A Song When Facing Danger
Psalms 16
October 28, 2016
Well I’m aware that every sermon I preach
That you all commit it to memory and that there’s never a need to cover a text twice because you all just have it and are ready to move on.
However, tonight I’m going to take a little page from the apostle Paul who said:
Philippians 3:1 “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.”
Or a page from Peter who said:
2 Peter 1:12 “Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you.”
Tonight we’re going to do that.
This past April was Easter Sunday
And on that Sunday we studied this Psalm as our text.
Tonight we’re going to study it again.
And in one sense that is a little difficult, for some would say that one could just preach it from a different angle,
But the reality is that this goes against
Everything we believe about how to handle the word.
While each text may have a myriad of applications,
It only has one interpretation.
This text, as with all texts, means one thing.
So tonight I’m not going to give you anything new,
But we are going to work through this text
And see if we can’t expound a little more in a few different areas.
When we’re finished maybe you can take what you learned at Easter
And what you learn tonight and enhance your understanding of this Psalm
If I could remind you of THE BASIC GIST
Of what we talked about on Easter it was this.
Namely, that this was not so much a Psalm of David
As it is a Psalm of Jesus.
• Certainly David wrote it
• And certainly he wrote it during a specific incident in his life,
• And certainly it had real application to him at the time,
• AND WE WANT TO LOOK AT THAT.
But there is also a sense in which the Holy Spirit used David here
To write a prophetic word that was absolutely beyond David.
David writes of a scenario here that could in no way be applied to David.
If you will remember back to Easter.
• We even talked about how until the resurrection of Jesus this Psalm must have been a PECULIAR one to the apostles,
• And yet after the resurrection it made perfect sense and in fact became one of the preferred preaching texts of the apostles.
The mysterious statement of the Psalm is found in verse 10.
(10) “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”
And if you will remember even the apostles admitted
That there appeared to be a real interpretive problem
With that statement.
What was the problem?
If David was talking about himself (as he appears to be doing) then he was wrong.
Let me remind you again of the sermons of Peter and Paul:
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.”
And then Paul:
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 of those men honestly acknowledged that
There is no way that this Psalm was fulfilled in the life of David.
David could not have been talking about himself there.
But if you’ll remember, Jesus did the apostles AN ENORMOUS FAVOR:
First on the road to Emmaus we read:
Luke 24:25-27 “And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.”
• Wow, what a sermon that must have been.
• Talk about one I wish was recorded.
• That was Jesus preaching Jesus using the Old Testament as His source.
And then we read:
Luke 24:44-45 “Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,”
I tend to think that after those encounters
Passages like Psalms 16:10 instantly became clear.
It was no longer a mystery.
This Psalm wasn’t about David, this Psalm is about Jesus.
And that’s exactly what Peter and Paul went on to say in their sermons.
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.”
And then Paul:
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.”
So obviously the apostles were in agreement that
This Psalm is about the suffering of the Lord.
And if you made any notes back on Easter we even outlined a little for you how to see that.
• GETHSEMANE (1-3)
• GABBITHA (4)
• GOLGOTHA (5-6)
• GRAVESIDE (7-10)
• GLORY (11)
And you can easily outline this Psalm as all about
The suffering which Jesus faced, and that is accurate to do so.
• He cried to God in the garden and yet trusted the plan of God anyway, even
refusing to take Pilate’s offer of help.
• He bore God’s wrath upon the cross with an eye to the reward of His suffering
• And because He was righteous He did not undergo decay but rose again and
ascended to glory.
And we talked about that on Easter Sunday,
If you want to cover it again, go on the website and listen to it there.
BUT TONIGHT I WANT TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP
And see what that reality means for us.
Part of our study of the Psalms has been
To learn our expected response in life’s circumstances.
We have many times called the book of the Psalms
“God’s Inspired Hymn Book”
This is what we are called to sing in our various circumstances.
And so tonight, realizing that this Psalm is about Jesus,
We read it again, only this time we read it
Regarding how we face suffering with Jesus’ example as our guide
In fact, let me put it to you a little differently.
We know the Psalm is about Jesus.
And by the way, so did David.
Let me read again what Peter said:
Acts 2:30-31 “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.”
According to Peter, when David faced this trial,
He looked ahead and sang of the victory of our Lord.
And our Lord’s example gave David hope to face his own trial.
Tonight that’s what we’re going to do.
We’re going to talk about how we use the suffering and resurrection of Christ as a means of strength when we face dangerous situations.
So let’s work our way through this Psalm as David sung it
And look to the example that David looked to
And cling to the hope that David found.
We’ll break it down into 5 points.
#1 HIS CRY
Psalms 16:1
It’s simple to see.
“Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You.”
There is such richness just in that statement.
Now you may ask based on our intro: So is this David’s cry or Jesus’ cry? And the answer is “Yes”.
It is the cry of our Lord while in the garden,
But it is also the cry of David,
Who is following the example of his Lord.
David runs to the Lord as the One in whom He hides.
• And how many times have talked about this as being a reference to the necessity of our being “in Christ Jesus”?
So do you see how the application works here for us?
THIS PSALM IS ABOUT JESUS,
But when we are “in Christ Jesus” it becomes a Psalm we sing as well.
THAT’S WHERE DAVID IS.
What is more, we know that David is facing a difficult and dangerous situation.
How dangerous is it?
Well, verse 10 David says “You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;”
• David has at least faced the reality that this danger could lead to death.
• David is confident that God won’t leave it there,
• But he has at least faced the possibility that it could come.
And hopefully after our study this morning you are now aware of that same possibility in your life.
After all, we just saw this morning that
Our calling to follow Christ is a calling that demands self-denial,
daily suffering, and even a sacrificial destination.
Luke 9:23 “And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”
If we believe what Jesus said this morning then we must acknowledge that this may indeed someday be a song that we will sing.
DANGER IS REAL
Jesus said:
Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.”
I know many times our prayer is that
God will spare us from all dangerous and scary situations,
But the reality is that Jesus already revealed that they are coming.
John 17:14-15 “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.”
Jesus makes it pretty clear that
He is well aware that He is leaving us in a dangerous situation.
And while He did pray that we would be kept from the evil one,
He still specifically left us in this dangerous world.
So hopefully you see the relevance to learning a Psalm like this.
We may sing this someday ourselves!
Well, David is facing that type of situation.
• He is facing danger, possibly lethal danger,
• And in order to face it correctly he draws upon the song Jesus would sing
during the days of His suffering.
What a great song to sing!
And he says, “Preserve me, O God”
I certainly believe that protection is a part of this prayer,
But in reality it is more than that.
There is a difference between protection and preservation.
David doesn’t just want to be kept out of danger,
He wants to be preserved through it.
Don’t let the danger cause me to fall or to stumble.
The word “preserve” in the Hebrew is the same word used of Adam keeping the garden.
Genesis 2:15 “Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.”
It is used of the Angel guarding the Garden of Eden
Genesis 3:24 “So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.”
It is clearly more than just protection,
It is to look after and keep and preserve
And not to let it get ruined or defiled.
This is the cry.
• It’s not just about being in danger, but more about the negative effects that danger my cause in my walk.
• Don’t let the danger make me stumble.
• David prays “Keep me, O God”
Was that not also the prayer of Jesus we just read?
John 17:15 “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.”
Also in:
John 17:11 “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.”
This is David’s cry, that God would keep Him in Christ,
For in Christ his victory is found.
His Cry
#2 HIS CONFESSION
Psalms 16:2-4
Be sure and notice the verb tense in verse 2.
“I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good besides You.”
This was a past confession.
In short, I already made this commitment.
Many a man makes a commitment in an air conditioned church building,
But it is in the fire of affliction that the commitment is really tested.
Here David faces a dangerous situation
And foremost on his mind is that he had made a commitment to God
To never forsake regardless of how bad things got.
David had already committed to God.
“You are my Lord”
• He had confessed Him as his sovereign king.
• And he had done so because he realized “I have no good besides You”
That’s really the confession of every person who has come to salvation.
We come poor in spirit recognizing our total need for Christ,
So we confess Him as Lord, taking refuge in Him,
And trusting that He alone can supply our good.
David had made that confession too.
And not just a confession of Christ as Lord,
But David had ALSO made a commitment to Christ’s people.
(3) “As for the saints who are in the earth, they are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight.”
David had submitted his life to God,
And David had committed himself to God’s people.
And no matter how hard things got, David committed not to leave.
(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” there is literally “hastened to”
David says, I have seen those people
Who quickly run to another god when things get tough,
But I’m not doing that.
“I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, Nor will I take their names upon my lips.”
David had sung, “Though none go with me, I still will follow” and he was sticking with it.
Regardless of the danger,
• I remember that I committed to You.
• I am not going to turn back.
• I am not going to turn away.
• I am not going to take the easy rode.
And as we said, while this is David’s statement,
It is ULTIMATELY A PICTURE OF CHRIST’S RESOLVE.
• We hear Him praying in the garden, “Not My will, but Yours be done.”
• We are reminded of His resolve before Pilate, not to plead for his intervention.
• We recognize that He would not deny no matter the danger
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;”
David here is echoing the resolve of Christ.
God, I made a commitment to You, and I plan on keeping it.
His Cry, His Confession
#3 HIS CONTENTMENT
Psalms 16:5-6
Now you notice a verb shift again.
Now we are in PRESENT tense.
“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.”
And bear in mind that this is A STATEMENT MADE IN THE FIRE, not in a position of comfort.
• We can all sing this on payday
• We can all sing this while enjoying a sunset on a mountain golf course
• David is singing this while he is in the midst of danger.
• It is a testimony to the sufficiency of the Lord.
That even though David faces the reality of losing his life,
He can still express that loss is gain.
Because the LORD is his portion.
The LORD fills his cup.
And if you remember that famous 23rd Psalm from David.
Psalms 23:5 “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.”
He goes on to say that “The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.”
Now again, first and foremost this is APPLIED TO CHRIST,
Who was able to scorn the shame of the cross for the joy set before Him.
Hebrews 12:2 “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.”
Christ could look to the joy, not only of the glory of heaven,
But also the joy of the bride He had purchased.
Ephesians 5:25-27 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”
And as Christ faced His suffering,
He looked past the hardship to the prize and rejoiced in it.
In Christ, David is doing the same.
• He sees that regardless of the hostility in this world,
• And regardless of what may arise,
• He knows that his inheritance in Christ is totally worth it.
• In Christ inheritance is glorious
• In Christ his cup runs over
• In Christ his lot (destiny) is secure
• In Christ his boundary lines are bountiful
• In Christ his heritage is beautiful
And can we take a moment and acknowledge that this should ever be the attitude of the redeemed?
• We are those who have confessed Christ
• And we are those who must not back away from that commitment even in times of danger.
And one of the chief ways to do this
Is to maintain our focus on what is ours in Christ.
In a simple sense we read:
Luke 9:24 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.”
At the very least we get salvation.
We get life and life abundant and life eternal
Paul told us:
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Even to the Romans he spoke of this glory saying:
Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
And even when Paul faced death himself he said:
2 Timothy 4:6-8 “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
Even when facing dangerous situations
Knowing that outcome might even be death,
We take refuge in Christ and know that
Our inheritance remains more than worth it.
Even though we face dangers, we are not being cheated by God.
David knows this,
And it is tremendous perspective for the believer when facing danger.
We sing: Christ has a beautiful inheritance and I am in Christ!
Ephesians 2:4-7 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
This is the source of our contentment.
His Cry, His Confession, His Contentment
#4 HIS COMMITMENT
Psalms 16:7
I love this simple statement from David.
And notice here the TENSE has now shifted to the FUTURE.
• Because David knows he is in Christ
• Because David knows he has made a confession of Christ
• Because David knows his inheritance in Christ is worth it
David declares, “I will bless the LORD who has counseled me; Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.”
If you will recall, the “night” is a reference to the time of suffering.
Even in Christ’s case we pick up on this clue.
He would say:
John 9:4 “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.”
John 12:36 “While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.”
And then after Jesus announced that the one taking the morsel would be the one to betray Him, we read:
John 13:30 “So after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night.”
So verse 7 speaks to us of Christ’s death
And yet His commitment in the midst of it.
And David here, aware of Christ’s commitment, makes his own.
He says “my mind instructs me”
I like that statement because the word for “mind” there is actually the word for “kidneys” or “bowels”, it was actually the seat of emotion.
Do you want to know what David decided to sing there as he faced death?
“It is well with my soul”
• David, in Christ, had decided not to deny the Lord
• David, in Christ, had decided not to defect from the Lord
• David, in Christ, had committed himself to “bless the LORD”
• He remembered his confession
• He focused on the inheritance in contentment
• And He made a commitment to the Lord, even in the midst of the danger.
But there is one more point, and this is the reason it all works.
His Cry, His Confession, His Contentment, His Commitment
#5 HIS COMFORT
Psalms 16:8-11
Now listen to what David is saying.
David is NOT saying that I know God won’t let me undergo decay.
David says, “You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”
David DOESN’T say, “nor will You allow ME to undergo decay”
David references the Holy One.
And I again remind you of what Peter said:
Acts 2:30-31 “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.”
David “looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ”
And this gaze into the future was the source of David’s comfort even as he faced death.
Look at verse 8
“I have set the LORD continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh will also dwell securely.”
Why would you say that David?
Because David was taking refuge in Christ and David knew that God would not leave Christ in the grave!
In effect David said, “I know I’m safe because I’m with Him!”
In fact, look at his CONFIDENCE.
(11) “You will make know to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”
David wasn’t counting on doing any of this himself.
• He was just going to follow the path of Christ.
• He was just going to reap the benefits of the presence of Christ.
• He was just going to eat from Christ’s right hand.
SO HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED
• David, while facing death, simply looked ahead to the song that Jesus would sing as He faced death.
• And as Jesus overcame, walked into death, and stepped out the other side, David saw the value of taking refuge in Him.
• And David sang His song as a reminder of the victory that he would win in Christ.
• He sang the song of Christ’s victory because he was in Christ and that victory would be his as well.
WE ALSO SING THIS SONG.
• Now, unlike David we don’t look ahead and speak of the resurrection,
• WE INSTEAD LOOK BACK and speak of the resurrection.
We know that God did not allow Christ to undergo decay.
And we also take our refuge in Him and enjoy the victory as well.
We sing:
“Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives.”
We could even add a verse that
“Death is no longer terrifying just because He lives”
Psalms 16 is the song we sing when we face dangerous situations.
• Not because David sang it, but because Christ sang it.
• And we are in Christ.
It is most definitely a song worth singing.
