We Call It Hope
Psalms 16
April 1, 2018
This morning we’re going to take a break from our study of Luke’s gospel
And we’re going to take a look into this 16th Psalm.
We’re doing that because it was one of the favorite Psalms
Of the apostles as they preached after the ascension of Christ.
On the surface, it is a Psalm of David, and as with many of the Psalms,
It is a Psalm from the perspective of suffering.
• And apparently the suffering faced is severe, since David acknowledges in
verse 10 that it could very well end in his death.
• That being said, in light of the adversity it is a Psalm in which David declares
his unceasing faith in God.
And because it is a Psalm of DECLARATION
It also becomes for us a Psalm of OBSERVATION.
By that I mean, not only does this Psalm indicate David’s faith,
But also why God deserves to be trusted.
This Psalm isn’t about David whining about his trials,
It is about how satisfied David is with God in the midst of his trials.
And honestly, we can learn a great deal from this Psalm
Simply about finding satisfaction in suffering
From David’s declarations and from his observations.
And our first objective this morning will be to do just that.
So let me quickly walk you through what David says here about trusting God.
3 things
#1 HIS TRUST
Psalms 16:1-4
Here we basically find David saying:
“I will trust in God alone and never worship another.”
It is a Psalm that begins with a request.
“Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You.”
Whatever it is that David faces
We clearly see that he has but one hope.
He has but one hiding place.
No one else can deliver him from the threat.
No one else can preserve him through the danger.
If it is a physical threat, only one can protect him.
If it is a spiritual temptation, only one can hold him fast.
And so we understand David’s request for God to
“preserve” him through this trial.
And of course this request comes with a submissive heart.
(2) “I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no goodness besides You.”
We find in that a familiarity to the confession of Asaph.
Psalms 73:28 “But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.”
Like Asaph, David had made a commitment.
David was submissive to God as his “Lord”
Unlike so many falsely claim today,
There is NO SCENARIO in which one can have God has savior
But not Lord, and David knew that.
A trust in Him as refuge required a submission to Him as Lord.
So David pledged full obedience to this God
Who would be his deliverance.
And David pledged his faithfulness to God because God alone was the source of all things good.
“I have no goodness besides You.”
James said:
James 1:17 “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”
And David would agree.
And then not only does David cling to God in the midst of his trial, but David also clings to God’s people.
We are hard-pressed to claim a love for God
When we have no affection for God’s people.
(3) “As for the saints who are in the earth, They are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight.”
• They are his encouragement,
• They are his fellow laborers,
• They are his ministers.
So David’s commitment to God is clearly his first matter of priority.
And that also explains vs. 4.
(4) “The sorrows of those who have bartered for another god will be multiplied; I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, Nor will I take their names upon my lips.”
“bartered for another god”
Is literally translated “hastened to another god”
One thing David certainly understood was that
Regardless of how difficult things may get,
Abandoning God for a different deliverer was not a solid option.
No one who abandons God for a false god finds satisfaction there.
There is nothing but multiplied sorrow.
David is tying his fate to God and God alone.
• David will trust Him
• David will submit to Him
• David will worship Him amidst the congregation
• David will worship Him alone
That is David’s response in this great dilemma.
“I will trust in God alone and never worship another.”
His Trust
#2 HIS FOCUS
Psalms 16:5-6
One of the real mistakes we often make in our trials
Is that we so easily lose sight of the prize and focus only on the struggle.
David didn’t do that.
He remembered the reward that was at stake.
“The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and my cup;”
With that statement
We draw our minds back to another famous declaration of David.
Psalms 23 “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
That was true in David’s prosperity,
And it is still true in David’s adversity.
God had not changed despite David’s circumstances.
And because of that, David declared:
“You support my lot.”
The “lot” was sort of like modern-day dice.
Men would “cast lots” to seek and find the direction of God.
David knew that his fate and his future were secure
Because it was God who supported how his lot would fall.
And because God was looking after him
(6) “The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.”
• David was able to look past the current predicament to the future glory.
• He was able to look beyond the current struggle and see the One who would never fail him.
• David was looking beyond the pain directly to the sovereign God who reigned upon the throne and he knew that God would cause even this to work together for good.
It is another great example of how to handle suffering.
“I will rejoice in the reward God is accomplishing for me.”
His trust, His Focus
#3 HIS VICTORY
Psalms 16:7-11
We find here in the first two words David already worshiping God
Because of the outcome that he sees by faith.
“I will bless the LORD”
David knows it is coming.
And he blesses the LORD “who has counseled me; Indeed, my mind instructs me, in the night.”
This is David revealing that victory is found
NOT in following the fickle nature of the feelings,
But rather in resting upon the truth of God’s counsel.
Victory in adversity is found in the mind, not in the gut.
It is the famous hymn:
“When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea-billows roll. Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, “It is well! It is well with my soul!”
And that is what David is doing.
(8) “I have set the LORD continually before me;”
That is, I have set God’s word before me and I rest on that.
“Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”
David learned that God had never left him,
And that God would never leave him
So David understood that victory in the trial
Comes through the sustaining presence of God.
(9-11) “Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely. For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”
So David closes this Psalm with a declaration of rejoicing, because he knew that even in his “flesh” he would be secure.
• God would not “abandon my soul to Sheol”
• God will not “allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”
David declared that God would sustain him
And deliver him from even death.
And thus the rejoicing would be his.
David would have the last laugh.
So it was easy to say:
“In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”
Now that’s the 16th Psalm and as you can see it is a very enlightening and encouraging Psalm regarding how to handle the adversities we face.
David said in the midst of his trial:
• I will trust in God alone and never worship another.
• I will rejoice in the reward God is accomplishing for me.
• I will bless God for His unfailing presence and certain deliverance.
And certainly that is good advice.
HOWEVER…
The apostles recognized a problem with what David said in that Psalm.
David just gave this beautiful declaration of faith
About how God would deliver him from his trials
And how even if death occurred God wouldn’t allow it to stick.
But for the apostles that was a major problem.
WHY?
Well, because of what both Peter and Paul said.
Peter said:
Acts 2:27-29 “BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY. ‘YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE; YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.’ “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.”
Paul said:
Acts 13:35-36 “Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘YOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.’ “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay;”
Both Peter and Paul read that Psalm, then looked at David’s grave and said, “Something’s got to give.”
And then they looked at the tomb of Jesus and fully understood it.
Peter said it like this:
Acts 2:29-32 “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. “And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY. “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.”
Paul said:
Acts 13:36-39 “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay; but He whom God raised did not undergo decay. “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.”
They both understood that this Psalm could not be about David,
For David is dead and buried and his body is in fact decaying.
This Psalm is about David’s descendant.
• David penned this Psalm with a prophetic voice.
• And we wouldn’t know who this Psalm was about until we saw one of
David’s descendants actually raised from the dead.
When God raised Jesus, Psalm 16 made sense.
The trial we are dealing with in Psalm 16
Is NOT SOME RANDOM AFFLICTION.
It is the very trial of Jesus as He prepared to bear
Both the hostility of sinners and the wrath of God on the cross.
If you’re one who writes in your Bible, let me give you a few notes to make
Beside verses 1-4 write two words:
Write GETHSEMANE (specifically beside verses 1-3)
Write GABBITHA (specifically beside verse 4)
• Gethsemane was the garden where Jesus prayed the night before He was arrested.
• Gabbatha is the place where Pilate sentenced Him to crucifixion.
John 19:13 “Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.”
Both of these places represent the tremendous submission and trust
That Jesus placed in the Father.
And now this Psalm takes on an even bigger significance,
Because we get insight into our Lord’s thought process
As He faced the cross!
Now listen to these verses again.
(1-4) “Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You. I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good besides You.” As for the saints who are in the earth, They are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those who have bartered for another god will be multiplied; I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, Nor will I take their names upon my lips.”
This was the trust of Jesus as He knelt in the garden and prayed.
Luke 22:41-44 “And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.”
Why was Jesus in such agony?
Because He was about to face the cross.
• And no, this wasn’t about death, or even the process of death.
• As you’ll see in a moment He was confident about the outcome of death.
• Nor was it about the physical pain of the crucifixion, although unpleasant, lesser men have endured it.
Jesus was about to bear the full fury of God’s wrath on sin.
Matthew 27:45-46 “Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”
• “the sixth hour” is high noon.
• And at this time Matthew records that “darkness fell upon the land until the night hour.”
For 3 hours it went dark.
• It wasn’t an eclipse, the timing of Passover rules that out.
• Beyond that, who ever heard of an eclipse lasting 3 hours?
WHAT IS THIS DARKNESS?
It is a picture of God’s wrath.
Throughout the O.T. we read of what is known as “The day of the LORD”. It is the day of God’s vengeance when He crushes His enemies.
It is described as:
Joel 2:1-2 “Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the LORD is coming; Surely it is near, A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness.”
Zephaniah 1:14-15 “Near is the great day of the LORD, Near and coming very quickly; Listen, the day of the LORD! In it the warrior cries out bitterly. A day of wrath is that day, A day of trouble and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness,”
It is the day when God crushes His foes.
And what did Isaiah teach us about the cross?
Isaiah 53:10 “But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief…”
On the cross Jesus was not simply bearing the scorn of men.
Jesus was bearing the very wrath of God.
He was bearing God’s rage that was reserved for God’s enemies.
This is confirmed in the cry of Jesus
Matthew 27:46 “About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”
For the first time in eternity, Jesus felt the rage of His Father.
2 Corinthians 5:21 explains this:
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
• Jesus did not become a sinner on the cross.
• He was always righteous.
• But on the cross Jesus was treated as a sinner, so that I can be treated as though I am righteous.
What is occurring here is what is known as ABSOLUTE ATONEMENT.
There is nothing potential about what is happening here.
Jesus is actually bearing the full fury of all of God’s wrath
On all the sin of every person who would ever believe.
Do you understand now why He is in agony in that garden?
Do you understand now why He is sweating drops of blood?
He is about to endure an eternal weight of judgment.
And yet, despite the mission, Jesus maintains His trust in God.
“Yet not as I will, but as You will.”
In Psalms 16 we read, “Preserve Me, O God, for I take refuge in You.”
He said, (2) “I said to the LORD, “You are My Lord;”
He walked in total and full submission the plan of God.
And as He did it, His focus rested upon those for whom He would atone.
(3) “As for the saints who are in the earth, They are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight.”
It was that focus that would allow Jesus to say:
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”
It was that commitment that would allow John to write:
John 13:1 “Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”
It was His trust in God and His love for God’s people
That allowed Him to go forward even amidst such peril.
But Jesus’ faith wasn’t just demonstrated at GETHSEMANE,
It was also demonstrated at GABBATHA.
John 19:8-11 “Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid; and he entered into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”
Peter wrote:
1 Peter 2:23 “and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;”
Even when facing a hostile crowd and a corrupt governor, Jesus never lost His faith in God.
• He trusted God.
• He would not appeal to Pilate for deliverance
• He would not turn to Herod’s paganism for help
• He knew there was nothing there.
“The sorrows of those who have bartered for another god will be multiplied; I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, Nor will I take their names upon My lips.”
Jesus remained resolute to the Father,
Even though facing the harshest affliction any man has ever known.
He trusted God in Gethsemane
He trusted God at Gabbatha
There is another word you can write in your margin beside verses 5-6.
Write the word GOLGOTHA
This of course was the place where He was crucified.
Matthew 27:33-35 “And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink. And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots.”
It was at Golgotha where
Our Lord demonstrated the tremendous focus spoken of here.
As Jesus faced this fury of wrath, Psalms 16 says:
(5-6) “The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot. The lines have fallen to Me in pleasant places; Indeed, My heritage is beautiful to Me.”
• Despite the fury…
• Despite the rage…
• Despite the suffering…
Jesus looked past the agony of the cross
To the glory of the reward of His suffering.
We read part of the verse earlier, now look at all of it.
Isaiah 53:10 “But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.”
• There we remember that God, from His perspective was pleased to satisfy His wrath on sin.
• But we also learn that Christ, from His perspective was also satisfied as He saw the reward of His suffering.
Isaiah 53:11-12 “As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”
Isaiah 53:4-6 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”
This is what Christ accomplished there.
He fully bore the wrath of God on all the sin
Of all who would ever believe.
Perhaps you’ve heard THE SONG,
“When He was on the cross, I was on His mind.”
That song is about His reward.
And this reward, this focus, was what carried Christ through.
The writer of Hebrews put it this way.
Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
The writer of Hebrews said that Jesus endured the cross,
“despising the shame”.
The word “despising” there in the Greek means “to think little of”.
The writer of Hebrews is not saying that Jesus hated the cross.
He is saying that in view of His reward
Jesus thought of the cross as a little thing.
For Him the payoff made the suffering of the cross worth it.
This was His reward.
• He was purchasing for Himself a holy bride for all eternity.
• And thus with that focus, He willingly endured.
In fact, He said, “The lines have fallen to Me in pleasant places; Indeed, My inheritance is beautiful to me.”
He rejoiced over His bride.
He rejoiced over His church.
IT WAS HIS FOCUS.
And then there’s one more word to write in your margin beside verses 7-10
Just write: GRAVESIDE
And this was the portion that could not possibly be applied to David,
But which fits Jesus to a “T”
Here Jesus faces the cross with one overwhelming expectation.
And that expectation is this:
“You will not abandon My soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”
Jesus based it all upon the justice of God.
Yes, it is true, that on the cross Jesus was treated as a sinner.
BUT IT IS ALSO TRUE that He never became a sinner.
He was merely treated as one.
Had He been a sinner in any sense of the word
Then all He can expect is to lay beside David
And decay in His grave just like David did.
But Jesus knows one thing emphatically about Himself.
• He knows he is holy,
• And He knows that the justice of God will not allow Him to condemn, and
hold an innocent man.
“Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”
That again is why Peter said:
1 Peter 2:23 “and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;”
And that is precisely what Peter and Paul are preaching.
If Jesus had not been the Holy One of God,
Then He’d still be in that grave.
But the fact that God raised Him from the dead
Indicates that He was in fact sinless.
WHY IS THAT IMPORTANT?
It proves His atoning work on the cross was successful.
Paul wrote:
Romans 4:25 “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.”
Sometimes we sing the song:
“Living He loved me, dying He saved me, buried He carried my sins far away, rising He justified freely forever, one day He’s coming Oh glorious day.”
But the problem in that song is that
Jesus did not justify me by rising from the dead.
Jesus justified me by paying for my sin on the cross.
His resurrection verified my justification.
That song should say, “rising He verified His work forever, one day He’s coming Oh glorious day.”
He wasn’t raised to justify me.
He was raised “because of our justification.”
HE WAS RAISED BECAUSE WE WERE JUSTIFIED.
And that’s why we’re here.
• We celebrate, not just a life that was raised.
• We celebrate a life that was raised because it proves a death that was effective.
WHAT IS CLEAR
• Jesus bore God’s wrath on the cross.
• But He did not bear wrath because of any sin that He committed
We know that because God would not allow
His “Holy One to undergo decay.”
Jesus didn’t die because He was a sinner.
Jesus died because He was a Savior.
He faced the cross
• And He faced it with willing submission for the reward of His redeemed bride.
• And He faced it with hope that God would raise Him because of His perfection.
AND NOW THE CHURCH STANDS UPON THAT FACT.
Jesus was sinless.
Jesus did bear my sin.
Jesus did satisfy God’s wrath on me.
IT WAS ALL PROVEN AT THE RESURRECTION.
WE CALL IT HOPE.
And we rejoice at Easter because of it.
