“For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved.” (Acts 2:25)
My mother used to say about something (or someone) that it (or they) was “as handy as a pocket on a shirt”; the idea being that nothing is more helpful than having what you need close at hand. In Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost, he refers back to David’s words in the last five verses of Psalm sixteen. He tells the people it was Jesus Christ whom David had in mind when he spoke those words two-thousand years earlier, as evidenced by verse twenty-seven. David said that the God who would one day come to earth, die, and be raised from the grave, was as near to him as his own right hand. The implications of that are staggering. David himself provides us with a few of them. Having God close at hand provides:
1. Stability- “…I should not be moved” (v. 25)
2. Joy – “Therefore did my heart rejoice…thou shalt make me
full of joy…” (vv. 26 & 28)
3. Direction- “Thou hast made known to me the ways of life”
(v. 28)
4. Hope – “…moreover my flesh also shall rest in hope”
(vv. 26 &27)
I don’t know about you, but over the years my prayer life has evolved into more of an ongoing dialogue than a scheduled audience. You may fault me for this, but it works for me. This is not to characterize God as being at my beck and call, but He did say, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee” (Jer.33:3). When I remember and take advantage of the fact that God is “on my right hand,” I experience emotional stability, spiritual joy, purpose of life, and unwavering hope. Because He lives, I, too, shall live…forever (John 15:19b). And as they say, “I know He’s alive; I talked to Him today!” I can talk to Him every day—all day—because He is close at hand.
He walks with me, and He talks with me;
And He tells me I am His own.
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.
- C. Austin Miles
My mother used to say about something (or someone) that it (or they) was “as handy as a pocket on a shirt”; the idea being that nothing is more helpful than having what you need close at hand. In Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost, he refers back to David’s words in the last five verses of Psalm sixteen. He tells the people it was Jesus Christ whom David had in mind when he spoke those words two-thousand years earlier, as evidenced by verse twenty-seven. David said that the God who would one day come to earth, die, and be raised from the grave, was as near to him as his own right hand. The implications of that are staggering. David himself provides us with a few of them. Having God close at hand provides:
1. Stability- “…I should not be moved” (v. 25)
2. Joy – “Therefore did my heart rejoice…thou shalt make me
full of joy…” (vv. 26 & 28)
3. Direction- “Thou hast made known to me the ways of life”
(v. 28)
4. Hope – “…moreover my flesh also shall rest in hope”
(vv. 26 &27)
I don’t know about you, but over the years my prayer life has evolved into more of an ongoing dialogue than a scheduled audience. You may fault me for this, but it works for me. This is not to characterize God as being at my beck and call, but He did say, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee” (Jer.33:3). When I remember and take advantage of the fact that God is “on my right hand,” I experience emotional stability, spiritual joy, purpose of life, and unwavering hope. Because He lives, I, too, shall live…forever (John 15:19b). And as they say, “I know He’s alive; I talked to Him today!” I can talk to Him every day—all day—because He is close at hand.
He walks with me, and He talks with me;
And He tells me I am His own.
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.
- C. Austin Miles
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