☀️ Psalm 16:11 | The Joy Set Before You

📧 In today’s email…

• 📕 A quick review of what we’ve learned this week

• 🙏 God, our refuge and strength

• 🧐 In case you missed it..

 🧠 Memorize

_{see if you know what words go in the blanks}

___ make _____ __ __ ___ ____ __ ____;

in your ________ _____ __ ________ __ joy; at your _____ ____ ___ _________ ___________.

Psalm 16:11

A review of what we’ve learned 🤔 

Here’s a quick recap of what we’ve learned this week:

Background Context

• Author: Written by David

• Purpose/theme: Psalm 16 is a prayer of confidence and trust in God.

Passage Context

Throughout the psalm, David models a life of trust and joy in God:

1. 👉 Trust: David continually seeks God as his refuge, showing that in times of uncertainty or danger, his confidence is in God’s protection and care.

2.  👉 Joy: Even amidst potential struggles, David rejoices in God’s presence, highlighting that true contentment and pleasure are found not in earthly circumstances but in a close relationship with the Lord.

No matter the circumstances we face, Psalm 16 encourages us to trust in God as our ultimate source of security and joy, knowing that His presence brings us the fullness of life.

Original Hebrew

Two key words in our memory verse this week are fullness and pleasures.

“Fullness” is the word śōḇaʿ → a state of being fully satisfied or content.

• In Psalm 16:11, it implies a deep, complete joy that fills one’s soul.

  • This joy isn’t just a fleeting emotion but a profound satisfaction that comes from being in God’s presence. 

“Pleasures” is the word nāʿîm → means pleasant or delightful.

• In Psalm 16:11, It conveys a sense of enduring pleasure and enjoyment.

• What God offers at His right hand is not temporary or superficial but deeply satisfying and eternally delightful.

In short:

God offers us eternal pleasures that last long after any suffering or sin we may experience here on earth.

In this life, we will never experience more satisfaction than being in His presence and walking the path that he has planned for us.

Eternal Heirs 👑 

This week we were also reminded of this important truth…

You are not defined by your circumstances today.

You are a child of God and a fellow heir with Christ.

Walk in that true identity today.

The Joy Set Before You ☀️ 

Many people think that life is about finding happiness.

And that the key to being happy is good circumstances.

Intellectually, we know that thanks to what Jesus did through his life, death and resurrection, we can have joy no matter the circumstances of life.

But deep down, it’s easy to believe two lies:

• My joy is dependent on everything going well in my life (money in the bank, good health, how well my kids are behaving, etc.).

• I don’t have the power/capacity to be joyful even when life is hard. I can only be happy if circumstances are good.

But let’s remember Jesus’ words in John 15:

Jesus says:

It’s not even your joy or your capacity to have joy in hard circumstances that matters.

It’s not up to you to somehow muster up joy or pretend to be happy when you’re being squeezed by life.

Jesus is the supplier of your joy.

And his is the only kind that can stand in the face of what this world throws at you.

He offers his joy.

What a gift.

As we close out this week, I encourage you to take time to just delight in God’s presence with you.

That is where the joy is.

After all, it was for the joy set before him that Jesus endured the cross:

Jesus was motivated to save you by the joy he would experience spending eternity with you.

So friends, may your joy be found in His presence this weekend 🙏

In Case You Missed It 👀 

In case you missed it, here are some resources to help you dive deeper into this week’s memory verse:

• 📹️ Bible Project: Overview of Psalms (link)

• 📹️ Psalm 16 Bible Study: Pleasures Forevermore (link)

• 🏡 Put Psalm 16 in your house! (link)

• 📚️ The Joyful Christian by C.S. Lewis (link)

• 🎵 I Will Exalt by Bethel Music and Amanda Cook (Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music)

Answer key ✅ 

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 16:11

How did you do? 💡