I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Psalm 16:8
In my past life, I was a Regulatory Compliance Manager. Part of my job was to schedule and conduct quality systems audits with my team. During an audit, one of those triggers of my spider-sense was “absolute” words. When someone would say words like every, always, never, all, etc., I would see it as a challenge to see if this was true. About 99% of the time, it wasn’t. I called this “low lying fruit.”
Tell me that you “always” calibrate the measuring equipment, I would look for proof in the records. Tell me you “never” forget to maintenance the machine on schedule, and I’ll be sure to focus on those records. Boast that you performed validation after “every” design change…
So when the psalmist says he “always” sets the Lord before him, I am suspicious, especially when it’s David. Why, because David would screw up in mighty ways. Yet he was still a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), and look at the promises that come to David from God. The Messiah will come from his line, and his throne will never be empty.
That is the beauty of God’s mercy. We can be screw-ups, but if we try to always keep the Lord before us, the Lord steps up to fill the void!
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
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