Summer of Psalms: Part 2 - The Goodness of God
PSALM 16
SERMON TRANSCRIPT
But we are on week two of our Summer of Psalms series. And this is such a fun series because the Psalms are so special. They are just a really unique type of scripture. And I love that we're able to just kind of jump around and pull out what God has for us in each of these Psalms. Last week, Pastor Lori was our guest speaker, and she talked on Psalm 73 and what it looks like to have the Lord with you when you are in it—for Him to keep your feet steady, to keep you from slipping down that slippery slope, and that regardless of what is going on in other people's lives, you know that He is with you.
Well, today we are going to be in Psalm 16. And interestingly, this psalm was actually written by King David, so it was a different author than Psalm 73, but there are similar themes. And what we as a staff have actually been talking about is that the Psalms have many recurring themes that you will probably hear over and over. Even though you have different speakers, different psalms, and different authors of the psalms, there are recurring themes that we see over and over in the Psalms, like God's faithfulness, His steadfast or covenant love, lament and crying out to God, and then Him responding. These are very common themes in the book of Psalms.
So we're going to dive in to chapter 16. And as I said, it was written by King David, and it was written during a time of trouble. He was facing some hard times. So we're just going to read the whole chapter together as we open. Verse one: "Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, 'You are my Lord. Apart from you, I have no good thing.' I say of the holy people who are in the land, 'They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.' Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more. I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods or take up their names on my lips. Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup. You make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord who counsels me. Even at night, my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. My body also will rest secure because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful ones see decay. You make known to me the path of life. You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."
This psalm, David goes back and forth between talking to God and kind of talking to himself, moderating his thoughts for us. So he starts by just crying out to God: "Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge." He's having a really hard time, and he's just like, "God, I need your help. You are my refuge. I'm crying out to you, please keep me safe." But then right in verse two, he starts talking to himself again. And he says, "I say to the Lord, you are my Lord. Apart from you, I have no good thing." So he is reminding himself that he is not the Lord. God is. God is the Lord. And apart from God, David understands that he has no good thing. Now here's the thing: David actually had a lot of good things. He had wealth, power, family, connections, and a whole kingdom that he was running. He even had the favor of the Lord, but he knew that he had no good thing apart from God. Any good thing he did have was only because of God in his life. He still knew, regardless of all the things that he did have, that there was no good thing apart from God. And so that's our foundation. That's our jumping-off point. That's where we are building everything else upon today: the understanding and the truth that apart from God, we have no good thing.
From there, we can start to see some other themes as we look through the rest of the passage. As with most Psalms, we are able to learn more about who God is and then what our response should be to Him. Because the Psalms elicit a response. Really, all of Scripture does, but I feel like the Psalms do it in a unique way. Some Psalms are songs that are meant to be sung. Say that five times fast. Some Psalms are songs that are meant to be sung. Some are prayers that are meant to be prayed. Some are poetry that are meant to be learned, recited, and internalized. But all of it is meant to create change, to elicit behavior change, to have the heart transformed and changed, and that ultimately our heart posture is made right with God. So that's the starting point: that apart from God, we have no good thing. We're going to just take this section by section, so we're going to jump down to verse 4. It says, "Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more. I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods or take up their names on my lips. Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup. You make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Surely I have a delightful inheritance." David knew that God was enough for him. And so David is preaching to himself and reminding us that we are to have a heart of contentment. We are called to have a heart of contentment. He didn't want to run after other gods, and there were many he could have chosen from. But he said in verse 4, "Those who run after them will suffer." There were so many pagan gods in the surrounding nations that there were many to choose from. But David said, "My God is the one true God. Yahweh is the one true God, and He is enough." The libations of blood that David's referring to were some of the pagan practices that they had in their religious services, including human sacrifice. And David said, "That is not the way of God. Those who seek out those practices or those gods—I don't even want to say the names of those gods because they are not true, they are not real. Only my God is."
David knew that God was his portion and his inheritance, as he says in verse five. Last week, Pastor Lori touched on this when she explained that when the Israelites were given their tribal lands, their promised land, it was divided up into tribes and they were given their sections of land for where they were to live. And that was their inheritance that they would pass on to future generations. But the tribe of Levi, who were the priests, did not get their own land. Now they had somewhere to live and sleep and all of that, but they were given the tabernacle and they were given this space to usher the rest of the Israelites into worship, and God said that He would be their inheritance. And David understood this. He understood that that is the case for us as believers, as those who follow Christ. We are not owed anything. God spared us what we actually deserve, which is the punishment and death for our sins. Our portion and our inheritance is the Lord. What grace and mercy is that? That we are spared what we actually deserve, what our inheritance actually should be, and we are given His mercy and given of Himself. David is talking about being content, and I think it's twofold. I think he's talking about actual, this-side-of-heaven contentedness in our world today: being content with the things that we are given, our roles, our stuff, the people in our lives, the things we are given and called to steward. That we are called to live content. But I think the second part is that we are also called to be content with who God is to us. He, God, is our portion and our cup. It's really hard to live content, especially here in America, in the Western world. But He is our portion and our cup.
I love verse six. We're doing Psalm 16 today because I felt like the Lord laid it on my heart, but also He had me here this last winter for a long time. It kept popping up in random places. I'm like, "Okay, Lord, you have my attention. I will park it in Psalm 16 until you tell me otherwise." And I studied it and I worked through it, and I tried to understand what my response should be to it. But I felt like it had such a powerful message for us that I wanted to share that with you. But specifically, verse six just stuck out to me. And if there's one thing you take away for this week, memorize this verse. Actually, I put it on your Connect card for you to check off and commit that you're gonna memorize this verse this week. Because when things come up, when discontentment creeps in, this is a verse that you can call to mind and remember that the boundary lines have fallen for you in pleasant places. But do we actually believe that? Because some of us have experienced some legitimately hard things. So do we believe that the boundary lines have fallen for us in pleasant places? Like I said, in America or in the Western church in general, it can be even harder, almost harder than in other places to believe this because we are so often not content with what we have. And the world and culture tells us we need more. We can't possibly be happy with the things that we have now. We have to have the better thing. We have to have more. And honestly, sometimes that just looks really fun, right? Like, they have to—I mean, like, that looks real good. But just because it looks good or even sometimes is good doesn't mean it's right for us, because it is outside the boundary lines that the Lord has set for us. Maybe sometimes we don't even want to necessarily leave the boundary. We just want God to push them out a little bit. Just expand them just a little bit. We want more, but just a little bit more.
The boundary lines are good for us, and the Lord says that they have fallen in pleasant places. Now that is not to diminish the hard that we experience this side of heaven. That is real. But because the Lord is our inheritance, we can believe that the boundary lines are in fact in good places. Now, hear me on this: There is a time and a place to ask for more. There's a time and a place for you to have that conversation with God asking Him for more. Maybe for that promotion you're hoping for. Maybe for more children. Maybe for more influence for the kingdom. Whatever it is, there is a time and a place for that. But I can pretty much guarantee you it's not going to happen if you do not believe that the Lord Himself is your inheritance. The boundary lines are pleasant because He is our portion and our cup. He is our inheritance. We're always left to our own devices. We're always going to want more. But because He is our inheritance, we can know that those boundary lines are good. We even have a lot of freedom in those boundary lines. You know, whatever's in here is free game. But sometimes all we can think about is what we're missing out on, what's out there. But He says the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Surely I have a delightful inheritance because it's the Lord. This week I heard a story about a pastor who visited one of the underground churches in another country. The underground church is what we refer to as the church who meets in secret in countries where it is illegal to worship Jesus and to be a Christian. And he said that everyone who was at this service left at different times and came in different directions so they couldn't be followed or found out. And they met in secret. And because they were meeting in secret, they couldn't worship with song out loud. So everyone was handed a piece of paper with the worship lyrics on. And the pastor of their church would just say, "Paragraph one." And they would silently read those lyrics to themselves. And then he would say, "Paragraph two." And they would read the lyrics to themselves. And the pastor that was visiting said, "I have never experienced a more sacred, worshipful time than worshiping with these believers who were literally risking their life." The thing is, they have the same Bible we do. Their Bible in Psalm 16 also says that the boundary lines have fallen for them in pleasant places. So while I do often struggle with discontent, I have to wonder about myself: how dare I? How dare I believe anything except that the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places and that I have a delightful inheritance? Because if these believers in underground churches also know and believe that to be true, then certainly I can believe that too. He is a delightful inheritance.
Moving on to the next section, verse 7. David, again, is preaching to himself. He says, "I will praise the Lord who counsels me. Even at night, my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken." I found this verse kind of interesting because often at night I find that my heart does not instruct me well. My mind will often spiral. And I'm sure that is the case for many of you. Either maybe you have a hard time falling asleep, or if you wake up, you have a hard time going back to sleep because your mind just starts going. The anxiety ramps up, the stressors, the to-do lists. So I had to stop and think, how is my heart instructing me here? But David knew that the night or the quiet was a secret place. It was one of those hidden places. It's a time when everything is still and quiet. But the heart, in order for it to instruct us well, we have to be in the Word. We have to know what God says. We have to place our heart and our mind on Him. Hide His Word in our heart, as Psalm 119 says. We have to allow Him to transform or renew our mind, like Romans 12 says, so that at night our heart will instruct us well. Because we've filled our heart with good things. We've filled our heart with His Word. So that's what David is helping us understand: we need to seek the Lord's counsel in the secret place. Now we can hear God anytime and anywhere. He is capable of breaking through the noise. But it's a lot easier if we're quiet and we're still long enough to listen. And we can take advantage of this natural rhythm of night or early morning to hear Him more clearly. I'm learning that nighttime and early morning, like when you first wake up, that time between sleep and wakefulness—I call it like a thin space—where the divider between heaven and earth is just so thin, you can hear the Lord more clearly. Where you're not quite conscious enough for the to-do list and the stressors of the day to kick in, but you're aware enough to hear the voice of the Lord. I recently heard author Adrian Bevere explain why this is so important to take advantage of this time. And he recommends staying off your phone for 30 to 60 minutes of your day because science is showing this. Stay off your phone for 30 to 60 minutes of your day because you are cutting off that thin space the moment you get on a device, the moment you turn on social media or news or text messages. You interrupt that time, that quality thin space time. There've actually been multiple times recently where I've been woken up by a kid or go to the bathroom and the Lord just like drops something in my brain. And I know it's the Lord because it's usually like some sort of correction or conviction, something I would not want to hear. Or maybe it's an answer to a problem I've been trying to solve in my own power. And I know it is Him speaking to me in that quiet place because I'm not distracted. I'm half asleep. But He's able to speak to me more clearly because I'm quiet enough to hear Him. So we must know His Word and we must keep our eyes on Him in order for our hearts to instruct us well. But we also get to take advantage and seek His counsel in the secret place. Protect that time. Maybe for you it's before you go to bed. Maybe it's on a lunch break at work. Whatever that is, get still. Find your secret place. Your time where you can be still and distraction-free enough to hear Him, to listen for His voice.
The final section in this passage starts in verse 9. It says, "Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. My body also will rest secure because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful ones see decay. You make known to me the path of life. You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." Verse 9 starts off with the word "therefore," which means everything that came before it informs everything that's coming after it. So we got to pay attention to that. But if we think about what came before this, it requires us to count the cost of following Jesus. We must count the cost because essentially following Jesus requires us to surrender everything outside of the boundary lines. Even the things we love or that feel good, if they are outside those boundary lines that the Lord has set in place, we have to surrender those to Him. And it's good. If you are not yet a follower of Jesus, it's good to count the cost so you know what you're signing up for. And if you have already decided to follow Jesus, it's good to be reminded of what you have committed to. Because let me tell you, sometimes we want to pick those things back up. The things we've already surrendered, we want to grab them back. The sins that we have found freedom from, we want to pick them back up. The habits that maybe aren't sinful, but are not good for us, we want to take them back. We have to count the cost. We have to surrender what is outside of those boundary lines. But the thing is, the cost is worth it. The benefits far outweigh the cost. The benefit of following Jesus is that we get to experience the goodness of God. We get to actually do that in tangible ways in the here and now. It says our heart is glad and our tongue rejoices. If we are constantly comparing ourselves to everyone who is not a believer or we are constantly looking at everything outside of the boundary lines that we can't have, we will not be glad. We will not be rejoicing. But if we live within the freedom that the Lord has given us, our hearts will be glad. It says there is rest for our bodies, our physical bodies. You know how you feel when you're tense or you're anxious and your shoulders are like up to your ears and your stomach is in knots? It says you get rest for your bodies. It says there is eternal life. There is hope of heaven and eternal life.
Verse 10, David writes, "because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay." Now, David is talking about himself here. He's saying that he is the faithful one in this instance. And we all know that David died and was buried in his body. It was decayed. But David knew. Maybe he didn't know all the details yet because Jesus hadn't come. But he knew there was eternal life with God. He understood that. So he had that hope. He knew that that was for him and that was coming. Some translations have, instead of "faithful one," it says "holy one," and it's capitalized. And some scholars believe that David was inadvertently prophesying the coming of Jesus. That He would have His death and resurrection and that His body would not see decay. And that we as believers would follow suit. And that we would get to experience that eternal life as well. Another benefit is that there is the fullness of joy in His presence. Now I believe that will come to fullness and completeness in heaven. But we get to experience that now. We have His presence with us now. We are filled with the Holy Spirit now. So we get to experience the joy of His presence here and now, this side of eternity. And it says, "with eternal pleasures at your right hand." The place to the right of the person of honor was a place of honor. The Bible says that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven. That is the place of honor. And it says that we get to have pleasures at His right hand. We get to be in the place of honor. One translation says, "pleasures forevermore." That's a long time. Pleasures forevermore because of Him. And we get to experience some of those now, but we also get to look forward to them in eternity. If we are willing to receive His gift, if we are willing to surrender everything outside of those boundary lines, when we acknowledge that the boundary lines have fallen for us in pleasant places and believe that God is our portion and we seek His counsel in this secret place, then we get to know that these benefits are ours. This is our reality. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Surely I have a delightful inheritance. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Surely I have a delightful inheritance. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Surely I have a delightful inheritance. There's no good thing apart from God. And when we know and believe that He is our portion, He is our cup, He is our inheritance, He makes our lot secure. We can say with conviction that the boundary lines have in fact fallen for us in pleasant places and then we can go out and live like it.
We're gonna have a time of prayer. The worship team is gonna play one more song. Pastor Andre and I will be in the back at the prayer table. If you want to have someone pray over you, pray for you, we try to have this as a monthly rhythm where you can come, share your praises, share your prayer requests, we would love to pray with you. Or you can sit in your seat and worship and pray on your own, that's fine too. We just wanna offer that to you as a time set aside specifically for prayer. Let's pray together as we head into this time. Jesus, we thank you for your word. We thank you that we get to learn more about who you are and our response to you. God, help us when we struggle to believe that the boundary lines have fallen for us in pleasant places. Help us to remember that you are our inheritance and that it is delightful. Thank you for the freedom we have to worship you, for the freedom we have to come together as a church body. You are so good to us. You are with us no matter what we are going through, no matter what we are facing. We thank you that we get to experience the goodness of God right here in the land of the living. We love you, Jesus. In your name, Amen.