A God of Joy and Pleasure: Reflections on Psalm 16

April 24, 2011 by John Holbert

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As a result, the poet is not "given up to Sheol," nor is forced to see "the Pit," two common designations of the place of death (v. 10). On the contrary, "You show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures for evermore" (v. 11). And there is the reason why Psalm 16 is read on the Second Sunday of Easter. This God, this great YHWH, is in the business of life, not death. This God's presence is filled with joy and pleasures forever. All of our beings—kidneys, heart, pulse, our whole bodies—are claimed for this God who calls us to reject all other holy ones and mighty ones, and to give ourselves over to this God only. Jesus is alive, and so can we be if we live in the power and gift of this joyful and pleasurable God.

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About John Holbert

John C. Holbert is the Lois Craddock Perkins Professor Emeritus of Homiletics at Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, TX.

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