Eternal Pleasures

Psalm 16

What joy and light is contained in this psalm! This is another psalm of David. It is a psalm of praise that focuses on the Lord's character and David's response to his character. It covers everything from the nobility of the godly to the sufficiency of God's provision. The overall tone looks to the future: a delightful inheritance (v. 6), the assurance of life after death (v. 10) and the pleasures that David experiences now and will for all eternity (v. 11).
I think part of the pleasure that we experience now is the anticipation of the greater pleasure that is yet to come. As my wedding approached I anticipated being married and all that I thought it entailed and that brought me joy. That joy was fulfilled in many ways on my wedding day, and continues to be more fully fulfilled today, but part of the joy I experienced was the anticipation of the joy that was to come. I think this is true of the joy we experience now. We know who God was and is and ever will be. We know who we are in Christ and we have some idea of what joys await us. The anticipation of that joy brings us pleasure in the present. It is certainly what David is experiencing in this psalm: present joy that is at least partially the anticipation of future joy and eternal pleasures.
More than the pleasure and the joy itself, this psalm constantly calls me back to the source of pleasure and joy. The Lord is my refuge. The Lord is my King. The Lord is my provider of all that is good. The Lord is my portion. The Lord is my security. The Lord is my inheritance. The Lord is my counsellor. The Lord is my strength. The Lord is my hope. I worry that I love God's gifts more than I love God at times. This psalm reminds me that the Lord is my gift. There is no greater blessing that the Lord himself. With David, I will praise him!