Psalm 16

David was surrounded by an interesting assortment of religions in his day, and one of them was Baalism- the worship of Ba'al and his consort Asherah. There are many accounts of how Baalism worked- and it was usually through prostitution and violence. Proper worship of Ba'al and Asherah often happened at the local brothel-temple. And the religion itself was steeped in violence. Ba'al and Asherah defeat death through a vicious slaughter, and Ba'al is described as a violent warrior god whose bloodlust is only second to Asherah's. In fact, Baalist priests would harm themselves to arouse the interest of their gods. Incantations and other magic words were common in trying to control the gods to do your bidding. This is why David laments that he doesn't want to pour out "libations of blood" for these other gods, and he doesn't want to learn the names of these gods for his incantations. This religion is a self-destructive pathway that denies the goodness and love of God.

Instead, David praises God who continues to speak to him and give him guidance, even as he sleeps at night. God's care for us never ends. We do not need to shock God back to paying attention to us, we do not need to learn the magic phrases to earn God's time. Instead, our faith is based on who God is and what God has done for us (not the other way around). And God is the one who promises life and resurrection and true freedom- not obsession with control and self-destruction. May God's love shine down and heal these self-inflicted scars.