David wrote Psalm 16 in a time of grave danger. He was literally running from Saul who was attempting to kill him. So we can understand the weight of his words in verse 1, “Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge.” Keep. Me. Safe.
What does it mean for God to keep us safe in a world that isn’t safe at all? Terminal illness, car crashes, shootings, bomb attacks, earthquakes. All we have to do is turn on the nightly news to see the dangers that threaten us and our families every single day.
David says in verse 8, “I will not be shaken.” But sometimes–no matter how strong our faith is–we can feel shaken.
Several years ago was the first time I felt utterly shaken to the core. My mom passed away from cancer and two days later my 6-month-old daughter had a life threatening choking incident. It was a terrifying and traumatizing even. I remember sobbing for days as I faced the hard reality that my sincere belief that God would “keep me [and my loved ones] safe” was not what I thought it was.
It was on the other side of that experience when a foreign and unwelcome invader entered into my life: fear. I am not talking about the fleeting feeling you get while watching a scary movie. I am talking about serious, paralyzing, anxiety-inducing fear. The kind of fear that literally clouds your view of everything else. You ride a plane and all you can think of is crashing. You cross the street and all you can think about is being hit. You feel an ache in your body and all you can think about is the terminal illness you probably have. Any Christian dealing with fear may not talk about it, but this is a glimpse of what it can look like.
As I continued to meditate on Psalm 16, one phrase kept popping out. David talks in verse 6 about the “boundary lines” falling for him in pleasant places. He is referring to physical boundary lines in a geographical sense. But the Holy Spirit whispered another meaning into my heart,
“Ali, you need to draw some new boundary lines–not on land, but in your mind.”
God was reminding me of the power of my imagination and the influence it was having in allowing fear to fester. See, when we allow certain thoughts to paint vivid pictures on the screens of our imaginations, it becomes a sort of false reality through which we view everything else. Sadly, this means that the “abundant life” to which Jesus calls us can gradually be replaced by the “anxious life.” We feel powerless over it and begin to believe it is the only way to live.
But the good news is that it’s not. We can, by the power of the Holy Spirit, choose to draw certain boundary lines in our minds. This means that when a negative or frightening thought enters our mind, we can say, “Stop right there! I see you and I am not going to allow you to go any further!” This is what Paul is getting at, I think, when he tells the believers in the early church, to “…take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Where do you need to draw a boundary line in your own mind? Whether it is a thought that sparks fear, or insecurity or worry, decide today to say with the authority you were given in Jesus Christ, “Stop right there!” You were called to the abundant life. It is time you take control of your mind and start living it.