“I have set the LORD always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.”
Psalm 16:8-10
So much in this life can shake us. As we look at the world around us, as we look at those circumstances in our life that just aren’t playing out as we expected, we can begin to despair of ever seeing “the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13).
But His goodness is here. And we can stand firm, unshaken in the face of adversity. To do so requires a determination to set the Lord always before us. We fix our eyes on Him—setting our gaze, our heart, our thoughts on the truth of His Word and all that it tells us of His character, His glory, and His purposes.
The God of heaven, who set the stars in place and upholds the entire universe by the word of His power, the One who created and rules all things and sees every minute detail—this God is at your right hand. This God is not only rooting for you; He is actively working in your favor. In every situation. So whatever difficulties you may be facing and anything that lies in your future, you will not be shaken if you fix your eyes on your Lord and recall that He is at your right hand, immovable and unflinching as you faithfully walk the path He has laid before you.
Knowing this, our heart—our whole being—can rejoice. Even if we struggle to rejoice in the circumstance itself, we can rejoice in who our God is and how He is being faithful to us in the midst of it all. We dwell secure believing that “The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore” (Psalm 121:7-8). Because He will not abandon us—not in our struggle, not in our pain, not in confusion, and not in the temptation of the enemy who seeks to destroy us. In Christ, we are kept firmly in the grasp of our heavenly Father, and He will not leave us or let us go. From this time forth and forevermore.
In Pleasant Places 