For the Graduates, Psalm 16

I have been thinking about Psalm 16 lately, especially in light of the fact that I have several friends that are graduating (from high school, college, and seminary). The inevitable question of “What’s next?” always seems to pop up. For some of these friends, the answer is simple: “going to college at XYZ in the fall,” or “starting work at ____.” For others, after saying they will work on sleeping for at least a week, the question just draws an uncomfortable “I don’t know.” I often feel the same way as I try to figure out this whole writing for a living thing.

Psalm 16 provides a lot of hope and security for those who trust in the Lord:

Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
² I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
    I have no good apart from you.”

³ As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
    in whom is all my delight.

⁴ 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.

⁵ The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
    you hold my lot.
⁶ The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

⁷ I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
    in the night also my heart instructs me.
⁸I have set the Lord always before me;
    because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
    my flesh also dwells secure.
¹⁰ For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
    or let your holy one see corruption.

¹¹ You make known to me the path of life;
    in your presence there is fullness of joy;
    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

God is not just a good thing in our lives, He is the best thing, and focusing on Him first in all we do draws everything else into perspective. We can only know true joy when we are in a right relationship with Him and seeking Him.

For those recent graduates, verses 5-8 especially come to mind. God has given us a specific “lot” and “future” in life. But beyond that lot or future is the joy that comes with knowing and embracing the fact that God is the best thing we have; He is our portion and our cup which overflows. Therefore, we can stand up to our culture’s insistence to eat, drink, have sex, and be merry in college with the knowledge that God is better than those things and all they provide is a fleeting joy; not the full and lasting joy that comes with knowing our Savior. We can fight the despair and desperation of being unemployed and in debt from an expensive education by knowing that God has already set the lines of our inheritance and assures us that it is a good one. We may be penniless, homeless, and friendless, but because of our faith in Christ, we are called sons and daughters of God, and heirs with Christ!

This is not to say that life post-graduation is not hard, and that we will not face trials. We will! If we trust God and desire to be more Christ-like we will certainly face trials as God detaches us from the world more and more, and attaches us to Him. This is not an easy process. The psalmist is rejoicing though because he has the secret to success through these trials: dependence and reliance on God. Only with God can be face the good, the bad, and the ugly of our futures and stand unshaken.

My prayer for all the high school, college, and seminary graduates at this time is that they would draw closer to God as they face uncertainty in their futures, and the changes that come with completing their current level of education. May God make known to them the path of life, the joy that comes with His presence, and the sure blessings that await us all as we follow His will for our lives. Amen and Amen!