Coming up….2021….

Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;

I have no good apart from you.”

As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,

in whom is all my delight.

The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;

their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out

or take their names on my lips.

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.

A “Mikhtam” of David is what Psalm 16 is titled as. “מִכְתָּ֥ם” occurred in the Bible six times, once here, and once in Psalm 56-60, but no one knows what it means. Given the year 2020 had been, and the unknown laid out for 2021, this would be a very good Psalm to begin the year with.

Every day in the news for the past year, you see how people trying everything they can to stay in control. Some ignore professional advice and opt for ones given by fraudsters and commentators that CoViD is a fragment of our imagination. Some went all out to isolate themselves and afraid of everything.

What is even more saddened is how some Christian leaders convinced themselves and their followers that meeting like nothing is wrong would mean they are obeying God instead of “men”. It is as if it is up to them to defend God’s honour.

This Psalm is all about our reliance on, and trusting God. It is from that knowledge that we can find joy even when we know we no control over anything in our lives and trust in nothing and no one but God. Our reaction is not to defy the law daring the government to “let us go” or to take the government to court. Instead, we are to do everything we can to obey the Commission of God with the circumstances we are given.

Treating the Church Building as the only sacred space we can worship in is idolizing it. Forcing members to pack into the building to hear the preacher preach, implying doing it behind a camera is “bowing to the devil”, is actually in danger of, pun intended, putting the pastor on a pedestal.