A post near the end of January does not qualify as a Happy New Year piece. Especially in the light of a devastating earthquake in Haiti, lingering illnesses in the family, and deaths of family members of friends of ours. As I read Psalm 16 I began contemplating the difference between 'happy'and 'joy'. In the Christian worldview the difference between the two words is significant. We can be happy only when things are going well and our spirits are uplifted, whereas a state of joyfulness is not dependent upon our circumstances, but rather a willful state of mind (James 1:2, 1Thessalonians 5:16).
I find that David has a great perspective on a new year, one that focuses on his relationship to God and not on what his resolutions for the year might be. In verse one he talks about the need to be preserved by God ...
and the need to take refuge in God. The idea of planning for a year is sobering in light of verse 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." Do my plans begin and end with God? If someone looked at my resolutions, would they find them God honoring?
When our planes are God directed plans we can have great confidence as David writes in verse eight! "I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken." We can step beyond happiness and enjoy joyfulness when we involve God in our plans seeking him in all aspects of our life for verse 11 states; "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
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