Psalm 16, a few weeks ago we looked at the first half. We'll pick up the latter half of Psalm 16 this morning, specifically verses 7 to 11. Psalm 16, I'll begin reading in verse 1. A mictum of David, preserve me, O God, for in you I put my trust.
O my soul, you have said to the Lord, you are my Lord. My goodness is nothing apart from you. As for the saints who are on the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight. 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. Oh Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and 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,
Resurrection as Motivation for 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 for evermore.
Amen. Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for the psalms, we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ, the subject, the object, the singer and prayer of these psalms, and we thank you that you in many ways give us the mind of Christ according to his human nature and his earthly ministry. And this psalm is no exception. It's applied specifically to our Lord by his apostles. So again, give us grace as we receive these things, cause us to reflect upon the hope of heaven that we have because of what Christ has secured for all those whom the Father had given him.
Those you justify, those you will also glorify. And we rejoice in that thought. Forgive us again for all sin and unrighteousness, and we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
Introduction
Well, there is a connection between Psalms 14, 15, and 16 that we tried to look at a couple of weeks ago. The emphasis in Psalm 14 is on man's problem. It's a psalm that describes the depravity of man, the wickedness of man, the evil of man. Psalm 15 then highlights the glory of the God-man, our Lord Jesus Christ, who does what we could never do.
When you look at Psalm 15 and it describes this righteous man, it's only applicable to our Lord Jesus Christ. The question in Psalm 15, 1, Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill? And then it describes the requirements in verses 2 to 5, This is not us.
This is not our righteousness. This is the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is ours by God's grace. When we believe the gospel, we are forgiven of our sins and we receive the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. It's received by faith alone, the faith that God himself gives to us.
So Psalm 15 underscores that righteous man, that righteous one. And then Psalm 16 follows and answers the question, or rather, fills out the question of verses 1 and 5 in Psalm 15. Again, notice in Psalm 15, 1, Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle, who may dwell in your holy hill? This abiding in the tabernacle has reference to the life that is And this dwelling in the holy hill of Zion is the life that is to come in eternity.
Well, Psalm 16 tells us the righteous man of Psalm 15 gets the benefits and the blessings given in Psalm 16. Again, notice the connection at the end of verse five in Psalm 15. He who does these things shall never be moved. And then in Psalm 16, eight, I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand.
I shall not be moved. The psalmist, David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wants us to consider the true David, the greater than David, the Lord Jesus Christ, that altogether lovely chief among 10,000 who saves his people to the uttermost. So when we drop down then to Psalm 16, it breaks down into three parts. The earnest petition of the psalmist in verse one, which we've looked at.
Secondly, the joyful contentment of the psalmist in verses two to six, And now we pick up in verses 7 to 11, the steadfast confidence of the psalmist. The steadfast confidence. Again, what we have in many of these psalms are windows into the mind of Christ according to his human nature in his earthly ministry. In many ways, the Psalms flash out and fill out for us a lot more than Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John do relative to the life and ministry of our Lord.
They capitalize on the miracles, on His doctrine, His teaching, but what we get in the Psalms is a window into the very soul and mind of our Savior and what enabled him, by his father's grace, to continue to persevere and carry out that work of salvation. So
Steadfast Confidence of the Psalmist
let's look at the steadfast confidence of the psalmist, verses 7 to 11. And two things here, the declaration of his praise in verse 7, and then the justification for his praise in verses 8 to 11. So
Declaration of Praise
note the declaration in verse 7, I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. This naturally follows as the consequence of what we saw in verses 5 and 6. His joyful contentment leads him to an expression of praise and gratitude to the Most High.
Notice in Psalm 16, 5 and 6, O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup. You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Yes, I have a good inheritance.
He trusts in the Father's good providence, even in the midst of trial and affliction, in the midst of sorrows and hardship, in the midst of all of the rejection that he faced with reference to the Israelites, what we have in this Messiah is a joyful contentedness in his Father. And so in verse 7 he comes to openly and avowedly confess and praise that. He comes to sing about it. We see this in the movement in our own souls.
We get converted. We get saved. We get justified freely by His grace. What then follows? hopefully praise, hopefully blessing God, hopefully celebration, hopefully expressions of what the Lord has done for us.
You see this in Paul, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. And then he highlights electing love in the Father, redeeming love in the blood of the Lord, and then the sealing and the guaranteeing of the Holy Spirit. The blessings of God promote the worship of God. The blessings of God promote the praise of God.
The blessings of God promote the people of God, celebrating the goodness of that God. And again, with reference to our blessed Savior, verse 6, the lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Yes, I have a good inheritance. The providence of God for our Lord Jesus was marked by sorrows.
Isaiah the prophet announced that. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We hid, as it were, our faces from him. There was nothing about his appearance that drew us to him, but rather we despised him.
We resisted him. We rejected him. So Jesus is able to look at the providence of God, even including the afflictions and the hardships and the trials, and confess that the lines had fallen to him in good places. Brethren, I think there's a lesson there for us in the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus.
We tend not always to celebrate and praise after a dark or frowning providence. We go through a dark or frowning providence and we sometimes complain, we sometimes grumble, we sometimes kind of think, well, what good does it do to serve God? If life is such a mess in my service of God, then why am I engaged in this service of God? That's not the flow with reference to the psalmist here.
The psalmist understands the hardships, he understands the afflictions, he understands the difficulties, and then in verse 7 he says, I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. I will bless. I will speak well of him. I will celebrate his great name.
And then the reason specifically, I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. My heart also instructs me in the ninth season, this giving of the counsel of the father to the son. Go back to Psalm 12, verse 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. What sustained the Son of God according to his human nature when he was in this world? The Word of God!
Why do you think pastors and preachers and those who study the Bible tell other people to study the Bible? So you can get points. We all keep charts on the back of our office doors. Brother so-and-so read three chapters this week.
Yay! Where does Jesus find comfort in his earthly ministry? He finds it in the sure word of God Almighty. That's what he says.
I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. How does he withstand the devil when the spirit drives him out into the wilderness to be tempted those 40 days and 40 nights? When the devil comes along and says, change these stones into bread and eat, what does Jesus do? He takes out the sword of the spirit, the book of Deuteronomy specifically, that passage where the Israelites are upbraided because they didn't do likewise.
And Jesus says it is written. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. How often was scripture in the mouth of our Lord Jesus? Well, it's on the mouth of our Lord Jesus because it's in the heart of our Lord Jesus.
And that's what he goes on to say in verse seven. I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. We've seen the psalmist up to this point wrestling on his bed.
We've seen the psalmist in sorrow and distress on his bed. But we see the psalmist with his heart filled with the word of God, comforting himself in the God of the word. Pierce 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, thoughts, words, life, faith, and actions were equal to all God's will." It's exactly why He blesses the Father, because the Father had not left Him alone. The Father had given Him counsel. The Father had filled His heart with the truth.
Again, Jesus, according to His human nature, grew in wisdom. He grew in stature. That's not said or predicated of His divinity. There's no growth in wisdom in divinity.
God is infinitely wise, always there's no gradation, there's no more wisdom, there's never a lack of wisdom. That is said concerning the Son of God who took to Himself our humanity, who took upon Himself a human nature with all the essential properties and the common infirmities thereof and yet without sin. So Christ as a boy, Christ as a teenager, Christ as a man would comfort himself upon the word of God. And I would suggest it's because of that he can reflect on the providence of God, including the afflictions, including the sorrows, including the hardships, and say the lines have fallen to me in good places.
I know that God has ordained whatsoever comes to pass ultimately for His own glory and for the good of those who love Him to those who are the called according to His purpose. Brethren, let us learn from Jesus. Let us be like Jesus in this regard. I mean, we should shoot for Psalm 15 obedience, but we're not going to achieve it the way that Jesus did.
I think we can shoot for what we find in terms of the humanity of Christ with reference to reflecting upon the very difficult circumstances that he was faced with, and yet it led him to a further dependence upon his Father, upon the Word, a hiding of that Word in his own heart. Such that when he was on a bed, such that when he was out in the wilderness, such that when he was betrayed, such that when he was given over by godless men into the hands of other godless men so that he could be crucified, he never lost sight of the glory of his father and the preservation the father had for his son. It's beautiful. It's blessed.
And then
Justification for Praise
notice the justification for his praise. So he declares this praise, verse 7, gives us a reason the word, and then in verses 8 to 11, he sort of justifies this. And I would suggest we see the stability of the psalmist in verse 8, and then the hope of the psalmist in verses 9 to 11. And then I'm going to add a final point, the glory of the psalmist in Acts 2 and Acts 13.
But
Stability of the Psalmist
note the stability, verse 8, I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. How does he set the Lord always before him? Probably has a lot to do with that word. Has a lot to do with that counsel.
Has a lot to do with the fact that his heart also instructs him in the night seasons. He sets the Lord before him because he hears the voice of the Lord in the written word of the Lord. In other words, he's a man of the book. He's a man of scripture.
And as a man of scripture, he says, I have set the Lord always before me. In other words, I have a God-centered orientation. Again, something we learn here from the Savior that we should imitate. What is our orientation?
I'm not suggesting that for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days out of the year, you are only ever thinking of God. But man, there has to be something in that lot of hours and minutes and weeks and months and days. Brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ in His earthly ministry, His mindset was, I have set the Lord always before me. Gil says Christ always had Jehovah in view throughout the whole of his life.
Alexander commenting on the Acts 2 application of this to Jesus it means constant recognition or remembrance. So the Lord's focus is on his father but as well notice the Lord's dependence upon his father because he is at my right hand. Because He is at my right hand, who occupies the right hand? And we usually think of Jesus enthroned to the right hand of God Most High.
We understand He's an advocate for us redeemed sinners. We understand that He makes intercession for us redeemed sinners. We understand the right hand of the majesty of God means power, prestige, glory, preeminence, supremacy, triumph. It certainly means all those things, but what does it mean when Jesus says, of the father, I, or because he is at my right hand, it means that the father is with him in the midst of the affliction.
It means that the father is his advocate in times of trial and hardship. It means that his father is there for him in the midst of the opposition that he faces in this present age or in this present world. In other words, as we see Jesus moving through the gospel narratives, and we don't see everybody bowing to him and confessing him as Lord, and we see unbelieving Jews wanting to stone him to death because he healed a man on the Sabbath, and then because he made himself equal with God. When we see that, we also ought to see through the window of the Psalms that the Father is at his right hand.
Remember when he goes to Jerusalem? He set his face like a flint. He set his face steadfast when he went to Jerusalem. Or the times when he would announce that he was going to die, it must be the case that the Son of Man goes to Jerusalem.
He must be tried. He must be delivered up. He must be crucified. What is that but to set the father at his right hand as his advocate, as his empowerment, as his friend and relation?
This is our Lord Jesus Christ in terms of what he does with reference to his earthly ministry. And then notice that in verse 8, I've set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Again, the connection to Psalm 15, 5 cannot be stronger. He who does these things shall never be moved.
Brethren, if you can read Psalm 15, 2 to 5a and conclude, well, that's a good description of me. I would probably say, yeah, really? Just check it once again. Verse two, he walks uprightly and works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart.
He who does not backbite with his tongue nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend. In whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord. He who swears to his own hurt and does not change. He who does not put out his money at usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
Brethren, that is not written of men in general, it's written of the God-man in particular. Notice specifically in verse 10 of Psalm 16, he's referred to as the Holy One. Why? Because the Holy One renders to the Father exact, entire, and perpetual obedience.
And as a result of that, He will not be moved. As a result of that, He has stability. Ephesians makes the comment that the narrator of Psalm 16 is claiming to have fulfilled the requirements set out in Psalm 15. I'm not imposing this on the text, brethren.
We'll see later, not much, much later, just much later. In Acts 2 and Acts 13, Peter and Paul tell us that the subject of Psalm 16 is not David. David wrote it under the inspiration of the Spirit. The superscription tells us that it's a victim of David.
It's not about David. You know what their argument is? David died. David went into the grave.
According to Peter, his tomb is still with us to this day. David's writing about David's greater son and David's greater son is the man who accomplished all that was given in Psalm 15 and as a result he says in verse 8 of Psalm 16 because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved. So the stability of the psalmist is tied very intimately to his trust in the father to his his delight in the word of his father to his dependence upon the father again great lessons don't conclude well psalm 16 is about jesus so it really has nothing to do with me well it's about us too It's about us appreciating that what He has done has secured for us what He has won in terms of Psalm 16. And of course, as His blood-bought children, we should seek to imitate Him.
We should follow after Him, follow the Lamb wherever He goes, according to Revelation 14. Yes, we should look to be Psalm 15, 2 to 5a people, but we should reflect on the reality that Christ is that Psalm 15, 2 to 5a man. And by virtue of those blessed accomplishments on his part, that obedience, that active obedience to the full law of God, Jesus is our whole and sole righteousness. Never forget that.
I think that the mindset that we often develop is that it's a very performance-based religion. And there are imperatives in the Bible. There are commands in the Bible. Don't commit adultery.
Pretty clear, pretty cut and dry, pretty easy to get one's mind wrapped around. Don't steal. Don't lie. But is it possible that we tie our comfort in our Christianity with our performance without reflecting upon Christ's performance?
See, in the final analysis, none of us are going to heaven except for those who believe the gospel. And why is that? Because Christ lived a life of perfect obedience, according to Psalm 15, and many places in the New Testament. Christ died as a sacrifice on the cross, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
And Christ was raised from the dead, just as Psalm 16 goes to show in just a moment. Our entrance into heaven isn't tied up with our obedience to God. It's tied up with Jesus' obedience to his father. Again, you should, it's Father's Day.
Fathers, be better fathers. I'm gonna scold you into submission. Be a better father. Be good fathers.
Mothers, be good mothers. Husbands, be good husbands. Wives, be good wives. But your acceptance on that great day is not going to be because of your perfection, because you have no perfection.
Remember, Psalm 14 is a reality as well. This is what we are. You know, when everything is peeled back, you get sort of the heart of man in Psalm 14. were redeemed because of the righteous man of Psalm 15 and will ultimately enter into heaven because of that man. Now again, obedience is a good thing.
The obedience of Christ is the best thing. that he lived, that he died, that he was raised again for us men and for our salvation. So
Hope of the Psalmist
notice the hope of the psalmist in verses 9 to 11. He declares in verse 9, therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will rest in hope. The gladness of Christ.
We've seen this in the Psalms. Yes, there's sorrow in the man of sorrows. Yes, there's affliction and there's hardship, but there's gladness, there's singing, there's praising, there's joy, there's celebration on the part of this one toward his father. And such should be the case with us.
Therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. And notice then at the end of verse nine, my flesh also will rest in hope. The Lord Jesus Christ, who for the joy sat before him, despising the shame, enduring the cross, did what the Father called him to do, according to Hebrews 12, 2. In other words, he knew that the path to this glory meant the cross and suffering and shame.
So in the earthly ministry of Christ, he's able to reflect upon all these things. And he says, therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will rest in hope. And it's again here, because of what he did, that we have this as well.
We get to rest. We get to go to that place called Emmanuel's land that we just sang of. My flesh also will rest in hope. This Son of God, according to Psalm 15, 1, who abides in the tabernacle, who dwells in the holy hill of Zion, that one, through his life, death, and resurrection, has secured for us access into the very presence of God Almighty.
There ought to be this resting and hope for the people of God. in sorrow, in hardship, in affliction. Brethren, I doubt we rest in hope when everything's going well. You ever ask that question? Why do all these bad things happen to godly people?
Well, so they'll rest in hope. If we got heaven on earth, we wouldn't hope for that which is to come. The afflictions and the hardships and the difficulties and the trials, the very providence of God that at times seems to be frowning upon you, it's supposed to work in you this hope for a better place, this hope for heaven, this longing for that land of love, the blessed reality that God has more for us than what our eyes sees in this present evil age. That's the beauty of the psalmist at this point.
He knows what lay behind the cross. He knows what's beyond the grave. He understands the mission that is set before him. He endures the suffering.
He despises the shame. But there's joy in his heart for the sake of ultimately being with the Father. It's a blessed movement that we have in the psalm. And then notice the motivation behind this hope in verse 9.
So notice in verse 9. Therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will rest in hope. Why?
What motivates this? How is it that your flesh also will rest in hope? Because of verse 10. For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption.
The righteous man of Psalm 15, 2 to 5a. It's the suffering servant of Psalm 16 that knows beyond the grave there is blessed pleasures forevermore. the motivation of our Savior. He understands that the Father will not leave his soul in Sheol, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. This is throughout the Psalms.
Psalm 49, 15, But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for he shall receive me. Psalm 86, 13, For great is your mercy toward me, and you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. Consider Hebrews 13 20 now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant. This is Peter's text on the day of Pentecost when he's preaching about Jesus.
David didn't write this about him, David write this concerning him, Jesus. As well, notice, this whole concept, this not being abandoned in the grave, not only is the resurrection of Christ seen and interpreted in Acts 2 and 13, but it's a demonstration of his righteousness. In other words, the man of Psalm 15, 2 to 5a, cannot be contained in the grave. The man of Psalm 15, 2 to 5a, goes into the grave as the suffering servant of Yahweh, but he cannot be contained by the grave.
Why? Well, Paul tells us in Romans 6 at verse 9, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over him. It's beautiful.
It's not abandoned. No decay, no corruption. The father raises Christ from the grave. The father then receives Christ up to the right hand.
And this is what drives Christ in the midst of his suffering and sorrow and pain and shame. In other words, brethren, get a heavenly mindedness about you as you traverse this present world. We got to think these thoughts concerning what is in our future. And I know the life that we live is messy.
Life isn't great. I mean, it's great in the sense that we're not digging ditches in 50 below weather. It's great in that we're not schlepping rocks up to the top of sham, unassisted by any mechanical objects or devices. But the sorrows associated with life in a sinful world, the difficulties involved with life in a sinful world, The pains, the losses, the sorrows, the griefs, the deaths, the hardships, not only that we suffer, but that we see loved ones suffer, fellow churchmen suffer.
To know that people are going through difficult circumstances, it affects us. We think about, man, this is rough. It's a tough providence for them. All of us need to gain a perspective.
This is where I will scold. All of us need to gain this heavenly-minded perspective. We need to see the prize. You've heard that saying, he's so heavenly-minded, he's no earthly good.
Brethren, you're gonna be the earthly best when you're heavenly-minded. when you know what you have in the age to come, when you reflect upon the glory that God has for us. The apostle says this is a momentary light affliction, the things that we go through here, that gives way to an eternal weight of glory. Now, think about Paul, 2 Corinthians 11. I wouldn't describe that as momentary light affliction.
That brother suffered. That brother had hardship. That brother knew problems and difficulties and trials better than any of us, and yet he's able to look at all of that. Again, 2 Corinthians 11, it spells it out, what he had suffered on behalf of Christ and his church.
He calls it a momentary light affliction. which gives way to an eternal weight of glory. Whatever suffering, whatever sorrows, whatever hardship, whatever trials we have right now, and I'm not minimizing them, they're gonna give way to an eternal weight of glory. You think that should be some sort of a motivating factor in our own lives, in our own thought processes, in the way that we conduct ourselves, to look beyond the cross to the crown occasionally? I suggest yes.
How do we make it? God, His grace, His word, His promises, His affirmations, His Psalms, which describe for us His Son. The Lord Jesus studied Himself in these sorts of things. And then notice,
Pleasures Forevermore
the psalm ends with the expectation, You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. The path of life for the Lord of glory was his obedience to the Father.
The path of life for us is the obedience of Christ to the Father. In fact, Ash says, the Father made the path of life known to Jesus, his incarnate son. Jesus, in his turn, makes that path known to all his followers. You see, brethren, that's precisely the movement in terms of a practical sort of application.
I don't care if Barcelou doesn't like that word. It's a perfectly appropriate and acceptable word. And if he listens to this, which I don't think he will, Bartholomew, I'm using the word application. He says contemplation.
Okay. All right. Sounds great. Sounds so much more holy and profound.
But notice the trajectory of the psalm. There's a contentedness in the father on the part of the son, according to his human nature, for whatever miseries, whatever sorrows, whatever afflictions that he has to go through. What steals his soul is the reality that the Father shows in the path of life and the reality that in God's presence is fullness of joy. And then that last bit, at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Jesus understood that in a way I don't think we do. When I say, what is your pleasure? I don't want your sinful pleasures, but what is your pleasure? I like a good steak.
I like to play tennis. I like to go fishing. Those are pleasures that we like, that we like to spend our time on. Being in the presence of God is going to be pleasures forevermore.
And it's not going to be steak. It's not going to be fishing. And it's not going to be tennis. They're pleasures that at some level, conceptually, it's hard to wrap our minds around, because we're such creatures, or we are creatures, we're tied to this creaturely world, and the pleasures that we face, you know, authorized by God, good things, it's not like that.
What is it like? Again, we go with what Scripture teaches us. Heaven is a world of love. We know there's no more sorrow, there's no more pain, there's no more death.
We know there's no hunger and no thirst, which passage, I think, gets lost on us in the Western world when we have easy access to Costco and Walmart. But if we were in any other part of the world, we'd know something of hunger, we'd know something of thirst. And we'd probably read those passages and long for a place where we could be without hunger and without thirst. We know certain things about heaven.
We know certain things concerning the pleasures therein. But if we don't ponder the reality that it's Christ ultimately. because he's at the right hand of the Father. Notice in verse 11, you will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy.
At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Jesus says in John 17, five, and now, O Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was. Heaven is heaven because Jesus is there. Heaven is heaven because he secured for us entrance there.
Heaven is heaven because of that man of Psalm 15 verses 2 to 5a. Heaven is heaven because of what Christ did in terms of the cross and His suffering and His function as Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Heaven is heaven because of the resurrection of Christ from the dead. It is Him that is the path of life.
It is Him that is the fullness of joy. It is Him who brings pleasures forevermore. Christian brothers and sisters, we need to think more about this. We need to contemplate him.
We need to be like that bride in the Song of Solomon who contemplates her bridegroom. We need to say of him, he's altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. We need to describe him in such a way that the daughters of Jerusalem say, where is your beloved so that we may seek him too. Brethren, get it in your head that it's all about Christ.
The psalm, yes, but the entirety of our blessed redemption in Christ. As I mentioned, Acts 2, you can turn that. We'll close in just a moment.
Glory of the Psalmist in Acts 2 and 13
Acts chapter 2, we see the glory of the psalmist Acts 2, Peter preaches on the day of Pentecost, the spirits out poured in a powerful way, consistent with the prophet Joel. People speak in tongues. The others that are watching say, oh, these must be drunk. Peter says, no, they're not drunk.
It's only the third hour. And this is what the prophet had had spoken. And then notice in 221. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
The blessed promise, isn't it? Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. What Lord? Who's the Lord?
Yeah, Yahweh, Old Covenant, Joel, the prophet. But what does Peter do in the rest of Acts 2? He tells us about the Lord that we're supposed to call upon in faith. He speaks of his true humanity in verse 22.
He speaks of his crucifixion in verse 23. He speaks of his resurrection in verses 24 to 32. He speaks of his exaltation in verses 33 to 36. And where does he go to underscore the resurrection of the God-man?
He goes to Psalm 16. Notice in 224, whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it. For David says concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. Therefore, my heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad.
Moreover, my flesh also will rest in hope, for you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of joy in your presence. And then Peter's commentary.
Notice, by the way, Acts 16. I'm sorry, Psalm 16 doesn't mention Christ and doesn't mention the resurrection. But that's exactly what it teaches. If you take your concordance out and you look up the word Trinity, how many times will you find it in your Bible?
None. Does that mean there's no Trinity in the Bible? No, that's not what that means at all. It means the doctrine is there, but the word isn't.
The resurrection of Christ is what Psalm 16 is about, even though the words resurrection and Christ aren't in Psalm 16. So Peter comes to interpret in verse 29, men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he foreseeing this spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption." Gill says the whole psalm belongs to the Messiah and everything concerning the person in it agrees with Him. Spurgeon says it has been the usual plan of commentators to apply the psalm both to David, to the saints, and to the Lord Jesus.
But we will venture to believe that in it Christ is all, since in the 9th and 10th verses, like the apostles on the mount, we can see no man but Jesus only. Peter tells us what Psalm 16 is about. It's the resurrection of our Lord. And because of that, our resurrection is secured.
It is sure. It is certain because of what he's done. And then notice in Acts 13, Paul preaching in Pisidia and Antioch, same sort of a sort of a progression here. He's tracing through Israel's history, a redemptive purposes of God and the raising up of certain persons.
And then he brings it to Jesus. Notice in Acts 13, 33, God has fulfilled this for us, their children, and that he has raised up Jesus. as it is also written in the second Psalm, you are my son, today I have begotten you. And he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption. He has spoken thus, I will give you the sure mercies of David.
Therefore, he also says in another Psalm, you will not allow your holy one to see corruption. Psalm 16, 10. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers and saw corruption. But he whom God raised up saw no corruption.
Application
Now let's just get really practical in terms of application. First, for the unbeliever, listen to what Paul does with this data and what Peter does with this data. They call on you to believe on this Christ. In other words, don't continue on the path that leads to death.
If Christ is the path to life and Christ brings us pleasures forevermore, then it's a no-brainer. You should come to Christ. Whatever pleasures you think you have, whatever good stakes or tennis or fishing or whatever it is that you have in this present world that aren't necessarily sinful, they're nothing compared to what it is to have your sins forgiven. There's nothing in comparison to what it is to have the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone.
Of course Peter is going to say on the day of Pentecost after highlighting the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for what? For the remission of sins. This is where Paul goes as well. What is the resurrection about?
It affirms what Christ did. It testifies that He is the Son of God with power. And it is that open vindication of the reality that everybody who comes to Jesus in faith will have everlasting life. So notice in Acts 13, 38.
Therefore, let it be known to you, brethren, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins, and by him everyone who believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses." You see, the truth of Christ, which we call in shorthand, the gospel, good news, is good news because of the good effects upon those who by grace believe it. And by him, everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Or in verse 38, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins. That's the biggest problem that we have.
Yeah, there's heart afflictions. Yeah, there's trials. Yeah, there's sorrows. Yeah, there's diseases.
Yeah, there's death. The biggest problem is sin. The perfect remedy is Christ. He says, through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins.
It's times like these, I wish I wasn't a believer so I could believe right now. There's something most blessed about understanding my sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin, not in part, but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. How does the hymn go? Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord. David in Psalm 133 says, if you, Lord, should mark iniquities, oh, Lord, who could stand? Praise God there's a Psalm 130 verse 4. But there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared.
Scripture talks about God being abundant in mercy. Scripture talks about the riches of his grace. Perhaps you've heard bad theology or defective or imbalanced theology that has basically scared you off from coming to the cross. How do you explain Peter on the day of Pentecost preaching to Jerusalem sinners to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins?
Or Paul in a synagogue in Pisidian Antioch saying, through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins and everyone who believes in him will be justified. Not like at all the way you were under the law of Moses. That's the good news of the Christian message, to come to Jesus in faith, receive the forgiveness of sins, and have that path of life to pleasures forevermore.
Exhortation to the Believer
And for the believers here this morning, consider the confidence of the psalmist. His confidence is in the word of God, his confidence is in the power of God, and his confidence is in that promise of God. That's the way we ought to live. Yes, shoot, for Psalm 15, 2 to 5a, obedience.
Definitely. No preacher's ever going to tell you, no, go out and lie to people. Oh yeah, go out and renege on your promises. Oh yeah, just be a wretch and land safe in the arms of Jesus.
That's not gospel logic. Gospel logic is you're dead to sin, therefore live in a manner that is consistent with your glorious freedom in Jesus Christ. Brethren, the reality of where we're at, more often than not, are the dark lines of providence, are the difficult trials that we face. How do we make it?
We make it by his word and for his glory. And then the conduct of the church of the righteous one. The church's joyful contentment and steadfast confidence are bound up with the hope of the resurrection. I quoted Henry the first time, the first half, I'll quote him again.
He says,
Closing Exhortation
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. Ash says, this is the destiny of the one who dwells on God's holy hill, Psalm 15, 1.
It belongs to Jesus Christ and to us and David only in him. Brothers and sisters, let us, by God's grace, look to heaven. And I guess I shouldn't scold you. Maybe you're looking at a lot more than I am, but I need this reminder.
I need this encouragement. And I need to be more heavenly minded and think about where there are pleasures forevermore. Perhaps that'll give more of a spring in my step and yours as well as we contemplate that though there's a cross in this path there is crown of glory to be had.
Closing Prayer
May God help us to think the Psalms after the psalmist and to appropriate them to our own hearts and lives. Let us pray.