Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.”
3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
in whom is all my delight.
4 The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or take their names on my lips.
5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
8 I have set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.
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.
In a prophetic allusion to the resurrection of Jesus, David proclaims that the pathway he treads leads through death, but death is not the end. It is but a doorway into eternal joy in the presence of the Lord. David writes here of his confidence in the Lord for they have an intimate relationship. David realizes that he can always depend on Him as He never fails those who are His. When David proclaims that the Lord is at his right hand, he means that He is always available and accessible. David knows that his life is in God’s hands. As he walks in righteousness, his life is proceeding according to God’s plan. He is safe and at peace.
As we read this Psalm we can be assured that those who trust in the Lord, who place their lives themselves to the Lord will experience stability and security in life, even in suffering and in the very face of death. This is an assurance we have because Jesus rose from the dead. He trusted in the Father and the Father vindicated Him.
Such an attitude is not widely held in our culture. Today many people seek to deny death, to cheat it and run from God. Such people will not have peace but only sorrow for they seek comfort in material things, sex, drugs, pleasure, and alcohol. But those in the Kingdom of God embrace death as David did, as the entrance into eternal joy.