Teaching Kidneys

 January 25, 2024

Psalm 16 is filled with interesting tidbits of wisdom and experience, along with a bit of dishonesty. My reflections on David’s words are today focused on the second half of the psalm:

“I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; 

in the night also my heart instructs me. 

I have set the Lord always before me; 

because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. 

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; 

my flesh also dwells secure. 

For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, 

or let your holy one see corruption. 

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 16:7-11 

My first thought is that David must have been an old man when he wrote this. In the second line of the 7th verse, most of our translations read, “In the night also, my heart instructs me,” or words to that effect. But the Hebrew seat of the emotions wasn’t the heart; it was the kidneys. So David was literally saying, “in the night, my kidneys instruct me.” Old men know what that means! I had to chuckle in appreciation when I read that line!

It’s the next verse that bothers me. When David says, “I have set the Lord always before me,” I’m not convinced he is being entirely honest. That incident with Bathsheba and the forbidden census wouldn’t have occurred if he had always set the Lord before him. I don’t fault him for this; who of us wouldn’t have selective memory regarding some of our past behavior?

What really impresses me about this psalm however, is what David says in the last half of both verses 8 and 11. In 8, he says that because God is at his right hand, he shall not be shaken. It’s a good word picture: David standing before Goliath unafraid because at his right, standing close next to him is the Lord. But the picture gets even better! In v. 11, he says “at your right hand are pleasures forever more.” Put those two together. If God is at David’s right hand, and at God’s right hand are eternal pleasures, the only way that can be put together is if they are standing face to face. If I am at God’s right hand, and he is at mine, the only possible way that can happen is if we are looking at each other face to face.

What a wonderful picture of our relationship with God! With God standing at his right hand there is strength and confidence; with me standing at God’s right hand there is eternal pleasure; joy, if you will. What better life combination could we have than strength and joy? They are bedfellows. I can’t imagine having joy but no strength; what would be the joy in that? And strength alone can be a burden apart from joy. But in Christ we have both.

Did I say “in Christ?” Where does he come in? I didn’t quote v.10.

“For you will not leave my soul in [the grave]; Neither will you allow your Holy One to see corruption.”

Our strength and joy are gifts of grace made possible because Jesus conquered death itself, so there is nothing that can separate us from him and his love. God looks at us face to face in the person of Jesus Christ. How can you beat that? Now if only I can keep my kidneys from teaching me in the night.