The Cry Of The Believer’s Heart (Psalm 16)
As a general rule, we have convictions about life and then when things happen we make decisions that conform to those convictions. It’s not as if we sit down and think critically about every single decision we make. We have a foundation that we are working from and from that foundation we act.
Amanda and I have oftentimes stated that we would not be able to take on a certain situation if we did not understand that God is in control. If we didn’t understand that He were in control and that He is working for our good, whether we really understand what is going on or not, we would not be able to stand under certain situations. Our faith in the Lord was settled in this area long ago, and whatever comes our way, We are already resting on that foundation of trust in Him.
That’s why this Psalm is interesting. There doesn’t seem to be a big event that creates this response to the Lord. This psalm is a settled testimony of faith in the Lord. The foundation that David proclaims he will work from is faith in the Lord.
We are to have a settled trust in the Lord, and there we will find ultimate joy and satisfaction.
Lord, My Life Is In You (Psalm 16:1-2)
Psalms did not have titles on them as we have today. So, when this was originally written the title, “You Will Not Abandon My Soul” was not there. Titles of sections of Scripture like that are not an inspired part of the text, because they are not original to the text of Scripture. They were added at a later date. And here, I do not think that the title does a good job of teaching what the point of this Psalm is.
The point of the entire psalm is found here in verse 1.
“Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.” (Psalm 1:1 ESV)
There are two things asked for in verse 1. The first is God’s protection over his whole life, and the second is a declaration of faith in the Lord. This is the cry of the believer’s heart. Our hope is in the Lord and we have placed our faith in Him. We are trusting the Lord.
And the next phrase is a declaration of the good that comes from the Lord. David here says, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from You.” (Psalm 16:2 ESV) All of the good that David has comes from the Lord. He has trusted the Lord, and the Lord has not failed him.
It is in the Lord that Christians find their ultimate protection. Governments will fail us. Friends will fail us at times, but the Lord will not. And even if the worst may happen to us on this Earth we trust that it is for the best and that we will be with Him forever.
Christian, we understand that the Lord is our shelter. He is our protection. And we also understand that blessing upon blessing are poured out upon us and it is all from the hand of the Lord. And here is where the rubber meets the road for us. Are we resting in the Lord? That is, are we acting as if we trust the Lord?
Life can be very difficult. There are a lot of pressures that can come our way. And David felt a lot of pressures in his life. In order for us to make it through the difficult times that will assuredly arise, we will need to have this settled faith in the Lord.
Parents, you need to be teaching this to your children, and thankfully this is not difficult to do. When you sit around the dinner table, be thankful for the blessings that God has given you. Be thankful yourself and in so doing, you will teach your children that all of the blessings we have come from the Lord. And when we pray for protection while we sleep with our children at night, we are teaching our children that it is God who protects and provides for us. We are genuinely thankful and genuinely praying for protection, but as we do this we are also teaching our children that their safety and provision is from the Lord.
Lord, I Treasure Your People (Psalm 16:3-4)
David has chosen to treasure God’s people. He understood that it was God’s people who were the true treasures of the land. “They are the excellent ones” (Psalm 16:3 ESV). These are the people that David delights in. And these people are compared to those whom he does not treasure, the unbeliever.
David has chosen not to be with those people who chase after “another god” (Psalm 16:4). Those people who are chasing after things other than the Lord will find that sorrow after sorrow will be added to their life. And David will not participate in those pursuits with them. David has decided that he will not be associated with those people.
The longer I am alive and the longer I am a believer, the more I mature in the faith, the more I treasure my time with other believers. I can remember when I was less mature and this was definitely not the case. I can remember being young in the ministry and not having this attitude but it is definitely not the case today. Today I understand that these are the people that are to be treasured. And I treasure them because we have placed our faith in the Lord. We have the same Lord, the same salvation, the same baptism, and partake of the same Lord’s Supper together. And it is those people who I love and delight in most in this world.
Christians have great commonality with one another. We understand that we are sinners saved by God’s grace. We are those who have been purchased by the blood of the Lamb. We are God’s adopted children. And we are those who have forsaken this world and trusted in Christ.
And as I think through David’s discussion here, I ask this question. What fellowship does light have with darkness anyway? No wonder we cherish God’s people so much.
We do hope to bring them into the light with us. And we go forth declaring to them the grace, love, and mercy that is found only in Christ. But it our closes and most delightful fellowship is with those who love and follow the same Lord as us.
Lord, I Treasure You (Psalm 16:5-6)
David then states that it is the LORD who is His “chosen portion” (Psalm 16:5). It is not the things of this world that are David’s portion. It is not having an abundance of stuff that is the great joy of David’s life. It is the beautiful inheritance that David has in the Lord.
To say that “the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places” is to use the terminology of land markers and boundaries (Psalm 16:6). If your land was more fertile than your neighbor’s then the lines would have fallen in pleasant places for you. Here, David is discussing the inheritance he has as a child of the Lord. God is David’s portion, and he has a beautiful inheritance in Him.
Those who follow the ways of the world believe themselves to be getting the best end of the stick. They see the Lord and His ways as being restrictive and lacking a real payoff. But this is not the case, and we know it. The Lord is Himself a beautiful inheritance. Having Him is better than anything else in this world.
In Christ, my sins are forgiven, I am given righteousness, and I am given fellowship with God and His people. This glorious salvation that we have in Christ is worth more than having anything and everything that this world has to offer. We are the people of God and the lines have truly fallen in beautiful places for us.
Lord, I Look To You In All Things (Psalm 16:7-8)
And David now moves to gratefulness for the counsel of the Lord. The Lord gives him wisdom. And he finds instruction from the Lord in the quietness of the night. It is as if God gives him understanding as David ponders the ways of God and the activities of the day or what is to happen in the day to come. God’s Spirit is moving in David to apply God’s wisdom to the world that surrounds him. And for that he is incredibly grateful.
And David made a conscious decision to “set the LORD always before” him (Psalm 16:8). His mind is constantly on pleasing the Lord in all that he does. God has given him wisdom. The Lord is his help and hope, “because He is at” David’s “right hand” (Psalm 16:8 ESV). And this all means that David will “not be shaken” (Psalm 16:8 ESV). And this will be true no matter what the world throws at him the following day.
And here we see where David finds his wisdom in the Lord. He is not watching Fox and CNN to find the way he is to live and how to best live wisely in the world. He is constantly seeking wisdom in the Lord and the Lord is giving it to him.
I have a question for you. Do you believe this is the truth? Do you believe that wisdom is found in the Lord and that you should order your life after his ways? Have you read your Bible? Do you teach your Bible at home to your children?
If you do not bother to read your Bible and do not bother to teach your Bible, then I am not sure that you believe the Lord gives wisdom. And here is why. How does God speak to us? How does God tell us His wisdom? It’s found in His Word. We receive it when it is preached, and we receive it when we read it.
Look to the Lord in all things. And if you are doing so that means you will be hearing God’s Word preached. And it also means that you will wipe the dust off your Bible at home and get to reading and teaching it to your kids.
If we, as Christians truly believe that God is our treasure and that He has delivered to us His Word then we will be people who love and cherish God’s Word. We will be people who ground our lives upon God’s Word. And we will be people who ground the future generations in God’s Word.
Lord, In You Are The Greatest Of Joys And Pleasure (Psalm 16:9-11)
Because of God’s grace toward David and his trust in the Lord, David rejoices with everything that is in him. In the Lord, David has found gladness and rejoicing (Psalm 16:9). In the Lord, David has found security in the safety of the Lord (Psalm 16:9). And this security extends even to the end of his life (Psalm 16:10).
We don’t think a lot about death today. I think it is because of the safety that modern medicine has afforded to people in our society. I didn’t personally have a relationship with anyone who had died until I was 8 or 9 years old. And then it happened with some frequency because it was Great-Grandparents and Grandparents who were passing away. Later, younger people would die that I was related to or knew, but that was self-inflicted whether it was drugs or suicide. And my point in saying all of this is that we live in a day and age in which we can put off thoughts about death. Our situation allows for that. But here David has thought about death and even in death he has a settled assurance of God’s love and grace toward him.
David knew and he understood that he would one day die and be with the Lord. He knew that his sins were forgiven. He knew that God’s grace would rescue him from the depths of Sheol, the place of the dead. And his heart rejoiced in that fact. Does yours?
Coronavirus has given us an opportunity to think about death. We have always known that death would one day come but a pandemic gives us a special opportunity to think through where our hope is and what our ultimate hope is.
But there is something else that should be considered here. Anytime the New Testament speaks on a text, it does so with authority. The New Testament authors were guided by the Holy Spirit and interpreted the texts of the Old Testament with great frequency.
In his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, Peter said,
“For David says concerning him, “‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.” (Acts 2:25-32 ESV)
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Peter is interpreting this passage and applying it to the lives of those who heard him. And he states that ultimately David died and was buried. David was ultimately looking forward to the day when one of his descendants would die and rise from the grave. And so, this text was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ. And it is in Christ that ultimate joy is found.
God made all things perfect, even people. But people disobeyed God’s command. We rebelled against God and incurred punishment for it, the justice and wrath of God. But God did not leave us in that place without hope. God the Son took on human flesh and dwelt among us. He accomplished everything that we should have accomplished. He kept God’s Law and fulfilled all righteousness. And then, though sinless, He went to the cross. There He paid the debt that all who would ever trust in Him owe. He took God’s justice and wrath in our place. Then, as David predicted, Jesus rose from the grave three days later. And all who trust in Christ have their sins paid for by Christ on the cross and are credited with the righteousness of Christ. And we can be brought into fellowship with God and His people. What a glorious inheritance we have! The lines have fallen in wonderful places for us!
And so, it is in the Lord that ultimate joy and pleasure are found. It is not that we as Christians seek less pleasure when we abandon seeking after other things and seek the Lord. It is that we understand that ultimate joy is found in the Lord and not in this world. And we are looking forward to the day when ultimate joy will be found in the New Heavens and Earth.
I am going to get pretty John Piper on you for a moment because this text is one that he leans on quite a bit to teach. Psalm 16:11 plays a big role in his teaching and those of you that have listened to him know what I am talking about. And his point is clear. Christ is where ultimate joy is found. It is in Him, not in the things of the world that we find true joy and satisfaction. The world doesn’t offer more, it offers less. Why would we spend our lives seeking anything less than ultimate satisfaction?
This cry of David comes from a place of settled faith and trust in the Lord. He understands that it is in the Lord that He finds true, lasting, and ultimate satisfaction.
Conclusion
These are things that we as believers need to understand in our lives. They are things that need to be settled for us as we head off into a world that can be so hard to live in. But when we have that settled trust in the Lord and all He gives to us, then we understand that we are in that place where the greatest of ultimate joy and satisfaction are to be found.
R. Dwain Minor