GOD BEFORE ME

Ps. 16:8

A. "I HAVE SET THE LORD ALWAYS BEFORE ME."
  1. A child of God knows from experience:
    1. That one that sets God before him makes discoveries and many of them
    2. His discoveries will humble and awe him as it did Job - Job 42:5-6
  2. To set the Lord before us always:
    1. Means that we shall dwell under the shadow of His wings - Ps. 17:8
    2. That means eternal security - Ps 91:1-10 B. GOD BEFORE ME
  3. Having God before me means:
    1. To find myself revealed; we have already shown the when Job saw the Lord, he saw himself in a different light
    2. Peter saw himself in a different light when he saw the Christ of the Bible; said he to the Lord, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.: - Luke 5:8
    3. When that young prophet Isaiah saw the Lord of glory, he too cried out, "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." - Is. 6:5
  4. Setting God before us - means that we lean on Him in full confidence:
    1. Even the Son of Man leaned so constantly on the presence of His heavenly Father, that when the Father turned His face from the suffering Son, the Son of God cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me" - Matt. 27:46
    2. This is one of the great secrets of the victorious lives of the saints - Examples: Stephen faced death with a smile on his face - why, let him tell his story, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God." - Acts 7:56
  5. Setting the Lord before us in indicative:
    1. That He has our affections
    2. Writes Paul, "Set you affections on things above, not on things on the earth." Col. 3:2
    3. "Where your treasure is there will your heart be also." - Matt. 6:21 C. GOD BEFORE ME Let us consider the deep and far-reaching implications of such a resolve -
  6. To have God before me:
    1. Will keep me from seeing temptations that can be fatal - Examples: Had Achan kept his eyes upon the Lord he would never have seen and been tempted by the accrued thing - Josh. 7:20-21. Had king Saul kept his eyes upon the Lord instead of upon the forbidden things, he would never have broken the commandments of God, he would have remained the king of Israel - I Sam. 15
    2. The presence of God will influence our life, as it did Moses when he was in the mount - Ex. 34:29. The story of his brother Aaron was different!
    3. Had king David kept the Lord before him, he would not have seen Bathsheba when he should not - 2 Sam. 11:1-14
  7. To have God before us gives maximum security:
    1. We are living in a world filled with violence and crimes - one feels insecure in his own home - yet if God is with us, we need not fear
    2. The presence of God gives full security against the divers temptations - the lust of the eye, the pride of life, and the lust of the flesh - I John 2:15-16
    3. Here is the secret of a victorious life - as Enoch lived - Gen. 5:22-24
  8. Dear Ones:
    1. Can we do less than the Psalmist did?
    2. Are we so attached to the Lord that we vow to never become separate from our Lord and Saviour
    3. His presence makes the difference how we conduct ourselves, how we speak, and how we act. For who can be careless in the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!


Design © John Bryant 2011