No Good Apart From God

The counseling class I'm taking has been so good for pressing us toward practical, specific application of Scripture in our lives.  This passage from Psalm 16 has been so encouraging to me as I press toward contentment when it would be easier to complain, or feel inferior to others for what they have and I don't--

I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from You."

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 have set the LORD always before me;

Therefore, my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices.

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: 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11)

When I am not choosing joy and contentment, I am valuing other things above God, and above what He has sovereignly put in my life.  ***This is incorporating my recent struggles to be content; your situation may be entirely different.***   This is an exact opposite of what is written above, from Psalm 16. :

I proclaim to the world, "God is not my Lord & Master; I value other things, and want them, more than Him." 

Possessions and a beautiful house is what I will choose-- I want to pour my own cup;  I will clutch and manipulate my life to get maximum comfort, ease, and stylishness with my own hands rather than trust my life in God's hands.

I have set my own desires and my culture's standards of what is desirable always before me. 

Therefore, my heart is continually dissatisfied, and my whole being sulks.

I try to chart my own path of life without regard to what God says; outside of His presence I am empty and discontent; away from Him I find sorrow and discouragement.

Pretty convicting, isn't it, to see the exact opposite so clearly laid out?  It challenges me to think about which of these I will choose each day.



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