The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 16:8

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

The supreme choice of the soul.

"I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved." "I have set Christ always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved."

I. THIS IS TO MAKE THE JOURNEY OF LIFE FULL OF LIGHT. Pillar of cloud and fire. And this, in whatever view you look at this life—whether as a stage on which work has to be done, or on which good has to be acquired, or as a journey to reach our destiny. By this light we can clearly see the nature of the work that must be done; the kind of good that must be sought; and the glorious destiny awaiting us. But let a man make himself or the world the light by which he walks, the guide he follows, then his work, his well-being, and the future all become dark. Some dark moments there will be, when God's way is through the clouds or through the great deep.

II. THIS WILL MAKE US TRULY STRONG. "I shall not be moved." We may know duty, self-interest, and the way to honour, and yet be too weak to follow them. Weakness of purpose and will is our misery and guilt. It is not merely our misfortune, but our sin. Importance of strength. "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." The only way to become strong is by "looking unto Jesus." All other stimulants soon spend their strength and leave us prostrate. But the setting God always before us will endow us with all strength to resist all temptations, and all fortitude to endure.

III. THIS IS TO MAKE THE AIM OF LIFE REALLY GREAT. Our lives are mostly paltry and little. We go about filled with little vanities and ambitions, aiming at little ends, and content with little results. Often under the guise of humility our larger aims are mostly of the depraved or secular sort—wealth; social position; fame on the battlefield, or in the senate, or in literature. But to "have God always before us" is the real lasting greatness. This is the only true ideal of life.

IV. THIS IS TO MAKE THE WAY OF LIFE SECURE. "Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved."

1. Not moved with fear.

2. Not moved from his hope.

3. Not moved from his righteousness.—S.

Psalms 15

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