I have set the Lord always before me.

Psalm 16:8a

What did David mean? What does it mean to set the Lord always before you? What would that look like for you and me?

We would focus on Jesus.

We would think about Jesus frequently. We would think about his cross, his resurrection, his resurrection power in us, his tender love for us, his beauty.

We would sing to Jesus. Quite a bit.

We would speak of Jesus. He would just come up in our conversations. Naturally, not forced.

We would depend upon Jesus. We would depend upon him throughout the day. We would depend upon him for every need, big and small. We would rely upon his power not our own.

We would live for Jesus' approval. Only his approval would matter. No one else's.

We would talk with Jesus. We would have a running conversation throughout the day, listening, talking, smiling, enjoying. We would spend our days in his presence.

We would fear Jesus. We would fear him with a healthy respect and awe and desire to please him. We would fear him alone, no one else and nothing else. Nothing else could shake us.

We would become more and more preoccupied with Jesus and less and less preoccupied with ourselves. We would become somewhat self-forgetful, self-oblivious. We would become Jesus-preoccupied, Jesus-enamored, Jesus-intoxicated.

And, we would not be shaken. No matter what happens, we would not be shaken.