(Psalm 16:11) – One Amazing Verse

This one verse has so much to meditate on that I thought I would spend an entire devotion unpacking its rich meaning. When David penned the following words he gave us a most remarkable mantra to live by: “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11). This verse is neatly divided into three parts:

You will show me the path of life

As I mediate on the word path I get excited because isn’t this the desire of all of us to know what our path in life should be. We all want meaning and direction as we travel on this journey called life and here David tells us that God will show each of us how we are to walk with Him to enjoy a most rewarding life.

In (Psalm 119:105) the psalmist shares how the Bible is the ultimate source of light to our path: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” As we read the Scriptures God will give us the light we need to travel through life.

In addition (Psalm 25:10) shares: “All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.” Here we see that the paths of the Lord contain two of our most important traveling companions – mercy and truth. As we obey God’s word His mercy will always surround us and we can be certain that the truth of the Lord will be the bedrock on which we stand. And life without truth is a life not worth living.

We all want direction in life and (Proverbs 3:5-6) is the best advice I have ever seen on this subject for we read: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” When we trust in God we can be certain that He will give us the best directions to our unique paths in life.

In Your presence is fullness of joy

Perhaps more than anything else in life, fullness of joy is what we all want. The key question is, is this possible and if so how can we obtain it? I believe that the only way to get it is to get into the presence of the Lord. The more we spend time in the Word of God, the more we pray, and the more we are obedient to the things of the Lord, the closer we can get to being in the presence of the Lord. When we seek God with a whole heart we will not only find Him but will want to always obey Him. Joy is a by-product of obedience to God, and there is a direct correlation to the more we obey to the more joy we will receive.

Keeping our minds on Jesus and spending time in praise and thanksgiving for all of His blessings will also usher us into the presence of the Lord and bring joy to our soul. And the beauty of the Christian walk is that even when we go through difficult trials we can still have fullness of joy because joy doesn’t depend on circumstances but on obedience to the Lord. The reason why James says: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,” (James 1:2) is that trials help increase our faith as we see God work through them; and as a result, we can overcome them and bring glory to God. And my friends nothing can bring us more joy than when we know we are doing something that brings glory to Jesus.

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore

In (Hebrews 11:24-25) we read: “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.” We can choose to disobey God and experience passing pleasures or we can strive to be obedient to God’s Word and come into His presence, where we read in (Psalm 16:11): “…In Thy presence is fulness of joy; in Thy right hand there are pleasures forever.” The choice is our – passing pleasures or pleasures forever.

While sin can be pleasurable it is often very fleeting and for the true Christian brings real sorrow when we realize that we have disappointed God. I believe that the expression “at Your right hand,” implies being obedient to Jesus, spending time in His presence, and, therefore, experiencing the rich pleasures of having an intimate relationship with our Savior.

Imagine knowing the best path to travel on in life, having fullness of joy, and experiencing rich pleasures, now and in eternity, are all available to us as children of God. There can be nothing more wonderful than knowing and being in a close love relationship with Jesus!