Pleasures Forevermore!
You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalms 16:11 NKJV)
Pleasures for ever More!
Many people look for pleasure, that is for things that make them feel good, in different ways. Some seek money, some seek honor, some seek power, some seek friends, and some seek entertainment and sports. And I am sure that there are other ways to find pleasure. But when we think about pleasure that is available in this life, it is always fleeting and temporary. Even if some of the satisfaction that we get in life lasts for quite some time as friendships and marriages should, yet they are still “over” when we die. And if the Lord prolongs His promised coming–die we must! In 100 years everyone reading this will be dust. Their lives will be over. The pleasures they pursued will no longer be needed to satisfy. Now even if there were no existence after death, that makes life seem futile to me. The writer of Ecclesiastes summed it all up by telling us that he had tried everything and had learned everything and had possessed everything, but all was vanity and chasing after the wind. King Solomon who is the writer, even tried other gods and all that did was make God mad and it caused the kingdom to be divided after his death. But David who wrote the sixteenth Psalm says that there is a place where there are pleasures forevermore. This promised pleasure is not passing pleasure. It is permanent pleasure.
The Frustrations of this Life
If one looks for joy or pleasure in drugs or alcohol or licentiousness living, pretty soon the thing that brought joy or pleasure will bring bondage. Joy is the inner happiness or satisfaction that comes from things that we think will make us happy in this life. Pleasure can give us joy. The words are closely related. I think that in the passage we are studying, the two words may be saying the same thing—they may be interchangeable. I think the passage could just as easily read, “In the Lord’s presence is fulness of pleasure, at His right hand is joy forevermore.”
Prophetic Truth in this Psalm
Peter uses this Psalm in Acts 2 to show that it applies to the resurrection of the Lord. David wrote the Psalm but David’s body saw corruption. The Lord’s did not. The path of life that is referred to in this Psalm seems to be a revived life according to some dictionaries. The Lord is now sitting at the Father’s right hand according to the writer of Hebrews, who says that in running the marathon of the Christian life we should be, “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2 NKJV).” The Lord then is enjoying the pleasure that comes with enduring the cross, which was not pleasurable. He was motivated by considering the joy at the end of his trial. That joy involved being raised from the dead. It involved the prospect of having a bride with Him in heaven.
Can we Apply the Psalm to those of us Who have been Redeemed?
Kind David wrote the Psalm and a lot of it applied to Him. While his body saw corruption, I have not doubt that He was looking forward to a day when he would be raised from the dead. When David says, "For You will not leave my soul in Sheol," he likely was thinking of both himself and the Lord. When he says, "Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption" he was definitely speaking prophetically of the Lord only. The right hand is a place of power but it is also a place of privilege and favor. We who are saved today are going to have the privilege of being the Lord’s bride and we will enjoy the pleasure of the Lord’s right hand for evermore.
Our Hope, Blessing, Pleasure, and Joy
These words are all associated with one whose sins are forgiven. The believer’s blessing is not necessarily found here in this life. The writers of the New Testament write to encourage those undergoing persecution. One of those encouragements is the joy of knowing that we will enjoy the presence of the Lord in eternity. I realize that eternal life begins the moment we believe on the Lord but that life has trials while we represent Christ down here on this earth. But eternal life is a not only a quality of life but a quantity of life and it is a life of pleasure, hope, blessing and joy for all eternity. If all we have to motivate us is the passing pleasures of this life, if we don’t really believe in the resurrection, if all is over and done when we take our last breath, then truly life is meaningless. We may control corporations, we may have been leaders of countries, we may have amassed great wealth, but some day each of us is going to die. Then what?
True happiness is not found in this futile meaningless temporary existence. True happiness is found at the Lord’s right hand. We who have been convicted of our sin and have trusted the Lord for salvation will enjoy true happiness and joy and pleasure that never ceases.
Bruce Collins
Meditation for the week of July 8, 2018