Psalm 16:2 (ESV): 2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.”
James 1:17–18 (ESV): 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Abba,
When I read Psalm 16:2, I think also of James 1:17-18. There is no good thing, apart from You. All good things come down from You. Everything I have to be thankful for, that I have to be grateful for; everything that I delight in, that I cherish COMES FROM YOU. AND it was meant to be enjoyed IN YOU.
Which brings me back to Ecclesiastes which I read and meditated on early this year…
Ecclesiastes 2:24–25 (ESV): 24 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, 25 for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?
Ecclesiastes 5:18–19 (ESV): 18 Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. 19 Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God.
Every good and perfect gift is FROM YOU. Apart from you, there is no good thing. AND all good things are meant to be enjoyed IN YOU, WITH YOU, FOR YOU.
Abba, oh wretched man that I am…for too often I am seeking pleasure outside of You and enjoying pleasures apart from You that were meant to draw me to You! How my soul aches for my singular passion to be YOU! I detest this body of death which lures and entices me away to lesser things that cannot and will not satisfy.
James takes it one step further and points all good things right back to the gospel. And rightly he should, for if there were no gospel, there would be no good things.
The gospel is the key. Living at the foot of the cross, in full light of Your death, Jesus, and Your subsequent resurrection ought to make all other things pale in importance and significance! Nothing else can have the same shine and luster when stood next to the cross, next to the gospel! The glory of Your love and Your grace fades all else to nothing more than a shadow. The shine of the world and the flesh cannot bear the gospel’s majestic glow!
Abba, may all things reflect my heart and passion, my gaze and attention back to you. May the gospel remain rooted and fixed, superimposed over all that I see, that I look upon. May everything be seen in light of YOUR goodness and desire for me, for Your created world. May Your glory and worth be the greatest shine refracting off my eyes. May all good things lead me ever and always back to You!
A Singular Passion 