At this time, let's turn to Psalm 16. Psalm 16. Because God is holy and His word is holy, let's stand, if we're able, for the reading of God's word. Psalm 16. A miktam of David. Verse 1. Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in you. I said to the Lord, you are my Lord. I have no good beside 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. 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. I will bless the Lord who has counseled me. Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night. 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 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. Let's pray together. Thank you for this, your holy word. We pray that you would bless your word, that you would help us to grow in our love for you, in our trust that you are our refuge, that you are our allotment, our portion, our glorious inheritance, and help us to trust in the Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is foretold in this glorious psalm. Give your Holy Spirit to us that we would understand and believe. May your Holy Spirit guide me as I preach. For we ask these things in the name of Jesus our Lord. Amen. Please be seated. This psalm is called a miktam. Some translate this as an atonement psalm. There is definitely a teaching of the atonement in this psalm as it foretells the coming of Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is what we would call a messianic psalm. Now the overview of this entire psalm is given in verse 1, when the psalmist David says this, Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in you. God is his shelter, God is his support, God is his mighty high tower, his defense, his fortified defense from trouble. The main focus of this psalm tonight is that God as our portion preserves us as we take refuge in him. We'll see this in two main points. How we should view fellow saints is the first. And secondly, the Lord as our refuge and our portion. So let's look at this first main point, how we should view fellow saints. First of all, what is a saint? A saint is a holy one, a person who has been set aside or we would say consecrated unto God for His holy purpose. A saint is not a person that the Church deems to be a saint as the Roman Catholic Church believes that it alone has the right to saint people or to declare people as saints. Paul speaks of those believers in other churches in the New Testament as saints. A true saint is not a sinless person, because a sinless person does not exist. Even though David failed miserably by committing adultery, and then later trying to cover up his adultery by plotting murder for Uriah the Hittite, He still was a saint because he looked to God for his forgiveness and for his salvation. He looked forward to the coming Messiah. And that's how David was saved. David was saved through the blood of Christ, as we look back unto Jesus who has already come. Again, so a modern saint is one who has a sincere saving faith, trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. That's a saint. Like David, a true saint believes that God is the author of his or her salvation, saying as David did in verse two, you are my Lord, I have no good besides you. ESV translates it in a very helpful way as well. You are my Lord, I have no good apart from you. Now, anything, any good work that we do, any kind deed that we do, any fruit of the Holy Spirit that we bear, we can do nothing. Nothing good ever comes from us except that it is given to us by God. It's God's Holy Spirit working through His Holy Word in us. Therefore, any good that comes from us is only by God's sovereign hand. In other words, we have no true good in ourselves apart from God. We cannot take credit for it. God takes credit. There's no good in us apart from Him. Now, on the flip side of this, when we sin, We should be the only ones to take the blame. It's our sin, we did it. We committed those sins. No one should be blamed except ourselves. This Psalm calls us to delight in the saints of God. Look at verse three. As for the saints who are in the earth, they are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight. Now, you ought to consider them, that is God's saints, majestic ones, because scripture says that's what they are. Now, you might say this word Hebrew, the Hebrew word for majestic ones could be translated as mighty ones or magnificent ones. Now, such a title of being majestic, mighty, or magnificent How would this not be only fitting for God or the holy angels? How could we attribute this title to fallen sinful people? But that's what scripture does. Scripture says it is fitting of true saints. Now, you may know of people who are professing Christians who don't seem worthy of being called majestic ones or magnificent ones. Now, on the other hand, you might know some Christians who, when you get to know them, the glory of God, you could say, is evident in their faith. They're not perfect, they're not sinless, but they have a an on fire faith. They're loving, they're kind, they're patient. They're not flawless. They sin. But when they sin, they confess their sin. And when they sin against you, which they do, they apologize and they ask for forgiveness. That's a pretty magnificent person in my understanding, in my estimation. And I do believe I have met people in the OPC, especially some in, even in Louisiana, and in our Presbytery, who I would say that that's a truly magnificent saint. A truly majestic saint. I can say that. Now how do you delight in a saint of God? How do you delight in one of the magnificent ones of God? I believe there are many ways you could do so. You could pray for them. You could pray with them. You could encourage them. You can fellowship with them. You can support them in their needs. Those are ways that you could delight in the saints of God. I think mainly what he's talking about here is having an affectionate, true love for them in your heart. And when you love someone like that, you don't sin against them. Rather, you allow that person to be an influence upon you. In Psalm 16, David next makes a contrast between a true saint of God, who sincerely seeks the Lord, and the pagan who seeks another besides God Almighty. In verse 4, he wrote this, The sorrow of those who have bartered, in other words, traded for another God, will be multiplied. Now, most English translations of this verse have the word God there supplied. It's not in the original language. But think about it. In wickedness, a person who seeks anything or anyone else besides God commit sin. If you seek another, a spouse, a girlfriend, a boyfriend, a close friend at school, if you seek others for their approval rather than seeking the approval of God in your life, you have set yourself up with an idol. Now, such a person, this pagan person here, is someone who seeks another, has sorrows multiplied. Now, what do we mean by sorrows being multiplied? There are sorrows in this life because of their wicked sin. I mean, you think about how pagans, some of them have even sacrificed their own children. Some of them commit terrible, heinous deeds in order to please their pagan god or their idol. So there are sorrows being multiplied in this life, or not only in this life, but in the life to come. That's how their sorrows are multiplied. Now, a false god, little g, or idol, might very well be what God had in mind. That's why the translators included this word God here, because what David goes on to say in the remainder of verse four seems fitting. He says, I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, nor will I take their names upon my lips. In other words, Even if a close friend, even if a dear companion, a parent, a relative or someone else wants to participate in pagan worship, you shouldn't go along with it. Christians shouldn't do the practices of pagan worship even for their most adored loved one. I do know a man who was a Protestant, who believed, I believe, the true gospel. Yet, against his own conviction, his dad told him, you're gonna pray the rosary with me. And this professing believer submitted to his dad, rather than, and basically sinned against conscience, And I believe what later happened is he ended up having a lot of his faith extinguished because he participated in a practice that he was convinced was not in accord with Scripture. And he was right because praying to Mary, I believe, is a sin. We don't pray to Mary and we don't pray to the saints, we don't pray to the dead. We pray only to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, let's see how the Lord is our refuge and our portion. Verses five through six. 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. Now, most of us who get an inheritance in this life, we might get goods or clothing or furniture, homes or money from an inheritance. Some people may get a vehicle. In contrast, David says, the Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup. You probably heard me say this many, many times and maybe you think this as well, but I've always looked at heaven and the new heaven and the new earth as the inheritance that God has given unto us. And it is. These things are our inheritance. But what would heaven be? Or what would the new heaven and the new earth be without God in it? What makes heaven so glorious is the presence of God. What makes the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven so glorious is Jesus Christ in the middle of it, lighting and illuminating that new creation. Now it says, God supports our lot, verse five. I believe this pertains to what has been allotted to us by inheritance. That's what a lot is. It's what has been allotted to us by inheritance. God is the one who brings our inheritance to pass. He is the one who preserves and maintains our inheritance. And even Jesus Christ talked about this. As our inheritance, Jesus said in John 14 three, if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also. That place that God's preparing for us, that's our inheritance. These biblical truths are, I would say, immense to us. When you believe these things, when you long for God himself to be your inheritance, when you long to see God and that you can say unto the Lord, the lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places and my heritage is beautiful to me. I think that should stir us up. to a greater faith and a greater assurance of our salvation. But these biblical truths are also given along with David's advice for our devotions. Look at verses seven through nine. I will bless the Lord who has counseled me. Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night 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 also will dwell securely. First thing noticed in this section here is that we are to seek the counsel of God, our Lord, from His Holy Word and from His Holy Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you as you read the Word. Maybe ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in how to understand and how to believe, what to read, and how to apply the Word to your life. We're to take God's word and lay it upon our hearts, but apply it to our lives. That's what we're supposed to do. That's how we take counsel of the Lord from his holy word. It's not just so that we can recite something, or it's not just so that we could have a Bible quiz. The book is intended by God to be applied to us to bring forth much fruit in our life. Now, you might seek counselors, you can seek Christian counselors, but when you seek counsel, seek counsel from the Lord and His Holy Word. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in your prayers as well. When you're depressed or downcast, sometimes I think what happens is we have our problems that are set before us continually. We see bills. We see how we can't afford this, that or the other. We see a health trouble. We have a medical problem. Maybe we have problems with our children. There can be many things that trouble us. And because of the troubles that we have, these troubles that are always set before us can make us depressed. But these things won't go away, some of them won't. But in the midst of these troubles and these problems, make sure you do what David did. Set the Lord continually before you. That'll be your help in the midst of your trials and troubles. Now the closing of this hymn, I mean, sorry, the closing of this psalm, the closing of this psalm is definitely messianic. Look at verse 10. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will you allow your Holy One to undergo decay. Now, how do you understand what is... how to interpret this. The best way to understand the interpretation of a passage is when scripture elsewhere speaks more clearly concerning it. And for the answer to that, we have to find out what God's intended interpretation is of this Psalm in accordance with what Paul spoke in Acts 13. Let's look at Acts 13. This is when Paul in Acts 13 is preaching to the Jews of a synagogue in Antioch. Acts 13, we'll start at verse 28 to pick up the pertinent text. Speaking of the Jews, he said this, and though they found no ground for putting him to death, they asked Pilate that he be executed. When they had carried out all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead. And for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now witnesses to the people. And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled his promise to our children in that he raised up Jesus As it is also among the second Psalm, you are my son, today I have begotten you. As for the fact that he raised him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, he has spoken in this way, I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David. 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. 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. What a great sermon. Not a whole sermon, just a portion of a sermon. But he's preaching Jesus Christ from the Psalms. And one of the Psalms he cites here is Psalm 16. David died. David underwent decay. So obviously, by the interpretation given by Paul, who is guided by the Holy Spirit, applies this to Jesus Christ. The Holy One, by the way, in your translations, if you have a New American Standard, Holy One, One is capitalized because they know it's speaking of deity here. It's not speaking of David, it's speaking of God himself, Jesus, the God-man. Now what is written in verse 11 is applied to both Jesus and to us. Look at verse 11. You will make known to me The path of life in your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand, there are pleasures forevermore." I love this quote from Spurgeon. By the way, I didn't cite it, but this is from his treasury of David. Spurgeon wrote this, To Jesus, first, this way was shown, the way of salvation. To Jesus, this way was shown. For he is the first begotten from the dead, the firstborn of every creature. He himself opened up the way through his own flesh and then trod it as the forerunner of his own redeemed. And the thought of being made the path of life to his people gladdened the soul of Jesus. So I love that. Who does verse 11 apply to? It at first applied to Jesus, who then applied it to us and made the way for us through his flesh. Jesus, before he took on flesh and was incarnate, he had the fullness of joy in the presence of the Father. After his life, his works, his miracles, he died, he was buried, he was raised from the dead on the third day, he ascended into heaven, and then he then goes and sits at the right hand of the Father, and again enjoys the fullness of joy in the presence of his Father, but this time as the only redeemer of God's elect. Again, the portion that God gives us is beautiful. God is our portion, preserves us as we take refuge in him. If you are a saint, the scripture says that you are majestic in the sight of God, and we should consider each other majestic in the sight of one another. Again, this is not something that is so peculiar. Scripture elsewhere, Peter says that we are priests unto God. A royal priesthood. Not just a priesthood, we're a royal priesthood unto God. And the Lord, in all this, is our refuge. He is our counselor, and He is our inheritance. Above the inheritance of this world, long for the internal inheritance, and not just heaven, but long for the presence of God in heaven, which is the greatest part of that wonderful inheritance. Let's pray together. Thank you, our glorious God, for this, your holy word, and we pray that you would work faith in us to believe these things, that you are our heritage, that you are our inheritance, that you are our counselor, that you are our refuge. Help us, we pray, to seek your face both night and day. Work faith in us to believe these things and to grow thereby. Give us faith to embrace Jesus Christ as he is offered to us in the gospel. We thank you that you did not allow your Holy One to undergo decay, but you raised him from the dead on the third day and that you have exalted him to your right hand, where he perpetually makes intercession for us. Hear our prayers, for we ask all this In the name of Jesus Christ, our great high priest, amen. For our closing psalm, let's stand and sing 16A, 16A, preserve me, oh my God, 16A.