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. O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance in my cup. You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Yes, I have a good inheritance. I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will rest in hope, for you will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life, and your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Let's pray together before we study the word. Let's all pray. Glorious God, we give you thanks once again for your word. Thank you for the hope of the resurrection, for the hope of the psalmist as we have read together, and for our hope that we have in our Lord Jesus Christ. We ask that you would instruct us, that you would lift our eyes to Christ, that you would give us eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts to believe all that you would have for us this evening. We ask for the help of your spirit to rightly interpret or rightly apply your word. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. You and I live in an uncertain world, don't we? We don't have to look very far to see that this is the case. We look at the world in general, not just our own lives, but we look at our circumstances right now with political unrest, with economic inflation on the rise, and social decay all around us. And we recognize that we live in uncertain times. But even beyond those external circumstances, those things that we see in our nation and even around the world, you and I experience uncertainty in our own lives. Again, we don't have to look very far to see this. Some of you have been impacted by that uncertainty in profound ways. People that you thought you could always count on, or things, possessions in your life that you thought you would always have, something that you thought would always be there, can suddenly cave and give way. And many of you know the pain of that uncertainty, the experience of those things that give way, things that you thought were, again, sure and unshakable, but yet that all of a sudden, just in a moment's time, give way, and your soul sinks in uncertainty. Perhaps that's where you are even tonight, dealing with not just uncertainty in the world, but even in your own heart. And you've begun to lose hope. You've begun to wonder, is there something solid that I can rest my soul upon? Is there something unshakable that I can reach for that can support my soul in this time of uncertainty? Well, David found such A sure hope in Psalm 16. And I think that it will be instructive for us to study for a few moments together the hope that David expresses and that you and I can have. Hope that does not give way. Hope in God that will not cave in uncertain times. And I pray that God by His Spirit would take this truth, this psalm, and would infuse your soul with hope as we study together. What I want to see here is simply the psalmist's confession, the psalmist's confession of hope in God. As he confesses his hope in the Lord, he begins with true worship. And I want us to see first that hope that Christian hope always begins with right worship. But then the psalmist moves forward in verses five through, really in the opening verses, verses one through four, we have that true worship of the psalmist. But then in verses five through eight, we have his meditation, his righteous meditation. This Christian hope is sustained by our meditation. And then lastly, this Christian hope results and joyful confidence in the face of both life and death." Joyful confidence in the face of both life and death. But by way of introduction to the psalm, I should say this as well, that this psalm is not ultimately about David and his hope, not ultimately just David's song of confession, his confession of hope in his God. Ultimately, this is the confession of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who always trusted in his Father, the one whose body was not left in the grave, who was not left, as we read in verse 10, not left in Sheol. He is the Holy One who did not see corruption. Ultimately, this psalm is the confession of our Lord Jesus Christ. Going back to Psalm 15, as I think it's helpful to understand the placement of the psalm, in the Psalter, Psalm 15 teaches us about the character of the man who will not be moved. You read in Psalm 15 about the righteous man who walks uprightly, works righteousness, speaks the truth in his heart, this one who always does what is righteous and godly in the sight of God. Who is the man of Psalm 15? But again, our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who perfectly fulfills the law of God in every way. So you come to the end of Psalm 15, and you have the recognition of the psalmist, he who does these things, who lives in such a righteous way, shall never be moved. Who is the man who will never be moved? our Lord Jesus Christ, the ideal man, the God-man, the one who perfectly fulfilled God's law in every way. And now as we come to Psalm 16, just as Psalm 15 described the character of this godly man, of our Lord Jesus Christ, Psalm 16 is the confession of our Lord Jesus Christ, ultimately, the godly one, the one who, as we read in verse eight, who will never be moved, who is not moved because he has set the Lord before him. So again, the psalm should not merely teach us what David thought or what you and I should think, but ultimately our gaze should be lifted to our Lord Jesus Christ and his sure confession of hope in his God. So let's study the psalm together, first of all seeing that this Christian hope begins with worship, begins with true worship. David begins with confessing his hope in God. Preserve me, O God, for in you I put my trust. Preserve me, or literally watch over me, keep me safe. You could put it this way, shepherd me. Protect me. It's not clear if there's an immediate threat. There may not be an immediate threat to David that led to the writing of this psalm. But what is clear is that David is operating in a world that's uncertain, a world that's full of enemies, and he's asking the Lord to preserve him. He's bowing before the Lord, confessing the Lord is his God, and placing his trust and his confidence in the Lord. What is the basis of his worship? We see this in verse two. The basis of his worship is the goodness of God. O my soul, you have said to the Lord, you are my Lord. My goodness is nothing apart from you. He's confessing the Lord, worshiping the Lord, delighting in the Lord. You are my Lord. My goodness is nothing apart from you. David recognizes his own sinfulness, his own frailty. recognizing that God alone is good and that grounds his worship. Matthew Henry put it well in writing on this text that God has no need of our services. He is not benefited by them, nor can they add anything to His infinite perfection and blessedness. The wisest, the best, the most useful men in the world cannot be profitable to God. God is infinitely above us and happy without us, and whatever good we do, it is all from Him. A timely reminder for us. God alone is the fountain of all goodness. That, again, grounds our worship. We come to one who is the fountain, who is the source of all goodness and love and favor. We confess our own inability, our own frailty, our own sinfulness. At the same time, we delight in the infinite goodness and grace of God. And David continues, it's not merely enough for him to delight in the Lord, his God, but then that delight spills over to his fellow saints. And that's what we see in verse three, that as he worships the Lord, it's not merely enough for him to do it personally and individually by himself, But that delight spills over into the saints of God. So it's as if David in his joy, in his worship of God, calls to his brothers and sisters, calls to his fellow saints, his fellow Israelites, join me, join me in the public worship of God, delighting in the fact that God has saved a people for himself. And I think this is important for you and for me to remember, that as we worship the Lord, as we trust in Him, as we confess His name, we must do this corporately, that corporate worship. There's something you and I gain from the public gathering of the saints, small as that gathering may be, There's something more significant going on here in the public gathered worship of God's people than even our personal worship. Personal worship is vital, I'm not dismissing that, but there's something corporate that you and I are called to, a corporate confession, corporate gathered worship together with God's saints. Remember the admonition of the Apostle John in chapter 4 of his first epistle. If someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God must love his brother also. So delight in the Lord, worship Him, and then join with your brothers and sisters of like precious faith. Love for God always results in love for His people. You can't say that you love God and refuse to love the saints with whom you worship, who belong to our Lord Jesus Christ and who share in that common faith. So David here, as he worships the Lord, he delights as well in the people of God. And there's a contrast that we should see. He contrasts his delight in the people of God with the workers of iniquity, with the idolaters. And we see this in verse four. 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. So you see what David's saying. I delight in the saints of God, those whom God has called and gathered for his own name. Those who share in the common faith. this common confession, but I reject all those who hasten after another God. So if you would worship God, if you would set your hope in Him, it means turning away from idols, even as we saw in Sunday school this morning, to reject all idolatry, to put those Idols that would vie for your affection, your loyalty, your love, to put those things away. And the text is, it's insightful here, what David confesses. Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another God. You want to multiply misery and sorrow and pain to yourself? Do you want to know the emptiness of idolatry? Then give your heart to other gods. Hasten after other gods, and you'll multiply misery to yourself. True joy, and this is what David comes back to at the end of the Psalm. True joy is found at God's right hand, and your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. You want to know true life. You want to know joy. then worship God and Him alone. But if you split your affection and split your worship and split your loyalty among all of the various idols that you and I can raise up, you'll multiply misery to yourself. Life, true life is knowing God through Jesus Christ, whom he has sent. Misery comes from multiplying idols to ourselves. Reject such ideas. Flee from idolatry. Refuse the Lama David to, their drink offerings of blood, I will not offer. I will not take up their names. Speaking of the names of these false gods, I will not take up their names on my lips. I'll put idolatry away. So would you, as we study this matter of hope, if you would have this sure and true lasting hope begins with the right worship of God, with delighting in Him, loving His people, and rejecting all idolatry. But David continues in our Psalm with righteous meditation. He worships the Lord and then he continues to sustain his worship, sustain his hope with righteous meditation. We see this in particularly verses five through eight. Verse five, oh Lord, you are the portion of my inheritance and my cup. You maintain my lot. So David here focuses upon the Lord as the great object of his meditation. He gives himself to thinking, delighting in his God. And he uses several metaphors, several pictures here to frame his meditation. I think it's helpful for us to look into these images, these pictures that he's using. First, in verse five, Lord, you are the portion of my inheritance. So he looks at the Lord as his inheritance. in the first place. This is likely a reference to Numbers 18, verse 20, where the land has been apportioned to all the various tribes of Israel. Eleven of the tribes received their physical inheritance in the promised land. But remember that the tribe of Levi received no physical inheritance. and the land. The Lord tells them in Numbers 18, 20, the Lord declares to the sons of Levi, I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel. So it's as if David is reflecting on this truth. Lord, you are, regardless of the things that I have, the physical possessions, Lord, you are the portion of my inheritance. It's you that I desire. It's you that I confess. It's you and you alone who is the source of my affection and my loyalty, my devotion. David has no eyes for lesser things because his eyes, his affection, his soul is taken up with the Lord, the portion of his inheritance. But also the Lord is his cup. You are my cup. The cup in Scripture is a most interesting picture that you see used time and again. The cup can signify to us our place in life or those good things that God has given us or his provision for us. You see there's a cup for the wicked and there's also a cup for the righteous. You see this even here in the Psalms. Psalm 11 verse 6, you may be familiar with this text. It tells you about the cup of the wicked, that fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup. There's a cup that's foaming full of judgment to the wicked. But for the righteous, there's a cup, as we read in the familiar words of Psalm 23, our cup runs over, our cup overflows. And I think it's helpful for you and for me to think about our cup, this idea that even God is our cup. You may have heard the statement, look at the cup, Are you looking at the cup half full or half empty? And it's a sort of pithy, cliche way that some people try to talk about gratitude. Do you look at the blessings of life as your cup is half full or is it half empty? You need to look at it as half full and work up a sense of optimism that look at the things you do have rather than the things that you don't have. Look at the cup as half full rather than empty. half empty. And this is perhaps in some ways helpful, but falls far short of a biblical view of the cup. Because you understand, brothers and sisters, that what we deserve from God because of our sin is a cup, again, that's full of the wrath of God against us, the cup that our Savior Jesus drank in his sufferings and in his death, a cup that was full of the righteous wrath of God against our sin. So for you and for me to be handed an empty cup would be rich mercy from God. To be handed a cup that has been completely drained of the righteous wrath of God against our sin would be infinite mercy. But you and I here have been handed a cup full of every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Jesus Christ. You and I have been redeemed. We've been given good gifts. We've been lavished, lavished, God's generosity lavished upon us. And now we have even here the psalmist's confession that the Lord himself is his cup. It's not merely the discrete blessings that God gives us, as rich as those things are, but he gives us himself. The psalmist confesses, Lord, you are my cup. You are my portion. It's you that I delight in. It's you that I want and I desire. Is this the desire of your heart? You meditate upon the Lord in this way, that the Lord is your cup, that it's His favor, it's His presence that you want, that you desire. Communion with Him through Jesus Christ by the Spirit. And then a final picture that the psalmist uses in verse 5, you maintain my lot, or you protect my inheritance. The Lord is his portion, the Lord is his cup, and the Lord is his protector, the one who keeps all of these things. And you understand that so often, don't we, when we've been given good gifts, your marriage or your possessions, your home, all the good gifts that God gives you, I think there's something deep in our hearts that constantly strives to hold on to those things. When we've been given something good, we want to hold on to it. We want to make sure we don't lose it. We're constantly, as it were, looking over our shoulder, aren't we, at the good gifts that God has given us, wanting to make sure that we can hang on to them, that the good things of life don't escape our grasp. But you see what David here is confessing. Lord, you maintain my lot. You've given me yourself and you promise to keep me. You promise to protect me, to shepherd me. So David here sets his hope on the Lord as the giver of every good thing, particularly upon giving David himself. So David here focuses his meditation upon his God. And he continues verses seven and eight. What's the manner in which he meditates? His heart instructs him in the night seasons. He sets the Lord always before him. This meditation is a constant work. It's a constant duty that David presses himself into. constantly setting the Lord before him, even as he lies on his bed at night, meditating on the goodness and the faithfulness of God. And again, this is not merely David's confession, though it is. Ultimately, this confession is that of our Savior Jesus Christ. Think with me about his life and ministry. that constantly He fed His own soul on the goodness of His Father. It was His food to do the will of Him who sent Him to finish His work. He went out while it was yet night so many times in His ministry and cried out to the Father, sustained His soul on the goodness of His Father. This is the confession, not merely of David, but of our Lord Jesus Christ, the ideal man, the one who teaches us what it is to meditate, to set the Lord always before us, and therefore, to not be moved. So are you meditating in this way? Do you set the Lord before you? Are you even, those nights that are sleepless or your sleep is interrupted, do you think, positively think on the goodness of God to your soul? Rejoice that God is your portion, your inheritance, and your cup. Do you refuse to be distracted by the passing fashions of this world? Not being conformed, remember Romans 12 to the strong command of the Apostle Paul there, don't be conformed to this passing world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Let me press upon you this duty of meditation, of setting the Lord before you, of feeding your soul on scripture, reminding yourself of the favor of God to you in Jesus Christ. This may mean, I'll be very practical here, this may mean putting your phone on do not disturb, it may mean putting the devices away and turning the TV off and rejecting the temptation to constantly be distracted by all the gadgets all the devices that we have in our time, and to focus upon God and His Word, with the Word open before you and on your knees, to cry out to the Lord, meditate on His goodness and on His grace, on all that He is and all that He promises to do for you, and to refuse to be shaped by this passing wicked world. If you would be a hopeful Christian, if you would grow in confidence in God, not being shaken by the uncertainty of this passing world, then sustain such hope by righteous meditation. Learn to meditate, to think on these things. Even as the Apostle Paul taught us to do in Philippians 4, whatever things are righteous, whatever things are true, whatever things are lovely, think on these things. So godly hope begins with worship. It's sustained by meditation, and then it results in joyful confidence. And this is the note that the psalmist closes on, this joyful confidence, future expectation in God. Verse nine, therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will rest in hope. Why? Verse 10, for you will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. Here in verse 10 you have perhaps the clearest prophecy of the resurrection in the Old Testament scriptures, a prophecy that points us beyond the shadows of the Old Testament to the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This again is not merely David's confession and David's hope, but this is the confession of our Lord Jesus Christ. You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. We have the witness, don't we, of the New Testament scriptures to help us understand what the psalmist David is saying here. I'm gonna turn over to Acts chapter two and read you a few verses there. Acts chapter 2, here the apostle Peter is preaching on the day of Pentecost, and he's expositing Psalm 16, bringing it to bear as he declares the glories of our Savior's resurrection. So Acts chapter 2, picking up the reading with verse 29, in verses 25 through 28 of the chapter, he's quoted extensively from Psalm 16, Acts chapter 2, 29. Let's hear the Apostle Peter as he preaches. 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 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. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses." So do you see what Peter is saying here? This prophecy long foretold of of the resurrection is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. It is ultimately He that was not left. He was not left in the grave. His flesh did not see corruption. He's been raised by the Father to everlasting life. Here is the sure hope of the resurrection. You can think of what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, that he's delivered to the Corinthian church what he also received, that the Lord Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. What Scriptures was Paul referring to? But the Old Testament Scriptures, particularly here in Psalm 16, that our Savior Christ was not left under the power of the grave, not left to decay, not left to... To simply rot away in a tomb, but he was raised in the power of an endless life by the Father. Declared to be, as we read in Romans 1, declared to be the Son of God with power by the Spirit of holiness according to the resurrection from the dead. Demonstrating, demonstrating here that our Lord Jesus was successful in everything he came to do. demonstrating that the wrath of the Father has been turned aside, that his people have been redeemed, that death is defeated, that death has lost its sting and the grave has lost its victory because of the work of our Savior Christ. So here is the point of convergence of all of our hope in the resurrection, the glorious resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. But back to David one last time, because David certainly saw corruption. His body was laid in the grave. He died. David's day came to die and he was buried. And even as we read in Acts chapter two, the apostle Peter, he may have even motioned in the direction of David's tomb. You know that the patriarch David, that he died and he was buried. So where then is our hope? Certainly David died, and for all those who die before our Lord Jesus Christ returns on the clouds from glory, we have an appointment with death, and death is still a reality that you and I must face. How can you and I have hope even in the face of uncertainty and coming death? Where is the hope of the gospel? Well, I would encourage you with this thought, and it is our union with Jesus Christ. You see, the New Testament over and over again refers to the fact that you and I are united to Jesus Christ, that he is our head and that we are his body, that he is our glorious husband and we are his bride, the church, that we are inseparably joined to him. and that as certainly as He has risen from the dead, and this is the whole argument of Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, that as certainly as Jesus Christ has conquered over sin and over death, so He will bring to resurrection all those He will raise to everlasting life. all those united to Him. Think of 1 Corinthians 15, 23. Christ, the firstfruits, or the firstborn from the dead. Afterward, those who are Christ's at His coming. Christ our head, and we His body. Christian, you are united to one who has conquered death. He is risen, and because He is risen, you will rise. God will fulfill this promise even here in Psalm 1611, to show you the path of life, to bring you to everlasting joy and communion with God. In His presence is fullness of joy. At His right hand are pleasures forevermore. So how can you have hope in an uncertain and a broken world? Worship God alone, delighting in Him. Commune with Him, meditate on His promises, and rejoice in the strong and the sure hope of the resurrection. Think much about the resurrection and the clear New Testament witness to the sure resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, that our King has risen, that He has conquered, that He even now sits at the right hand of the Father, intercedes for us, and promises to bring us to glory. Think much on the risen, present ministry of our Savior Jesus Christ. And may your soul be filled with hope as you anticipate your future resurrection in union with Jesus Christ. Remember what he told Martha long ago, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, though he dies, yet will he live. This is the hope of the gospel. May it be your hope as well. Let's pray together. Our gracious God, we thank you for the hope of the resurrection. We thank you for the way in which your word instructs us to be people who are filled with hope even in an uncertain world. We pray that you would lift our eyes to our risen and conquering Savior Christ, the one who has destroyed death and the grave, the one who ever lives to make intercession for us, the one who has promised to come again and to receive us to himself, the one who has gone before us to prepare a place for us, the one who is the way, the truth, and the life through whom we come to you. We ask that you would fill us with hope, that we would be a people who are not shaken by this uncertain world and even by the remaining corruption of our own hearts, make us a people who are shaped by a clear and a sure hope in you that we would hold fast to this confession. We ask that you would help us now as we depart and as we serve you this week, that we would glorify you in all that we say and in all that we do and all that we think. we ask that you would receive all the praise and all the glory. In Jesus' name, amen.