with me in your Bibles to Psalm 16 as we continue to work our way through the Psalms of David. Psalm 16. Psalm 16, I'll begin reading, excuse me, in verse 1. Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god.
Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, nor take up their names on my lips. O Lord, you are the portion of my inheritance in my cup. You maintain my lot. The lions have fallen to me in pleasant places.
Yes, I have a good inheritance. I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will rest in hope, for you will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life. In Your presence is fullness of joy.
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Amen. Let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Our Father in Heaven, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You that the Spirit gave it to us for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. and as well, so that we may marvel at our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy One herein described. We ask that Your Spirit would guide us, that we would see Christ as altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. As our brother prayed, may it be the case that everyone here would be looking unto Him in faith. knowing the terror of the Lord, the reality that we'll all stand before God Most High one day in judgment.
May we be clothed in His righteousness, may we be cleansed in His blood, and may this be for the glory and praise of Your great name. Again, forgive us now for all of our sins, encourage us, build us up in our most holy faith, strengthen us with might in the inner man, and just cause us, Lord God, to give heed to what the Spirit says in this psalm. And we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
Introduction
Well, as we have been working our way through the book of Psalms, we have noticed that Jesus is the subject, Jesus is the object, Jesus is the prayer, Jesus is the singer of the Psalms of David. And Psalm 16 follows inevitably after Psalms 14 and 15, not just numerically, but thematically. In Psalm 14, what we find is the description of man's problem. Man isn't just a little bit messed up, but man is totally depraved.
Psalm 14 portrays for us the true condition of man. Psalm 15 then shifts the focus to the righteous man, the man introduced in Psalm 1, the man highlighted in Psalm 8. and the man who alone can enter into the presence of God Most High. That's our Lord Jesus Christ. If you look at Psalm 15, it starts with a question, verse 1.
It then gives a response or answer in verses 2 to 4, and then gives a promise in verse 5. Notice at the end, he who does these things shall never be moved. Again, a description of the one who does verses 2 to 4. We may try, and by the Spirit's power we may be decent, but this describes our Lord Jesus.
It speaks concerning what we call the active obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice then that Psalm 16 picks up on that very theme. Psalm 15 ends with, he who does these things shall never be moved. Notice in Psalm 16, 8, the last part, because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
The question of Psalm 15 in verse 1, Lord who may abide in your tabernacle, who may dwell in your holy hill, is answered or resolved in Psalm 16 and speaking specifically of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now based on the gospel, based on the good news concerning Christ's death and resurrection, his life, his death, and his resurrection, based on the fact that he paid the debt or satisfied justice on behalf of sinners, We will go to heaven based on what He has done. We receive the benefits of His shed blood in terms of cleansing from sin, and we receive the benefits of His perfect life described in Psalm 15. We call that the imputed righteousness of Christ that's received by faith alone.
So Psalm 16 primarily is about Jesus. But David can enter in, and you and I can enter in, because of what Jesus does according to Psalm 15, to resolve the problem of Psalm 14, and he gains the reward in Psalm 16. So we'll notice, first, the earnest petition of the psalmist in verse one, secondly, the joyful contentment of the psalmist in verses two to six, and then thirdly, the steadfast confidence of the psalmist in verses seven to 11. If up to this point you've struggled at all with our application of the Psalms of David primarily to our Lord Jesus Christ, you can't with Psalm 16.
The Apostle Peter cites Psalm 16 in Acts chapter 2 and says that David says concerning him. concerning our Lord Jesus. The Apostle Paul in Pisidian Antioch in Acts 13, 35 to 37 as well, cites Psalm 16 and does apply it specifically to our Lord Jesus Christ. So what we have, as we've seen in many of the psalms up to this point, is something of the mind of Christ in His earthly ministry. In other words, what was the thought of his mind with reference to his life on earth when he assumed our humanity, and he lived for us, and he died for us, and he was raised again for us?
That's the ethos behind this particular psalm. It expresses, as I said, that petition, that contentment, and that confidence of the psalmist in his earthly ministry.
Earnest Petition of the Psalmist
But note first the earnest petition of the psalmist in verse one, a victim of David, Anybody really doesn't know what a mictum is. It's probably a musical term of some sort, but we're not going to spend a lot of time on that. Several of the Psalms have this particular superscription. That is inspired.
It is there for a reason. The Spirit intended for us to see it. The words above that, if you're using the New King James, is the translator's sort of titling of that psalm. But the smaller statement there, a mictum of David, or in Psalm 17, a prayer of David, that's God-breathed word.
That is for us and for our instruction. So after he says a mictum of David, he says,
Preserve Me, O God
Preserve me, O God, for in you I put my trust. So, the petition is simple, preserve me, O God, and the argument is simple as well, for in you I put my trust. With reference to this particular petition, we've already seen it thus far. Notice in Psalm 12, specifically at verse 7, you shall keep them, O Lord, you shall preserve them from this generation forever.
Psalm 17, 8, keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me under the shadow of your wings. Jesus, in His high priestly prayer in John 17, prays specifically to the Father that He would preserve, that He would keep, that He would guard, that He would watch over the very church of our Lord Jesus Christ. And with reference to the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus, what we see with reference to that is the recognition of the preservation of God in both His active and passive obedience. In other words, while he's out fulfilling the law of God, he is being preserved by the God of the law.
While he is out doing those things that you and I didn't do described in Psalm 15 verses 2 to 4, what we see is that God the Father is preserving him. God the Father is keeping him. God the Father is watching over him. Jesus receives the Spirit above measure.
Jesus walks in close communion with his Father, and therefore he says, preserve me, O God, for in you I put my trust. The dependence upon the Father from our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his human nature, is exactly what we would expect from true humanity. To say, well, the Son of God doesn't really need to be preserved by the Father. Well, of course He does.
He assumed our humanity, with all the essential properties and the common infirmities thereof, and yet without sin. Jesus went about doing good. Jesus was the man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Jesus fulfilled all righteousness, aided by the power of the Spirit, preserved by His Father, and kept for the glory of God Most High.
And the argument is very simple. Preserve me, O God, for in you I put my trust.
Praying the Petition Today
I wonder if we pray that way. Preserve me, O God. Why? Because I put my trust in you.
Where else should I go? Remember when the Lord Jesus chides his disciples in John chapter 6. It says that many who were following him dropped away. They fell away.
They didn't like his emphasis on God's sovereignty and on their depravity. So those so-called followers departed from him. And then Jesus looks at his true disciples and he says to them, do you also want to go away? What's Simon Peter say in John 6, 68?
He says, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. The argument here is simple, but effective. It is simple, but it is glorious, and it is one that the Church of Christ, united to Christ by faith and the power of the Holy Spirit, ought to be praying often.
Preserve me, O God, for in you I put my trust. I have no other help. I have no other hope, I have no other confidence, I have no other strength than save for you, God. So when we look at this psalm and we apply it to our Lord Jesus, we can further apply it to David in his original context, but to the saints of the Lord, those in vital union, saving union with our blessed Savior.
We ought to pray likewise. Preserve me, O God, for in you I put my trust. And if you notice in the gospel records, what does Jesus do often? He prays.
Why does he pray? He doesn't pray according to the divine nature. He prays according to the human nature. He prays as a man.
And that is something that is very characteristic of his earthly ministry. He stole away to go to a solitary place so that he might pray. He rose up many hours before sunrise, and he went to pray. Why did he do that?
Based on Psalm 16, verse 1. I mean, I'm sure there was other psalms in the mind of the Lord Jesus. But preserve me, O God, for in you I put my trust. Are you and I getting up out of bed and rushing into our day without praying likewise?
Are all of us seeking to live in this present evil age in a way that the Bible calls us to as blood-bought children of God who have the Holy Spirit? Are we praying, preserve me, O God, for in you I put my trust? Hopefully right now you're saying, no, I haven't been doing that. And you're going to say, I'm going to do that.
I'm going to follow the master in this one. I'm going to follow his pattern. I'm going to follow what characterized his life. If the man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, plunged into this lower world, was one who prayed to his father, preserve me, O God, for in you I put my trust, then all of us in union with him ought to be doing likewise.
Joyful Contentment of the Psalmist
Now notice then, secondly, the joyful contentment of the psalmist. We could just say the contentment But there's a joy that rings between verses two to six. And we see this joyful contentment of the psalmist with reference to his relationships and with reference to his sufficiency. Now remember, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God, John 1.1.
John 1.14, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. In the assumption of our humanity, as I said, with all the essential properties and common infirmities and yet without sin. What does that make Jesus? It makes him true man.
So as true man, the Lord Jesus related to God, he related to the righteous, and he had to relate to the wicked. And in the midst of all that, he maintains this joyful contentment. The man of sorrows was joyfully content. The man of sorrows was able to look beyond the sorrows, to look beyond the cross, to the joy that was set before him.
The man of sorrows was shaped such by the word of God and his knowledge of his father through the study of that word that he was able to maintain a joyful countenance in his earthly ministry. When Jesus needed a child for an illustration, You don't get the vibe that the children ever said, what, that grouchy fellow? That man that looks like he just chomped on a lemon? I'm not going anywhere near him.
No, the children readily came to him. He had to caution his disciples. He had to say, permit them to come to me. The man of sorrows was able to navigate this world of sorrows in such a way that he never lost sight of the providence of God, that God governs all his creatures and all their actions, and he does it for his glory and for their good.
And I dare say in his study of the Scriptures as he's going through the Psalms, as he's reading about himself in the prophets, as he reads about himself in the law of Moses, he realizes that what his life contains or what his life holds is not going to be a walk in the park. Jesus, according to his human nature, read the prophet Isaiah and he read chapter 53 and he saw that moniker, he's a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He's going to be despised. He's going to be contemned.
He's going to be ultimately delivered up to be crucified. And yet in the midst of that affliction and hardship, he was able to maintain a joyful contentedness. Brethren, I dare say that when we understand a psalm like Psalm 16, and the reality that we just sang in 470, that one day we're going to stand before the throne, cleansed in His blood, clothed in His righteousness, that whatever trials and afflictions and hardships and sorrows we have faced in this present evil age, we're going to be ushered into the presence of the Most High, where there are pleasures forevermore. How does he navigate?
How does he maintain a joyful contentedness? He does so by meditating upon Psalm 16. He does so by keeping in the forefront of his mind the reality of Emmanuel's land. Listen to what Matthew Henry said, and I think he gets it right on the head with reference to this psalm.
He says, those who live piously with God in their eye may die comfortably with heaven in their eye. In this world sorrow is our lot, but in heaven there is joy. All our joys here are empty and defective, but in heaven there is a fullness of joy. That's the essence of the psalm.
So verses 2 to 6 don't minimize the suffering of the Messiah. They underscore the hardships and the afflictions and the woes. But both in light of God's providence for the present, but God's promise for the future, the psalmist maintains this attitude of joyful contentedness and even expressions of joy to the most high. Brethren, we come here and we're hurting.
We come here and we're tried. We come here and we're tempted. We come here and we're strugglers. How do we stabilize the soul?
Well, coming here is a good step, but getting Psalms like Psalm 16 in your head and in your heart. Notice the relationship he sustains with his father. So the relationships as true man Christ sustained in his earthly ministry.
Relationship with the Father
Notice his relationship with God in verse 2. How do we make it through the affliction? How do we make it through the sorrows? How do we make it through the woes?
Well, Psalm 2's a great help, isn't it? Oh my soul, you have said to the Lord, you are my Lord. My goodness is nothing apart from you. I possess you by faith.
I own you by grace. Not as some chattel property, but as our grand possession. He has this relationship with the Father that is able to stabilize him in the midst of the sorrows of affliction. This is great, great theology for the suffering people of God most high.
He speaks concerning that intimacy. O my soul, you have said to the Lord, you are my Lord. Beautiful expression, isn't it? You say, well, that's Jesus talking to the Father.
What's Paul saying? Galatians chapter two, speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says he loved me. Paul the apostle.
The fastidious rabbi of Philippians 3, the wretched chief of sinners of 1 Timothy 1 that we're going to see tonight. He loved me and he gave himself for me. As Paul writes those words it must have blown his mind just like it would blow our minds. He loved me.
There's nothing lovely in me. There's nothing good in me. May I suggest that John 3, 16 and again tonight, 1 Timothy chapter 1, Christ Jesus came into the world. I think we delude ourselves at times, he came into the world because it's so good and we're so worthy.
No, he came into the world because it's so bad and we're so unworthy. He loved me, Paul says, Galatians 2.20, and he gave himself for me. He's not negating the reality that there's a great multitude that no man can number. Just like he's not negating the reality that there's other bad people out there when he says, I'm the chief of sinners.
But he sees himself before a holy God and what that God has done. And he says, me and me. The Lord Jesus says this. We can say this by God's grace and through union with our blessed Savior.
We have that intimacy. We have that relationship. We need to see the preeminence of the Father. Again, at the end of verse two, it says, My goodness is nothing apart from you.
Modern translations favor, I have nothing good besides you. That's NASB, similar in ESV, and NIV. There's another way to explain what's going on here, but it would probably take me 20 minutes, and we'll just go with this easier sort of a rendition. I'm just gonna save you some theological discussion about the way it could be read and what he could be saying.
Let's just land on the ESV here, or the NASB. I have nothing good besides you. Again, not a universal statement, because in verse three, he thanks God for the excellent ones of the earth. He thanks God for Mary and Martha and Lazarus.
He thanks God for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. So when he says this, I have nothing good. You know, we tend to do that. Nothing's good in my life.
Everything's miserable. Everything's bad. No, it isn't. It's just not.
We have lots of good things, and we should be very thankful to the Lord that he loads us daily with benefits. You see, as it comes to strengthening his soul before the Most High, the psalmist reflects on not only that intimacy he has with the Father, but the preeminence of the Father. My goodness, sir, I have nothing good besides you. That's his delight.
That's his source, that's his encouragement, that's his comfort. That's what puts steel or metal in the soul so that we can march onward.
Relationship with the Righteous
Notice then the relationship with the righteous. And this, again, connects us back to Psalm 15. Notice in Psalm 15.4, as it describes the act of obedience of Jesus Christ, in whose eyes a vile person is despised. He's gonna deal with that in 16.4.
But then back in 15.4, he says, But he honors those who fear the Lord. So in 16.3, we see this reference as he relates to the father. It's one of intimacy and preeminence. But as he relates to those around him, he values them.
He prizes them, he treasures them. As Bonner says, satisfied with his father as God and Lord and guardian, he is equally so with the sphere within which he must move. Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. None on earth seemed to him so pleasant and honorable as the saints.
Notice that. Again, something to buoy the brain or the mind or the heart with reference to the sorrows, the hardships, the afflictions that we face. The brethren. Doesn't John use this as a litmus test in his first epistle as to whether or not we're saved?
We know that we've passed from death to life if what? We believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Yeah. We follow the Lord Jesus Christ?
Yeah. We speak the truth? Yeah. We know we've passed from death to life.
Why? Because we love the brethren. That's indicative of the Spirit of God's work. In fact, John will say, how can you love God whom you haven't seen if you hate the brother that you have seen?
Again, let us follow the Lamb wherever He leads us and notice verse 3, as for the saints who are on the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight. This is a blessed reality that the Son of Man, in His earthly ministry, sorrows and woes and hardships and afflictions, hung out with His disciples a lot. There were things He didn't take them to, the cross. But even when he went into Gethsemane, he takes Peter, James, and John.
Why? Because of a verse like this, as for the saints who are on the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight. So the company of Christ in his earthly ministry and the delight of Christ in his church. Isn't that beautiful?
He loves us. He cares for us. According to John in Revelation, He's right now with us. He walks in the midst of the lampstand.
He's present among the lampstands. That's a confident expectation that we have. I mean, if we're heretical and we're preaching Jesus as a, you know, as a creature or lesser God than God, if we're botching up the gospel, we have no sure expectation that Christ is in the midst of the lampstand, except to shut us down and spit us out of his mouth. But if we're doing what we're supposed to be doing it, albeit imperfectly, albeit inconsistently, albeit, you know, with warts and blemishes and all kinds of, we have that confident expectation.
Where is Jesus on Sunday? He's in church. He's in church. Look at Hebrews 2 for just a moment with me.
I'm referring of course to Revelation chapter 1. John on the island of Patmos for the word of God and the testimony of our Lord speaks concerning these lampstands and he sees one in the midst of the lampstands and it's Jesus. But notice as well specifically in Hebrews 2.10. For it was fitting for him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, notice where he goes, Psalm 22. You mean when you read Psalm 22, you're hearing the voice of Christ? That's what Paul says if you accept Pauline authorship of Hebrews. If you don't, then whoever wrote it under inspiration of the Holy Spirit said that.
Psalm 22 is put into the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ, as is Psalm 16 by Peter and Paul. But notice, he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare your name to my brethren. In the midst of the assembly, I will sing praise to you. Christ is in the midst of the assembly as we sing our praises.
He's there with us. He's in the midst of the lampstand. He's the choir master. He's the leader.
Again, the composer of the psalter, the giver of the psalter, so that we can sing it in praise to the Father, aided by the presence of Christ, specifically by the power of the Holy Spirit. Back to our song.
Relationship with the Wicked
He moves from the Father, to the righteous, to the wicked. Verse 4, of course Jesus related to the wicked, the unbelieving Jews who resisted Him, who rejected Him, and who ultimately delivered Him up to be crucified. And then throughout millennia, those still unbelieving Jews who rejected Jesus But as well, pagans, godless rebel pagans that offer up blood sacrifice to their idols and think that somehow they're appeasing their gods. Notice in verse 4, You ask, how does that apply to first century Judaism?
Well, Jesus tells us in John 15, 21 and 23 that if they, the Sanhedrin, reject the Son, then they've rejected the Father who sent the Son. So what does that mean then? It means they have another God. That's what it means.
You can't evade that clear implication. If you reject or you hate the one whom the Father sent, John 15, 21 and 23, then you hate the one who sent him, John 8. Abraham's our father. What does Jesus say?
Well, I know. You guys are great. You're wonderful products of Abraham. No, if you were of your father Abraham, you wouldn't try to kill me.
He ends chapter eight saying, before Abraham was, I am. How do they respond to that? Oh, you just got a bit of a different hermeneutic. You got a bit of a different interpretation.
You just got a bit of a... They take up stones to throw at him. Why? Because they knew exactly the implications of what he was saying.
This psalm gives us that programmatically with reference to the wicked. Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god. Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, nor take up their names on my lips. Again, 15-4, in whose eyes a vile person is despised.
Brethren, this concept or idea that the Christian in this present evil age is only ever bubbly, happy, joy-filled, and loving everything goes contrary to the scripture. Do you realize you're supposed to hate unrighteousness? You're supposed to despise the wicked? You're supposed to have enmity in a righteous way before God relative to abortionists, relative to those who engage in maid?
The most vulnerable in our society are subject and target for execution every single day. And we're gonna smile and say, Jesus loves you. Jesus didn't. Jesus didn't take that particular tact.
Again, their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another God. Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, nor take up their names on my lips. How does he respond? Back in John chapter eight, in that, ah, we're of the, our father Abraham narrative.
You're of your father, the devil. Do you think, you know, we didn't get recorded by John? Then he had a big smile on his face, and afterwards he says, but don't fret, because I love you. This saccharine-style Christianity that we have seen for several, several years now, where Jesus just loves everybody.
Doesn't matter if your hand is dripping with blood from the innocent. He just loves you. Why don't we ever tell them, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and repent from your sin? Come to the Savior in whom there is forgiveness, but to assure them that Jesus loves them, almost condones the particular practice they're currently involved in.
That's not right. That's not the way we see the Messiah, the righteous one, the holy one of Psalm 16 respond. So his joyful contentment then moves to the sufficiency of the psalmist.
Sufficiency of the Psalmist
Notice in verses five and six. It occurs to me that our time is running out, so I don't wanna take us too far, too long, so we may just bring it home after this section and pick up verses seven to 11, God willing, next week. But notice specifically in terms of the sufficiency of the psalmist, so the larger head, two to six, the joyful contentment of the psalmist, seen in his relationships, verses two to four, and seen in his sufficiency in verses five and six. And if you have to parse that out, I suggest two things.
The Portion of the Lord
I would suggest first the portion of the Lord, verse 5, and then secondly the providence of the Lord in verse 6. Where's Jesus' sufficiency in his earthly ministry? I mean, he's already told us in verse 2, O my soul, you have said to the Lord, you are my Lord, my goodness is nothing apart from you. So verses 5 and 6 shouldn't be too surprising, but it does underscore something in terms of the portion of the Lord. for his children and the providence of the Lord that governs his children.
Note the portion of his inheritance and cup. Verse five, oh Lord, you are the portion of my inheritance and my cup. You maintain my lot. If you are asked what is your portion, What is the inheritance of your cup?
And you responded, well, I have a good husband or I have a good wife. I have a good job. I have wonderful children. They're angelic little cherubs.
They never raise their voices. They never say no. They parade themselves to the house. We bought all harps and they're just, they're angelic beings.
I wouldn't chide you. The psalmist acknowledges the blessing of the Lord who loads us daily with benefits. Bless God for good things that you have. Bless God for his provision.
Just don't get caught up in it, wrapped up in it, and make the miles. That's always bad. It's not the having of stuff that the scriptures forbid. It's the, what does the having of the stuff do to you that the scripture speaks to? 1 Timothy 6, Paul tells Timothy, command those who are rich in this present age to sell everything they have, to take all of the money and give it over to charity.
No, don't trust in uncertain riches. Don't be haughty. be willing to share and very charitable, Paul does not tell Timothy, have a Bible study with the rich folk and tell them all to get rid of their riches. No, tell them how to use their riches in a way that actually pleases and praises God. So if you're able to say the portion of my inheritance in my cup are the blessings that God has given, again, nothing wrong with that.
We have a whole day set apart for that. It's called Thanksgiving. We don't just gather together to eat turkey. Who wants to do that?
But I like this shift to a beef-based sort of a Thanksgiving celebration. Let's really celebrate. Let's really enjoy. We're choking down this dry turkey.
The only way you can do it is with gravy. Gary North once said, the only reason people like Thanksgiving is that it provides the legitimacy to eat gravy and gives you something to do with a pumpkin. But brethren, the psalmist shows us the priority. Oh Lord, you You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup.
You maintain my lot. John Gill says this is said by Christ as a priest and in allusion to the Levitical priests who had no inheritance in the land of Canaan with their brethren, but the Lord was their part and portion and their inheritance. And it expresses the strong love and affection Christ had for the Lord as his God, the delight and pleasure he had in him, and the satisfaction he had in the enjoyment of him and communion with him, and that it was his meat and drink to serve him and to do his will. When you see the man of sorrows acquainted with grief, constantly being resisted, constantly being rejected, constantly being buffeted in the gospel narratives, think Psalm 16.
How'd he make it? Well, he's God, Yah, that assumed our humanity. So he's man. How does he make it as man?
How does he persevere? How does he set his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem? How does he do it? Oh Lord, you are the portion of my inheritance in my cup.
You maintain my lot. There's his sufficiency, brethren. There's his dependence. There's what gets him through the difficulties and the hardships and the trials.
Again, I say to us as those in union with Jesus Christ, if the head, then the body. What is it that you're looking to, to assist you and aid you along the pilgrim path? I hope it's God. What our Lord teach when he's condemning carnal anxiety or the worrisome spirit that many of us bear in Matthew chapter six.
Don't worry about what you'll wear. The lilies of the field are clothed more gloriously than anything Solomon put his hand to. Don't worry about what you'll eat. These birds of the air, they're sustained by your heavenly Father.
Don't imagine that you by worry can add a cubit to your life. Do you think that the worry that you have wasted in your lifetime has been banking up such that at the end you're gonna get another five years based on the worry that you put? No. What's the fundamental kingdom priority to check our carnal anxiety.
Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and then these things will be given to you. Isn't that modeled here by our Savior? Oh Lord, you are the portion of my inheritance in my cup. You maintain my lot, but then
The Providence of the Lord
notice the providence of the Lord. If you didn't know anything about Christianity, If you are a brand new person, maybe you are, maybe you stumbled in here, I don't wanna say by chance, but by chance under God for his glory in terms of divine sovereignty and providence. If you jumped into the passion narratives in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the last thing that you could ever imagine is that the man of sorrows undergoing that sort of grief and torment and torture would actually say, the lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Yes, I have a good inheritance.
What? Those lines are falling to you for sure. They're opening up your back. Do you realize that some scholars believe, and I'm sort of alongside of them, not because I'm a scholar, but because I believe what the scholars tell me, Jesus most likely got whipped twice.
The first time was Pilate whipping him to satisfy or satiate the unbelieving Jews who wanted him dead. All right, let's beat him and then let him go. Pilate's an interesting study. I know we've gone through John.
Pilate knew Jesus was not guilty. Pilate knew that the Sanhedrin was. They delivered him up because they were envious. So that first whipping would have taken place so that The bloodthirsty mob would be appeased and hopefully Pilate could back out.
Whenever there was an order to crucify, a bloody scourging always accompanied that. So the prophet Isaiah speaks concerning the stripes of our Lord Jesus Christ. By his stripes we are healed. Well, those are the whip marks in his body.
Maybe making an unjust comparison, maybe Augustine would, so I'm in good company here. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. My point is simply this. Hardship, agony, trial, affliction, sorrow, and woe are always better managed with a good understanding of divine providence.
How does Jesus say what Jesus says here? Because he knows his God. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Yes, I have a good inheritance.
The affirmation of pleasant places and a good inheritance is said by the man of sorrows in spite of the pain, the suffering, and the hardship, and ultimately the death by crucifixion. The execution of his mission was ultimately for joy. Listen to the apostle in Hebrews 12, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Do you hear that emphasis?
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, who understood the end part of Psalm 16 vis-a-vis verse 11, you will show me the path of life, in your presence is fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Having that future orientation made navigating the cross, the sorrow, the shame, the ignominy, as the older boys would say, manageable. He could do it. Why? because he had the hope of heaven.
Trial and tribulation is much easier to manage under the lens of divine providence. I say this as a brother, I say this as a friend, I say this as an encourager. I mean, if we read Psalm 14 correctly, and we look out around us, we see At least I've seen, I'm sure my wife talked to many of you, you'll all agree, the world's a mess. It is a mess.
How do we function in a mess? How do we navigate when society is breaking down? How do we navigate when families are at odds with each other? How do we navigate in churches where the big emphasis is on weird things versus the gospel?
How do we navigate? God governs all his creatures for his own glory. I don't get it. I don't understand it.
I'm not sure how it is all gonna eventually end and redound to the glory of God. But does the Bible say it? Yes. Does the Bible demonstrate it?
Psalm 16, brethren. Jesus comes into the Psalm 14 world. Jesus lives the Psalm 15 life, and Jesus will receive the Psalm 16 crown. And lo and behold, a few more Psalms later, we're going to get even further into that sort of in between, Psalm 15 and 16.
In other words, we see that He's in this world and we see that He exits it and goes to the right hand of the Father. What happens in between that? Psalm 22, the cross. where beastly men rage against Him, where He suffers for us men and for our salvation, when He's pierced through for our transgressions. I dare say, brethren, the Psalms of David contain as much gospel as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
And listen to Pierce, we'll see this at least in terms of the text next week, but I just want to sort of almost end with this.
Counsel, Word, and Night Seasons
Notice in verse 7, I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. How does the Lord give Jesus counsel?
The pure words of Psalm 12, six, the words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times, you shall keep them, O Lord, you shall preserve them from this generation forever. So in Psalm 16, seven, the psalmist says, I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. Why or how does his heart instruct him in the night seasons?
Because he's received the Word of God from God and he hides it in his heart so that it can be a comfort to him in the night seasons. We've seen the psalmist on his couch saturating it with his tears. We see the psalmist raise out of bed and he prays to the Most High. We see the psalmist at night praying.
This is Jesus, brethren. Listen to Peirce with reference to Jesus and the acquisition of knowledge according to his humanity. He says, as the whole plan of salvation was drawn in the divine mind from everlasting, so it was transcribed therefrom into the scriptures of truth. From them as in a glass, the Lord Christ learned and saw what was written in them concerning himself.
He was formed in his person as mediator, most truly conformable to the divine will of him who sent him. His heart, his thoughts, his words, his life, his faith, his actions were equal to all God's will. How does Jesus express what he does in the psalm? Yeah, direct and intimate connection with his father through prayer, through walking with him, and through that word.
Verse seven, I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. Perhaps, and I don't want to chide, I don't want to scold, I don't want to lecture, I'm not your mother. But perhaps, brethren, some of our struggles are right here at verse seven.
We don't have the Word of God in our hearts. We don't have the Word of God in our minds. We don't have the comfort that the Scriptures afford to us. We miss church.
We don't go to Bible study. We don't really care. I mean, at one level, every Christian says, I really care about the Scripture. At another level, If you're looking at Facebook, and again, not wanna be your mother here, and TikTok and Instagram and all this stuff for six hours a day, you should be fired first and foremost from whatever job it is you hold.
But secondly, I don't know where to get my comfort when trials, can I suggest the book in your lap? This is gonna be known as the sermon where Pastor Butler says you can't look at Instagram. Go ahead, you can say that, tweet it, Facebook it, Instagram it if you'd like, I'll hold a sign. You get my point.
How is it that we have time enough in every day to do what it is we want? But I don't have time to read my Bible? I'm too busy to go to church? I love God, I love His word, but let's be honest, not that much.
Brethren, where in did our Savior receive strength for the mission of mercy that he engaged? From God, from that Word, through study, through examination, through careful contemplation. Psalm 119, that's Jesus too. Please, you want to navigate?
You want to manage? You want to deal with your troubles? You want to deal with your trials? You want to deal with your sorrows?
You want to deal with your hardships? Seek out the company of the excellent of the earth, the saints of Christ. Seek out Christ himself in the word. Be dependent.
Be studious. Be mindful. Learn to manage. your trials through a proper understanding of God's providence. May the Lord give us that grace, may the Lord give us his spirit, and may the Lord guide us to follow in the pathway of our blessed Savior, not because we need to in order to be saved, but because he saved us and he calls us to follow him wherever he bids us.
And if you're not a believer here this morning, your problem is very clearly spelled out in Psalm 14. Your answer is very clearly spelled out in Psalm 15 and Psalm 22. And the blessed resolution is the presence of God where there's fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. If you read McShane's calendar or you use it, you read this this morning.
And if you're not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, I want you to hear this psalm. I want you to hear this text that I'm about to read. It is so awesome. It's so wonderful.
It's so glorious. I managed to put it in here because it was just that good. Psalm 86.5, whatever your sin may be, you may be sitting there going, wait a minute, this sounds okay for this group of polished religious people. I mean, they all have suits, or some of them have suits, some of them have ties, some of them look clean.
They don't smell, they're nice looking people. It's a religion for the nice looking people. We're all wretches, we're all Psalm 14 men and women. We all deserve God's wrath and curse, both in this life and that which is to come.
We all deserve that wrath of God, John 3, 36. We all do. There's none of us that, oh wow, I'm here because I'm just smarter, wiser than the average bear. No, we all deserve hell.
But by God's grace, we've been saved. So if you're here and you're not a believer and you're thinking, I don't know man, I've been addicted to this porn thing for a long time. I've embezzled so much money from my employer, I just can't imagine Jesus would forgive me. I have been just so wretched to my children, or I'm a child and I've been so wretched to my mom and dad, I just don't think there's hope.
For you, Lord, are good and ready to forgive and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon you. Who are you gonna believe? Your messed up brain or God most high who is infinite wisdom, who speaks to you of a readiness to forgive and an abundance of mercy to all who call upon him. Call upon him and you will be saved.
Let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for what we have here in Psalm 16. We thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ and what he does for us in terms of life, death, and resurrection, but what he shows us as well in that life and how we ought to be living, how we ought to be resting upon the divine word, how we ought to be resting upon divine providence, and how we ought to be praying for your preservation of us because we do trust in you. God, I pray for all my brothers and sisters here that you would encourage each one of us, build us up, strengthen us, and help us, God, to live in a manner that is consistent with what we find in Holy Scripture in this present evil age.
And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.