Journal

Psalm 16 - Satisfaction

Posted on April 29th, 2010, in the evening

Continuing my occasional series on Worshipping with the Psalms, here are my reflections on Psalm 16...

What a different tone! Almost without exception the grist to the millstone in the previous psalms has been David's complaints against the wicked, his cries for justice against evildoers or his cries for Israel against her enemies. Worship has seemed to be very much connected to adversity.

But in Psalm 16 there are only the faintest strains of trouble. This is a psalm of satisfaction in God.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
I have a goodly heritage.
v6, NRSV

With many of the previous Psalms I've wondered how I could lead a congregation with their strong and sometimes violent tone. I have the opposite problem here: if I led a congregation with this Psalm I wonder whether it wouldn't make it sound too much like God gives us an easy answer to our problems, or that Christian worship doesn't take the troubles of life seriously enough.

Perhaps only someone who is as honest as David is about his trials can also be this wholehearted about the peace and satisfaction to be found in God.

David seems supremely able to put his problems in perspective. Even as he deeply experiences the ravaging variety of human emotions he is (almost) always able to zoom out and see God high above everything, God more than able to overcome, God worthy of praise regardless of our circumstances.

Our worship should not deny our problems and circumstances but equally should not finish there. Above everything is the reality of God's perfection and ultimate intention to bring all things together. True worship has plenty of space for both.

Too often, I think, our worship can be afraid to assert either truth, preferring the fairly mediorce middle-ground.