April 19 Lectionary Psalm 16

The Psalmist calls upon God to continue protecting and blessing him, as God has in the past.  He refuses to worship other gods, nor does he even acknowledge them, for to the Psalmist, God alone is Lord, and only God is worthy of the Psalmist's continuous worship.  Because the Psalmist walks with God (constantly in prayer and seeking God's will), his path is steady and sure.  With God at his right hand, he cannot falter.

Striking in this psalm is how the author moves from how God has blessed his earthly life, to how God will walk with him through death to the other side.  God will not let him fall into the Pit, for God's path is the path of life.  This is not a pagan belief in reincarnation or immortality of the soul, but a faithful confession that in God - and only in YHWH - is there life, now and beyond the grave.  It is not us who will defeat death, but God. And, as Paul wrote, because we participate in the death of Christ, we will also live eternally with him.

These words bring comfort as we face any and all of life's challenges, but even more immediately, as we struggle with a global viral pandemic.  This pestilence will bring death to many, and sickness to many more.  But even in the face of death, we can trust in God to walk beside us (at our right hand) onto the path of Life.

Worshipping other gods will bring us only sorrow.  Governments and scientists may mitigate the ravages of the pandemic, but they cannot defeat or repel it.  Our economy will not save us; like the gods made of stone and wood, Wall Street has failed us and jobless rates have soared.  Only the true God, YHWH, can save us.  In God alone must we put our trust.