Psalm 16.
Reading: Psalm 16.
• Is a song of confidence,
• And in the final verses David prophesies the resurrection of Jesus.
(1). A Prayer (verse 1-3)
“Keep me safe, O God,
for in you I take refuge.
I said to the LORD , "You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.
3 As for the saints who are in the land,
they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight”.
Quote: The Norwegian theologian Ole Hallesby gives a good definition of prayer
• “To pray is nothing more involved that to let Jesus into our needs.
• To pray is to give Jesus permission to employ His powers in the alleviation of our distress.”
3 THINGS TO NOTE IN THIS SHORT PRAYER:
(1). Safety.
“Keep me safe, O God,
for in you I take refuge.
Ill:
The story is told of a monastery in Portugal:
• That is perched high on a 3,000 foot cliff;
• It is only accessible by a terrifying ride in a swaying basket.
• The basket is pulled with a single rope by several strong men,
• Who as you can imagine perspire heavily under the strain of the fully loaded basket.
• One American tourist who visited the site got nervous halfway up the cliff;
• When he noticed that the rope was old and frayed.
• Hoping to relieve his fear he asked, “How often do you change the rope?”
• The monk in charge replied, “Whenever it breaks!”
David the Psalmist:
• Was trusting in a refuge that would never break or need changing.
• That refuge was God himself.
• The word ‘Refuge’ is a favourite expression with David;
• One he uses again and again in his Psalms (see Psalms 7 verse 1 and 11 verse 1).
Ill:
• Market stall;
• Shelter from the storm.
Ill:
Remember from our studies, he spent many years ‘on the run’ from King Saul:
• So he knew what it was to be hunted, in danger and homeless.
• For David to have a refuge both physically and spiritually was an important thing.
Quote
• John A. Shedd:
• “A ship in harbour is safe—but that is not what ships are for”.
David’s experience of God is as a ‘refuge’;
• That was not learned in a classroom or in a Church building;
• But had been proved in the difficult storms of life.
Quote: Chinese Proverb:
“Experience is a comb that nature give us when we are bald.”
• I don’t know if David was receding or bold;
• But he had every right to be!
(2). Security (verse 2).
“I said to the LORD , "You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing."
David’s experience of God was not long- distance:
• It is up close and personal; “You are MY God”,
• He trusts God because he knows God.
• Those isolated nights looking after sheep as a Shepherd boy;
• Were not wasted, he had used them to get to know his God!
• Ill: Proof of that is this book of songs called Psalms;
• Written evidence of his relationship with God.
Note:
• David would never use the motto ‘God helps those who help themselves’.
• He recognises his total dependence on God: “Apart from you I have no good thing.”
Quote: C. S. Lewis:
“He who has God and many other things has no more than he who has God alone.”
Ill:
• Herbert Hoover was one of the most vilified and maligned presidents in the history;
• Of the United States of America.
• Mainly because the Great Depression began during his Administration.
• Yet despite the treatment he received he did not seem to become cynical or bitter.
• He went on serving his country to the end,
• Maintaining his dignity and serenity.
• His wife once explained it like this:
" Bert can take it better than most people because he has deeply ingrained in him the Quaker feeling that nothing matters if you are right with God."
(3). Saints (verse 3).
3 As for the saints who are in the land,
they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.
Quote : The great Methodist John Wesley:
“I want the whole Christ for my Saviour,
the whole Bible for my book,
the whole Church (not a select few) for my fellowship,
and the whole world for my mission field”
• David was aware that God has a special place in his heart for all his people.
• And David enjoys fellowship with like-minded believers.
Ill:
• Book of Acts they met ‘everyday’;
• Many of us struggle with once a week!
Quote:
“To dwell above with saints we love,
my won’t that be glory,
but to dwell below with saints we know,
now that’s another story!”
Ill:
• Christians we need to be ever expanding our circle of friends.
• Challenge: invite someone round for dinner next week!
(2). A Declaration (verses 2-4a)
4 The sorrows of those will increase
who run after other gods.
I will not pour out their libations of blood
or take up their names on my lips.
In contrast to David who had found real help in the Living God:
• We have pictured in these verses;
• Those who worship idols; ‘who run after other gods’
• ill: Last week in Hounslow;
• Many of those contacted worshipped idols!
• Ill: Missionary:
• “Does your God bleed?”
Ill:
Hid-e-yo-shi, a Japanese warlord who ruled over Japan in the late 1500s,
• Commissioned a colossal statue of Buddha for a shrine in Kyoto.
• It took 50,000 men five years to build,
• But the work had scarcely been completed when the earthquake of 1596;
• Brought the roof of the shrine crashing down and wrecked the statue.
• In a rage Hid-e-yo-shi shot an arrow at the fallen colossus.
• “I put you here at great expense,” he shouted, “and you can’t even look after your own temple.”
Of course it could no for it was only an idol:
• With eyes that could not see.
• Ears that could not hear.
• It had nostrils that could not smell;
• And lips that could not speak!
David reminds us in verse 4:
• That heathen worship holds no attraction for a true believer.
• Why would anyone swap the living God for an immutable object?
• So David says emphatically that he will not share in their false sacrifices,
• Nor even take their names on his lips.
• In fact he will shun any association which might link him with such false beliefs.
• Because idolatry only increases a persons sorrows.
After all your worship, all your sacrifices are all in vain!
• The idol, know matter how big or well carved is only a piece of wood or metal.
• Therefore it cannot help you, it will only increase you anxieties and concerns.
(3). A Song of Confidence (verses 5-6)
5 LORD , you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
you have made my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.”
Ill:
• Friends who have a dog who when you walk into their back garden;
• The dog will picks up his tennis ball and brings it to you;
• With full confidence that you will throw the ball for him.
• He is only confident because his master have trained him that way.
• God’s children can be confident;
• Because God has trained them to be that way.
This Psalm concludes with a song of confidence:
• ‘Surely’ he says in verse 6 the future is positive;
• The reason for such hope is because God is in charge of his situation (verse 5).
Ill:
• The American painter, John Sargent,
• Once painted a panel of roses that was highly praised by critics.
• It was a small picture, but it approached perfection.
• Although offered a high price for it on many occasions,
• Sargent refused to sell it.
• He considered it his best work and was very proud of it.
• Whenever he was deeply discouraged and doubtful of his abilities as an artist,
• He would look at it and remind himself,
• “I painted that.”
• Then his confidence and ability would come back to him.
In contrast to the inability, the powerlessness to help of false idols:
• David could say;
• ‘The Lord has helped me in the past and he can do it again in the future’.
• 'Portion and cup' (verse 5):
• Refers to the overflowing bounty which God had given him.
• When doubts or difficult times fell upon him;
• He would remind himself of the Lord’s blessings to him.
Notice the imagery used in verse 6:
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.”
The imagery used here by David:
• Is very much linked to God's provision for the Levites:
• Where he gave them (to quote): “A delightful inheritance.”
• We read about it in Numbers chapter 18 verse 20;
• Deuteronomy chapter 10 verse 9; chapter 18: verse 1-2).
Ill:
• God allocated territory for the other tribes, but not the Levites.
• Their inheritance was unique (Numbers chapter 18 verse 20)
“The LORD said to Aaron, "You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them; I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites.”
• Their inheritance was to be different to the other tribes;
• Not land but God himself.
In this Psalm David is not speaking of an earthly inheritance:
• Such as the tribes received,
• But of God's gift of himself.
(4). The Reward of Confidence (verses 7-11)
“I will praise the LORD , who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
11 You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand”
ill:
• After a preacher died and went to heaven,
• He noticed that a New York cabdriver had been given a higher place than he had.
• “I don’t understand,” he complained to St. Peter.
• “I devoted my entire life to my congregation.”
• “Our policy is to reward results,” explained St. Peter.
• “Let me explain what happened” said St. Peter.
• “Whenever you gave a sermon, many in the congregation fell asleep.
• That’s true replied the minister,”
• St. Peter continued:
• “When people rode in this man’s taxi, they not only stayed awake, but they also prayed.”
The Psalmist tells us in these verses 7-8 that he has already received his reward:
• He has enjoyed the Lord’s ‘Counsel’ and ‘Instruction’.
• As well as the ‘Lord’s presence’ with him in this life.
• As a result of that Verse 8: God had filled his ‘heart’ with joy and gladness;
• And once again he speaks about being secure.
Ill:
• F. B. Meyer wrote about two Germans who wanted to climb the Matterhorn.
• They hired three guides and began their ascent at the steepest and most slippery part.
• The men roped themselves together in this order:
• Guide, traveller, guide, traveller, guide.
• They had gone only a little way up the side when the last man lost his footing.
• He was held up temporarily by the other four,
• Because each had a toehold in the niches they had cut in the ice.
• But then the next man slipped, and he pulled down the two above him.
• The only one to stand firm was the first guide,
• Who had driven a spike deep into the ice.
• Because he held his ground,
• All the men beneath him regained their footing.
• F. B. Meyer concluded his story by drawing a spiritual application.
• He said,
• “I am like one of those men who slipped, but thank God,
• I am bound in a living partnership to Christ. & because He stands, I will never perish.”
As he dwells on the safety he had endured with the LORD:
• It produces yet another song of praise from David (verses 9-10):
• Because David knows that if God has been with him in this life;
• He is confident that he will be with him in the next life as well!
• Ill: “I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever”
Verse 10:
• Occupies a special place in biblical thought;
• Because it is quoted in reference to Jesus' resurrection.
• David is asserting that the LORD will not abandon his life to Sheol, the grave;
• Nor will God let his faithful one see corruption.
• David spoke prophetically by the Holy Spirit;
• And looks forward to the resurrection of the Messiah.
• His eye is on one of his descendants (see Acts 2:27)
• & his words have a far deeper meaning than the surface reading of them would suggest.
Ill:
Receipt.
The final verse (verse 11):
• Uses words and ideas already employed earlier in the psalm:
• ‘Make known,' 'life,' 'joy,' 'your presence,' 'pleasure,' 'eternal'.
• David finishes the psalm by informing us that fullness of joy;
• Is to be found where the LORD reveals his presence.
Quote: C. S. Lewis gave us the following insight:
• Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.
• We are half-hearted creatures,
• Fooling about with drink and sex and ambition,
• When infinite joy is offered to us,
• Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum
• Because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.
• We are far too easily pleased.
