Verse of the Day 7/10

Verse of the Day 7/10

Psalm 16:11   You make known to me the path of life;

    in your presence there is fullness of joy;
    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.    English Standard Version (ESV)

I read today's verse yesterday morning before I knew what the day would hold in store.  What drew my attention was the phrase "fullness of joy".  When was the last time that you experienced "fullness of joy"?  It is more than just being happy, joy goes much deeper than that.  They are for times that bring happiness, satisfaction, perhaps laughter and times that you will remember for years, perhaps even the rest of your life.

I ended up taking my four grandchildren fishing yesterday.   My youngest grandson, Jack, caught his first catfish.  Everyone caught fish and had a great time.  There were smiles, laughter, happiness and joy all around.  I'm sure that we'll all remember the day and the time spent together enjoying God's creation, seeing catfish, bluegills and turtles in their natural surroundings.  (For those of you that are friends of mine on Facebook, you can see the pictures and the smiles on everyone's faces)

For me, it pointed to spending time with your grandkids and family in general.  We look forward to future moments that we'll treasure in the days and hours that we'll have together this week.  As Christians, we have more to look forward to than anything that this world has to offer.  We will experience the fullness of joy in the presence of God forevermore.

David Jeremiah writes, "The psalmist, David, anticipated the "fullness of joy" in God's presence—"pleasures forevermore." He looked forward to the eternal pleasure of experiencing God's presence, what we would refer to, from a New Testament perspective, as heaven. Not evident in the English translation of Psalm 16:11 is the fact that the word "joy" is plural in Hebrew, this plural form also occurs in Psalm 45:15. The plural form intensifies the joy David anticipated: absolute joy, various joys, or intense joy. This was no idle or casual expectation on his part; he was absolutely looking forward to the multifaceted joy of dwelling in God's presence forever."

May God continue to show us the path of life and the important things in life that give us joy, bring us pleasure and remind us of the fullness of joy to come in His presence and through eternity.

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Psalm 16:5-11 The Message (MSG)

^5-6 My choice is you, God, first and only.
    And now I find I'm your choice!
You set me up with a house and yard.
    And then you made me your heir!

^7-8 The wise counsel God gives when I'm awake
    is confirmed by my sleeping heart.
Day and night I'll stick with God;
    I've got a good thing going and I'm not letting go.

^9-10 I'm happy from the inside out,
    and from the outside in, I'm firmly formed.
You canceled my ticket to hell—
    that's not my destination!

¹¹ Now you've got my feet on the life path,
    all radiant from the shining of your face.
Ever since you took my hand,
    I'm on the right way.