The Secret of Unshakeable Faith, Part 1
“I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will You let Your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.”
Psalm 16:7-11 (NIV)
What do you think about at night when you can’t sleep? Someone said, “Instead of counting sheep, you should talk to the Shepherd.” Psalm 16 was written by a shepherd who became a King, David. When David couldn’t sleep, he thought about the Lord. He listened for His counsel and the quiet whisper of God’s voice to his heart. No wonder David was called a man after God’s own heart!
In verse 8 he wrote, “I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” This is a unique sense of security felt by Christ followers who keep their eyes on the Lord despite the troubles around them. It is the secret of unshakeable faith! He is not saying that you’ll be exempt from problems. Jesus told us that in this world we would have troubles. In Matthew 5:45 (NIV), He said, “He (GOD) causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” When our world is rocked with bad news, we have the good news that our Father is in charge of this world! Unbelievers live with a sense of hopelessness and confusion about their purpose and destiny, but the Christ follower has his eyes fixed on the Lord with the confidence of His presence.
Now, the Psalm shifts from the Psalmist’s relationship with God to a prophetic revelation of the Messiah’s relationship with His Father, describing His life, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension in verses 8 through 11. It’s a passage that both Peter and Paul refer to in the New Testament that validates the claim of Jesus as the Messiah! Peter quotes from it in his first sermon at Pentecost in Acts 2:25-31. It was the heart of his message! When Peter quoted this Psalm in his sermon that day, he explained it like this in verses 29 to 31, “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that He would place one of His descendants on His throne. Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that He was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did His body see decay.”
Like David, you and I can face death with a glad heart, confident that one day, we, too, will have a new glorified body like Christ! God will not abandon us in the grave! Death will have its day, but resurrection will have all eternity!
Another important part of your daily devotional is spending time with God in prayer. The Woodlands Church Prayer Board lists prayer requests submitted by our members and provides a way to send them some encouragement by using a button on the page to let them know that you prayed for them. Whether you use the Prayer Board, or pray from your heart, the goal is to build the habit of incorporating prayer into your quiet time.
Need prayer yourself? Let us know by submitting a prayer request on the Woodlands Church Prayer Board.