I just, I could read it again
and again. I preached it several times and
there's just so much there and you're never exhausted. But I,
a couple of things just jumped right out at me. Verse six, to
the praise of the glory of his grace. That's why we're here.
We're here for the praise of the glory of his grace. And by
that, and then also in verse seven, according to the riches
of his grace. Oh my goodness. We could just
sit there all night, couldn't we? It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. Open up the scriptures, if you
would, to Psalm 16. This will be the second part
of this message. It could have been a three-part message, but
we looked at a little bit of verses 8 to 11, so tonight I
won't spend a whole lot of time on those. But this morning's
message, we looked at verses one to three. Let's read the
psalm again. Tonight, we'll again continue
our study and we'll finish the psalm, if the Lord will and we
will. Mitchum of David, 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 soul shall be multiplied
and 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 lions are fallen unto me
in pleasant places. Yea, I have a goodly heritage.
I will bless the Lord who hath given me counsel. My rains 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 are
pleasures forevermore. Now this morning we looked at
verses one to three. where we saw that God is the
one who preserves his people in verse 1. And we know again
that this psalm is penned by David, but it's prophetic of
the Lord Jesus Christ. It speaks of our Lord, it speaks
of Christ. And so with that in mind, let's
again read verse 1. Mitcham of David, preserve me,
O God, for in thee do I put my trust. We see that God is the
only one who preserves his people, and we know we are preserved
in Christ, and in Christ alone. We cannot keep ourselves. It's
impossible. It's impossible for us to keep
ourselves. God must keep the believer. God
must keep the believer. Because we're like sheep, and
what do sheep do when they're left to themselves? Just wander
away. Remember that hymn, Prone to
Wander? Lord, I feel it. The hymn writer
is just being honest. He's just being honest. So, He
has to keep us. He has to preserve us. He is
all our salvation. God is all our salvation. Christ
is all our salvation, all our redemption. And He alone is our
all in all. And the scriptures plainly declare
this, saying that Christ is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification
and redemption. Then we looked at verse 2. We
saw how we add nothing to God. It says, O my soul, thou hast
said unto the Lord, thou art my Lord, my goodness extendeth
not to thee. God's born again, blood washed. People are here
called, they're called saints. They're not here, but they're
called saints. And no, we don't make him Lord. He's been Lord
from all eternity. He's been Lord from all eternity.
Thou said unto the Lord, thou art my Lord. We don't make him
Lord. He is our Lord. He is our Lord. And we call him
Lord because he's redeemed us. We call him Lord because we're
born again of the Holy Spirit of God. There's people out there
that say, well, you make Jesus your Savior, and then he's your
Lord. No, he's my Lord and Savior. Is he yours too? Right, he's
both. He's both. If he's my Savior, he's my Lord. But he's Lord,
he's Lord even if I don't make him Lord, and I can't make him
Lord, see? That's the thing. God beat us to it. He's been
Lord, he always has been the Lord, and he always will be the
Lord. So we just acknowledge his lordship. We just acknowledge
his lordship. Our goodness, which we establish
today, anything we sinners do, that good comes from God, does
not change God. It can only be said of the God-man
that he is good. that he is good. So here it says,
my goodness extended not to thee. It's speaking of Christ, not
of us. And he is the only one who's
good. He's the only one who was sinless.
He's the only one who's perfect. He's the only one who's spotless
because he is the lamb of God. Then we considered verse three,
which was very uplifting as we see that God delights in his
saints. He delights in his people, his born again, blood washed
people who are in Christ. Those who are resting in Christ
and Him alone for salvation. Those who believe upon Him, who
have been born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Look at verse
three. But to the saints that are in
the earth and to the excellent in whom is all my delight. Now
the saints, by definition, are the holy ones. And they're called
to be saints. We know that in scripture. They're
the beloved of God. They're sanctified in Christ
Jesus. So the only way we can be called saints is in Christ.
That's the only way. Marvel in this, you who are the
elect of God, you who are a saint of God, that the Lord Jesus Christ
delights in his people. And we looked at that from this
verse too. God delights in his people. God delights in Christ,
and we are in Christ. And Christ delights in us. It's
amazing. It's absolutely amazing. So now
let us continue our study here. We'll look at verse four. Considering
this psalm is speaking of Christ, their sorrows shall be multiplied
that hasten after another God. Their drink offerings of blood
will I not offer nor take up their names unto my lips. Now
the heathen generally hasten after their God. Should we not
as who are the saints of God then then exceed them in pursuing
Jehovah? Should we not seek to just worship
our king and magnify his name? It is said in the Proverbs of
old that a lie goes around the world before truth puts on her
boots. Turn to 1 Thessalonians 2, and
we'll look at verses 14 and 16. All who hasten after a false
god will incur multiplied sorrows, beloved, from the true and living
God. And we know that eventually,
left in that situation, it will lead to their eternal condemnation.
It will lead to their eternal condemnation. Anyone outside
of Christ, when they breathe their last breath, goes to eternal
condemnation. Look at this in 1 Thessalonians
2, verses 14-16. For ye, brethren, became followers
of the churches of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus. Note that. The churches of God
are in Christ Jesus. That's positioning. He's the
head, we're the body. For ye also have suffered like
things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews.
So persecution of true believers happens no matter what nationality
you are. We are hated because of Christ.
Because of Christ. Who both killed the Lord Jesus,
speaking of the Jews, and their own prophets, and have persecuted
us, and they please not God, and are contrary to all men,
forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles, that they might be
saved to fill up their sins always, for the wrath has come upon them
to the uttermost. So we see that the wrath of God
comes upon those who follow after false gods. And here in this
case, the Jews were forbidding Paul and the other apostles from
preaching Christ. But what did they do? They just
kept on preaching Christ, didn't they? Brother Roy and I do a
little devotional all the time, and today's devotional was about
Paul, Paul praying for boldness, praying for boldness. And the
writer of the devotional said, isn't this incredible? Here's
Paul, everyone looks at Paul as the chief apostle, and he's
asking, for boldness. He's asking for the saints to
pray for boldness and for grace, and as Brother Roy was reading,
I thought, this is what every grace preacher prays for. Please,
pray for us that we would have boldness to speak the gospel
and that we'd have grace, season it with grace, and that it would
come with power, because that's what we desire, that the Word
would be effectual and touch the hearts of believers and,
Lord willing, draw in some of God's lost sheep, if it so pleases
the Holy Spirit to use it. And here he is, though, the Apostle
Paul, again, praying for boldness. And he's speaking here, though,
forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved
to fill up their sins always, for the wrath has come upon them
to the uttermost. So here we get a little glimpse
of what was happening to Paul. He was being forbidden to even
preach the gospel, but he just kept preaching. He just kept
preaching. Just kept preaching. So let us be quick to remind
the wicked that they who fill up the measure of their sins
will find that wrath has come upon them to the uttermost when
they perish in their sins. So let us warn them of that.
Let us warn them of that. Let's go back to Psalm 16 again,
verse four, and it says here. Speaking of the idolaters, their
drink offerings of blood, will I not offer? their drink offerings
of blood will I not offer. Now turn, if you would, to Exodus
29. Exodus 29, we'll look at verses. We'll look at verses. Thirty
nine to 40. And then I'll read Matthew 26,
if you want to turn there, you can. I'm going to read it after
this. The drink offerings of the saints in the psalmist day
were in accordance with God's law. The drink offerings were
of wine, which was a symbol, of course, and a picture of the
blood of Christ. That's why that was to be offered,
because it was a picture of the blood of Christ. In Exodus 29,
verses 39 and 40, it says, the one lamb thou shalt offer in
the morning, and the other lamb thou shalt offer at evening.
And with the one lamb, a tenth deal of flour mingled with the
fourth part of hin, of beaten oil, and the fourth part of a
hin of wine for a drink offering. So all these things pointed to
Christ. That was the proper offering there was wine. And then over in Matthew chapter
26, verses 27 to 29, the scriptures declare this of Christ. And he
took the cup and gave thanks and gave it gave it to them,
saying, Drink ye all of it, for this is my blood of the New Testament,
which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say
unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until
that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom."
So the proper offering, the proper offering was wine. But here it says in Psalm 16
there, drink offerings of blood will I not offer. Now, God accepted
drink offerings of wine all in accordance to the law, which
we looked at there in Exodus 29. He will not accept drink
offerings of blood. Now, many heathens sacrifice
to their idols with man's blood or animal blood, and they went
against God's law and against the laws of humanity when they
did that to man. Some of them offered their own
children. We know that in that mallet where they would heat
up the, oh, I don't even want to say it. It was awful what
they did. Awful what they did. But they'd offer up sacrifices
of humans. And these offerings came from
those whose hands are full of blood and who boast of sacrifices. They do not obey his law and
gospel. Look, it says, nor take up their
names into my lips. He forbids us to pay homage to
any other God. We are not to pay any homage
to any other God with our lips. And he declares here that he
refused to acknowledge those who do so. Now think of that
in light of the many false religions out there. No sacrifices could atone for
sin, neither satisfy the guilty conscience. If the sacrifices
were under under the law were offered by Israel with an eye
of faith to Jesus, then they were sweetly satisfying to God
because they pointed to Christ. But void of this. It was not
possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin,
and even those sacrifices we know that the Israelites offered
only pointed to Christ. They couldn't take away the sins
of the people that were offering them. How much more the sacrifices
that heathens are offering to their false gods. They couldn't
do anything. Nothing at all. Now let's consider
verse five. It says, the Lord is the portion
of mine inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest my lot. Now the Hebrew word translated
portion identifies a choice part. A choice part. Turn if you would
to 1st Samuel chapter 1. 1st Samuel
chapter 1. This choice part is given to
someone as a token of high regard the giver has for the recipient.
I'll read in Exodus 29, 26 and it says this, And thou shalt
take the bread Thou shalt take the breast of the ram of Aaron's
consecration and waive it for a waive offering before the Lord,
and it shall be thy part. And then over in 1 Samuel 1,
verses 4 and 5, the scripture declares this. And when the time
was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Phineha his wife and
to all her sons and daughters portions. But unto Hannah he
gave a worthy portion. For he loved Hannah, but the
Lord had shut up her womb. Now verse 5 here and back there
in Psalm 16 brings forth a wonderful truth that Jesus in his human
nature made Jehovah his portion. Remember he was here to do the
will of the Father. He was here to do the will of
the Father and he looked to him to maintain his cause and to
carry him safely through his vast undertaking. His mission
was to come here to redeem God's people. with the shedding of
his own precious blood. Look at verse five again in Psalm
16. The Lord is the portion of my
inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest my lot. Now,
this is Christ speaking of his inheritance, meaning the church,
the church and the people that all were given to him by the
father in eternity. Deuteronomy, the scripture proclaims
this for the Lord's portion is his people. The Lord's portion
is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. One's cup is a cinnamon for his
condition in life. This condition is a lot in life.
We see that over in the shepherd's psalm, which extends, which,
which proclaims this. Thou prepare us a table before
me in the presence of my enemies. Thou anoints my head with oil.
My cup runneth over, runneth over. So it's a synonym for a
condition in life. Again, let's look at verse 5.
The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup, thou
maintainest my lot. It says again here, of my cup. One commentator spoke of this
as, of Christ as a blessing so of sorrows and sufferings, which
being measured out, filled up, and put into His hand by His
Father, He freely took it. He freely took it. We know that the Lord Jesus Christ
came to this world to save His people from their sins. He must
go to Calvary. If Christ did not go to Calvary
and die, we would not be redeemed. There would be no payment for
our sins. There'd be no way we could be justified before God
except for the sacrifice of Christ. And he must go, and he did. And
he did it willingly, as I've said many, many times. He came here to die. He came to this world to redeem
his people from their sins. God incarnate in the flesh. Now,
when we ponder that, we are filled with awe. because we will not
find a love like that anywhere else. It's incredible. It exceeds human love. Far, far
above that the word of God himself would leave heaven to come to
this world to die. to live a perfect life, and I'll
think of this too. Have you ever pondered? Here's
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's God incarnate in the flesh. He's absolutely sinless, and
He's living in the midst of sinners. My. And He's doing this to redeem
your soul, if you're a believer, and my soul. It's absolutely incredible. So
he freely took this cup, didn't he? He took the cup of God's
wrath, didn't he? Spurgeon said he took the cup
of God's wrath and he drank damnation dry. I love that. Because if
he drank damnation dry for his people, that means that there's
no condemnation for me in Christ Jesus. That's wonderful. That's absolutely wonderful. And what love has manifested
here before us Our Lord told Peter when they came to arrest
him, he said this, then said, Jesus unto Peter, put up thy
sword. Remember, Peter had taken the sword out, lopped the guy's
ear off. What did the Lord do? Take it
up, put it back on. And Jesus said unto Peter, put
up thy sword into the seath. The cup which the Father hath
given me, shall I not drink it? Nevertheless, Lord, not my will,
but thy will be done." That's what he said. We could never drink that cup,
could we? Oh my. He drank the cup of God's
wrath, beloved, for his people. Remember what the Lord tells
the Levitical priests that he was their portion? See, God's
our portion, beloved. Oh my, we're his portion, but
he's also our portion. Over in Numbers 18, verse 20,
the scriptures declare this, and the Lord spake unto Aaron,
thou shalt have no inheritance in their land. See, we don't
have any inheritance here, beloved. We're just passing through. We're
just simply passing through. Now, we enjoy the things of the
world, we do. We enjoy what the Lord gives us, don't we? But
we don't cling to it very strongly, because we know it's just fleeting. It's just fleeting. And the Lord
spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their
land, neither shalt thou have any part among them. I am thy
part. The Lord's our part, beloved.
And thine inheritance among the children of Israel. That's what
God is to us, beloved. And then it's proclaimed in this
verse here, thou maintainest my lots. Thou maintainest my
lots. Having confessed what Jehovah
is to him, Christ now confesses what Jehovah is doing for him. You know, again, I mentioned,
I just touched on this this morning, he's in full submission to the
Father. We saw that, even that portion I read, the cup which
my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? He's in full
submission to the Father, willingly. He, the sinless one, knowing
that He's going to go to that cross and die for sinners. And
don't forget, He's dying for His bride. He's dying for those
who the Father gave Him. And if you're one of God's born-again,
blood-washed people, you're one of them. And there's lost sheep
out there. The Lord will get them. They
shall be saved. They shall be saved. They shall
come to Christ. They shall be regenerated, born again by the
Holy Spirit of God, and they shall come to Christ. And they
say the same thing, just like we say this too, Thou maintainest
my lot. We say that too, don't we? You see, remember this morning
I said there's things in this too that we can apply to ourselves
too and say, yes, this is true of me too. The Lord maintainest
my lot. He keeps us. He keeps us below
that. So we can rest assured that the
Lord takes care of his own. He takes care of His own. He
always provides and He always keeps His people. I cannot tell
you how many times so far in my walk with the Lord when I
look back and I am absolutely amazed at how He's taken care
of me and taken care of Vicki and I. It's absolutely stunning. And how something appeared to
be a huge mountain to us And it just became mowed right down
like a mow hill. And I know every one of you who's
trusting the Lord can look back and see that in your life too.
Spurgeon said we tend to blow things out of proportion and
forget who the Lord is. He's the Almighty. And He takes
care of His people. He watches over His people. And
He will carry us home, beloved. He will carry us home. He saves
us, He keeps us, and one day He will present us faultless.
I love that. I love that. that the Lord will
present us faultless, because I know what I am. I know how
much of a sinner I am. I know. I know, you know, the
same you who you who are as people. We know we're sinners. We admit
we're sinners, but we marvel in the fact that he will one
day present us faultless before his throne and he'll do it with
exceeding joy here. Why? Because he delights in us
even now. Even now, he delights in us. It leaves us speechless because
we know we don't deserve this. It leaves us speechless. Me? All by the grace of God. And
his brother Neil, according to the riches of his grace. Oh my. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. So we can rest assured in the
Lord that He'll take care of us. He'll take care of us. Now
let's consider verse six. The lines are fallen unto me
in pleasant places. Yea, I have a goodly heritage.
The lines spoken of here are those around the plot of ground.
And think upon this in the case of Christ. There are like lines
around this church. Remember we had a study one time,
the church is like a garden. Oh, these lines are like a plotted
out area. And that's what the church is
even amongst the world right now. Even amongst the world. The church is indeed a land of
pleasant places. And you know how we are that?
We're made so by the righteousness of Christ. See, it has nothing
to do with us. We're simply receivers of this
grace and mercy. But the church is indeed a land
of pleasant places. Remember, that's not the building,
that's the people. That's the called out assembly. That's the
ecclesia of God. And we're made so by the righteousness
of Christ, imputed to those within the garden, right? And by his
merits and virtues, by which we are made beautiful. We saw
that in the Song of Solomon study. He looks upon his people as a
beautiful bride. He doesn't see no spot in us.
None. Nothing at all. He's so enamored
with us, beloved. He's so in love with us. It says, The lions are fallen
unto me in pleasant places, yea, I have a goodly heritage. Truly
the church is a good inheritance through the goodness of Christ,
her head, and only by his merits alone, again. Ephesians says
this, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly
places in Christ. In 2 Corinthians 5, 21, for he
hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. Oh my, what a blessing. And now let's consider verse
7. I will bless the Lord who hath given me counsel. My reigns
also instruct me in the night seasons. Christ himself is the
wonderful counselor, isn't he? He's a wonderful counselor. And
the counsel he gives is that which he has received from the
Father. through His Spirit. Turn if you would to Isaiah 11.2. Isaiah 11.2. Our Lord did not act independently,
beloved. Remember, we've often looked
at that the whole Trinity was involved in our salvation. God
the Father chose us in Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ redeemed
us and purchased us on Calvary's cross and now He keeps us and
the Holy Spirit regenerates us. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. So the whole Trinity is in action in our salvation.
Look at this in Isaiah. Chapter 11, verse 2, And the
Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, that being Christ,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord. So our
Lord did not act independently. He acted in perfect oneness of
heart, mind, and will with the Father and with the Holy Spirit.
Let's go back to Psalm 16. We're looking at verse 7. It
says, I will bless the Lord who hath given me counsel. My reigns
also instruct me. Instruct me in the night seasons. Turn, if you would, to Luke chapter
22. My reigns also instruct me in
the night seasons. Think of this in reference when
Christ was engaged in prayer to God the Father. in which sometimes
He continued a whole night. And this was especially true
when Christ prayed to His Father on the night of His betrayal.
Luke 22, verses 39 to 44. And as we read this, note how
Christ is in full submission to the Father. And He knows what's
coming up. He knows what He has to do. And he came out and went, verse
39, as he was wont to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples
also followed him. And when he was at a place, he
said unto them, Pray ye, or pray that ye enter not into temptation.
And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled
down and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this
cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thine be done." Our great Savior is in full submission
to the Father. And there appeared an angel unto
him from heaven, strengthening him. Look at this, and being
in agony, He prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was, as it were,
great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Notice in
verse 42 there, though, Father, if thou be willing, remove this
cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thine be done. What incredible words. Nevertheless, not my will, but
yours be done. Ever submissive to the Father,
beloved. Ever submissive to the Father.
Let's go back to Psalm 16. Ever submissive to the Father's
will, the sinner substitute the Lord Jesus Christ, again, for
all the sins of all the elect of all the ages on Calvary's
cross, willingly. Willingly. Nevertheless not my will, but
yours be done. Oh my. Let's read verses 8 to
10. And I touched on this a little
bit today. We'll read Acts 2 again. We'll read Acts 2 verses 23 to
36. But first of all, let's read
verses 16 to... I'm sorry. Psalm 16 verses 8
to 10. 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 suffer thine holy one to seek corruption.
Let's turn over to Acts. We'll read that again. We read
this today. This again is a precious prophecy. Acts chapter 2 tells
us that this speaks of Christ, what we just read there in Psalm
16. Acts chapter 2 verses 23 to 36. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. Right there it shows us
that Christ willingly went to the cross, all by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. It was planned and purposed
by God that Christ must die upon the cross. And He did it willingly. You have taken Him by wicked
hands, have crucified and slain. Now, they did not know they were
doing the will of God. They had no idea, no idea at
all. Whom God hath raised up, having
loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should
be holden of it. Now, it was not possible that
he should be holden of death, because he was sinless, beloved.
He was sinless in his life, and he was sinless in his death.
That sin was imputed to him, but he is the impeccable Christ.
There's no sin in him at all. He's perfect. He's God incarnate
in the flesh. So death had no hold upon him.
Remember, he said to Satan, Satan comes and he has nothing in me.
He had a lot in us, but nothing in Christ. He's absolutely sinless. For David spaketh 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." And we rest in hope, don't we? And Christ
is our hope. He's our hope. That's who we
rest in. We used to rest in ourselves and that was That was a false
refuge, wasn't it? But Christ is a refuge that's
sure. Sure, He's a good hope. He's
a good hope. And we rest in hope. Because
thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer
thine Holy One to see corruption. And this again is speaking of
Christ and Christ alone. He's the only one who is the
Holy One. He's the only one who saw no corruption. No corruption. Thou hast made known to me the
ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy
with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely
speak unto you of the patriarch David, that is both dead and
buried in the sepulchres, is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet and
knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit
of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ
to sit on his throne, He's seeing this before spake of the resurrection
of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his
flesh did see corruption. He's now giving us an interpretation
of those verses that we read over there in Psalm 16. This
Jesus hath God raised up, wherever we are all witnesses. Therefore,
being by the right hand of God, exalted, and having received
of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed
forth this which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended
into the heavens, but he saith to himself, The Lord said unto
my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand. until I make thy foes thy
footstools. Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus
whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Do you see what that
just said right there? God made Christ Lord. We don't
make him Lord, that's what I said earlier. God, I like what, I
think what Donny Bell said, God beat us to it all. God made Christ
both Lord and Christ. Why? So what wondrous love we
have here before us. What wondrous love we see manifested
before us in the sacrifice of Christ. He did all this to redeem our
eternal souls. And we could sing with the hymn
writer, oh, what wondrous love is this? Oh, my soul. Oh, my
soul. It's wondrous. The love that
Christ has for his people is absolutely wondrous. Now let's
look at verse 11. Let's go back to Psalm 16. We'll
look at verse 11. Close up this study. Thou will show me the path of
life, in thy presence is fullness of joy, at thy right hand there
are pleasures forevermore. So we've seen how this scripture
in Psalm 16 is all about the one who is the great head of
his church. And what an interest we have is we've seen what an
interest he has in his body, which is also the church. the
redeemed of the Lord. And this brings great comfort
and joy to his people. If the grave could not hold Jesus
and it didn't, neither can it hold any of us because we are
in Christ. We are in Christ. We're members
of his body. We're members of his body. The
grave cannot hold, release the head and hold the body. As one old grace preacher said,
where the head is, the body soon follows. One day, we'll be all
in glory. All of us. Every one of his blood-bought
people. And the resurrection of Christ,
again, is a sure pledge that God is absolutely satisfied with
the sacrifice of Christ. See, He's not satisfied with
our supposed righteousness. No, if a man faces God in his
own righteousness or his own supposed goodness, they will
be cast to an eternal doom in hell. But a believer stands in the
clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Oh my, in what we will one day
see, beloved, our Savior face to face. Face to face. All because of what He's done.
All because of what He's done. So the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ is a sure pledge that God is satisfied with the
sacrifice of Christ. Because we know that Scripture
tells us that what? He was raised for our justification. For ours. For His body. And the Lord has gone before
his people to prepare a place for us. And that's just a place with
him. That's not some mansion in the sky. That's just in his
presence, beloved. Not gonna be someone having a
bigger house than someone else. That's just people filled with
spiritual pride that'll tell you that. Our reward is Christ. And we
get to be in his presence. We get to be in his presence.
Remember he told Abraham, I'm your exceeding reward. I am. He's prepared a place for us. And we'll follow him there. Because
he'll take us there. Because he'll take us there.
And therefore, while we are still here on this earth, what do we
do? We can rest in the hope that we have in Christ, can't we?
We can rest in him. And that's what we do. Now we
struggle in our sinfulness to rest. We cry out, Lord, help,
help my unbelief, don't we? But my oh my. What a day that'll
be and what a hope the believer has in Christ. What a day it'll
be when we see him face to face. Though after Their skin worms
destroy this body, yet in the flesh they shall see God. They'll
see God. They'll see the one who is the
resurrection and the life, his blood-bought people. And what joy will fill the saint
of God the moment they enter into glory. And when do we enter
into glory? As soon as we breathe our last
breath. Oh, my. Makes you homesick for
heaven, doesn't it? Oh, my. We'll see him face to face, and
this fills the saint of God with joy. Joy. Knowing. That it is all through the mercy
and grace of God that we will be there. That we will be there,
and it's all in and through Christ and Christ alone. So surely the
Lord is the believer's only hope. Only hope. He's our Adonai, isn't
he? That's what scripture calls him,
he's Adonai. He's our Lord, he's the Holy One. He's all my righteousness. He's everything. Paul said, he's
my all in all. Is that not what every one of
us say? He's my all in all. And if he keeps us, And this is the key, we don't
keep ourselves, do we? But if He keeps us, if the Almighty
One keeps us, then we shall not be moved. Now we're gonna be up and down
like that, because we're humans, but He's holding us and keeping
us the whole time. The whole time. The whole time. My, He's our hope. And what a
blessed hope He is for the redeemed. Because He purchased us with
His own precious blood. His holy body saw no corruption.
And so also the members of His body, though seeing corruption
in this flesh, were going to die. We must partake in His triumphs
over death in the grave, though, don't we? The minute we breathe
our last breath, we're in His presence. So whether we're living or dying,
All the Lord's blood-bought people are His. And again, when the
hour of death comes, we'll be... Think of this too. When that
hour of death comes, we will be in perfect union with Him.
Perfect union with Him. Seeing Him face-to-face. Like
we see each other right now, we will see our King face-to-face. Face-to-face. And you know what? We'll be beholding
Him forever, for eternity, all because of His mercy and His
grace, which have been bestowed upon us. And then we will hail We will
hail Him as the Almighty. We will sing with the other saints,
worthy is the Lamb. All worthy is He to receive all
blessings, glory and honor and praise, for He hath redeemed
us. He hath purchased us with His
own precious blood. Oh, we'll hail Him. Christ alone is indeed the resurrection
and the life. He has gone before his people
and he will take all of his redeemed people to himself. So that where
he is, there we may be also. And that's God who says that. Oh my. Only in the Lord can we
find the fullness of joy. Only in Him. And at His right hand, there
is pleasure forevermore. Oh, what a time that will be.
When we see Him face to face. When we don't struggle with sin
anymore. My goodness. All because of His
mercy and grace. Gracious Heavenly Father, we
thank thee again for. Thank you for your sacrifice,
Lord Jesus. Thank you for coming to this
world. And as we read those words, nevertheless, not my will, but
thine will be done. You speaking of the Father and
you speaking of the cup, which you must take. And in telling
Peter that you must, you must drink of the cup. You face the wrath of God for
us. You took the punishment that was due us. You, the sinless,
perfect sacrifice. And we who are your blood bought
people marvel in this. Oh Lord, we pray that if there
is any of your lost sheep listening or will listen. Oh, Lord, we
pray that this would be a time of life that you would regenerate
them by the Holy Spirit of God and draw them to Christ and show
them their desperate need for the Lord. We love you and praise
you, we who are your people. We thank you for your goodness
and grace and mercy for us. We thank you for redeeming us,
for justifying us, for clothing us in my perfect, spotless righteousness,
for the forgiveness and pardon of all our sins. Oh, Lord, we
sing worthy is the Lamb, but one day we're singing it with
all the other blood washed saints in glory. Sinless because of
what you've done. We love you and praise you in
Jesus name.