about Jesus.  He is our refuge in life, He is our portion, He is our strength, He is our hope in death.  It is at His right hand that we have pleasures for evermore.  It is in His presence that there is fullness of joy.  John says in John 15:11, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." 
Do we see Jesus when we read the Old Testament?  Do we want to see Jesus when we read the Psalms?

Right hand

David says in Psalm 16:8, "I keep my eyes always on the Lord.  With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken."  Later he says, "You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."  Psalm 16:11

The right hand is usually a symbol of strength.  With the Lord at my right hand I know that He is my strength.  However, in the last verse he says that at the Lord's right hand there is pleasure for evermore.  When I am at the Lord's right hand I know that I am under His care.

When I was a child and I went for a walk with my dad he would take my left hand in his right hand and walk with me.  I was at his right hand but he was caring for me and protecting me.  When I became a man and my father was old and ill I would again walk with him but now he took my right arm and I gave him strength.  I often feel like the child walking with the Lord with my left hand in His right hand.  But sometimes I feel like the feeble old man who needs to put my left hand in His right so that he can help me walk.

Turning sorrow into joy

What brings joy?  Certainly it is not possessions.  How many people have won the lottery only to have their lives come apart afterward?  Many families fight over inheritances only to destroy relationships.  David says, "Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more. I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods or take up their names on my lips."  Psalm 16:4
The other gods that we run after are money, pleasure, power, self but none of these will bring joy.  They may bring temporary happiness but it is only for a time.
David ends this Psalm with these words, "You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."  Joy is found in the presence of the Lord.  Other translations such as the ESV say, "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."  I like this translation.  It tells us that in the presence of God there is joy.  Notice the tense of the verb.  It does not say that there will be but that there is joy.  We can experience the presence of the Lord and His joy today.
What are you looking to for joy?  Remember that other gods will not bring joy.

Nothing good

When I look at my possessions I realize that I don't have a lot of good things.  If my life was measured by what I own then my life would not be worth very much. 
However, I do have good things but they are not measured in money but they are still good things. 
David says that apart from the Lord he has nothing good.  However, a few verses later he says this, "The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance."  Psalm 16:6  When we measure our lives by our possessions we are poor but when we know that we have a delightful inheritance then though we may appear to the world to be poor we are rich.  Paul writes to the church in Galatia, "If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."  Galatians 3:29
Can we say that we have nothing good when we are heirs with God's people, joint heirs with Jesus Christ?  We have nothing good in ourselves but in Him we are rich.

Security

When we lived in the Philippines we saw security guards everywhere.  They were at the school we taught in, they were at the church we attended, they were at every store we visited. 

Psalm 16 begins with this prayer, "Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge."  David prays that the Lord will be his refuge, he is being hunted by Saul and his life is in danger.  Then a few lines later he makes this statement, "Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure."  David's prayer for security is answered in the Lord.  Too often we pray for things when the answer is not in the things we pray for but in the Lord himself.  We pray for patience but He is our patience.  We pray for love and He is our love.  We pray for these things as if the Lord will wrap them up and send them down to us but that is not what happens.  We need to know that our security is in the Lord himself. 

David goes on to say, "I keep my eyes always on the Lord.  With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken."

Send them out with honour

This past Sunday we were able to give one of the class members who is going on a missions trip $200 to give to the people she will be working with.  It is part of sending them out with honour.  One of the people who contributed money was an elderly lady who handed me $50 and said that she was going to spend it on herself but this was more important.
Too often we send our missionaries out with a verbal blessing and a promise to pray for them but do we send them out with honour?  To send them out with honour is to make their work easier.  It is not giving them the left overs or giving them of our abundance but giving them out of love; love for them, love for the people that they are going to and love for the Lord. 
Let us always remember to treat those involved in God's work with honour.