"I HAVE SET THE LORD ALWAYS BEFORE ME"

A short while back, I was leaving the nursing home (my mother had another stroke), and I passed a thin, little, elderly gentleman (whom I had never met) resting in his wheelchair in the sunshine outside the nursing home door.  Being in a bit of a hurry, I was past him and opening my car door before I fully realized the Holy Spirit was nudging me to talk to that elderly man.  But I was in a hurry, so I climbed into the car, started the engine, and backed out.  Then I remembered a point in our pastor’s sermon that morning, “Be obedient.”  So….I pulled under the portico, popped out of my car, and approached the gentleman with “I noticed you looked a bit lonely, and I wanted to tell you that Jesus loves you.”  The light of a million suns burst forth from his face as he excitedly told me, “Yes, yes, I know!  Jesus loves me!!  And He’s right here beside me!  He goes with me wherever I go!”  For the next 5 minutes, we proceeded to talk together with great joy about the Lord, about the coming rapture, and about the awesome life that awaits us.  I left feeling SO BLESSED and encouraged.  And here I thought it was for the little old man’s sake that God wanted me to stop!

When I got home, I sat down to have a little quiet time with the Lord (since I’d left the house at 7:00am without more than a quick prayer).  I’m currently reading through Acts, and the verses were Acts 2:25-28, talking about when Peter got up and addressed the amazed crowd of onlookers immediately after Pentecost.  Peter is talking about what David says concerning the Lord in Psalm 16:8-11, “I have set the Lord always before me, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken or overthrown or cast down.” 

It brought to mind the little old man in the nursing home; he had given me a picture example of that verse.  In an atmosphere of public noise, lack of normal privacy that we in our home take for granted, dependence on others, and only a part of a room to call his own, he was able to be joyful and expectant and thankful (instead of miserable), because he saw in his mind’s eye the Lord constantly beside him.  It struck me as I studied the verses that it is an act of choice to “set the Lord constantly before us.”

The rest of the verses go on to explain the benefits of doing so:

·         We won’t be shaken or overthrown or cast down, so troubles and problems won’t get to us and Satan won’t defeat us.  Verse 25

·         Our heart will rejoice and our tongue will exult exceedingly (we’ll be speaking and singing praise).  Verse 26

·         Our flesh will dwell in hope (absolute knowing of heaven coming!)  verse 26

·         He will show us the path of life (the way we should go)  verse 28

·         We will be enraptured with and in His Presence (filled exceedingly with joy because of our fellowship with the Lord).  Verse 28

 Which leads back to the other point of my pastor’s sermon:  “Fall in love with God and be satisfied with His fellowship”.  The little old man was even beyond satisfied; he was ENRAPTURED with the Lord.