Path Of Life Psalm 16:11 Devotional

Do you ever ask yourself… “How did my life turn out this way?” Or wonder what the path life is supposed to be? In this Psalm 16:11 devotional, we’ll answer these questions and find the way back to the life path God has for us.

When we graduate from high school or college, we’re just fresh-faced kids ready to conquer the world. We decide on the path we want our lives to take and start the journey thinking only good things will come our way.

Then, somewhere along our life path, we take an unexpected turn. And the next thing we know, we’ve ended up in no man’s land wondering what the heck happened.

All of those plans we made for ourselves seem so far away and that fresh-faced kid is just a distant memory. We’ve veered off the path of life.

What does Psalm 16:11 mean?

David had one of these “how did my life turn out this way?” moments too.

 

You will show me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

                                      Psalm 16:11 NKJV

 

When this psalm was written, David found himself in a precarious situation. His life path had taken an unexpected turn for the worst.

The young kid who started out as a meek shepherd and became a celebrated hero after defeating Goliath was on the run.

David was hiding out in the wilderness because King Saul and his army were looking to kill him. They had just caught up with him and encircled their army around his camp. Death seemed imminent.

You will show me the path of life

Many of David’s psalms talk about the feeling of enemies surrounding him. So, I imagine he must have been scared.

But instead of wondering what to do next, David trusted God to show him the path of life.

Throughout his life, David had experienced both the highs and lows of living a life for God. Because of this, He believed God would take care of him during this critical time. And he knew God’s way was the path of life he wanted to take.

In Your presence there is fullness of joy

Even at his lowest, David could still praise God and experience the joy of being in the Lord’s presence. He understood that joy, real joy comes from knowing God and being with Him every day.

But Psalm 16 is more than just a beautiful lament about David’s own circumstances, he was pointing the way for us to the coming Messiah, the true path of life.

Walking the Path of Life with Jesus

 

It doesn’t matter what our previous plans were, or the disappointment we felt when they didn’t work out. The path we chose for ourselves when we were young was about this life and what we would become in it.

But God is more concerned with what will become of us in the next life. So, He gave us a path of life to follow.

Jesus is our life path. A path to eternal life. And this scripture is our roadmap to Him…

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

                                            Matthew 7:13-14 NKJV

 

Narrow is the path

You may have noticed Jesus only gave us two choices to take on the path of life.

We’ve reached that critical point in the journey where the road forks off in two different directions. We must turn one way or the other to continue on with the journey. And it’s an important decision worthy of serious consideration.

We can either, turn left and enter through the wide and easy path. This is the worldly path that offers pleasure in this life but ultimately leads to hell and eternal destruction.

Or we can turn right and enter through the narrow and difficult path. This is the spiritual path that leads to eternal life in heaven with Jesus.

Jesus said most people will choose the wide and easy path. These people are just going through life and don’t give their decision much thought. Or they think the choice can be put off for another time.

But tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us, and death may come when you least expect it. By then the choice has already been made and it’s too late. Your path of life has been chosen.

That’s why Jesus urges us to choose the narrow path. He loves us all and He died to save us all. So, He wants every one of us to be the few who find the narrow path.

Yes, the narrow path is a harder, more difficult path to take. And we know Jesus said we will be persecuted for our faith. But our reward is in knowing our Savior and spending eternity with Him.

Most people don’t want to hear this hard truth. Because when they do, they’re forced to choose which path of life they’ll take. And just to be clear, not choosing is a choice in itself, and not a pleasant one.

Read More: In His Presence Is Fullness of Joy

I am the way the truth and the life

The decision to follow Jesus is life-changing. And sometimes change is hard. So, if this life-changing decision is hard to make, Jesus put it another way…

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

                                            John 14:6 NIV

 

This is a bold and clear statement. Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only eternal life.

If we want to see God the Father and go to heaven when we die, then Jesus is the One and only way to get there.

We don’t do ourselves or anyone else any favors by saying otherwise.

The path to heaven is narrow

This is our God-given promise, if we believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of the world, then we will have eternal life with Him in heaven.

For most of us, we made the choice to follow Jesus down the narrow path a long time ago. But sometimes it’s good to look back on where we’ve been and how we got here.

The path behind us reminds us of everything Jesus has done for us and how far we’ve come.

And the path stretched out in front of us leads the way to the Savior and gives us something to look forward to.

The narrow path of life may be long and winding but with Jesus, we will get there.

Read More: What is the Joy of the Lord?

Live Life to the Fullness

Like David, we can experience the joy of being in God’s presence when the path of life takes a turn for the worst. And we can see the joy waiting for us up ahead when we’ve reached the end of the journey.

This is the joy we can only find in knowing Jesus. It is a joy that fills us completely and gives us confidence in our faith. It is a fullness of life and a fullness of joy!

So, follow Jesus and live life to the fullness instead of the fullest.

How did my life turn out this way?

Is there something in your life that has brought you to where you are right now? Are you asking yourself “How did my life turn out this way”?

If you’ve veered off the path of life a little bit, it’s okay. The roadmap hasn’t changed, and you can still get back on the narrow path.

Jesus is waiting for you with open arms.

My prayer is for you is that you will remember why you decided to walk with Jesus on the narrow path of life. And you will stay firmly on God’s life path even when the road is rocky. Joy waiting for you up ahead!

If you have not made the decision to take the narrow path, then I pray you will understand the love Jesus has for you and choose to follow Him today.

To find out more about making this crucial decision please read “Accepting Jesus”.

God bless you on your journey through the Path of Life!

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