Psalm 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. The first part of this verse is the same word repeated: make know make known to me the path of live alive… There is emphasis on knowing this path. It is critical to life. It is the way to live alive. Sounds kind of repetitive, right? But it’s not; there are a lot of people who are living dead. The things they pursue don’t bring life. To know the path of living alive is part of knowing and pursuing a relationship with The Life – Yeshua (remember, “I am the way, the truth, the LIFE”?). There are a lot of times when I feel like the living dead stumbling through life, even though I have been redeemed and seek to be obedient. But all the same, just because it’s not easy, doesn’t mean I am not alive. The last part is cool, too. Before God’s face there is fullness, abundance of joy. It’s not just about being in the same room as God. It’s about being before His face. It’s possible to be in the same room but not be acknowledged by the king. When I am in His presence, He acknowledges that I am there. I am before His face – He sees me. To be known, acknowledged by the King of Everything, should bring overwhelming joy! I am not nobody. I am KNOWN because He allows me in His presence, before His face. What joy that is!
Psalm 63:2-6 (2) Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. (3) Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. (4) So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. (5) My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. (6) When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, In Hebrew it’s got that ABCBA format: Sseeing God’s holiness and remembering and thinking about him are parallel. His goodness is better than life and it satisfies his body with fullness causing joy – these two parts are parallel. And the centerpiece is that I will bless Him as long as I live, lifting my hands in His name. Cool! Here are a couple of notes about the translation. (2) Thus I perceive/behold Your apartness/sacredness, see Your strength/might and glory. (3) Because Your faithfulness/goodness is better than life my lips praise You. (4) So I praise You while living; I lift up my hands to Your name. (5) My whole being is satisfied/full with choisest abundance and the fatness of blessing. My mouth praises praises with a joyful shout from my lips. (6) When I cause to remember You on my bed/couch, I muse/meditate in the night watch. Some thoughts: I praise God each day I’m alive because I can see how sacred and apart He is, how strong and glorious He is, and because He is so faithful and good. I love that the word “halah” which means praise also means to make a fool or or act like a madman! Maybe that’s why David danced so wildly when he returned the ark to Israel and his wife scorned him because he was acting like a fool… Perhaps worship is not a sedate and composed act. Maybe it requires that I give up my dignity to lift my hands and be joyful, unafraid of looking a little silly. I also love verse 5. When I looked at the Hebrew that verse got so much fuller (haha!). Maybe I missed something that indicated that I’m wrong, but in Hebrew it seems to be talking about fullness of abundance and blessing. And it’s not just good stuff, it’s the choicest of the abundance and the fatness of blessing. It’s like the cup that is filled and running over. Every bit of my being is full with His goodness, and my response is to burst forth with praise and to think about Him and truly see Him in each day. The word remember in verse 6 isn’t like “Oh, I just remembered something!” It’s deliberate, a causing myself to remember. Maybe I leave myself notes to think about the things He’s done, or maybe I can choose to read His word before bed. Remember, in the Hebrew world, the day starts in the evening. So, in the case of this verse, David is starting His day by remembering the things God has done for him and thinking about God. The first part of his day is spent with God. Maybe I wasn’t so crazy when I had my quiet time at night! Application: Be deliberate in remembering what God has done and who He is. Be uninhibited in praise. Be satisfied and satiated by the abundance and blessing He has given me.