Psalm 16 - Eternal joy shining through the dark clouds of sorrow

Jesus, I thank you that this psalm is a glimpse into your soul. We have the privilege of hearing a good portion of this psalm quoted in the first-ever sermon of the early church in Acts 2. And, as Peter would point out, David said this about you (Acts 2: 25).

Jesus, as David glimpsed into the future, it’s as if David was expressing your very heart.  

What, then, was your heart?  

- Your heart was glad (v. 9).

- your whole being rejoiced (v. 9).

- Your heart is full of joy (v. 11).

- Your heart is experiencing eternal pleasures (v. 11).

Jesus, you knew suffering in your earthly life. In fact, Isaiah 55:3 says that you were a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” You died as a slave. But, as Hebrews 12:2 declares, you endured the cross because of the “joy that was before you” - the joy on the other side of the cross. Jesus, in the dark clouds of sorrow and grief, there were the bright rays of light shining through.  

Jesus, you were no stoic. You didn’t go through life devoid of emotion. Like us, you knew sorrow and grief. And, like us, you knew gladness and joy.  

But, Jesus, as Peter points out in his sermon, death (and sorrow and pain) didn’t have the last word. On the other side of the grave, there is now full-throttled fullness of joy and delight and gladness and rejoicing and eternal pleasures. At the Father’s right hand, you are eternally happy.  

And Jesus, even though we experience sorrow and grief now, and even though it is sometimes very difficult to have joy in this pain-filled world, you have secured for us your joy, your delight, your gladness, your rejoicing, and your eternal pleasures. There will be a day when there will no longer be any tears, and we will enter your everlasting joy. Until that day, we rejoice in faith.

Amen