Let's pray what's more than please Father we
do thank you for your help thus far for meeting
with us and encouraging us with your presence
We're thankful now for this time when we get
to open your word once again to study it and
to learn from you and pray that you would speak
to us through your word this morning That you
use me as your instrument to accomplish those
purposes Help me then to be true to your word
and helpful to all that are here We do pray again
for the loss that they would be found of you
today, that those who are gathered in among us
as well as in other Bible -believing and truthful
-speaking churches would hear the gospel for
the first time and be saved. We ask that all
that you might be glorified, that we would be
strengthened in our walk. We pray in Christ's
name. Amen. Well, I had quite a time. It took
me all week to come to a subtle conclusion as
to what the Lord would have me to preach this
morning. And I had attempted other things, other
passages, other topics. Had no real Conviction
that that's what a boy would have me to do but
on Friday he finally I Shouldn't say that on
Friday. I finally realized What he would have
me to speak on and I've confirmed in that Because
of all that's already been said today from the
opening It's it's what one common thread throughout
the service, so I'm going to bring a probably
brief word from Psalm 16 this morning and I'm
really going to shock everybody because I'm going
to do it from the New American Standard Bible
So it's one of these places where I really do
like this translation. So I'm doing it there.
So we've got to set the background a little bit
here. David's on the run. He's running from salt.
He's got no permanent residence, obviously. He's
got nothing. He's got a few of his mighty men
and his people with him, and they're going from
cave to cave and place to place, fleeing just
in the nick of time to escape Saul and his murderous
plots. That's what this psalm, when this psalm
is written, and it's what it's depicting. And
it's also... depicting David's cover. We looked
at cover last week, how it's impossible for us
to cover ourselves. We can't do anything to cover
our sinful ugliness before God. But David, in
that Psalm, told us what a blessed thing it was
that we have God's cover. God covers His people.
What we could never do ourselves He has done
for us. So now we're proceeding on then in this
Psalm to evaluate our lives under the cover of
God. We're in the regeneration. We have the Spirit.
And as we were called to stand fast throughout
the service, as we were called to get in the
battle. This is what David is facing here, and
so he's giving us a good example of what it is
and how it is that we can and must stand fast
in our faith. There is a cause. There is something
to fight over. The souls of men, our own souls,
the cause of truth. It's all worth every ounce
of our energy that we pour into it. Men waste
their lives fighting and battling over nothing.
It's all foolishness. It's not worth the effort.
That cannot be said in our walk with the Lord.
And in this Psalm then, and really in all the
Psalms, Some more than others and this is very
very clear here in this song that there's three
Participants in the song There's David this is
a personal testimony of David This is a this
is what he's testifying to in all of his troubles
So he's he's one he's also giving us a picture
of Jesus Christ in this song The life and death
and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is
on display in this psalm. And so those two things
being true, it's also of necessity true for all
of us to be in this psalm. We're under the cover,
reunited with Christ. We're at one with David
in our service of our God. So you can get all
of those things out of this. We're obviously
going to look at how this psalm affects us primarily.
We're going to learn from David and from our
Lord how to walk, how to stand. So we'll begin
to read that in the first verse. I won't be long
on any one of these topics. Again, this is something
to consider, to think on. It's not something
that you can just hear once. I could stand here,
I couldn't today, but normally I could stand
here for quite a while, probably at least an
hour on this sound. The Puritans would take one
verse of this song to preach for an hour. That's
how much is here. That's how much you can open
it up. And you can do it for yourself. If you
want to. If you have a mind to. It's not difficult.
David begins, preserve me, O God, for I take
refuge in thee. It's wonderful to be able to
pray that prayer. I take refuge in thee, Lord.
I'm depending upon you. Preserve me. He's not
claiming any merit. He's not claiming any ability.
David's only claiming his relationship to God.
And because he's in this right relationship to
God, he can pray, preserve me, with faith. That's
how we can all pray. We have to pray believing.
Do you have, the old timers used to say, what
is the warrant of your faith? Do we have a warrant?
Yes! We're covered in the righteousness of Christ.
We have every warrant or every right to come
to Christ for His perseverance. That's what David's
doing here. All of his confidence, all of his
trust is in the fact that he is in Christ, or
he is in God. He has taken refuge in God. Or
we would say of ourselves, we have taken refuge
in Jesus Christ. I said to the Lord, thou art
my Lord. I have no good besides thee. Okay, so
here it is. This is again how we have to come
to this understanding. This is what we have to
believe. This is my Lord. That's what David says,
right? I said to the Lord, thou art my Lord.
He makes it personal. It's always personal. We're
going nowhere in this life if it's not personal.
Do you pray to the Lord? You are my God. You
are my all Jesus Christ. And then he goes on
and he says, I have no good beside thee. Now
again, are you willing to contemplate? Are you
willing to meditate? Are you willing to think
on the essence of that statement? Nobody knows
but you, whether that's true of you or not. Nobody.
Do you really believe that? Could you pray that?
I have no good besides thee. It's quite the statement.
So he's declared his love and devotion and dependence
upon God in these first two verses. He has nothing
besides. It's all about you, God. I'm not the
center of my own life anymore. Nothing is at
the center of my life but you. I'm casting everything
else aside to make every effort to have you as
the center of my existence. You know when I was
first converted when we were, you know... just
beginning to learn all of the truths about God.
There were two groups of folks. We encountered
both of them in our travels. One, had no use
for any doctrine. Just loved Jesus. Jesus as
your Savior. But all the emphasis was on loving
other people. You had to love your neighbor as
yourself. And every Sunday you'd get a sermon
on that. Everything revolved around a horizontal
relationship with other people. Another group
was just the opposite. They didn't have any concern
for the dynamics of the relationship of the people
of God in the church. Their whole emphasis was
vertical. learning about God, loving God. Now,
both of those things are absolutely essential,
but not to the exclusion of the other. You've
got to have both. You've got to have both of
those goals in your Christian life. And David
demonstrates that in the third verse. And he
says, as for the saints who are in the earth,
They are the majestic ones in whom is all my
delight David understood if he claims to love
God he has got to love his neighbor These are
not Possible without the other you cannot love
your neighbor without loving God and vice versa.
It's all there is to it If you're not willing
If you're not willing to declare that you are
the least of the saints, then your thinking has
got to be changed. It's got to be amended. If
you can't consider everyone else before yourself,
that's what he's telling us here. That's our
attitude. Again, that's huge. And nobody can
see it but you. You can give hints to it. by
the way that you act but you can we can all put
on a good show we can all pretend but what's
in your heart what's in your mind are you really
ready to die for one another are you really ready
to sacrifice whatever you have for the good of
the other are you willing to empty your pockets
if needed be for the good of your neighbors That's
what he says. He says they're the majestic ones.
So we've got here in these first three verses
what every Christian should be. I mean, I could
quit right now, really. I've given you enough
to think of for days already in these three verses.
But I'm not. I want to go on. And here in verse
four now, is a negative. The sorrows of those
who have bartered for another God will be multiplied.
I shall not pour out their libations of blood,
nor shall I take their names upon my lips. In
other words, that's describing those who have
embraced false gods, false religions, sinful...
practices of worship. The whole ball of wax.
So we have to be aware that there are those people
out there. They're still there just as they were
in David's day. They're still preaching a false
gospel. They're still worshiping false gods.
They're not telling the truth. Their practices,
their worship practices are unacceptable. Now,
we have to love those folks. We have to give
them the gospel. I'm not saying anything else
but that. But we can't embrace them. We can't
include them. They're welcome to come and they're
welcome to learn, but they're not welcome to
teach. They're not welcome to promote any false
religions. personal responsibility in our personal
lives. You need to know who your friends are.
You need to know what they believe. You need
to know if they're Christians or not. You need
to know these things so you can accurately witness,
but so you can accurately protect your family
from any ungodly influences. It's part of the
battle. It's part of the standing. Oh, but these
people are so nice, and the overwhelming majority
of them are. They're so friendly. It doesn't
matter. They're not helpful. They're not honoring
God. They're not good for us. So then it goes
on in verse 5. The Lord is the portion of my
inheritance and my cup. Thou dost support my
lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant
places. Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me."
Now, you remember, this is David on the run.
He doesn't have a house. He doesn't have a home.
Well, what's he saying? He's declaring, the Lord
is the portion of my inheritance, my cup of my
standing, my lot. The lines have fallen in pleasant
places. Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.
Now this is really depicting like the dividing
up of the land and all the tribes and the families
of the tribes got their portions and they had
their boundaries set up and so on and so forth
and everything was fixed supposedly. And they
were to enjoy the promised land. whether how
much enjoyment they actually had, we wonder at.
Some of them probably had quite a bit. But David
is saying that that's not important to me. That's
not my inheritance. The Lord is my inheritance
and my heritage. He says the lines, the boundaries
of my heritage is falling to me in pleasant places
you are the you you are my support so again how
are we going to apply that well i don't i don't
know how much trouble you're going to have i
don't know how much Heartache is gonna come your
way God knows and he's preparing us all for what
he has for us But David was in the middle of
a lot of problems a Lot of problems that he would
never have had had God not selected him to be
the next king But anyway Try to imagine yourself
with nothing Try to imagine yourself without
a nice comfortable house Try to imagine yourself
with no no supporting family members nothing
no no good church Are you going to say that your
lines have fallen to you in pleasant places David
David did. That's how serious David was about
his God. That's how much he actually experienced
God. He knew the truth of God, and he experienced
the truth of God. And he really meant it when
he says, I have nothing besides you. But I have
you. And that is what I want most of all. He
says, I will bless the Lord who has counseled
me. Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.
Boy, that is a mouthful. Who can say that? Can
any of us say that? I bless the Lord who has
counseled me. Probably we can all say that. We've
all received counsel from the Lord, haven't we?
I hope so. It should be a common thing, really.
If you're really attuned to the Lord and in His
Word, it's not hard to find counsel. You don't
have to go searching for it. All you got to do
is ask. All you got to do is pray about it. Pray
over the Word. Put your confidence in the Spirit
to be working in you through the Word. But how
about that other statement there? Huh? How many
of us can say that? Indeed, my mind instructs
me in the night. Can we all say that? And that's
one of the reasons I really like this translation,
because it doesn't change it. It's talking about
the mind. It's talking about how we're thinking.
Do we have enough of the Word of God in our minds
to be able to be instructed by our minds? It's
dark. It's night. He can't read anything. It's
not like you flip on a light switch. You gotta
know it here. And he's saying that his mind has
been his counselor. Obviously not his... unconverted
mind or his untrained mind or his unlearned mind
but he had enough of God in his word in his heart
or his mind that he could be counseled by it
you know you don't need a Bible verse you don't
need a Bible reference I should say in order
to be counseled by the Word. You just have to
know what the Word says. I know countless things
that I can't give a reference for. It's my shame.
I probably should be able to do a better job
of that by now. But what I'm saying is it's not
Bible trivia that we're after. It's a thorough
understanding. of the truth of the word. And
I hate that game, by the way. And I've always
steadfastly refused to play it. And I don't even
like to mention it. And I don't know why it just
came out of my mouth. But it did. So I don't
recommend Bible trivia to anybody. The word itself
is almost blasphemy. How can anything in the
Bible be trivial? Okay, well, let's get back
on the subject here. So, in verse 8, I have set
the Lord continually before me. Because He is
at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Okay,
how are you going to stand? How are you going
to face the foe? How are you going to face all
of the powers of evil, the devil himself? How
can you make this statement? Or can you? David
could. He says, you're at my right hand. The
Lord has set... I have set the Lord continually
before me. Do we do that? Do you invite the Lord
to be with you continually? Do you have a...
knowledge and experience of him being with you
right there with you and David says because of
these things are true I I will not be shaken
I will stand it's nothing to do with David's
strength or his mighty men that were with him
or anything at all apart from God that's what
David's telling us it's all of God And that's
what the armor is. It all points to God, right?
Yeah. It all points to what God has done and
is continuing to do. And this is what David is
declaring to us now. Do you want to stand? Do
you just want to flow with the river, wherever
it goes? Or do you want to stand? You've got
to acknowledge the Lord. You've got to be with
Him. You've got to know He's right there with
you. Somebody said living in the presence of
God, that's what we need more of. More conscious
knowing of. We are all living in the presence
of God, but how does it affect us? We're living
in the presence of God. It should make all the
difference. in the way we act and what we do
and how we think, how we love our neighbors,
how we love God, if we're living in the presence
of God. And then he says in verse 9, therefore
my heart is glad and my glory rejoices, my flesh
also will dwell securely. So the whole man is
what he's referring to here. Because he is. conscious
of the presence of God in his life. His whole
being is rejoicing. He's glad. His heart is light.
It's rejoicing. It's happy days. And my flesh,
the flesh, not only the spirit, the mind, the
whole man himself will dwell securely. Again,
think about it. Take it home with you. Do you
want security? Do you want a light heart? Do
you want to be rejoicing? Live in the presence
of God. Acknowledge Him in all your ways. That's
what David is saying. Then in verse 10, now David
was saying this in the physical... a place that
he found himself in. And I don't know how much
he knew about the prophecy that he was going
about to write, but this is a prophecy of the
Lord Jesus. And we know it is because Paul and
Peter both quote this verse in regards to the
Lord Jesus. We know it is. So it says, for thou
wilt not abandon my soul to the grave or shield.
Neither wilt thou allow thy holy one to undergo
decay or to see corruption." So again, that's
a prophecy of the Lord Jesus. That's why we say
David, or one of the reasons why we can say David
was a prophet. Now, did he understand that or
was... We don't know that. Peter later on says
that the prophets wrote... as they were led by
the Spirit without having a full understanding
of what they were writing, as they wrote it for
us. So that's very possible that that's what
happened with David here. But if we understand
it spiritually, it's true of us. This is it's
true of our Lord Jesus, and it's true of David.
Those are true statements for us. for each of
us. Why? Because Christ did go through it. Christ
did come before us. Christ has been the forerunner.
Christ is ascended into glory. All of those things
are true of us because they're true of Christ.
Everything that is Christ is ours, remember?
So again, this should be great comfort to us.
And it never was for me until maybe the last
10 years. when I became more and more aware of
my growing weaknesses and frailties and the age
that I was approaching. Because we're all going
to face it. We're all going to go through death.
We're all going to have to battle that last enemy.
We're going to be victorious. But you're going
to have to battle just like you did the rest
of our lives to maintain your testimony, to maintain
your faith. to give glory to God in your death.
In the face of death, what will be coming out
of our mouths? At least that verse is true. For
that reason, we live in hope. And then finally,
thou wilt make known to me the path of life.
You see the confidence in there? David is so
confident in God. All of his confidence is in
God. He's not begging God to make the path of
life known. He's confident God's going to do
it. He's going to know. It's a truth. Thou wilt
make known to me the path of life in thy presence
is fullness of joy. Joy unspeakable and full
of glory. You know the reality? David didn't
know nearly what we know. You know that? None
of the Old Testament saints know what we know.
But they talk of all these glorious things, all
this happiness, all this joy. We ought to be
really Wondering how can I not be so these be
more happy? How can I not be more rejoicing?
We should be We we know the path of life And
we're confident that God is going to keep us
on that path. That's what David is saying He
knows he's going to bring me I know he's going
to bring me to himself. There's no doubt. I don't
doubt that a bit. At thy right hand there are
pleasures forever. If you don't enjoy God now,
how are you going to enjoy him in heaven? In
heaven it's all about God. you're going to lose
all the rest of your cares and concerns all of
the battles with everything you're going to set
all that stuff aside and your whole attention
is going to be upon God. Pure service of God.
You'll have no other obligations. Is that going
to be fullness of joy for us? Can we spend a
half an hour contemplating God? A half an hour
a day contemplating God? Can we do that? Well,
we can, but will we do that, I should say? Is
God so interesting to us that we can look for
good books to read about God? Theology books?
I don't mean books that are hard to read. We're
not professors or theologians, but there's all
kinds of good books, all about God, all about
Christ, all about systematic theology, all about
biblical theology, readable books. What are we
pursuing? What are we spending our time on? There
are certain books that every Christian should
read. We always talk about Pilgrim's Progress,
yeah, that's one. The Forgotten Spurgeon. That's
another one. You know Spurgeon's got these big
books and thick and Forgotten Spurgeon is just
a little paperback. But that will inflame you
and inspire you and encourage you in your walk.
You want some burning in your chest? Read that
book. Moiter's John Bunyan biography is another
one. It's just a paper bag, a little paper bag.
I don't even know why I started yet, but I'm
stopping now, but that's not all. There's a lot
of other ones. But there's no shortage, is what
I was trying to point out. The only shortage
is us. What are we interested in? What are we
pursuing? How are we studying? How are we learning?
You've all been to school, right? Nobody's had
no education here. You all know what it takes
to pass a course in school. Do you think of your
learning of God and Christ in that way? Is it
just as important to you to pass that course?
To grow in your faith and knowledge of the Lord.
That's what we're called to do. That's what the
Bible says. joy, happiness, peace, abundance
of life. And it's forevermore, forever. All of
those good things have no end. Hope in God. Serve
Him. Love one another. Amen.