Psalm 16 - Keep me safe

Today we come to Psalm 16. This Psalm contains some wonderful words, specifically tied in around the idea of being ‘secure’ (vs 5 and 9). 

The Psalm opens with a simple prayer. “Keep me safe, my God.’ Sometimes we don’t know what to pray for ourselves, sometimes we don’t know what to pray for those close to us, or for people who we have said we will pray for. These words give us simple direction, a simple prayer that we will be kept safe.

One of the things I have been learning as I have been reading through the Psalms is that the writer of each Psalm (here David) always has a reason for what they ask. David prays that God will keep Him safe because He is taking refuge in God, again it is a rich and comforting picture.

There is a real mystery to prayer and a real mystery to how God answers. Recently in church we have been working through the book of Acts. In Acts we read of Peter being miraculously freed from prison (ch 12 vs 1-7). In the same book we read of Stephen losing his life to an angry mob (ch 7 vs 54-60).  Did God keep Peter safe, and simply let Stephen die?

In Acts 7 vs 56 as he took his final breaths Stephen said ‘Look, I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at his right hand.’

It’s good to pray for safety here and now (see for example John’s prayer that his friend will enjoy good health in 3 John 2). However it seems that being kept ‘secure’ is a bigger thing, a deeper thing, than anything we can ultimately experience in this life.

This takes us back to Psalm 16. David is keeping his eyes on God, every step of the way (vs 8) and he knows that God is with him by day and night (vs 7).

David knows that in life and even in death God will never abandon him (vs 10). It is this reality that gives a security that he can never lose. 

Pause for thought: Re-read Psalm 16. What is that fills a believing heart with joy? (vs 11)