7/11

Psalms 16:2

²I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."

The apostle James tells us that every good gift is from above (James 1:17). In the Hebrew language, David is saying the God of Israel, YHWH, is his master. Apart from YHWH there is no good to be found. Unless He is your master, you will never find anything good. That is the dilemma the world faces. Man wants to be his own master, but he also wants good. It is not possible.

The enemy of our soul will lie to us and tell us that something is good. We may experience a kind of temporal pleasure from it. But ultimately it is bad for us. Most of the temptations he offers cause us to be enslaved by them. We end up forsaking what could be good and indulging to the point of destruction. The forbidden excites but disappoints in the end.

On the other hand, the pleasures of God are eternal. The last verse of this psalm declares that at the right hand of the LORD are pleasures forever. That which is really good endures. True good is only found with the LORD as your Lord. He will never disappoint. He will never lie. He never gives us what is destructive to our soul. The choice is clear, temporal pleasures that chain us to evil, or Jesus as master of our lives with true good that gives pleasure forever.

Prayer: LORD, help me to discern the truth from a lie. Help me to see that Your rule over my life is true joy.