Placing Christ In His Rightful Place

Placing Christ In His Rightful Place

 

“The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.  The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.  I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.  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.  You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  Psalm 16:5-11 (ESV)


There is so much that “jumps out” when we read God’s Word.  There is instruction, encouragement, examples of faithfulness, guidance, etc. that illustrate vividly the path we are to take as followers of Christ.  When we do more in depth study of the text, or simply come to understand the culture of the day, the scripture often takes on a deeper/fuller impact on our understanding.  This passage is such a passage!

Psalm 16:8 above reads, “I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.”

 

In the culture of David’s day, a person’s closest friend and advisor would usually sit at the right of the person.  Thus, we know the saying, “right hand man.”  In the New Testament, the writer of Hebrews refers to Jesus as sitting down after His resurrection "at the right hand of the Majesty on high."  God gave Christ Jesus the highest honor that exists in heaven or on earth.

With that knowledge, we begin to more fully understand the significance of what David was saying in Psalm 16.  BY acknowledging God's place at his "right hand," he is making a huge statement in a small phrase!  He is stating emphatically that God occupies the most important position in his life.  He is declaring that God has priority over every other person in his life and every other thing that could occupy his attention.  He is saying to all that God is his closest friend and his trusted advisor.

David had come to learn through the experiences of life that he would be nowhere without the guidance and protection of God.  He had come to the point that there was no question about where to put his trust.  I think there is a truth we all can see in the accounts of David’s - as long as God was in His rightful place in David's life, David could take on anything the world had to offer.  With God in His rightful place, come what may, David would not be afraid, could take on any enemy, and slayed the giants in his life.  We can also see in the accounts of David’s life that when God was NOT in His rightful place that David, the people around him, and the entire nation of suffered!  There is a great lesson for us today in this one statement.  .

We need to realize that we can live with the same confidence that David did.  That is WHEN we reserve the most high place in our lives for our Lord Jesus Christ!  The piercing question before us is this, “Have we reserved the most important place in your life for God, or have you given the honor seat to someone (or something) else?”  The truth is, only one guest can sit at your right hand.

Matthew 6: 33 tells us that we MUST seek FIRST Christ and His righteousness.  To experience the fullness of Christ today, we must place Him in His rightful place.  If someone else sits in that seat, you will be like David when he allowed something or someone else to occupy the seat at his right hand.  However, if we make Him LORD of ALL, then we can experience the fullness of life that David is referring to in this Psalm.

Pray today that we will grow closer to our Living Lord Jesus Christ.  Pray that we will place Him in His rightful seat of honor in our lives.  Pray that we will LISTEN and HEAR the counsel of our Lord as we seek to honor Him with our lives THIS day!