We'll be in Psalm 16 this evening, Psalm 16. I read this recently in my devotions. Just a good reminder, there's a lot of passages we can go to on this topic that we're going to talk about tonight. Paul has almost, you could say, a whole book, the book of Philippians, the epistle to the church at Philippi that he wrote and talked about this much. And the title of my message is The Path of Fullness, but we're going to read the entire psalm here. This is a psalm of David, and our key verse will be that last verse. Psalm 16, starting in verse number 1. It says, 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 unto me in pleasant places. Yea, I have a 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 rejoiceth. 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. Let's pray. Dear Lord, we thank you for this day. Once again, thank you for this time that we can come back to your house this evening, focus on you again. Thank you for this message. Lord, I pray you just fill me with your spirit and your power as you speak to our hearts tonight. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. So we see here, he starts off the psalm. He asks God to preserve him. He says, preserve me, oh God. And he says, for in thee do I put my trust. So he tells God, hey, I'm trusting in you. I'm trusting in you to preserve me, to take care of me. And then he says there, verse number six, the lions are falling to me in pleasant places. Yeah, I have a goodly heritage. And verse number eight, he says, I've set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. He puts himself in a good place, set the Lord always before him. That tells me he's living. What David is saying here, he's living. in the presence of God. He's living a life walking next to God. God is at his right hand. And he trusts God. Verse number 10, he says, For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to seek corruption. And he says, Thou wilt show me the path of life. I know you're going to show me the path of life that I need to walk in, because I'm walking with you. You are at my right hand. I've set you before me. He says, And I know that in thy presence It's the presence of God, he said, is fullness of joy. And at thy right hand, where David is walking, he says, at thy right hand, there are pleasures forevermore. And again, the title of my message is The Path of Fullness. And we see that key verse being verse number 11, that will show me the path of life. And he talks about fullness of joy there. You know, as a people, I think, in our society and our world today, and we talked a little bit about this with the wickedness and doing those things that are right in our own eyes, that's the way of a fool. I believe a fool by one of the definitions of a fool found in the book of Proverbs is just a man, a person who does whatever feels good, whatever will bring them pleasure, whatever will make them happy. So by that definition, a fool can, I do believe, can do right if it brings them pleasure. Now, they don't do it often, so I'm not saying a fool will never be known for doing right. And we can see that clear in the Book of Proverbs. But they only seek their own pleasure. They only seek their own entertainment, their own gain. They will not do something for someone else. They will not do something unless they go, hey, I will, you know, and even if they look at doing something that's right, I will do this for God if I get this in return. But we have the way of a fool is he does whatever is right in his own eyes. Whatever feels good. Hey, if it feels good to drink, I'm going to drink. If it feels good to do this, I'm going to do that. Whatever is right. And a fool will not only will he say it's right, but he'll justify the things that he does. But that's a fool. But along with that, not to call everybody in society a fool, but what we're good at, and in a similar way as what Proverbs describes as a fool in seeking their own pleasure, is as a society, we are a people that are in constant pursuit of joy, of happiness. I remember as a kid, we learned a song, and it stuck with me in my entire life. In Sunday school, when I was probably Daniel's age, in the preschool Sunday school, a song called J-O-Y. And we'd sing it. We had to have our little bells, and we'd ding the bells with the song. But what is joy? Jesus first, yourself last, and others in between. And we'd sing that song. J-O-Y, J-O-Y. This is what it means. And then we sing that, Jesus first, yourself last, and others in between. But as a people, we're always looking for joy, happiness, something to fill that void in our life, to bring us happiness. From the moment we are born, we embark on a lifelong excursion for happiness, meeting our own needs, and taking care of ourselves. We are told that if we can just get maybe the right job, the perfect relationship, maybe achieve a certain level of success, or buy that one perfect thing, that dream car that I've always dreamed of buying. I have a dream car that I'll never have enough money to buy it, but I can always dream. I can always look at the pictures. I know Brother Jack does as well, and we've talked about it. But you know what? I'll buy that car, there'll be some joy, I'll drive it. Then in the winter, I'll cover it and put it in the garage and let joy go. But that car is not going to last forever, no matter how long I take care of it eventually. it will be gone. It doesn't bring lasting joy. It doesn't bring, as verse 11 say, fullness of joy. Or maybe that perfect house. Do this, make this much money, then I will finally be happy. We chase these milestones with passion and persistence. We're driven by a hope that the prize at the end will deliver deliver on its promise, but how many of us and how many people that we know out in the world, we can watch rich people as they, you know, you think, oh, certainly the millionaire doesn't need anything else, right? But what do they do? What is true of every millionaire? They always want to make the next dollar. Now, a lot of them A lot of them have worked for that, and they've worked hard, and you can commend their hard work. The Bible teaches the principle of hard work, but it's never enough. Hey, we gained a million, now we need to be able to get two million. So we can be called a multi-millionaire, and so on and so forth. But how many times have we've seen that you reach a goal, They held the prize in their hands, and then after a brief moment of excitement, of joy, found that the feeling fades, leaving them, leaving us still thirsty for something more. The joy we were promised was only temporary, like a mirage in the desert. You know, you think of that, and they had them in cartoons. They put them in shows and things, or pictures, you know, traveling through the desert. And your mind, your eyes play tricks on you as the heat comes off the sand, and you can kind of see that a little bit, right, William? When you drive down the road on a hot day, it looks like there's water on the road in front of you. And the kids sometimes go, is that water on the road? Did it rain? And then as you get close, no, it's gone. That's like a mirage in the desert. And your mind plays tricks, and you see, oh, that's water. There's palm trees. There's shade. You know, sometimes that joy, the earthly joy, is like a mirage in the desert. The psalmist here, David, He offers a different kind of plan to reach that goal of happiness, a different kind of map, a different kind of promise. It's a promise that doesn't just offer fleeting happiness or temporary happiness, but what he describes as fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. We're going to walk through this psalm and try to uncover this path to a joy that doesn't fade. We will look at three truths about finding true joy and fulfillment. and look starting off even at the futility of our own paths of finding joy as humans, but also the security founded God and then the ultimate fullness that awaits in his presence. This message, this psalm, I believe is all focused on not just the success that we can gain in our life, but hey, that joy is not going to come from that, it's coming living in the presence of God. I believe that's right where David lived. Even with his mistakes, he lived in the presence of God. He was a man after God's own heart. So we see the first thing, as you read through this psalm, and as we know, we can go all over the book of Proverbs, all over Psalms, the rest of the Bible, and we can find this truth, the fruitility of other paths, or our path. The psalm begins with David's earnest cry for protection. And we talked about that. He says, preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust. He immediately sets himself apart from those who seek joy in wrong places. And he says there, O my soul, verse number two, 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. David understood a fundamental truth that we often forget. The world's paths to joy are always dead ends. The idols we chase, whether they are financial security, social status, fleeting pleasures, entertainment, can never deliver on their promises. I was told the kids in the schools, I taught that school in Prairie du Chien, I believe it's a false teaching if you tell people there's no joy in sin. Now I'm going to explain that, don't take it the wrong way. that joy because I'm talking about the joy that the Bible talks to us about, that fullness of joy, the everlasting joy, the eternal joy. There is joy in sin. Sin does bring happiness for a moment, for a season. I've never drank alcohol. I have. It was an accident. I'm confessing. We moved to Belarus and they love their alcohol and their candy. So someone gave us candy. We couldn't read Russian and on the box, it said that some of the candies, they looked like chocolate covered cherries. And there was a shot of whiskey in the middle of it instead of a cherry. So I can't say I've never tasted alcohol. But I've never gone up to the bar and gotten drunk. But I do know, and people have told me, hey, there's some joy. You forget all the worries of life for a moment as your mind is taken under control. You can kind of drink your sorrows away. And hey, there's a little bit of reprieve. a temporary reprieve. The drug addict as well, they smoke that marijuana or take that cocaine. Hey, there's a little bit of happiness, a little bit of joy that comes. You see that in the commercials for alcohol on TV all the time. They always show happy people. And you go, man, that's just false advertisement. They're not happy. Well, at the moment that they show us in the commercials, they are happy. They are living in that sin. They're happy. But you know what? They don't show us. What should it be at the end of the commercial? is the passed out drunk or the broken family, the abused children, the abused wife, the bank account that's drained because they're spending all their money at the bar and other things, or the criminal record, the arrest record from all the things that they do to get in trouble, their DUIs. They don't show you all that, but that's the end. When that joy is done, they get that temporary joy. Well, hey, here's the end. The world's offer of joy never keeps its end of the bargain, never keeps its promise, but they are empty. These idols that we can chase that the world offers are empty, they're fragile, and ultimately powerless. You can consider a person who devotes their life to climbing the corporate ladder, only to reach the top and find themselves lonely and unfulfilled, wanting more, even though they've reached the top of that ladder. The pursuit of anything other than God as the source of our joy will only lead to emptiness and pain. That doesn't mean we get rid of our jobs, get rid of any goals that we have, personal goals for our life. It means, hey, the most important above all of those things should be living in the presence of God. David here makes a direct and stark contrast. Those who seek their happiness in the idols of the world will only find multiplied sorrow. This is because idols demand our worship. yet give nothing in return. But point number two is that you can find true security in God. Having established the fertility of other paths, of our own paths, the paths of the world, David then gives us a glimpse into the joy and security found in a relationship with God. In verses 5 and 6, he says, The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places. Yea, I have a goodly heritage. David sees God as his inheritance. the only thing that truly matters, his source of provision and his security. He is content because he knows his life is held securely in the palm of God's hand, much like a prized family heirloom passed down through generations. He is not worried about the future because God has drawn the lines of his life, as he says there, in pleasant This doesn't mean his life is without struggle. It doesn't mean that David will never go, you know, as he talked in Psalm 23, through the valley of the shadow of death. But you know what? Even through the valley of the shadow of death, the Good Shepherd is there with him, drawing his lines in pleasant places. And why is he able to put his trust in that as he says there in verse number 1? because he knows, he walks with God, he knows that he has a goodly heritage. God is his, he views God as his inheritance. There, as he says in verse number five, But God's sovereign control over his life is, and over his life's path, brings a deep underlying peace that the world cannot offer, nor can they understand. And it's just like that verse that Paul wrote that talks about the peace that passes all understanding shall keep you. Keep your heart and your mind. He goes on to describe the guidance he receives from the Lord in verse number seven. He says, I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. My reigns also instruct me in the night season. The Lord's guiding him, reigning him, giving him counsel. David's confidence isn't in his own wisdom or his own counsel, but in God's. This is the difference between a life of anxiety and a life of worry and a life of peace. Knowing that your ultimate security is not found in what you have or what you can achieve, which there are things that we need, there are things that we should have goals to achieve, but our ultimate security is not found in those things or placed on those things, but in the one who holds you and guides you. And that is our Lord. Point number three is the fullness of joys. We come to verse number 11. And this is really, you could say, the climax of the psalm. It serves as the core of the message, that fullness of joy. And we'll look at three phrases in there, and I'll read the verse again, and we'll go over these three phrases. It says, Thou wilt show me the path of life. In thy presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. The first thing he says there, that first phrase, Thou wilt show me the path of life. God doesn't just offer joy at a single moment for a single season of our time. He offers a journey. in life, a journey full of joy, a journey to joy, as it's also full of joy. He reveals to us a path that leads to true life. He talks about that to the children of Israel. In Deuteronomy, I've set before you life and death. And he says, choose life. He says, hey, choose this path of life where there is joy and blessings. It is not a path that we can find on our own. Think of life, you can think of it as a complex maze. The world offers a hundred different maps, a hundred different ways to find joy. And all of them promise a way out of the maze, a way through the maze. To get to the other side, we always enjoy as a family going to corn mazes. And sometimes we'll get into that corn maze and we'll let the kids guide us and say, all right, you guys are going to lead us out. And we end up just going in circles. Right, William? We never find the way out. Or we've been in corn mazes with the Browns and we've tried to find the other group by throwing corn and get in trouble for throwing ears of corn through the maze. But the world will offer you all kinds of maps. And all of them promise a way out. All of them promise at the end, hey, you'll be out of this maze, you'll be done with the journey, and you'll find joy. But none of them are the correct map. God, however, offers us a guide. And I have that in my notes with a capital G for guide. Jesus said in John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. There's a guide to eternal life, to salvation. There's a guide to the Father, to his throne, to heaven. But also Psalm 32, Verse number eight says, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye. That's God speaking to us. God's given us a guide. Jesus told the disciples, hey, I'm going to go, but I'm going to give you a guide, a comforter. That was the Holy Spirit. So he says, thou wilt show me the path of life. And secondly, he says, in thy presence is fullness of joy. The word fullness here in this verse, it's not an empty, this is not an empty promise. It is a word that means overflowing or complete and without lack, lacking nothing. Joy in the presence of God is not circumstantial. It's not based on our circumstances around us. It's not based on how successful we are. It's not based on any entertainment we bring in ourselves. Hey, this joy, this fullness of joy, it's not based on our circumstances. It's not circumstantial. It's not dependent on our feelings or our surroundings. But it is a deep, settled contentment that comes from being in the very presence of God. Chasing happiness is like trying to fill a bucket with a tiny little leaky cup. And the kids had these, they may still have them, they had a kitchen set, they had these little cups, they were little play cups, and remember them, Vicky, they had a little hole in the bottom? And the kids would take them in the bath with them, they'd use them, they'd try to fill them with water, and they'd fill them and fill them, and try to get that water from the cup into something else. Did all the water get into what you were trying to fill? No, because it would leak out of the bottom. That's what it's like. You know, trying to find, chasing happiness from the world and with the world's map is like trying to fill a bucket with that tiny leaky cup. But being in God's presence is like. taking that bucket and placing it under a massive waterfall, like Niagara Falls. Remember being there, and you can ride there. They call it the Maid of the Mist. And you ride that boat, and it goes right up to the waterfall. And you can stand right on the boat, and you get just right on the, what is that, the bow? the front of the boat. That's the bow, right? I get that right. I had to ask my, the Navy, our fellow, I could have asked Tim, too. I forgot Tim was in the Navy, too. But you stand there and you get right up in front of the, of the waterfall and all that water's just falling on you. You get soaked. More water than you know what to do with. I know they have a, my parents have a picture of me. They give you a little plastic poncho, but tell you when you're under a waterfall, that poncho doesn't do much. Finding joy in God's presence is like placing that bucket under a massive waterfall. You can't help but be completely filled and even overflowing. If you took a bucket to Niagara Falls, it wouldn't just fill, it would be overflowing. You wouldn't know what to do with all of that water that would come. This is the joy that David talks about, in thy presence is fullness of joy. This, I believe, is the joy that the Apostle Paul knew. which is why he was able to write from Philippians, wrote the book of, or from prison, he wrote the book, the epistle, the letter to the Philippians. And in chapter four, verse number four, he says, rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. That was a man sitting in prison. And that's the book I was talking about, Philippians. He talks about joy quite a bit in the book of Philippians. He says, hey, rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. As he's sitting, in a dungeon. And then thirdly, lastly, he says there at the end of verse number 11, at thy right hand, there are pleasures forevermore. This is the ultimate promise. Our joy in God's presence is not just for today, it's eternal. He says forevermore. The fleeting pleasures of this world will always fade. but the pleasures found in Christ, in God. are everlasting. This points directly to the ultimate hope of our faith, what we're able to put our trust in, eternal life with our Savior. The promise of pleasures forevermore is a powerful reminder that the best is yet to come to those who follow God, to those who walk with God, to those who live in the presence of God. Deuteronomy chapter number 28, God says to the children of Israel, and he says, and it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments, which I command thee this day, that's walking with God, that's living in his presence, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth, and all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee. If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, the best is yet to come. He gives us a journey. And he doesn't just give us a journey, he gives us a guide on that journey. And there's fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. The best, it's a path, a journey to joy that is full of joy and that gives joy and pleasures forevermore. If you're weary from chasing the world's promises of happiness or you're seeking joy in your life, if you have found that the things you thought would bring you joy have only left you wanting more, then Psalm is for you. It's for me. Let's say stop seeking and start abiding. In closing, as we close, I want to read a few verses from John chapter number 15. And I believe this ties in, you know, living in the presence of God. We see in the beginning of John chapter 15, we see the passage that this is Jesus talking. He talks about the true vine. He says in verse number one, I am the true vine, and my father is the husband. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit is he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit he purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken to you. Verse number four, what does he say? abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, abide in Christ. No more can ye except ye abide in me. I am the vine, and ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered. And men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me and my words, that's his commandments, you walk with me, you're keeping to abide in his, his words to abide in us, that means we're walking with God, we're following his commandments, we're following that path that he's laid out, the path of life. If my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may remain in you. and that your joy might be full. Hey, do you want God's joy? Do you want your joy to be full? You want fullness of joy as David describes? Do as David said, walk with him. Walk in that path of life. Live in his presence. As Jesus instructed, hey, abide in me and I in you. Let my words abide in you. said, hey, and these things have I spoken to you. Why? That my joy may abide in you and that your joy might be. full. There is a path that leads to a full, complete, and joyful life, and it is found in the presence of God in the center of His will for our lives. He guides in the path of life. He is the source of all joy, and in His presence you will find a fullness that the world and anything the world has to offer cannot give you. So turn to him today, take refuge in him and choose the path that leads to everlasting joy. Don't settle for the fleeting mirages of this world. Fix your eyes on God who promises a waterfall of joy, a river of pleasures that never runs dry. He's waiting for you, as he says there in John 15, to abide in him, that his joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full.