Alright, let's take our Bibles and turn to the book of Psalms. We're going to look at the 16th Psalm tonight. This is an interesting psalm that we study because it's one that's quoted in the New Testament a couple of different times. And it's it's one of those psalms that you look at it and you're asking yourself Does it have an immediate impact is it talking about David solely or is David? using it to talk about some other things and so It's an interaction psalm and I I've been I've enjoyed studying it Try to get this phone set up here So that we can do our Facebook live. I know Dorothy's gonna try to watch it tonight so if she can alright so Psalm 16 There's some question about this psalm if it speaks solely of Christ or if these thoughts are David looking forward unto Christ and so there are, that's why this is an interesting psalm, particularly verses 10 and 11. You know those two verses have to be speaking about Christ. But let's read the entire psalm. It says it is a Mitchum of David and we'll talk about that in just a minute. But preserve me, O God, for in Thee do I put my trust. O my soul, Thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord, my goodness extendeth not to Thee. But to the saints that are in the earth and to the excellent in whom is all my delight, their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another God. Their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen into me in pleasant places. Yea, I have a god goodly heritage I will bless the lord who hath given me counsel. My reigns also instruct 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 shall rest in hope For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life. In thy presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore." So, thinking about this, and as I was reading this psalm and preparing to preach it, verse number four jumped out at me. And the reason it jumped out at me is it says their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another God. And I thought about David writing this song. And it just so happens that I've just finished reading through the lives of the history of David and Solomon and some of Rehoboam and some of those that followed Rehoboam. So the history of the early kings of Israel in my daily Bible reading, I've come through that just recently. And as I looked at David and thinking about what made him different than Solomon, We know about David that he was a man after God's own heart. And we know Solomon, he was the wisest king who ever walked. He knew much about, he was very wise. But we also know about Solomon that he made some poor decisions. So he knew how to apply wisdom to political, in the political arena. And he knew how to apply wisdom to social situations. But when it came time for Solomon to make decisions and apply his wisdom to his own life, that's the place that he often fell. If you want to hold your place there in Psalm 16 and turn over to 1 Kings chapter 11, it tells us a little bit about the history of Solomon. And I know that the majority of you all know this. You know what it is that caused Solomon to have difficulty, and ultimately it caused problems for all of Israel. 1 Kings 11, verse number 1. But King Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites, the Sidonians, and the Hittites. And you know, of course, God said not to do that. of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, You shall not go in unto them, neither shall they come in unto you. For surely they will turn away your heart after their gods. Solomon claimed unto these in love. And he had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines, and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass when Solomon was old that his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord, his God, as was the heart of David, his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Thylonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David, his father. Then did Solomon build in high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burned incense and sacrificed under their gods." You can tell the major difference between Solomon and David, right? David was a man after God's own heart, and it says here that his heart was perfect with the Lord. And Solomon did not follow the Lord with his whole heart, as did David his father. And you know, as you read about the history of the kings of Judah, you'll know that some didn't follow the Lord, and others did. They used the example of David, and they followed him. The reason that David was the greatest, really, king of them all is because some of these kings that came after, they would remove the idols, but they would leave the groves set up. Their heart wasn't perfectly, fully after the Lord. And as I read that verse of Scripture there, Psalm 16.4, I've just begun to think, go back there to Psalm 16.4 and remember what he said. Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another God. And so the sorrows that came upon all those kings and all those people who did not follow the Lord fully, sorrows were multiplied unto them. And you can think about the people in our day. Sorrows are multiplied unto them because their heart is not fully after God. You know, there's many people who that's the case. They want to have a profession of faith. They want to have this idea about going to heaven, but they're not going to serve God with their whole heart. Folks, there are few and far between today who are, their heart is fully after God, where nothing can come between them and God. There's just not that many people that are wholly after God, as was David. And I think most of you are that way. Most of you all, that's why you're here on a Sunday evening, because your heart is fully after God. But David said, I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to follow after other gods. I'm going to fully serve God with my whole heart. And I think this psalm is a great example for us, a place that we can learn how important it is for us to serve God with our whole heart. As a matter of fact, as you look, and I told you the introduction already, a Mitchum of David. Now that word mitchum there, there are six Psalms that have that phrase attached to it at the beginning, the introduction. Including Psalm 16, there are the Psalms 56-60. A couple of different ideas about what that word mitchum means. Some think that it means a secret. And so David, if that word means secret, David is going to show you, he's going to give you insight into the secret of his success. Why was he a man after God's own heart? Why was he a man that God blessed the way that he did? It's because David's secret to success, as he shows us, is wholeheartedly following after God. You want success in your life? wholeheartedly follow after God. Don't have divided loyalties. Don't try to serve the world and serve the Lord at the same time. Serve God wholeheartedly. There's another meaning of that word. It might be engraving. Some translate that word as engraving. So it might be understood as something discussed that should be preserved. Something that we should never forget. And so this psalm, since it is maybe the secret of David, or there is something in this psalm that should always be remembered and never forgotten. It's called one of the golden meditations of David. Why a golden meditation? Well, it's a golden meditation because David understood something that maybe not everyone understood. As you get down to verse number 10 and number 11, this is talking to us about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is why Psalm 16 is one of the most beloved psalms of them all, because it tells us about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, think about this. In the Old Testament, they didn't know who Jesus was. They were looking for the Messiah. They were looking for the one that would sit upon the throne of David. But God gave David some insight when He said in verse 10, I will not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. There's only one way that he could not see corruption. That his soul will not be left in hell. In this particular case, it's Hades. Not leave your soul in Hades, the place of death. Neither allow you to see corruption. In other words, your body, the body of Christ, never began to break down. What David knew was not just the Messiah that was going to come and sit upon his throne, but the Holy One of God is going to come and die and is going to be resurrected again. This understanding that David was given about the resurrection is something that not everyone knew, not everyone understood, and it's something that encouraged David to go on. because he understood there was more to what God was doing in his life than what just the natural eye could understand. And there was some confidence that David could have because he understood that he was not going to spend eternity in Hades. Now again, the place of death. To the Jews, they didn't fully comprehend. To the Old Testament, anyone before Christ, they didn't know what was after the grave. They just knew that your soul went to the place of the dead. They didn't understand about the resurrection of life. But David did. Could you imagine what it was like to have an understanding of the resurrection? That the Holy One of God is not going to stay in the ground, He's not going to suffer corruption, but He's going to be raised again, and He's going to live forever. You can see why this was a golden meditation of David. The outcome For one who believes in the resurrection, notice this, once you understand the Holy One will not see corruption, notice verse 11, thou will show me the path of life. In thy presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Now again, we have the benefit of history. We have the benefit of years and years of being taught about the resurrection and to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. But the Old Testament saints, they weren't aware of that. They didn't have that concept. But David is informing them, look, when Jesus is resurrected, what's He going to do? He's going to prepare the way for us to have life. and to go to be where God is and in the presence of God there is fullness of joy and there is pleasures forevermore for eternity. So you see the benefit of this knowledge that David was given and the impact that it would have in his life to where he was able to look beyond this life and look beyond the grave and look into eternity and look into the presence of God and understand the joy that would be there as he spent eternity with God. No doubt it was a golden psalm for David as he pondered these thoughts. Now, as we have always discussed, as we've looked at each one of these psalms, we've tried to discuss why would the psalmist desire for this to be included into the psaltery or the Jewish psalm book. Of course, there's no doubt why David would want this psalm to be sung. His desire was for Israel to know this glorious truth about the resurrection and about being in the presence of God and in that presence where the fullness of joy is and the pleasures that are ours for eternity. Can we understand the impact in one's life who learned about living in God's presence and to know the fullness of joy forevermore, and how that would affect their outlook. Think about that. You all have watched people who have no hope. You've watched those people who, when someone dies, they think, well it's all over, and the grave's all there is, and the hopelessness that's there. But now you have one who understands there's eternal life to be had and we're going to spend it with God and the fullness of joy that is there. You can understand the impact that would have on their life because as we mentioned this morning, they would no longer just focus on things of this world, but they could focus on the things that were to come and the eternal life that they would have with God. And so David was given this information and he was understanding the Holy One of God would come and he would go to the grave and he would be resurrected again. David didn't fully know all there was to know about Jesus. He just had another piece of insight into what God was going to do. And the joy that that brought to David's heart as he pondered on the fullness of joy that's in the presence of God and living with God forevermore. It brought joy to his heart and he wanted to share that with the people of Israel. One of the great things about songs, by the way, is the fact that you can learn some great truths in songs. You know, great is thy faithfulness, right? You can learn about the greatness of God's faithfulness there and how faithful God is and power in the blood. You know, you can understand the impact of the blood and how that there's nothing else that can wash away our sins but the blood of Jesus and the amazing grace that we have and especially if you learn the background of that song to see how the the author of that song as he understood grace. We could go on and on, but understand the impacts of Psalms. And that's why you ought to be involved in the Psalms service because there's great truths to be learned there. David knew the impact that this could have on the children of Israel if they could begin to grasp this truth. And so this was one of his favorite Psalms, the golden meditation you might say, and one that he desired for the children of Israel to understand. So there's the background and some information on why it's important. But notice also as you go back up to verse number 1, notice what he says, "'Preserve me, O God, for in Thee do I put my trust.'" You know that word preserved there means make a hedge about? And he's saying, God, I'm trusting You. Now make a hedge about me. Now let's think about this for just a minute. Do you think that God makes a hedge about His people? That's what David is asking to do. David is asking God to make a hedge about him. To protect him from Satan. To protect him from the world. God, preserve me. Make a hedge about me. Isn't that what Job, when Satan came to tempt Job and God says, have you considered my servant Job? What Satan said, well, I can't get to him because you've got a hedge about him. You know, something that we need to see as children of God is that we've got a hedge about us. Satan can't get to us. God may open the door like he did his son Jesus. God may open the door and try the faith of Abraham. But we need to understand the protection that we have as the children of God. David makes this request, God, place a hedge about me. That phrase, in thee do I put my trust, that phrase means to flee for protection. And so God, protect me, make a hedge about me because I am fleeing to you for protection. Think about this. Do you ever run anywhere for protection? You know, Daryl was telling us about the storms that they had while they were down there fishing and what did they do? They went to the place of protection that they had. His was his camper. You know, he didn't sit out there in the middle of the rainstorm. He went into his camper to be protected. He went to that—Terry apparently has a mansion of a tent. Darryl says it could probably sleep 16 people in it. It's got a recliner. It's got a place for a chimney. I guess this is the Taj Mahal of tents. You reckon Terry just sat out there on the shore and said, let it rain, let it rain? No, he's on the inside of that tent. He fled to that for protection. Now, I can't really say that because he might have stayed out there fishing. You never know. But anyway, if you're in trouble, and a little child and somebody, the big bad wolf's after you? What are you going to do? You're going to run to your mom and dad for protection, right? David is saying, God, I'm fleeing to you for protection. God, I'm seeking you to protect me in this life. This is the secret of David's success. fleeing to God for protection, trusting in Him, seeking God to preserve Him. Too many people want to throw off the things that God has provided for us and to go at this world alone. But David knew how to flee to God and how he needed to flee to God and to find his protection in God. Interesting here, Verse number two, O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, thou art my Lord, my goodness extended not to thee. There is no doubt that the God is good, and that the Lord is good, and that His goodness is far above anything that we could give Him in return. So basically what that phrase means is that David understands that God doesn't need his goodness. No matter what good that David could do, he could never make any improvements upon God. So the things that David is going to do that might be considered good, David understands it's not for the improvement of God. It is for the betterment of others. So when David goes and serves others who are hurting, and is good to them, His goodness does not improve God. That phrase also means, I have no good beyond thee. In other words, I know that the goodness that comes into my life, it comes from God. Listen, that's kind of critical for us to understand. Every good and every perfect gift comes from our Father, which is in heaven, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." Any good thing that happens to you in your life, it is the gift of God. You didn't gain any goodness on your own. David understood that any good thing he had, it came from God. Why do people get down and disappointed and and downhearted, it's because they think they deserve something. That means, look at me and who I am, I deserve better than what I'm getting. Listen, there's not more out there you deserve that is, you don't deserve better than what you're getting. You've got a whole lot better than what you ever deserved. And so David understood that. David understood the goodness of God to him. And we need to understand likewise. Notice he says, verse 2 again, O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, thou art my Lord, and my goodness extendeth not to thee, but to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight. What's he saying? God, I can't do good to you and improve you. But David's goodness extended to those that are in the earth. My goodness extends to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all thy delight." I just thought a little bit about David and his goodness. You know, there's some that think that this psalm was written while David was running from Saul. And therefore, if that's the case, think about where David was at. You remember the guy by the name of Nabal? Go and look up Nabal, if you remember, and how David went to Nabal and said, Give us something to eat. Give my men something to eat. We've been in hiding, but we've been with your men out in the field while they've been tending the sheep, and you've not lost anything." In other words, David's saying, me and my men, we protected your men while they were out in the field so that your men never lost a sheep, they were not injured, there were no enemies that attacked them, and so we were a shield to them. And Nabal said, I ain't giving you nothing, David. David was good to Nabal. Nabal didn't request it. Nabal didn't deserve it. But David was good to him. Think about Mephibosheth and the goodness of David to Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was a descendant of Saul. He was lame in his feet. Remember, David took him into the palace and was good to him. David's goodness extended to those that were in the world. Those who had need, He helped and He aided. We need to understand that. You know how that you can keep the right kind of heart that desires to do good to others? If you understand that all the good that you have comes from God. You didn't generate it, you didn't create it, it comes from God. You know the way that you will not have a charitable heart is if you think you've got everything you've got and you deserve what you've got. So therefore, I'm not going to share what I've worked hard to get with anybody else. You will not be charitable if you think you gained it all on your own. But if you understand it's God's, and God gave it to you, and God was good to you, then you will potentially share that with others and will be good to others. so we understand. Now we've mentioned verse number four already, how David understood the difference of those whose heart is fully after God and one whose heart is not. David says, I'm not going to go their route. Their sorrows are going to be multiplied that hasten after other gods. Their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names in my lips. I'm not going to go. I know that that's popular in society, and I know that all these other people are worshiping all these other gods, but I'm not going to do it. God said not to, and I'm not going to allow myself to be persuaded to follow after all these other gods. David just wouldn't do it. Again, the secret to success is David following after God and David following God wholeheartedly and not being persuaded to follow after what is popular in society and the things that are in the world. A lesson for us to learn today. Then David says in verse number five, the Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest my lot. David understood, the Lord is my portion. You know, as you look through things, and you read things, and you study things, you can put emphasis on certain words, and it helps you to gain a better perspective. And the other night at the fellowship meeting, Brother Burford was preaching. He was preaching from the book of Ephesians in chapter number 2. And as he read that passage of Scripture, He made mention about the lust of our flesh. And I think he put the emphasis on our by accident when he said, among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh, but he said in the lust of our flesh. I think he did it by accident, but the Lord He said, listen to that. The works of our flesh. It was our flesh that was making those desires. It wasn't someone else's flesh. It was the desires of our flesh. Well, that brings me to mind right here. David, he says, the Lord is my portion. It's not someone else's portion. I mean, He is someone else's portion, and that is important, but the Lord is mine. The Lord is my portion. He is going to give me mine inheritance. He maintains my lot. Understand this. The Lord is your Lord. If you're born again, He may be the Savior of many, but He's yours. He may be the one that provides many things. But He's yours. He provides for you. He is your portion. Get a hold of that tonight. David understood the Lord he maintains and sustains my lot. How important it is for us to understand it is the Lord that maintains our lives and sustains us. Verse six says, the lines are falling into me in pleasant places, yea, I have a goodly heritage. You see, David's inheritance was taken by Saul. You know, the children of Israel, when they went into the land of Canaan, each family was given a certain inheritance, and as a descendant, you know, you got a certain inheritance. You know, we'll say, you know, maybe your dad got a hundred acres, and you got four brothers, so each one of you might get 25 acres. Well, because David was an enemy of Saul, Saul said, David has no inheritance in Israel any longer. And David was able to understand that God would restore him. I have a goodly heritage. No matter what the world might take away, God is going to restore it to me. true again for us to keep in mind as we are seeking the Lord for protection, that the Lord is our lot and He is our portion and we will have a goodly heritage. Now, kind of in conclusion here, just a little bit, there's three things that David knew that he was because of what God has done for him. In verse number seven, David says, I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. My reigns also instruct me in the night season. David knew that he was guided by God. Verse number eight, I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. And so David knew that he was guarded by God. And in verse number 9, Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices. My flesh also shall rest in hope. David knew that he was gladdened by God. And that is just some things that I learned in the book that I read, things that I studied, but his heart was gladdened by God. And then we come back to verses number 10 and 11. David understood the truth of the resurrection. First there was the truth of the resurrection, for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. David could say, my flesh shall rest in hope because he could anticipate resurrection. Old Testament believers did not have much light on the subject of death. They knew that Hades claimed the soul and that the grave claimed the body. David believed that neither the triumph of the tomb over his flesh nor the hold of Hades over his soul was final. Why? Because he had been such a godly man? No. Because he had accumulated enough merit to ensure his deliverance from death? No, indeed. His faith leaps forward again, this time to Christ. For thou would not leave my soul in hell, nor suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. As great as a saint as David was, he certainly was not God's Holy One, the ideal Israelite. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can claim that title, the Holy One of God. The wages of sin is death, but Jesus was sinless, so death in Hades had no power over Him. His soul went down into Hades so that He could proclaim in those dark regions the mighty triumph of His cross. His body lay for three days and nights in Joseph's tomb, but corruption and decay could not touch them. Then up from the grave He arose with a mighty triumph for His foes. He arose a victor from the dark domain, and He lives forever with His saints to reign." There it is. David, with the eye of faith, with keen, unerring vision, was able to see the truth of resurrection. He would live beyond the grave because of what the Holy One would do when He would bear away and triumph the very gates of death." That comes from exploring the Psalms by Phillips. But you see that truth that David understood of the resurrection. Now, some take this psalm and they interpret it from the standpoint that the entire subject of this psalm is not David at all, but is the Lord Jesus Christ. And we can get into that, but... You know, I didn't want to interpret it that way. I didn't want to share that interpretation with you. I wanted to share with you from David's perspective. Kind of in closing, I just want to tell you, I told you there's two places this was mentioned in the New Testament. They're both in the book of Acts. It's Peter on the day of Pentecost when he was preaching in Acts chapter number 2, verses 25 through 28. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope, because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer, thine holy one, to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life, thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance." So there's one example, Acts chapter number 13, verses 30 through 37. That is Paul, when Paul is preaching and Paul tells of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. how that the promise which was made unto the fathers God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children in that he hath raised up Jesus again as it is also written in the second psalm thou art my son this day have i begotten thee and as concerning that he raised him from the dead now no more to return to corruption he said on this wise i will give you the sure mercies of david wherefore he saith also in another psalm of course psalm 16 Thou shalt not suffer thine a holy one to see corruption for David After he had served his own generation by the will of God fell on sleep and was laid unto his father's and saw corruption So there he's saying telling how psalm 16 is not talking about David is talking about Jesus So there it is psalm 16 the places that's mentioned in the New Testament, but what we gain from that is to understand that David knew of the resurrection, and the hope that that gave him, and the confidence that that gave him, and the hope and the confidence that he desired for others to know, and the hope and the confidence that we can have, because we know that God is faithful to his promises, and we can be strengthened thereby. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, as we come to you tonight, God, we are thankful for this opportunity to be in your house and to learn from your word. And God, we're thankful that you are faithful to your word, thankful for what you did for David. And we pray, God, that you will lead us and guide us as we gain strength from this truth that we found tonight. Just bless your people in the upcoming week, God. And we're thankful that we can flee to you for protection and expect that hedge to be about us, just as David did. Protect your people, help them to lean upon you and trust in you. this week. In the name of your son, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.