The resurrection of Jesus Christ is so many things: a time/space event that altered the cosmos; the ultimate proof of God's power over sin and death; the thin yet consumately powerful thread that gives the Christian faith its meaning and hope. The resurrection is all of these and more: so massive, so magnificent, so utterly marvelous. Yet is is also very personal, something that we can all embrace with wonder and thanksgiving.

I've been participating in a study of the Psalms over the last couple of months, and this week I came across Psalm 16, appropriately classified as a Resurrection Psalm. I was drawn in by the majesty of the opening line: "Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge." As the Psalm progressed, I found myself moved by the intimacy of its final four verses--

I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Written by David to describe his own deliverance from death, these beautiful words also give us a picture of Christ's resurrection from death. David was a prophetic voice for the grand event that would follow, forever establishing Jesus on his eternal throne. But he was also a poetic voice, expressing in words the implications of God's ability and God's promise to deliver us now and resurrect us in the future.

We can know the path of life, we can be filled with the joy of God's presence, and we can experience His eternal pleasures. All because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.