Treasure - here and now

Gifts are fun!

Don't ya just love presents?

So much fun to anticipate, to imagine what's inside . . . 

God gives us gifts, too. Blessings galore. More than we can imagine. More than we can comprehend.

Some blessings are in the here and now.

Some are in the hereafter.

Let's look back at our psalm:

I will bless the Lord who has counseled me;

Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.

I have set the Lord continually before me;

Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices;

My flesh also will dwell securely.

For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;

Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.

You will make known to me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. (v. 7-11)

Interesting, isn't it, that when David considers God's gifts, he doesn't talk about the palace, the gold and jewels, the victories, the wealth, the power, etc. Instead, he talks about the Lord Himself being the treasured gift. The gifts that he lists all result from the ultimate blessing of having God as our treasure.

The first thing David muses on is the gift of God's counsel and instruction. The word "night" in verse seven is plural in the Hebrew, so if David were simply talking to us, he might say, "Night after night the Lord counseled me." He might have been referring to the night watches or to times when he woke up in the night and thought about the Lord. 

On my bed I remember you;
    I think of you through the watches of the night. (Psalm 63:6)

I will remember my song in the night;
I will meditate with my heart,
And my spirit ponders: (Psalm 77:6)

The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;
And His song will be with me in the night,
A prayer to the God of my life. (Psalm 42:8)

As a fellow insomniac, I am in the same boat as David. Many nights I am awake in the "wee" hours and my thoughts are on the Lord and on the scriptures. When we treasure God's Word in our hearts, He will use it to instruct us. He will utilize it to sustain us during the nights of difficulty and in the daylight hours of trials.

With Your counsel You will guide me,
And afterward receive me to glory. (Psalm 73:24)

Another blessing from keeping our focus on God as our treasure is in verse eight above. Scoot back up there and check it out . . . we will experience stability and peace in trials. 

"I will not be shaken."

"My heart is glad."

"My flesh ...will dwell securely."

Those are the words of a man at peace and secure in God. And we can experience that security, too.

 For David says of Him,‘I saw the Lord always in my presence; For He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken. (Acts 2:25)

They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the Lord was my stay. (Psalm 18:17) 

Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)

Just as David did, we can have safety and security, because God is with us.