1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,560 Thank you Waldo. Would you take your Bible and open it please to the book of Psalms with 2 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:20,580 me as we look tonight at Psalm 16. Psalm 16 is a psalm of David. It is a psalm in which 3 00:00:20,580 --> 00:00:34,080 he expresses his confidence in the Lord. He begins by saying, preserve me, O God, for 4 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:40,800 I take refuge in thee. That's his prayer. We don't know the historical occasion that 5 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:49,680 this prayer was connected with. It could have been any of several in David's life. But 6 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:59,520 whatever it was, David was faced with some sort of threat. And so his prayer is for preservation. 7 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:09,880 You need preservation tonight? Are there any threats against you? On our recent trip to 8 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:17,960 Israel I came to an understanding of something that has bothered me for years. My first two 9 00:01:17,960 --> 00:01:26,360 trips there back in the 70s I was disappointed and frankly a little disgusted with the churches 10 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:35,560 that had been built over the so-called holy sites. It seemed to me to be a totally unlovely 11 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:41,200 thing to do, to build a church over these places that were so special and in so doing 12 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:50,120 to destroy the immediate environment and often then to encrust these special sites with some 13 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:57,200 sort of marble or other markings that took away the original appearance of them. And 14 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:02,260 I have for years just wondered why in the world were those things not preserved in their 15 00:02:02,260 --> 00:02:13,560 original state. And our guide explained this time that 1,500 years ago, 1,800 years ago, 16 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:20,280 they had no way of preserving these sites. And the sites were wearing away because of 17 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:26,600 weather and also because the sites were well known to Christian pilgrims. And they would 18 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:32,920 come to Bethlehem or they would go to sites beside the Dead Sea and just like a lot of 19 00:02:32,920 --> 00:02:38,960 us they would chip off a piece of the rock or they would do something to take a piece 20 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:47,320 or a relic back home with them. And so they had to find some way to preserve the sites. 21 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:51,880 And the best thing they could think of was to build churches over them so that these 22 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:59,120 sites would be encased and preserved. David is here praying, God, there are those who 23 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:03,520 are after me. There are those who are seeking to take away my life. There are those who 24 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:10,000 are chipping away at me, preserve me. He is asking God to put around him his protection 25 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:17,600 and keep him. He says, for I take refuge in thee. This is a phrase that David and other 26 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:27,240 psalmist use often, I take refuge in thee. The word take refuge is a verb that means 27 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:35,000 to find shelter in thee. And it came to mean figuratively, I trust in you. I give myself 28 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:42,320 over to your care. For example, in chapter, I should say Psalm 7 and verse 1, he begins 29 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:53,200 the same way, O Lord my God, in thee I have taken refuge. Again, in Psalm 11 and verse 30 00:03:53,200 --> 00:04:04,720 1, he says, in the Lord I take refuge. Psalm 17, just over a page, and verse 7, he says 31 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:11,840 something very similar, wondrously show thy loving kindness, O Savior of those who take 32 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:20,040 refuge at thy right hand. So this was a common expression on the part of David. He saw himself 33 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:25,840 as one who was needy, one who was under attack, one who was threatened, and he saw himself 34 00:04:25,840 --> 00:04:34,360 trusting, taking refuge in the Lord. He said, I said to the Lord, thou art my Lord. Do you 35 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:43,200 see any difference there between the two words Lord? Well, they're both L-O-R-D, but there 36 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:48,040 is a difference in the way they're typeset. Do you notice it? The first one is all capitals, 37 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:54,640 the second one has a capital L, small o-r-d. It's because they're two different words. 38 00:04:54,640 --> 00:05:01,300 I said to the Lord, all in capitals, is the English way of translating the Old Testament 39 00:05:01,300 --> 00:05:13,840 name for God, Yahweh, or as it's put into the English often, Jehovah. I said to Yahweh, 40 00:05:13,840 --> 00:05:22,120 thou art my Lord. And that is the Hebrew word Adonai. So we have here in the first verse 41 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:29,800 and a half three names for David's God. He said, preserve me, O God. That's the first 42 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:42,200 one. The name here is El, E-L, El. It is a masculine name, it is singular. There is the 43 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:48,820 name Elohim, which may or may not be related to this one. But the name that he uses here 44 00:05:48,820 --> 00:05:58,160 for God is El. Preserve me, O El. Now the name El was the most common name for God in 45 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:05,920 the ancient Near East, not only among the Jews, but among the pagans as well. You may 46 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:12,800 recall the Old Testament speaks about Baal worship and how at times, various times, Baal 47 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:18,320 worship troubled Israel. The people of Israel would follow after the Baals. It was a false 48 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:25,120 God. The Philistines and others worshipped the Baals. The father of Baal was said to 49 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:33,920 be El. The Hebrew word simply means the mighty. It is a name that ascribes great might and 50 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:40,680 power to God. So this is not a unique name for the God of the Jews. It is a common name 51 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:48,700 for God in that time. But he goes on to identify to make sure that we understand he's talking 52 00:06:48,700 --> 00:06:57,240 about the true El, not the El of the false gods, but the true El, the one who identified 53 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:04,640 himself to his people as Yahweh. Now Yahweh is the most significant name for God in all 54 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:12,920 of the Old Testament. It is the name by which God revealed himself to Moses at the burning 55 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:23,960 bush. I am that I am. The name Yahweh connotes two special things to his people. Number one, 56 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:31,480 it reminds us that God is the self-existent one. We are not self-existent people. We derive 57 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:40,480 our existence. Where do we derive it from? From chance? From evolution? Of course not. 58 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:50,320 From God. The Apostle Paul said to the Athenians, in him, the unknown God whom they worshiped 59 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:55,080 and to whom and who he was trying to preach to them, he said, in him we live and move 60 00:07:55,080 --> 00:08:02,560 and have our being. We derive our life from God. But God derives his life from no one. 61 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:09,040 He is self-existent. And that's what his name means. And it is as the self-existent one 62 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:15,400 that he redeems his people. And that's the second significance of the name to his people. 63 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:20,480 First that he is the self-existent one and then that this one who is self-existent has 64 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:26,880 stepped into our existence, which depends upon him, and he has redeemed us. He is our 65 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:36,440 savior. It is this name that a number of times he reveals himself through Isaiah, for example. 66 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:42,560 I am the Lord who redeems you, he says. And so it is the Lord who redeems Yahweh. And 67 00:08:42,560 --> 00:08:51,600 then this third title or name for God, Adonai, is a plural noun. In fact, it is a form of 68 00:08:51,600 --> 00:09:03,780 the name Adam. And it means in the Hebrew the one who is ruler. Now what does that tell 69 00:09:03,780 --> 00:09:13,200 you about the first Adam? What was he made to do? To rule. That's what his name meant. 70 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:19,640 God said, you're Adam, you're ruler. And he gave him to rule over the earth. Now this 71 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:25,840 is not the name Adam here, but Adonai is related in the Hebrew to Adam. And it means ruler. 72 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:33,680 So David says, preserve me, O El. I said to Yahweh, thou art my ruler. And then he confesses, 73 00:09:33,680 --> 00:09:41,480 I have no good besides thee. That is no moral good. David did not consider himself good. 74 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:49,000 He found his goodness in the Lord. God was his only good. Now what we're finding out 75 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:56,920 here are the marks of a believer. The marks of a believer. One who has his confidence 76 00:09:56,920 --> 00:10:04,040 in God. In the first place, his trust is solely in the Lord. David said, I take refuge in 77 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:13,920 thee. How do you know a believer? His trust is in the Lord. Secondly, he desires nothing 78 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:21,720 and no one besides the Lord. Now there are times when we do, and when we do we are spiritually 79 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:29,080 sick. We're not healthy. But a healthy believer desires nothing and no one besides the Lord. 80 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:34,320 And we would say with David, I have no good. There is no good in me. I have no good beside 81 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:43,800 me, except you, Lord. And then the third mark is found in verse 3. The true believer delights 82 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:51,160 in the people of God, as did David. He says, as for the saints who are in the earth, this 83 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:58,840 word saint comes from a verb that means to pronounce clean or to pronounce sacred. It's 84 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:06,360 related to the word holy. Saints are people who are set apart, who have been cleansed 85 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:11,560 by the Lord and then set apart to himself. He says, as for the saints who are in the 86 00:11:11,560 --> 00:11:20,520 earth, they are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight. Notice how he puts this. 87 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:26,480 He says the people who are the saints are majestic. Now just back a few Psalms ago, 88 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:36,480 David wrote, Oh Lord, our Lord, oh Yahweh our Lord, how majestic is thy name in all 89 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:44,440 the earth. And so he declares that God's name is that of majesty. But here he uses the term 90 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:51,760 of God's people, those whom God has declared to be clean. And he says they are the majestic 91 00:11:51,760 --> 00:12:04,920 ones. The word refers to a cloak or to an outer garment. In other words, one who wore 92 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:13,840 a particular outer garment was obviously noble. A king, for example, wore a particular cloak. 93 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:21,480 He had a robe, a garb that denoted him as being above others, that denoted him as special, 94 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:28,320 as a designation and a rank that was all by himself. That's the idea behind the majestic 95 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:35,260 one here. And so he says of God's people, he says they are the noble, they are the stately, 96 00:12:35,260 --> 00:12:45,880 they are the distinguished ones. And he says, in whom is all my delight, my pleasure. David 97 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:52,160 found pleasure in the people of God. And I believe that you do too. And I believe that's 98 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:58,660 one reason you're here tonight. And number four, and verse four, the mark of a believer 99 00:12:58,660 --> 00:13:06,380 is that he refuses false worship. David did. He said, the sorrows of those who have bartered 100 00:13:06,380 --> 00:13:20,040 for another God will be multiplied. That is the pains, the wounds of those who have lusted 101 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:28,400 for, would be one way to understand this, who have gone after in lust another God will 102 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:36,800 be multiplied. I shall not pour out their libations of blood. We don't know what he 103 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:42,840 means exactly. He may have been talking about animal sacrifices. But as you know, human 104 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:49,000 sacrifice was not unknown in some of the pagan religions of David's day, as is still true 105 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:55,440 today. And David said, I will not participate with them. I will not pour out the libations 106 00:13:55,440 --> 00:14:03,520 or the sacrifices of blood connected with their idolatry, their cults of paganism. Nor 107 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:10,520 shall I take their names, that is the names of these gods, upon my lips. What he means 108 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:15,880 here is I will not lift them up in prayer. I will not call out to these gods. And so 109 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:21,480 the fourth mark of a believer is that he refuses to participate in false worship. Why? Because 110 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:27,480 he's found reality. He doesn't need anything else. And because the Spirit of God is in 111 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:33,240 him, he discerns the faults. He says, I will not participate in that. The marks of one 112 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:39,840 who has confidence in the Lord. And then in verses 5 through 8, the blessings of one who 113 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:48,040 has such confidence in God. The blessings of a believer. He says, the Lord is the portion 114 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:54,680 of my inheritance and my cup. Thou dost support my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant 115 00:14:54,680 --> 00:15:04,080 places. Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me. Notice the various terms that he uses. 116 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:12,400 The language reflects the time when the division of the land of Israel took place and the tribes 117 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:18,120 received their inheritance. Notice he talks about the portion, the inheritance, the lot, 118 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:26,240 the lines, the heritage. But what he says is, it's not the land that is my heritage, 119 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:36,040 it's the Lord. He is the portion of my inheritance. Notice Psalm 73 for a moment and notice what 120 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:51,240 the psalmist there declares regarding the Lord. Psalm 73. 121 00:15:51,240 --> 00:16:02,520 And verse 26. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my 122 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:10,840 portion forever. And so we have another example of one who says the Lord is my portion, my 123 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:19,300 inheritance. What are you looking to for your inheritance? Have you ever received an inheritance? 124 00:16:19,300 --> 00:16:27,400 Some of you may not be old enough yet to receive an inheritance. David says it's not the money, 125 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:34,680 it's not land, it's not physical things. He says the thing that really counts in life, 126 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:43,560 the bottom line is that the Lord is my portion. And not only for this life, but forever He 127 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:50,960 is my portion. My inheritance and my cup. Can you think of another place that talks 128 00:16:50,960 --> 00:17:01,800 about the cup? My cup overflows? Right, Psalm 23. The picture there, the metaphor is the 129 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:11,040 same. The cup seems to represent God's provision, God's sustenance. And David in Psalm 23 says, 130 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:16,920 my cup overflows. In other words, God provides for me abundantly. And the same idea here. 131 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:23,360 He is my cup. He is my sustenance. He provides all that I need. He says, thou dost support 132 00:17:23,360 --> 00:17:30,740 my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. The lines refer to ropes or cords 133 00:17:30,740 --> 00:17:38,800 that were used to measure off distances and boundaries. And he says the lines have fallen 134 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:42,640 to me in pleasant places. And he's not talking about a piece of real estate folks. He's talking 135 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:50,000 about the lines of God's blessings have been dropped in His life in a pleasant way. And 136 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:59,000 he says, my heritage is beautiful to me. It's a sad thing when people's heritage isn't 137 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:06,360 beautiful to them anymore. In that regard, I think of the prodigal son who demanded his 138 00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:11,360 inheritance from his father. Do you think the father knew that his son was going to 139 00:18:11,360 --> 00:18:18,800 blow it or did this surprise the father when he gave the inheritance to the younger son? 140 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:31,080 Have you ever thought about that? I believe that the father knew what was going to happen. 141 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:39,000 But that he nonetheless gave the son his inheritance. And was that inheritance precious to him? 142 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:51,960 No. He wasted it in foolish living. You and I have an inheritance from God that sometimes 143 00:18:51,960 --> 00:19:00,600 we also take for granted, don't we? It doesn't seem precious to us or beautiful to us. We 144 00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:07,960 take it very casually. And yet we have in Jesus Christ every spiritual blessing in the 145 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:17,160 heavenly places. Everything that pertains to life and to godliness is ours in the Lord. 146 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:22,000 There is no good thing that He has withheld from us. Let's never take it for granted, 147 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:28,360 but understand how beautiful our heritage is. The first blessing of one who has his 148 00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:36,200 confidence in God is that his heart is content, verses 5 and 6. But also in verse 7, his mind 149 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:46,500 is counseled. I will bless the Lord, he says, who has counseled me. Indeed my mind instructs 150 00:19:46,500 --> 00:19:53,760 me in the night. I will bless the Lord. The word means I will kneel down before the Lord 151 00:19:53,760 --> 00:20:03,840 so as to praise him. I will bend my knee before him who has counseled me. Look at Psalm 33, 152 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:14,480 verses 10 and 11, where we have a parallel passage. I like this. The psalmist says, the 153 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:24,200 Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations. He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The 154 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:31,600 counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart from generation to generation. 155 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:38,140 Nations counsel together, don't they? They lay out plans. I can remember not too many 156 00:20:38,140 --> 00:20:44,920 years ago when we had this marvelous peace dividend that we were going to be enjoying. 157 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:53,660 Remember that? Because of the fall of communism, a new age had come. A new world order was 158 00:20:53,660 --> 00:20:59,720 just on the horizon. Almost sounded like chamber a little bit in his declaration regarding 159 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:08,200 Hitler. Nations take counsel together, but the Lord nullifies all of that. The nations 160 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:15,320 cannot plan anything apart from the direction that God has designed for history. But his 161 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:24,320 counsel stands forever. The plans that God has made go from generation to generation, 162 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:31,300 but it is this God who has counseled us. He counsels his own. He says, indeed my mind 163 00:21:31,300 --> 00:21:37,420 instructs me in the night. Literally, do you know what he says in the Hebrew? If you have 164 00:21:37,420 --> 00:21:43,600 a good study Bible, it may tell you. He says, indeed my kidneys instruct me in the nights. 165 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:49,920 Now we could talk about that a little bit, but we won't. You see, to the Hebrew, the 166 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:56,920 kidneys represented the very center of the being, the place where emotion was, where 167 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:05,720 conscience was. And so David is saying here, my mind, my innermost part instructs me. It 168 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:13,320 reproves me. It chastens me. It disciplines me in the night. Now we don't know if he's 169 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:19,000 talking about being on the night watch like a soldier, or if he's talking about lying 170 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:26,440 in bed and not being able to sleep, which some of us have experienced. But what he says 171 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:32,520 here is that during those times in the night, my mind instructs me. There is a conversation 172 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:38,360 going on inside of me. Sometimes I'd like for that conversation to be quiet so I could 173 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:43,080 go to sleep. Would you feel that way? But there are times when that conversation is 174 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:47,540 going inside of me, and we need to listen during those times. David had disciplined 175 00:22:47,540 --> 00:22:54,460 his ear, and he knew that there were times when God was his counselor. God was saying 176 00:22:54,460 --> 00:23:02,420 something in those night seasons. Now whether this was literal night or some figurative 177 00:23:02,420 --> 00:23:07,320 use of night here, we're not sure too. He may have been talking about a trial, the time 178 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:17,000 of weeping. The verb that this word night comes from means to twist away. And so the 179 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:22,080 picture of the Hebrew mind is that when night comes, the light is twisted away from us. 180 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:28,800 Have you ever felt like your life was just being twisted away from you? Your circumstances 181 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:34,920 were so tough to deal with that it was just like everything is being twisted away and 182 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:43,320 night is descending on your soul and not your body. Well, he says, in those seasons the 183 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:48,280 Lord's my counselor. The blessing of a believer is first of all that he has a heart that is 184 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:53,480 content in the Lord. He doesn't desire anything else. He's found his contentment in God. And 185 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:59,400 secondly, he has a mind that is counseled from God, especially in the night seasons. 186 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:05,040 And third, he says that the believer has a future that is certain. Verse 8, I have set 187 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:17,600 the Lord continually before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 188 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:23,880 Because he is at my right hand. Now that's interesting, isn't it? We think of Jesus 189 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:28,080 being at the right hand of the Father and in fact at the end of this psalm it says, 190 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:33,200 in thy right hand, talking about God's right hand. But here he talks about the believer's 191 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:42,400 right hand. Because he, the Lord, the Savior, who is self-existent, is at my right hand, 192 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:51,320 I will not be shaken. The place of the right hand was the place for a friend or the place 193 00:24:51,320 --> 00:25:01,000 for a protector. And so David is saying, the Lord is there as my protecting friend. I have 194 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:09,880 set the Lord continually before me. Some of you may have gotten some Father's Day cards 195 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:14,860 today. I did, I haven't had time to open them yet. So I'm going to do that tonight 196 00:25:14,860 --> 00:25:22,920 when I go home. It's a custom in our home, after occasions like this or after birthdays, 197 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:28,200 to take the cards that we receive and put them on the fireplace mantle. We put them 198 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:32,840 before us so that we can see them and be reminded of the thoughts of the people who sent us 199 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:38,840 the cards. It's kind of a special thing to do. After a while they get dusty and you take 200 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:42,960 them down, I suppose, but for a while you put them there because you want them before 201 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:48,040 you to be reminded. And you see that's David's idea here too. I have set the Lord before 202 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:57,160 me. He says, I keep him there before me so I'm remembering him. I'm going to get a little 203 00:25:57,160 --> 00:26:02,360 ahead of myself here and have you turn to Acts chapter 2 for just a minute. Because 204 00:26:02,360 --> 00:26:12,520 there we have a New Testament quotation or citation of Psalm 2. Excuse me, Psalm 16. 205 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:26,640 Acts chapter 2, verse 25. For David says of him, says of Jesus, I was always beholding 206 00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:34,600 the Lord in my presence. Now that's not exactly how it reads back in our version of Psalm 207 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:39,960 16. There's a reason for that. In the New Testament when the Old Testament was quoted, 208 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:46,720 they quoted from the Septuagint, which was a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. 209 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:52,600 The Old Testament that we have is directly from the Hebrew. But in the New Testament 210 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:58,040 when Paul and Peter and others quoted from the Old Testament, they quoted from the Greek 211 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:04,840 version of it. And so you had it translated into the Greek and there was a shift of some 212 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:09,040 of the words and some of the meanings. So don't be alarmed when you don't see the identical 213 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:16,280 words used. Now the Holy Spirit is the one who inspired this writing to come to us through 214 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:22,840 Acts 2. And when David says, I have set the Lord continually before me, the Holy Spirit 215 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:32,080 is saying, what he was saying was, I was always beholding the Lord in my presence. So you 216 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:37,640 see David was saying, I've just put the Lord there. I'm always looking at the Lord, reminding 217 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:44,760 me of Him. He is at the place of my protecting friend. And because of that I will not be 218 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:51,360 shaken. The picture there is just being shaken, grabbed a hold of and shaken and threatened. 219 00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:56,640 David says that's not going to happen. And so the blessing of a believer is that he has 220 00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:03,520 a future that is certain because the Lord is at his right hand as his protecting friend. 221 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:09,520 That's true of you tonight. If you're one who has trusted Jesus Christ, He is there. 222 00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:15,880 It's important for you to keep Him before you. Keep looking at Him. Keep beholding Him 223 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:23,320 so that you're reminded of that truth. And then he elaborates more upon what that future 224 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:33,520 is in verses 9 through 11. He says, therefore, notice that, because of what I've said, he 225 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:45,280 says, my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will dwell securely. For thou 226 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:52,600 wilt not abandon my soul to sheol, neither wilt thou allow thy holy one to undergo decay. 227 00:28:52,600 --> 00:29:00,160 Thou wilt make known to me the path of life, in thy presence is fullness of joy. In thy 228 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:06,520 right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Now remember, David is writing this out of 229 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:12,960 his own heart and life. Now we're going to talk about some deeper meaning to these verses, 230 00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:17,920 but let's remember David's writing it. He's writing about his own experience and his own 231 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:25,960 faith. And first of all, as he thinks about the future of himself and all believers, he 232 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:34,200 says, there is deliverance from death. My heart is glad. My glory rejoices. The word 233 00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:40,920 glory means weight or honor. And poetically it means the soul. So he's talking about his 234 00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:48,920 inner person. My glory, my soul rejoices. My flesh also will dwell securely or confidently. 235 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:58,680 For he says, thou wilt not abandon my soul to sheol, neither wilt thou allow thy holy 236 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:05,400 one to undergo decay. Now what did David have in mind? We don't know exactly. We're not 237 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:11,400 in David's mind. We know how the Lord intended for this to be read. He tells us in the New 238 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:17,480 Testament. David may have been saying, God is going to preserve me up to the point of 239 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:27,240 death. Most likely, David had in view in addition to that his own resurrection. And so he used 240 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:33,720 language to speak of that. Sheol was the realm of the dead, the departed. It does not refer 241 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:41,040 to hell, the fiery hell, as we think of that. He's talking about the realm of the dead. 242 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:46,380 You will not abandon my soul to sheol, neither will you allow your holy one. And he's talking 243 00:30:46,380 --> 00:30:54,440 about himself, first of all. Your holy one, because he's one of the saints, remember, 244 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:59,320 to undergo decay. He's talking about his physical body as well as his soul. The soul is where 245 00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:08,920 sheol goes. The grave is where his body goes. He talks about both of them. And so he says, 246 00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:14,520 I will be delivered from death. That's what my future holds. But then he goes on to say 247 00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:20,840 he would be resurrected to life. Look at verse 11. Thou will make known to me the path of 248 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:30,920 life. David is saying, this life is all there is. For after I have experienced death, there 249 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:38,280 is still the path of life. And the third thing that the future of the believer holds in David's 250 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:45,840 faith is that he would enjoy the presence of the Lord forever. Now he said the same 251 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:51,760 thing at the end of Psalm 23, didn't he? Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the 252 00:31:51,760 --> 00:32:00,240 days of my life. Then the lights go out and that's it, right? No. He says, and I will 253 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:06,960 dwell in the house of the Lord forever. And so he anticipated the presence of the Lord 254 00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:16,360 forever. Now having said what we believe David was saying about himself and his own faith, 255 00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:21,560 let's back up for a moment and remind ourselves that this whole paragraph beginning in verse 256 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:27,800 8 through the end of the Psalm is quoted or cited in the New Testament. It's one of those 257 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:32,200 scriptures that Peter used when he was preaching on the day of Pentecost. So let's go back 258 00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:45,680 there. Now remember, Peter is speaking here as God is revealing truth to him. Where did 259 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:53,880 he get it? Well I'll tell you where I think he got it. I think that Jesus explained Psalm 260 00:32:53,880 --> 00:33:03,400 2 to Peter and the others in those days after his resurrection. I think he said now, fellows 261 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:10,880 open your Bibles, open your scrolls to Psalm 2. I want to talk to you about it. And then 262 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:18,880 he laid out to them what Psalm 2 was really saying about himself as the great son of David. 263 00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:25,260 And now Peter stands just a few days later, just 10 days after Jesus went back to heaven. 264 00:33:25,260 --> 00:33:32,360 He stands on the temple steps and he proclaims this Psalm to all the people. He's been preaching 265 00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:40,920 Jesus to them, verse 22 of Acts 2. Jesus the Nazarene, and he explains about Jesus. He 266 00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:49,960 was delivered up and so on. Verse 24, and God raised him up again, putting an end to 267 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:56,720 the agony of death, since it was impossible for him to be held in its power. For David 268 00:33:56,720 --> 00:34:04,560 says of him, and I believe he's telling us now what Jesus taught him, I was always beholding 269 00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:10,840 the Lord in my presence, for he is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. In other words, 270 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:16,720 these are the words of Jesus. This Psalm was in his heart, in his mind, in the time of 271 00:34:16,720 --> 00:34:23,000 his suffering. Therefore my heart was glad, my tongue exalted. Moreover my flesh also 272 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:29,320 will abide in hope, because thou wilt not abandon my soul to Hades. Hades is Sheol. 273 00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:37,680 Sheol is the Hebrew word, Hades is the Greek word. Nor allow thy holy one to undergo decay. 274 00:34:37,680 --> 00:34:43,640 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life that will make me full of gladness with thy 275 00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:50,160 presence. Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David, that 276 00:34:50,160 --> 00:34:56,400 he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. All he had to do was 277 00:34:56,400 --> 00:35:02,280 to point to it. And so because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an 278 00:35:02,280 --> 00:35:10,000 oath to seat one of his descendants upon his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection 279 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:19,560 of the Christ, that he was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh suffer decay. 280 00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:27,480 This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. And so on that great day 281 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:33,240 of Pentecost, Peter opens the word of God to all those people to help them understand 282 00:35:33,240 --> 00:35:40,640 what David was saying. So let's go back now to Psalm 16 and just conclude by noting how 283 00:35:40,640 --> 00:35:53,440 this summarizes Jesus' ministry for us. First of all it speaks of Jesus' death. Thou wilt 284 00:35:53,440 --> 00:36:02,280 not abandon my soul to Sheol. What is death? It's the separation of the spirit from the 285 00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:11,560 body, right? The body is still here when death occurs. But the spirit is gone, the immaterial 286 00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:22,040 part is gone. And so the soul is spoken of here as going to Sheol, to the realm of the 287 00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:30,360 dead in the Hebrew minds. But the soul of Jesus, and of David for that matter, but we're 288 00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:40,040 thinking now of Jesus, his soul was not abandoned there. He was not deserted or forsaken there. 289 00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:47,760 Now Jesus had said on the cross, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? That was a 290 00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:55,280 human experience and emotion and feeling that was with him at the cross. But truly God had 291 00:36:55,280 --> 00:37:03,240 not forsaken him, and the Lord Jesus knew that. And when his soul departed from his body, 292 00:37:03,240 --> 00:37:10,760 when he said it is finished and he gave up his spirit, and the immaterial part of him 293 00:37:10,760 --> 00:37:20,040 left his body hanging on the cross, he went to Sheol. Not to the burning hell. There are 294 00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:27,040 some who teach that, and I really have disagreement with it. He did not need to go to the fiery 295 00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:33,000 hell. He suffered the pains of eternal hell on the cross. And when he died on the cross 296 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:39,040 he said it's finished. He didn't say it's almost finished, I've just got to go to hell 297 00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:46,800 now for three days and burn. He said it's finished. And so when the scripture says that 298 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:54,240 he went to Sheol, it means that he went to the place of the departed. To paradise. Or 299 00:37:54,240 --> 00:38:03,440 he called it himself Abraham's bosom. When the beggar died, they went to Abraham's bosom. 300 00:38:03,440 --> 00:38:13,200 Now there was some proximity, some relationship to the fiery burning hell. To Gehenna. For 301 00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:20,200 Jesus tells us about Lazarus, or excuse me, the rich man who was there and able to look 302 00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:26,360 over and to see Lazarus in Abraham's bosom in the place of rest and comfort and contentment 303 00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:33,560 with Abraham. It's to that latter place that Jesus went. But he was not abandoned there. 304 00:38:33,560 --> 00:38:39,880 So we have his death. Then he says, neither wilt thou allow thy holy one to undergo decay. 305 00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:48,560 Here we have his burial. His body was taken down from the tree by the men. It was quickly 306 00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:55,360 wrapped up and then taken to the tomb in the garden that was nearby that Joseph had prepared 307 00:38:55,360 --> 00:39:02,360 for himself and his family. No one had ever been in there before to be buried. And Jesus 308 00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:14,320 was put there. He was buried. But God would not allow his holy one to see or to undergo 309 00:39:14,320 --> 00:39:23,240 decay in that grave. We have his burial. And then in verse 11 we have his resurrection. 310 00:39:23,240 --> 00:39:32,000 Thou wilt make known to me the path of life. So we have his death, his burial, and now 311 00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:41,360 his resurrection. He was resurrected from the grave to experience a kind of life that 312 00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:48,080 was brand new. A glorious kind of life, eternal life. Thou wilt make known to me the path 313 00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:54,240 of life. And then we have another phrase that points beyond the resurrection to his ascension. 314 00:39:54,240 --> 00:40:01,500 For it says, in thy presence is fullness of joy. 315 00:40:01,500 --> 00:40:05,640 On that night before he was crucified, Jesus had dinner with his disciples. It was the 316 00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:12,840 last supper. It was the Passover meal. And then he said, get up. It's time to go. And 317 00:40:12,840 --> 00:40:16,960 they walked out to the garden of Gethsemane. And there they prayed. And John records for 318 00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:25,560 us a lot of the conversation that took place that night. At least six times Jesus said, 319 00:40:25,560 --> 00:40:34,280 I am going to the Father. I am going back to him who sent me. Jesus told them exactly 320 00:40:34,280 --> 00:40:40,520 where he was going. Not once, but at least six times. That's because they had a hard 321 00:40:40,520 --> 00:40:44,600 time hearing. Now none of us are that way, but those disciples had a hard time hearing. 322 00:40:44,600 --> 00:40:52,680 And so six times he told them, I am going to the Father. Reminds me of a story of a 323 00:40:52,680 --> 00:40:58,800 man, a preacher, who was going to preach on the second coming and his text was, behold 324 00:40:58,800 --> 00:41:10,160 I come. And unlike me, he tried to preach without notes. And he got started on his message. 325 00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:16,720 He wanted to deliver his text. And knew the first part of it was, behold I come. But he 326 00:41:16,720 --> 00:41:21,720 couldn't think of what came after that in the text. He forgot it. And so he stood back 327 00:41:21,720 --> 00:41:28,640 and he grabbed a hold of the pulpit and he said, behold I come. And he thought the words 328 00:41:28,640 --> 00:41:33,680 would come to his mind and they didn't. So he backed up again and came up to the pulpit 329 00:41:33,680 --> 00:41:39,880 and said, behold I come. And still he couldn't get through it. You know, his mind had a block. 330 00:41:39,880 --> 00:41:44,640 Have you ever had that experience? He just couldn't get the next words. And so this time 331 00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:49,200 he backed up even further and as he came to the pulpit he said, behold I come. And when 332 00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:54,720 he did he tripped and went right out into the front pew, into the lap of a little old 333 00:41:54,720 --> 00:42:02,000 lady who was sitting there. And he said, oh dear lady, I am so sorry. And she said, that's 334 00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:14,680 okay preacher, you warned me three times you were coming. Six times Jesus said, I am going 335 00:42:14,680 --> 00:42:21,120 to the Father. And after he rose from the dead, he was with his disciples for forty 336 00:42:21,120 --> 00:42:26,320 days and he went back to the Father. So they knew exactly what was taking place. They knew 337 00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:32,640 where he was going. In thy presence is fullness of joy and can you imagine the joy when Jesus 338 00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:41,760 got home. And then finally we have his enthronement. For it says, at thy right hand there are pleasures 339 00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:45,960 forevermore. Jesus went back to heaven to the presence of the Father and then what did 340 00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:56,040 he do? He sat down. Not because he was tired, but because his work was done. He sat down 341 00:42:56,040 --> 00:43:04,160 at the place of authority. He sat down at the place of the inheritor, the heir, the 342 00:43:04,160 --> 00:43:11,320 right hand to the Father, the throne of God. He sat down because his work was complete. 343 00:43:11,320 --> 00:43:20,440 And he is enthroned in heaven today, declared to be the victor, the conqueror. And he has 344 00:43:20,440 --> 00:43:27,920 the keys of death and Hades in his hand. He is the conqueror. And we see him described 345 00:43:27,920 --> 00:43:35,320 in a wonderful vision of Revelation 1, don't we? That glorified vision that John had of 346 00:43:35,320 --> 00:43:43,280 Jesus standing there before him on the Isle of Patmos. The conqueror, at thy right hand 347 00:43:43,280 --> 00:43:48,800 there are pleasures forevermore. And so we have about Messiah, his death, his burial, 348 00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:54,400 his resurrection, his ascension, and his enthronement in heaven. You say, what has that got to do 349 00:43:54,400 --> 00:44:04,080 with us? Everything. Because we died with him, we were buried with him, we rose again 350 00:44:04,080 --> 00:44:12,960 with him, we ascended with him, we are seated with him, we are identified with Jesus Christ 351 00:44:12,960 --> 00:44:19,640 in all of his saving work, therefore we can have confidence in the Lord. And that's what 352 00:44:19,640 --> 00:44:26,840 this psalm is all about, the confidence that David had in God, his determined confidence. 353 00:44:26,840 --> 00:44:34,800 And so I hope that you and I can this week enter into the life of this psalm, understand 354 00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:41,660 what it says to us about Jesus and about ourselves, and live in the joy of who we are in Jesus 355 00:44:41,660 --> 00:44:45,880 Christ, and know that because of that, not because of who we are, but because of who 356 00:44:45,880 --> 00:44:52,680 we are in him, we can have great confidence in the Lord. And if we have people who are 357 00:44:52,680 --> 00:45:01,280 after us, if we have situations that are attacking us, with David we can say, Lord preserve me, 358 00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:10,080 preserve me, I find refuge, I take refuge in you. Let's pray. I don't know where you 359 00:45:10,080 --> 00:45:17,840 may need the refuge, I don't know what the enemy is that is after you. Perhaps it is 360 00:45:17,840 --> 00:45:25,440 temptation that is stalking you, and you are being sorely tempted in some area of your 361 00:45:25,440 --> 00:45:36,320 life. Ask the Lord to preserve you, take refuge in him from that temptation. Perhaps it is 362 00:45:36,320 --> 00:45:45,040 fear, fear of the future, fear of the unknown. Say to him tonight, Lord preserve me, in you 363 00:45:45,040 --> 00:45:57,320 I take refuge. Lord my future is secure in you, I don't have to be afraid. Maybe there 364 00:45:57,320 --> 00:46:09,640 is some situation at work, and it's just been ongoing. Will you say Lord preserve me, preserve 365 00:46:09,640 --> 00:46:17,960 me, I take my refuge in you. Father may we live that way this week and enjoy the inheritance 366 00:46:17,960 --> 00:46:24,560 that we have in you. And with David may we be able to say we are content with that, that 367 00:46:24,560 --> 00:46:36,680 our portion is you, and that the lines have fallen to us by your grace in pleasant places. 368 00:46:36,680 --> 00:46:54,880 In Jesus name, amen. Good night.