Setting the Lord At our Right Hand

Psalm 16:8

I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

Why should you be afraid? Why should you be shaken? Sometimes things come to shake us emotionally, physically and so on. Since the Lord is at our right hand, we should not be shaken. What does it mean to ‘set the Lord at your right hand?’ To ‘set’ is to place. To set the Lord at our right hand means us trusting in the Lord, to always be our strength and help, as we know that it is the right hand that does most of the work. We should depend on Him to work on our behalf, at all times.

Setting the Lord at our right hand is a task we need to do. Setting the Lord at our right hand means keeping Him as our hope, and setting our minds on Him. As we set our minds on Him, He keeps us at peace (Is. 26:3). Even in those things that look completely impossible, we ought to remember that our help comes from the Lord, and diligently keep our minds on Him. As we do so, the question remains, why should we be afraid?

In the Bible, people who put the Lord on their right hand undertook great assignments, and were able to work great things, trusting in the Lord. Let’s look at an example of such, a woman who set the Lord at her right hand:

Esther 4:1-17 

When Mordecai learned all that had happened, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city. He cried out with a loud and bitter cry. 2  He went as far as the front of the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. 3 And in every province where the king’s command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. 4 So Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her, and the queen was deeply distressed. Then she sent garments to clothe Mordecai and take his sackcloth away from him, but he would not accept them. ⁵ Then Esther called Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs whom he had appointed to attend her, and she gave him a command concerning Mordecai, to learn what and why this was. ⁶ So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square that was in front of the king’s gate. ⁷ And Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries to destroy the Jews. ⁸ He also gave him a copy of the written decree for their destruction, which was given at Shushan, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her, and that he might command her to go in to the king to make supplication to him and plead before him for her people. ⁹ So Hathach returned and told Esther the words of Mordecai. ¹⁰ Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a command for Mordecai: ¹¹ “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days.” ¹² So they told Mordecai Esther’s words.
¹³ And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. ¹⁴ For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
¹⁵ Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶ “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!” ¹⁷ So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him.

From the eyes of men, Esther was safe from the plot to destroy the Jews, being in the house of the King. The Lord was working with Mordecai, to influence Esther to do something, as she is the one who was in a position to do something. There is always a place for women, a very purposeful place. Mordecai was asking Esther to do something that, according to the circumstances, was impossible, as whoever went to the king unsummoned risked death. I want to draw your attention to the quick actions the Lord brought to the heart of Esther, how she will be involved in the rescue of the Jews.

Esther knew she had favour with the king, being the queen, but she knew she could not depend on this, to keep the king from killing her, as she went unsummoned before the king. Sometimes we also have many options at our disposal, but Esther shows us that we ought to depend on God in all situations.

Esther 4:16
“Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”

Clearly, Esther was still not confident in her own self or efforts to get favour before the King. This is why she says that if it is to perish, she was ready. She chose to run to her God. She was trusting that her God was with her in the situation. She used her courage and beauty, knowing the king loved her, but most importantly she was trusting God, putting the Lord at her right hand. She did the right thing, trusting the Lord with the outcome. Sometimes we find ourselves in tough situations, we tend to exalt our situations even above the Lord, who we have put at our right hand. The Lord is challenging us, who know our God, just as Esther and the Jews knew their God, that we may also know that He who is on our right hand will never fail.

The Lord led Esther to fast for 3 days, and this is how she set the Lord at her right hand.

What does the Lord do when you set Him at your right hand?

1. He takes control. He’s always in control, but if we don’t seek Him (through prayer the word etc.), we’ll miss out on Him. We will see His hand at work even more. Esther 4:17, 5:1. From her action, she received favour from the king, having allowed the Lord to work for her and be at her right hand.
   
   
2. He deals with our accusers. Esther 7:6-10: God always causes plans hatched against us to backfire.
3. The Lord glorifies Himself. Esther 6:11. God used the whole situation to glorify Himself, uplifting Mordecai, and humbling Haman. This is through the favour granted to Mordecai. When you set the Lord at your right hand, God will use your situation to glorify Himself.
   
   
4. The Lord fulfils His purpose, and establishes us. Esther 8:8: the order of how things were done was overruled, to favour the Jews. New laws were written, favouring the Jews. When we set the Lord at our right hand, which of course always isn’t easy, He will rearrange our lives.
   
5. When we set the Lord at our right hands, the Lord rewards and causes us to triumph. Esther 8:7. Esther was given the house of Haman, and this was her reward. It was good enough if the situation ended there, as the Jews were safe, but the king went ahead and rewarded Esther by giving her the house of Haman. When all is said and done, the Lord will reward us, and cause us to triumph, as the Jews were made to triumph.

If we have set the Lord at our right hand, why should we be shaken? We can always overcome those tough situations, achieve what we’ve set to do, and hope for bigger things, because the Lord is at our right hand.

Since the Psalmist set the Lord before Him and had Him at His right one, this was his confession:

Psalm 16:9-11

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. ¹⁰ For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. ¹¹ You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Here is another testimony of what happens when we set the Lord at our right hand:

Isaiah 9:3

You have multiplied the nation and increased its joy; They rejoice before You according to the joy of harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

Not many set the Lord at their right hand; may we be found among the few who do so.

Matthew 7:14

Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Psalm 16:11

You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

We get life from the Word.

 
When we set the Lord at our right hand, we have security. Today, and every other day, set the Lord at your right hand, and you will never be shaken. 


Blessings. 


-- Pierina Guantai. 


(20th March 2015, Teaching Transformation Ministry Sunday Service Sermon)


Sister Pierina is a member of Teaching Transformation Ministry. We are located along the Thika-Ruai Flyover Junction (at the Thika Rd./ Bypass intersection), Next to Eastgate Restaurant.