“I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:8-11).
This section of Psalm 16 presents two right hands: David’s right hand and God’s right hand. David says that he has set the Lord always before him, and therefore, the Lord is at his right hand, so he shall not be moved. Then the Psalm closes with David saying that God will show him the path of life – in His presence is fulness of joy – at His right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
Throughout the Bible, the right hand symbolizes strength and blessing. In the Exodus, Israel sang that it was God’s right hand that had become glorious in power; God’s right hand dashed the enemy in pieces (Ex. 15). God’s right hand caused the Egyptians to be swallowed up. Later, Scripture says that the fiery law was given on Mt. Sinai by God’s right hand (Dt. 33:2). And many times in the New Testament, Jesus is said to have been raised from the dead and He sits at God’s right hand. As Psalm 16 insists, at God’s right hand are pleasures and blessings and strength forever.
But the task of evangelical faith is to constantly make sure that God is at our right hand. This means that God’s plan is the best one. His right hand is always right. And faith submits our plans to His plans; faith submits our right hand to His right hand.
Nowhere is that more important than when Christians face death itself. And that is what this Psalm does. David says that the Lord is at his right hand, and therefore his heart is glad and his flesh rests in hope. David knows that his soul is safe even in death, and he will not be abandoned to the grave. This is because God’s Holy One will not see corruption. As the apostles pointed out in the New Testament, that can’t be talking about David since he died and his body did decomposed, like all ordinary human bodies do. Yet they pointed out that Jesus went into the grave, but His body did not see any corruption. On the third day, He rose from the dead, alive forever. And that is how we know that at God’s right hand are pleasures forevermore. This is the path of life. At God’s right hand is Jesus, the resurrection and the life. At God’s right hand is the fullness of joy.
When old, blind Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons just before he died, Joseph tried to set his older son in front of Jacob’s right hand to make sure he received the greater blessing as the firstborn, but Jacob crossed his hands at the last minute and set his right hand on the younger son’s head. Of course Joseph objected, but Jacob knew what he was doing. He had wrestled with God his entire life, and he knew that he served the God of plot twists and surprise endings. But he also knew that even though God sometimes crosses His hands, His right hand is still always full of blessing.
And so that is our sure and certain hope here today. God, in His infinite goodness and wisdom, has crossed His hands, by taking this little child to Himself sooner than we expected or hoped, and we are tempted to object. But because of the resurrection of Jesus, we are absolutely certain that this little one is safe in His presence experiencing the fullness of joy, beyond what we can imagine, pleasures forevermore. God has crossed His hands, but His right hand is still full of blessing and strength and pleasures forevermore because Jesus is at His right hand, and we have set Jesus at our right hand, so that we shall not be moved.
In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.
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