A daunting part of the wilderness journey is uncertainty and lack of clear direction. Just watching or reading the news, or clicking through social media, this week we are confronted with many voices and many counsels. Some are panicked, some misinformed, some have gone too far, some haven’t gone far enough. We can be left feeling very uncertain and afraid wondering who to trust and what to do. While listening to health and government officials is our best course for navigating the coronavirus pandemic, THAT won’t necessarily calm the anxiety and worry in our hearts. What will happen to my elderly family members? What will happen to my job? What will happen to me? Will things ever go back to ‘normal’? These are the questions that keep us up at night. The answer to these questions, and others like it, is that we don’t really know. Things are uncertain.

Psalm 16 says: I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also, my heart instructs me. I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved (v.7-8). The psalmist is clear in proclaiming that in the dark of night and whenever we can be shaken to our core…   it is God whom we trust and follow, it is God who give us certainty and strength.

As the people of God, and followers of Jesus, we aren’t dismayed by uncertainty. We don’t lose hope because we can’t see the end of this, or any, challenge yet. Psalm 16 gives us some much-needed assurance of God character and promises. Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge (v.1). God has promised to be a refuge, safe-space, accessible to us always and everywhere because God is always and everywhere present. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” (v.2). God is good! God is the ONLY enduring good. And THIS God is OUR God! We have a close and personal relationship with this God who is so good. The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. I have a goodly heritage (v.5-6). While it’s tempting to ‘go our own way’ and seek our own rewards in life, when we stick with God, and remain faithful, our lives over the long-term are filled with goodness and plenty. All of this leads the psalmist to conclude Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure (v.9).

The concluding verse of the psalm are words for us to live by in these days. Maybe today as we lean on God a little more dependently, trust in God a little more deeply, follow God a little more closely, and hope in God a little more fully we can make these words our own: You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore (v.11)