Please open your Bibles to Psalm 16. Psalm 16. I will be reading from the New King James. 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 the saints who are on the earth, they are excellent ones. 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 sessions. 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 will rest in hope, for you will not leave my soul and sheol, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, these words leap off the page at us, the promises that you've given us, and the warning so those who do not follow after you, but hasten after other gods. Lord, we thank you that we have eternity to look forward to. We sung about it this morning in those wonderful songs. We have an eternal hope, an inheritance, waiting for us in glory. We pray, Lord, that you would lead us in your scriptures this morning. In Jesus' name, amen. There have been a few things in my life that have made me feel my weakness. Preaching is probably at the top of the list. Probably the second one was having a child, and maybe getting married would be the third on the list. Not that Meredith is hard to be married to, but what it exposed in me was my selfishness, my pride, my arrogance. We come to the word of God in weakness, and the Lord restores our peace and our joy as we consider the things that he's promised us. Psalm 16 is called a mictum of David. It's a mictum. I have no idea what a mictum is, and neither do any of the commentators, so I apologize. I do not know what that word means. It's some kind of a psalm. Apparently the ancient Hebrews knew what it meant, but we don't actually know what it means. The psalm is a cry to God from David for the preservation of his life and the resurrection of the dead. He's waiting on God for both his body and soul, completely entrusting himself to the Lord. And he thinks about, as you're reading through, he thinks about the ungodly, what they put their hope in. It's very different than what David is putting his hope in. There's a contrast between the end of the ungodly compared to the eternal joy that we will enjoy forever. The pleasures of God that await us. I don't know the background, and neither do any of the commentators. We don't know exactly what David's going through. But reading through 1 and 2 Samuel, we can see that David experienced a lot of trials. And he probably had a lot of time sitting out in the desert in the wilderness to think, to write Psalms, and to consider his end. Because at any day he could have been killed by the hand of Saul. But God had promised him that from his loins, the Messiah would come. So he believed that promise. Before we dig in, let's wipe away some of the cobwebs in our mind. Let's not take lightly what God has accomplished for us. As I considered this passage, I was reminded of an old British skit that I saw a long time ago. It was about an English man named Ron, who's going to be the first man to leap across the English Channel. He wanted to jump from the southeastern corner of England over to Calais, France, a distance of 26 miles. Until that point, his furthest jump had been 11 feet, 6 inches. But he once had jumped nearly 12 feet. So he was hopeful. When the day came to make the jump, it was a sunny and breezy day on the southeast coast of England. He was confident that once he got up in the air, he wouldn't come down because he didn't want to plunge into the icy waters. He mustered up a full head of steam. Running toward the channel, he jumped. He made it 10 feet and landed in the water. His fantasy, though firmly trusted, could not overturn the laws of nature. How well this illustrates how our foolish minds think that we can leap across to God in our own righteousness. Every religion except for the Christian gospel teaches that man can purify himself and reach God. As if we can defy the law of God and leap across what is actually an impossible distance. No amount of fantasies in our own mind can change the laws that God has established. And even we who are born again, who know that the righteousness of God can only be ours by faith, given by God as a gift, we still come here, and I know it's true of myself. We come in this door, these doors, and we plunk ourselves down, and our hearts are dull. Grace's heart's not dull. She's full of happiness, and we love her. I do not mind hearing baby noises, by the way. It's wonderful. We so easily fall back into our own ways, and even sometimes when we're singing these songs, our thoughts are drifting. We so easily fall back into our old ways. We follow the old ruts in the road, even though they lead to hopelessness and despair. I was listening to a Scottish preacher last week, and he was talking about becoming a US citizen. And he was thinking about how the Scottish government no longer has the ability to come after him and ask him to do anything once he becomes a US citizen. And yet, he still has a Scottish accent. He still has Scottish ways of thinking. He still is kind of a Scotsman. But now he's a U.S. citizen. He's under the authority of the U.S. government. This is much how it is with us. We are no longer under the realm of Satan. We are children of God, purchased by his blood. We are now under the realm of Christ. We are his sheep of his pasture. but we often fall back into our old patterns and our hearts grow dull. It's almost like we deserve grace. We start thinking that way. We start treating God's blessings like it's collecting a welfare check, like we deserve it. I know for me, and I'm preaching at myself, We wake up in the morning, roll over, pick up our phones, maybe intend to read the Bible. I got the Bible app on my phone, but I get distracted by Doge, by the NFL, by ESPN. Some people, it's Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, text messages, anything but Jesus. There is a war that's raging for our souls and it's going constantly. It's going on when we're sleeping. It's going on when we wake up. It's going on when we go to work. It's going on when we come home. It's constant. We cannot walk through this desert wilderness without the manna that comes from heaven and the water that comes from the rock, which is Christ. We need our daily sustenance. That's what those stories mean. We need him daily. As born-again believers, these times of drought create tension in our souls. We have the law working on us that longs for holiness. But we have another law that works in our members, don't we, in our bodies, that is urging us in the other direction. Do you struggle to pray like I do? Let that tension that you feel within you to be holy, let that drive you to your knees in prayer. We can hear this tension in David's opening words. Maybe he's tempted to seek after the Canaanite gods. He's constantly being chased after by Saul. Maybe this is at the point in his life where he had to flee to the Philistines. Maybe he's seeing this temple of Dagon and thinking, maybe I should trust after this God. And he's got this tension in his soul. I don't know exactly what's going on with David, but he says in this first verse, preserve me, oh God. Preserve me, oh God, for in you, I put my trust. In you, I put my trust. This is the cry of faith. We take refuge in him. He's not coming to God because God needs him. He's coming to God because David needs him. You and I need him. We don't come to church to hear the word of God preached because God needs us to be here. We need him. He is our manna. And we come together to worship Him and to feed on Him. This is good news to the weary. If your soul is weary and you feel like everything that you do is weariness, serving the Lord, think of it the other way around. You need Him. Think of it like you think of your favorite meal. You know, like one of my favorite places to go is Culver's. I love Culver's hamburgers. I don't have to like force myself to go eat a Culver's hamburger. I enjoy eating Culver's hamburgers. Maybe I don't need Culver's hamburgers. We need food though. We need food and spiritually speaking, we need food to live and there's only one kind of food we need and that is Christ. Come to Christ for what you need. Then he says in verse two, oh my soul, you have said to the Lord, he's speaking to himself, you are my Lord. I've said already, we aren't sure exactly what David is experiencing. He's thinking probably about life and death. But David was a man of war. He was surrounded by men of war. He was already anointed to be the king of Israel. at some point when he was running for his life. But who is it that David hoped in? Where is his focus? He's not crying out to the gods of the Canaanites. He's not depending on his men of war that surrounded him. He says, you are my Lord. Not his own strength, not his warrior strength, not Baal or Dagon. You, the Lord, Yahweh is his name. But the psalmist speaking is not always David, is it? It becomes clear as we're reading that someone else is speaking. In verse three, we start to see that. It says, as for the saints who are on the earth, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. Who is speaking? Who do you think is speaking? It's the Lord, isn't it? We're gonna see that as we keep going. It's not only David speaking. If it were David speaking, it would say, in whom is all his delight, but the speaker in the psalm is the Lord himself. Why did God preserve his people? Because he delights in them. God delights in His people. What did we deserve to be delighted in and to be called excellent ones? Do you deserve to be called an excellent one? Would you be delighted in? You who beat your chest and cry out to God for mercy, saying, my sin is ever before me. Do you deserve to be delighted in, to be called a saint? The word saint in English means holy one. He declares that you who have taken refuge in God for your salvation are a holy one. That's who holy ones are. The judge of all the earth, of all creation declares that you are a holy one who have taken refuge in God. You might say, but I feel very dull today. I do not feel very saintly. I do not act very holy. Even listening to this sermon, your thoughts are probably wandering here, there, and everywhere. How can God declare this? Did he not say you must be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect? Didn't God say this? The word saint, sometimes we get confused because the word saint, and we use it in a way that's probably not correct. And I looked it up on Google. I thought, what does Google say about what saintliness is? Google says, a saint is a person who is recognized as having lived a holy life and is close to God. It's not quite right, is it? It doesn't matter what mankind thinks. It doesn't even matter what you think about yourself. You and I are not the judge of all the earth. We are not the ones sitting in the courtroom determining who is holy and who isn't. Criminals don't get to decide whether they go to jail or not. The judge does. In God's sight, under the law, we are all lawbreakers. It doesn't matter what we think. It matters what the judge thinks. It is the God of all creation who declares that all those who come to him by faith are holy. In the cosmic court of justice, our guilt was paid for when it was laid on him, and it was nailed to the cross. Philippians 3.9 says that we need to be found in him not having a righteousness of our own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. Colossians 1, 21 and 22 says, and you who were once alienated, every one of you in this room who were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy. and blameless and above reproach in his sight. It doesn't matter what you feel like. It doesn't matter what the world thinks about you. Maybe the world thinks you're a saint. That doesn't matter. It matters what God says. God says that everyone who comes to him by faith in Christ is a saint, is holy. Titus three, five through seven, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us. We don't pour this out on ourselves. Water baptism doesn't save you either. It's regeneration by the Holy Spirit. which He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, that having been justified by His grace. Notice justification is past tense. It's not a process. It's a one-time event that happens to all who come to him by faith. If you struggle and you think that you have to earn your way to heaven through your works, it is finished, dear one. Rest in his works. Not in your works, rest in the works of Christ. That we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Remember that last phrase, heirs. To appreciate the new position that we have in Christ and to avoid dullness. It's important also to think about the position of the ungodly. do not come to him by faith, the everlasting darkness that they are destined to dwell in for their unbelief and disobedience. If you don't ever think about this and if you think no one is going there, you will not fully appreciate what Christ has done for you. This is a destiny of everyone who believes in a God of their own making. who hasten after other gods. It says 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. Their sorrows are not simply added, they are multiplied. We often quote that verse, we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose in Romans 8, 28. But the opposite is true of those who hasten after another God. We know that nothing works together for good for those who hasten after another God of their own making. That is a sobering reality. And if anyone in this room does not know Christ, this is your destiny. Unless you turn now and repent and trust in Jesus. He's given you a chance today. You are not here by accident. There are many people in this world that know nothing about Christ, but you are here. You are here and you're listening. These people are not going against their will. They're hastening after another God. No one is putting a gun to their head and forcing them to follow other gods. They are doing this because they want to. Like eager football fans waiting to get into a stadium, or like Swifties waiting in line for hours and hours waiting to get in to see her sing. The ungodly hasten after other gods. Born in sin, those outside of Christ freely choose evil, gladly indulging in whatever the flesh delights in, restrained only by the fear of punishment. But when you're born again, dear ones, your heart is changed. And when you sin, you mourn and you weep. But those who do not know Christ, They don't have a new heart, and so they hasten, and they gladly indulge, and they are only restrained by the fear of the punishment, thinking they are free. They are, in reality, slaves to sin, slaves to that which separates them from life itself. You might be thinking to yourself, but what about all the evil people in this world? Don't they have a good life? I don't see them in sorrow. I struggle. I don't have a lot of money in the bank. But these people, they ride around on their yachts. They rule the nations. They seem to have everything that they want. Seeking after pleasure their entire life. You know, David wondered this very same thing in Psalm 73. He struggled with this. He says in verse 12, behold, these are the ungodly who are always at ease. They increase in riches. And then he says about himself, surely I have cleansed my heart in vain. This was his temptation. And washed my hands in innocence for all day long I have been plagued and chastened every morning. Do you ever feel like that? that God is chastening you every day, whereas the rest of the world seems to be going on like nothing is going wrong. This is David's temptation, probably in Psalm 16. Maybe he's thinking these same things, but he remembers. He remembers what will happen to them in the end. He says, surely, Actually, this is Psalm 73 still. Surely you've set them in slippery places. You cast them down to destruction. The ungodly may have what they want in this life, living a life of pleasure and ease, but all of those things serve to grease the slope into hell. Have you ever noticed that people that get everything they want are the most bratty people that you know? It is not a blessing to get everything that you want. It's a curse. God chastens us because we need it. Because what we need is godliness. And if you are a child of God, that is what you want too. Your flesh doesn't want it, but your new nature surely does. And when you get it, it gives you joy and peace. For the righteous, this world is the most evil that we will ever see, and it will end. There is an end to this world. But for the wicked, this world is the best that they will ever see. Think of the sobering thought that that is. The psalmist considers their vile worship, which includes drink offerings of blood. The pagans will drink blood to their gods. Maybe this is a metaphor, some commentators think. Maybe he's referring to the heartless worship of Israel as God considered it to be as detestable as the worship of the pagans. Perhaps he was thinking about the syncretism, mingling of paganism with the worship of the holy God. Throughout the ages, men have mingled idols of their age with the worship of God, and it happened in the days of David, and it is happening in our day as well. In many parts of the world, local deities are mingled with Catholicism, and if you've been to Mexico, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. In America, the homosexual agenda is embraced by mainline churches, is mingled with the faith, In evangelicalism, materialism, in Hollywood culture has infiltrated the worship of the Holy God. The idols of our age, fame, influence, money, sensuality are preferred to the simplicity of Christ. Brothers and sisters, we can rest in Christ. We don't need all those things. We don't need to mingle Satan's kingdom with the kingdom of God. They hasten after other gods. The scripture warns us, do not follow them. Do not follow them. They're heading off a cliff. Satan did this with Christ. He offered him the kingdoms of the world. He offers fame, power, and wealth. You might see some of these men who claim to be Christian pastors flying around the world in their private jets. having all the money they want, all the influence they want, and they escape persecution, telling the world what they want to hear, that they might have the praise of men. But all of this is just making their path more and more slippery into hell. Do not follow them. The word of God says that the sorrows of those who worship these false gods will be multiplied. Psalm 73, 19, they are brought to desolation as in a moment. This life seems long to us because we're living through it, but in a moment, their destruction falls on them. They are utterly consumed with terrors as a dream when one awakes. David says in Psalm 16 that they drink blood to their God. David will not do that. He's purposing in his heart, he will not follow after those gods. Those pagan gods promised a better life. David suffered many things, but he would not seek to reduce his pain by drinking blood to these false gods. Do not sell your soul for a few moments of pleasure in this life. You are an eternal soul. These bodies are wasting away. I'm 51 years old. I used to be able to touch a basketball rim by jumping. Never could dunk a ball, but you know, I can't even come close to that anymore. All of us are growing older and we're wasting away, but our souls are eternal. Do not forget that. People, it's amazing, even in Christian churches, people use tarot cards. They seek to speak to the dead through seances. I don't know if you know this, but during World War I, many people who were suffering, having lost their children on the battlefield, went to seances to try to reach their loved ones. Brothers and sisters, those are demons. Those are not your loved ones. They can pretend to know you. They might know things about you. Secrets that only your loved ones know. It's because they're spirits and they can observe you. Do not follow these false gods. People use horoscopes and Ouija boards. And nowadays they have something called new thought. Maybe some of you have heard this. Where you can think or they think that you can think or speak things into existence. It's the ancient paganism. It's witchcraft. The wealth and prosperity gospel is paganism. It's worshiping a false god of their own making. Do not invoke these gods. They are not God, they are demons. The law of God commanded that the Israelites make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from their mouth. Exodus 23, 13. This is what Psalm 16 is referring to. And I believe it's referring to Christ fulfilling all righteousness for us. For he never invoked the names of these false gods. He trusted in God the Father alone. For the ancient Hebrews, a God's name was not just a label. It was a declaration of that God's attributes and power and authority. That name carried deep meaning and significance. The word Baal means Lord. So if you, for a Hebrew to speak the name of Baal as if he was actually the Lord is to blaspheme God. It's not saying you couldn't talk about him, but do not invoke their names even for their power. Consider the names of God, the true God. El Shaddai means God Almighty. Yahweh, Yirah. or Jehovah Jireh as we say in English, the Lord will provide is his name. These are not just identifiers, but statements about who God is and what he does. The same is true of the pagan gods. We should not invoke these names. We do not need false gods. We need Jesus. We need the Lord of glory who is reigning on his throne even now. There is an eternal pleasure that awaits us. The fleeting pleasures of this life are gone in a moment. And what they leave us with is guilt and despair. It's amazing the destruction that's caused by seeking after pleasure in this life. But seeking after pleasure in God only leads to more pleasure and joy. And this is what we are destined for in glory. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. We're getting toward the end here, and before we consider the good news at the end of Psalm 16, listen to this parable. I wanna read this parable from Matthew 21. You can turn there. Matthew 21, verse 33. Matthew 21, verse 33. There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard. and set a hedge about it, dug a winepress and built a tower, and he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. Now when vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers that they might receive its fruit. And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. But last of all, he sent his son to them saying, they will respect my son. But when the vinedresser saw the son, they said among themselves, this is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance. So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers? And they said to him, he will destroy those wicked men miserably and lease his vineyard to the other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons. The Lord told this parable to the Jews because he was about to take away the kingdom from them and give it to the Gentiles. But brothers and sisters, this is what we all deserve. We all deserve wrath of God. But in Christ, there's another side to this story. When those wicked men nailed Jesus to the cross, the story is about Jesus, if you can see that. When those wicked men nailed Jesus to the cross, he looked out at them and cried out, Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. Think of what this means. The landowner in this parable had mercy on many of the ones who murdered his son. It is the prerogative of the father who is our judge to dispense mercy. That is his right to do. It's not our right to sit here and claim that. But he calls us to come to him and receive mercy. The murderers sinned against him. He has the right to destroy all of them, doesn't he? It is his right to do that. Why am I telling you this? Because our hearts grow dull and we forget that we deserve wrath rather than mercy. Instead, we have received mercy from him, but it's even better. He opened our eyes to see and our ears to hear that we might turn and be delivered. He's the one that did that. All the glory goes to him. He did not only grant us mercy and not hold us responsible for our sin against Him and His Son, He adopted us. He made us heirs of His kingdom. He put His best robe on us when we were covered in our own filth. He ran to us. He put His ring on our finger. He made us heirs of His kingdom. But our inheritance isn't merely the king's stuff, is it? We sang about it this morning, which I just marvel at because I did not tell Carol what to do. Those songs were so perfect. He is our inheritance. We sang about that this morning. We inherit the king himself, not just his stuff. God isn't a parent who just lavishes his children with stuff. He loves them. He has a relationship with each one of us. We have barely begun to know the grace of God. And we have eternity to continue learning it. He himself is our inheritance. Verse five, oh Lord, you are the portion of my inheritance and my cup. You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Yes, I have a good inheritance. We don't inherit a land covered with rocks and briars. He doesn't give us a desert to live in. He gives us good land. And he gives us good land that will exist forever. we do not need to wait. We might think, well, man, I got, I'm 51 now. I got like 20 or 30 years left before I'm dead, unless the Lord takes me home sooner. That's a long time to wait. We don't have to wait. We receive our inheritance now. He says in verse 7, 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. He is even now at my right hand. We have the spirit of life within us, a river of life flowing from the Holy Spirit of God. Not only did he have mercy on the very ones who murdered him, he walks with us. He gives us counsel by his spirit. Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night and suddenly your thoughts are just flooded with Christ and his goodness? The distractions of the day being stripped away, maybe you're going through something extremely hard, but in that moment, when you're not distracted by your phones or anything, The goodness of God becomes so clear that it seems like nothing matters except Him. I don't know if you've experienced that, but I have, and it is breathtaking. We can't see Him with our eyes, but we see Him with our soul. His beauty is overwhelming. Suddenly our mind is filled with the awe of His glory, especially His goodness. That's what's so overwhelming, His goodness. And you just don't want it to end. Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. When you're going through those times when He reveals Himself to you in the tough times, you remember, God is at my right hand. Why would He care about me? Who am I? I'm a speck living on a speck, and a speck in a speck. Why does God care about me? What is man that you are mindful of him? In Psalm 46, David wrote this. Psalm 46 verse two. I love baby noises, don't worry. Therefore, we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. There is a river which streams shall make glad the city of God. Brothers and sisters, you are the city of God. everyone who's in Christ, the holy place of the tabernacle of the most high. The spirit indwells his people. God is in the midst of her and she shall not be moved. God shall help her. Just at the break of dawn, the nations raged and the kingdoms were moved. He uttered his voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. I will not be moved by the rising and falling of America. My home is in glory. Your home is in glory. I love this country. And we should all do what we can to love our neighbors. But America will end someday. And we are an heir of a kingdom that is growing and building even now. And it will never end. And we have a kingdom who sits on his throne now. And he's coming to get us. And he's coming to resurrect us. He is at my right hand and I shall not be moved. This is not just a sentiment. It's not just a feeling. It is a fact. He says in verse nine, therefore, therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will rest in hope. Remembering that we deserve to be destroyed makes it all the sweeter. And although we go to the grave, this is not the end. You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption." What is Sheol? You ever think about that? What does that mean? We don't use that word much, do we? The word Sheol means realm of the dead, the place where the dead go. And in the New Testament, it's a little different because we know that when we die, we go to be with the Lord. But all the dead before Christ went to a place called Sheol. It's the realm of the dead. I think it says that in the NIV. Though we have contributed nothing to our sin, God would be just to leave us in Sheol. And we see in Revelation what happens. Sheol is dumped out into hell. That's the end. That's what happens. But all those who are in Christ, remain with him, their bodies are resurrected into glory. He looked at you and me with compassion. On the day when our flesh fails, he will come and say to us, come be with me in paradise. That thief on the cross heard that. He hadn't done a thing except acknowledge that Christ was the Lord. Did he fulfill the law before he died? Did he do anything? No. Christ had mercy on him. He trusted and now he is resting with the Lord in glory. Verse 10 isn't merely about us though. It's about Christ. The first fruits of the resurrection. This verse is quoted in Acts 2. Maybe some of you have already turned there. Preaching to the Jews in the temple, Peter was making the case to them that David was speaking about the Messiah. And think of this, this is just weeks after Christ was crucified. The Lord sent a preacher to that very place. He didn't destroy it with fire from heaven, which he could have done. He sent a preacher, proclaiming to them the good news. The very place where the people said, his blood be on us and on our children. The Lord sent a preacher. In Acts 2, verse 25, Peter cries out and he says, for David says, concerning him, speaking about Jesus, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is at my right hand and I shall not be shaken. Therefore, my heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad. Moreover, my flesh also shall rest in hope, for you will not leave my soul in Hades. That word Hades is the realm of the dead again. Nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of joy in your presence. He's quoting from the Septuagint, so the words are slightly different. But he's quoting Psalm 16. Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David. Now remember, he's speaking to thousands of Jews on the Temple Mount. I'm speaking freely to you about the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried. Why do you say this? David's body did see corruption. They knew exactly where he was buried. And if you watch that video I sent you all this morning, you will see what I'm talking about. Because we still know where David's tomb was. In that day, his tomb was still there. They knew his body was in the grave. His tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn an oath to him that the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he foreseeing this spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that word Christ, You need to know that in Hebrew, it's Mashiach, which is the word Messiah. So Christ and Messiah are the same word. Do you understand? And the Jews knew exactly what he meant. He's saying that David is predicting the death and resurrection of the Messiah. that his soul was not left in Hades, or the realm of the dead, nor did his flesh see corruption. The flesh doesn't take long to be corrupted, does it? It takes a few days. But Jesus died on Friday, and he was raised on Sunday, exactly as the prophets spoke. This Jesus, God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses, Brothers and sisters, how do we know that Christ is raised? How do you know that your hope in heaven is secure? It's not merely a feeling in your heart, although God does confirm it by the Spirit. This happened with many witnesses. He appeared to the women first. He appeared to the disciples. He appeared to more than 500 people at one time. Your hope is not based upon a leap of faith. It's based upon things that happened, things that were testified to, that were seen in broad daylight. Your hope is secure. How much more evidence do you need if you are an unbeliever here today? Some people say, well, if God was real, he would have shown himself to us. He did, and we killed him. But God is so gracious that he is calling you today to come to him for salvation, even though every one of us is guilty. The Jewish Messiah, the fruit of David's body, was supposed to die and rise again before his body would decay. This is what the prophets predicted. And he said a few verses later, verses earlier in verse 23, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. You crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pains of death because it was not possible for him to be kept by it. The Messiah cannot be kept in the grave, dear friends, and neither can you, because he is raised, and he will raise you from the dead. The crucifixion of Christ was God's plan. You remember the story of Joseph. He told his brothers, what you meant for evil, God meant for good. The same is true of the crucifixion of our Lord. What they meant for evil, God meant for good. To what end did God do this? What's the goal of God? 1 John 1 tells us, verse three, that which we have seen and heard, we declare to you. Notice there are witnesses of these things. They declare them to us. Why? That you also, not only them, but us as well, you also may have fellowship with us And truly, our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. That's the goal, fellowship with Him. These things we write to you, that your joy may be full. God's end is our joy, that we have fellowship with God. So look at verse 11 of Psalm 16. You will show me the path of life. That's another verse speaking about the Messiah. He was raised from the dead. He shows us the path of life. The Messiah's work was resurrection. And in your presence is fullness of joy. Not just a little bit of joy, not joy that lasts for a moment and then is followed by sorrow, but fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. The pleasures of God have no end. The pleasures of this life end in a moment. You are made in the image of God. You are an eternal soul. The only thing that can satisfy an eternal soul is an eternal God who loves you, who had mercy on you, and he welcomed you into his family. He adopted you. He put his robe on you, put his ring on your finger, and he rejoiced when you came. When you feel dull, remember that. Remember what you've been saved from. Cry out to Him. Let your anxiety of not being holy enough drive you to your knees. Let those words be the first from your lips. Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. God loves to have mercy on sinners. Let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. Revelation 22, 17. Let's pray. Our heavenly Father, you are so good. You are so merciful. None of us deserve it, Lord. As we sing this final song, let gratitude well up in our hearts that is true and free. and not encumbered by legalistic desires to make ourselves righteous, but out of a true response of gratitude for what you have done. We need you. We are the sheep of your pasture. You have made us. You have brought us here. Lord, help us to know you and to trust you and to be satisfied in you alone. In Jesus name, amen.