Neither wilt thou suffer thy
unholy one to seek corruption." So we're not left to our own
thoughts or to human interpreters. But the key to this psalm, this
psalm is concerning Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. If you'll
open your Bible to Acts chapter 2, Peter, preaching at Pentecost,
quotes from this psalm, and I want you to listen to what he says.
The Apostle Peter, in Acts 2, verse 25, said this, Acts 2, 25, For David speaketh
concerning him. This is a psalm of David. 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." Now down in verse 30, "...therefore being a prophet
and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that is,
to David, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh,
he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He, seeing this
before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was
not left in hell, neither his flesh did seek corruption, this
Jesus hath God raised up whereof we all are witnesses. So, our
Psalm 16, David quotes three or four verses from it. And he
said, Peter quotes three or four verses from it. And he said,
he speaks concerning Christ. Another verse in Acts chapter
13. Turn to Acts 13. The Apostle Paul quotes this
Psalm. Acts 13, verse 35. Paul is preaching here, I believe
at Antioch, and he says in verse 35, Wherefore, David saith also
in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine holy one to
seek corruption. For David, after he had served
his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep. And he
was laid unto his fathers and saw corruption. But he, Christ,
whom God raised again, saw no corruption. So be it known unto
you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man that David's
talking about, who saw no corruption, through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sin. And by him All that believe are
justified from all things, from which you could not be justified
by the law of Moses. So this psalm, these eleven verses
that we're going to look at this evening, is the psalm of David
called the Golden Psalm. The Golden Psalm. And you know,
this psalm, like several others, begins with a prayer, and then
it talks secondly about trouble and sorrow, And then it expresses
holy confidence in the purpose and will of God and faith and
closes with songs of assurance as to his ultimate glory, joy
and rest. It's a psalm of the Redeemer.
But in this psalm, I want you to see this too. It's not only,
David's not only talking about our Messiah, our Lord, our Savior. David does not only write about
Christ, but he's writing about us, himself and us. Because our Lord said that we
would experience, that we shall experience life and death much
as he did. Now let me show you that in Mark
chapter 10. This is important. Because this,
Mark chapter 10. We're talking about Christ here,
but it's not written only about the Messiah. David's writing
about himself and about every believer because the life of
Christ is the life of the believer to a certain extent. All right, he says here in Mark
chapter 10, verse 36, The Lord said to his disciples, in Mark
10, verse 36, What would you that I should do for you? And
they said unto him, this is James and John, they said unto him,
grant unto us that we may sit, one on your right hand and the
other on your left hand in your glory. Jesus said unto them,
you know not what you ask. Can you drink of the cup that
I drink of? And be baptized with the baptism
that I'm baptized with? And they said unto him, we can.
Now listen, Jesus said to them, to a certain extent and a certain
way, you shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of. You're not going to the cross
and die for a people. There's no substitutionary efficacy
in anything you do or bear or experience, but you're going
to experience to some extent the same suffering and sorrow
and heartache and conflict that I suffered. You're going to drink
of the cup. That's right. Breathe on. And
with the baptism that I'm baptized with, you'll be baptized. And those
disciples did. They experienced much of what
their Lord experienced, preaching the gospel. And so shall we. But he goes on, he says, "...to
sit at my right hand, and my left hand is not mine to give.
It shall be given to them for whom it is prepared. But you
shall drink of the cup, and you shall be baptized with the baptism."
John 15, turn over there, he said this to them, and to you
and to me. John 15, verse 18, John 15, 18,
listen to this. This is some of that cup. and that baptism, John 15, 18,
if the world hate you, you know it hated me before it hated you.
If you were of the world, the world would love his own. But
because you're not of the world, I've chosen you out of the world,
and therefore the world hates you. That's some more of this
cup of which we shall drink in this baptism. The word that I said unto you,
the service not greater than his Lord. If they persecute me,
they'll persecute you. If they've kept my sayings, they'll
keep yours. But all these things will they do unto you for my
name's sake, see? Because they have not, they know
not him that sent me." David sits down under the power
of God's Spirit to write this psalm about the coming Redeemer. And that's one of whom he speaks. No doubt about that. It's confirmed
in the New Testament. But he's also writing about every
believer, every child of God. So we'll apply it to Christ and
to ourselves. And he begins with this prayer.
Preserve me, O God. This is the Messiah talking? Oh, yes. Preserve me. Guard me. Even as bodyguards
surround the king. Even as a shepherd protects the
sheep. Keep me, Lord, as the apple of
thine eye. You see, our Lord, our Savior,
our substitute, as a man, had to be kept. He had to be preserved
from the powers of evil, just as you and I do. God has to keep
us and preserve us from the powers of evil. We wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and
rulers of the darkness, and Christ had to be preserved, and he's
praying here that the Lord will preserve him. Let me read you
that in Isaiah 49, a prophecy concerning this very thing. He
said, preserve me, keep me for the work I must do. Hedge me
about, protect me from those who would destroy me, that I
might glorify you. In Isaiah 49 verse 8, listen,
mark this now, Isaiah 49 Thus saith the Lord, in an acceptable
time, the fullness of time, have I heard thee, and in the day
of salvation have I helped thee, I will preserve thee, and I'll
give thee for a covenant of the people to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate
heritages, that thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth. To
them that are in darkness, show thyself. They shall feed in the
ways, and their pasture shall be in all the high places. They
shall not hunger nor thirst. But I'll preserve you and keep
you." This is the Messiah. And as He is elect, Jude says
this about it. I'll just read it quickly. Listen
to what Jude said. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ
and the brother of James, to them who are sanctified by God
the Father and preserved in Christ Jesus and called. So as His elect, we're preserved. As our Lord prayed, preserve
me, O God, keep me, that I might fulfill Thy will. Our Lord prayed
that in the high priestly prayer. He said, Father, keep through
thine own name those whom thou hast given to me. Preserve them,
protect them. Oh, Lord, listen, verse one,
look at it again. Preserve me, O God, for in thee
do I put my trust, not in any other thing or person. Why do
we call upon the Father? Why do we look to the Father
for grace and strength and deliverance? The same reason that our Master
looked to the Father. He trusted Him. Preserve me for in Thee do I
put my trust. Job said, though He slay me,
I'll trust Him. I'll trust Him. He's the only
one who can preserve us and keep us and deliver us. Look at verse
2 and 3. This is the master praying and
this is believers praying. O my soul, from my innermost
being, my soul, O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord God,
you're my God, you're my Lord. From my innermost being. You
know, he said that in the Garden of Gethsemane. He said, Father,
My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death. If it be thy
will, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will,
thy will be done. Thou art my God. And like our
Savior, we'll bow allegiance to the Lord God from our souls. Oh, my soul says, Thou art my
God. You know, Thomas, when our Lord
appeared to the disciples, Thomas wasn't there. And some of the
disciples went to him and said, the Lord is risen and hath appeared
to John and some of the women. He said, I don't believe it unless
I put my hand in the nail prints and in his side, I will not believe.
And then sometime later, our Lord appeared to the disciples,
and Thomas was there. And he said, Thomas, reach hither
your hand, and touch my side, and feel the print where the
nails were. And Thomas, what did he say?
My Lord and my God. That's what my soul says. That's
what my Master said. O my soul, my soul, thou hast
said unto the Lord, our art, my God." Now, you know Spurgeon
said to say that with the lips is very little, but for a man
in his innermost being to say it even like Job in the sower's
trial is evidence of saving grace. My soul said to the Lord, you're
my God. me, I'll trust you. Though the
waters are so deep and the clouds are so dark and the burden is
so heavy, you're my God, in Thee do I trust." To say that before
fellow worshipers, he continued, is really a small matter and
expected, but to declare it personally and privately in the confines
of our closets before Jehovah alone is of far more consequence. My
soul says to God, you're my God. That's what Christ said and that's
what his people say. And now look at this next line.
What does this say? My goodness extended not to thee. And we're talking just exactly
about what you think we're talking about, the goodness of Christ,
the righteousness of Christ, the holiness of Christ. And the
righteousness and obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ was not
to add anything to the divine being of God. What I'm doing, Christ said,
Father, reveals your wisdom, but does not enhance it. It reveals
your love, but does not enlarge it. It reveals your power, but
does not add to it. My goodness, extend it not to
thee. Verse 3, But to the saints that are in the
earth, the elect, those who are still upon the earth, this is
you, this is me. It extended to the saints that
are in the earth that they might partake of my goodness and my
righteousness. These peculiar, particular people
might be arraigned in my beauty and my holiness and washed in
my blood and accepted in the beloved. My goodness does not enhance
your holiness. It's for them, the saints in
the earth, and they are the excellent, to whom is all my delight, the
excellent. Oh, God, despite our weakness,
weakness says, God, despite our infirmities, our Lord, despite
our sinfulness, delights in us. He said, my goodness, my holiness,
my righteousness extended to the saints that are in the earth,
to the excellent, in whom is all my delight." A royal priesthood, the word
excellency, you know, people bow before a king, used to, I
guess they still do, and they say his excellency. But his excellency
applies more to the sons of the king of kings than the sons of
the kings down here. We are his excellency. That's what he says here. We
are. And our opinion is not that high,
of course. Our opinion of ourselves is far
below such praise. We count ourselves but nothing.
But to him, we're saints. And to him we are the excellent,
because in him we are excellent. Oh, my soul, Christ said, my
soul, thou hast said to the Lord, you are my God, my Father. And my goodness and holiness
and worth and divine person and obedience does not extend but
to these saints that are in the earth, the excellent, my brethren,
in whom my soul delights." How does that apply to us? Well,
it applies in this way. We can say also the good works
that God enables us to do, the kindness that God Almighty enables
us to show, the gifts that God Almighty enables us to give.
The relief of the unfortunate that God enables us to help. Extend it not to God. It doesn't make us acceptable
to God. He said if I was hungry, I wouldn't
ask you. The cattle on a thousand hills
are mine. Gold and silver is mine. But
our goodness, our good works, our labor, labor of love and
works of faith, extend it not to God, but to the saints in
our own earth, the excellent, in whom we delight. If you love him that begat, you
love them that are begotten of him. Isaac Watts wrote about this
verse, Often have my heart and tongue
confessed how empty, how poor I am. My praise can never make
God blessed nor add any glory to God's name. Yet, Lord, the
saints on earth may reap some blessings from the things I do. They are the precious company
I keep, and they're the choicest friends I know." So that applies to you, as well as to your Lord. And
then verse 4, he condemns idolatrous. Our Lord Jesus Christ says, their
sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another God. Our
Lord Jesus, his loving heart, which is open to his people,
is against those who serve other gods. Oh, yes. He says their drink offerings
of blood I will not offer. They're not my people. They're
not my friends. Thine enemies are my enemies,
and I will not take their name into my lips or upon my lips. They multiply sorrows who look
to another Jesus, another Spirit, another Gospel, another God.
Paul said that. And our Lord said, I'll not take
their names into my lips. Now, He owns the weakest of His
sheep. He said, I call them by name,
but I'll say to them who worship another God, I never knew you. I never knew you. I never take
your name. Oh, I tell you, isn't that frightening?
Their sorrows are multiplied that hasten after another God,
another Jesus, another gospel. Their drink offerings of blood
will I not offer. I'll not take part in their sacrifices
and their ceremonies and their religion. And I'll not take their
names unto my lips. I would solemnly warn professors of faith who say that
they've heard the one gospel of the one Redeemer and the one
Lord and the one way, salvation by His grace. I would solemnly
warn those people who are guilty of the great sin of remaining
in churches and organizations and among people who preach another
Jesus. and offer praise to another God.
We must say with our Lord, I will not partake in their offerings.
I will not take the names of their gods on my lips, nor their
names. I'll not do it. I'll not do it. I'll not even speak of them. When we had the preacher's school
here years ago, the young men who assembled to study to preach
the Word, in the first gathering, I said to them, we're not going
to study books written by men who do not know the gospel. We're
not even going to study their books or call their names in
our meetings. We're going to study the truth,
the Word of God, and those who worship God. And this, our Lord
said, they multiply sorrows who hasten after another God, and
I'll not take part in their offerings, and in their sacrifices, and
in their ceremonies, and in their get-togethers. I will not assemble
with them, and I'll not take their name on my lips. My heart
and my soul said to my God, thou art my God. And this is where much of the
persecution comes. It comes when you separate yourself
from them. When you won't take part in their false worship. See, verse 5,
the Lord is my portion. The Lord is the portion of my
inheritance. What's the word portion? We use
that word a lot, we take for granted, everybody knows, the
young people all know, the Lord is my portion. What is a portion?
Well, I'll tell you what a portion is. It's my share. A portion
is the part received by an heir. When the will is read, and to
a certain, to Mr. Pennington, I leave this portion. That's your portion. That's my
share. That's what is given to me. And
our Lord Jesus Christ said this, the Lord's my portion. He's my
share. He's my all in all. Satan on
the Mount of Temptation says, fall down and worship me and
all these I'll give you. All these I'll give you. But
he had all he wanted. The Lord's his portion. He had
all he needed. The Lord's his portion. His cup
was full. His heart was full. His inheritance
was the richest. He didn't need anything that
the evil one could contribute to Him. And you don't need anything,
if the larger portion. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and we're complete in Him. He's my ration,
my portion, my share, my inheritance. What do I need? What can this
world give me that won't someday crumble in my hands and perish? The passion of this world paid
it. What can they give me? What can anybody, anything down
here give me that I can keep? Nothing. He's my portion. John Newton said, I'm content
with beholding his face. My all to his pleasure resigned. No changes of season or place
would make any change in my mind. While blessed with a sense of
his love, while palace a toy would appear, in prisons would
palaces prove, if he would dwell with me there. He's my portion. He ever lives. His inheritance
is eternal. Everything they give you here
or add to you here will someday be lost and taken away, no matter
what it is. That which He gives you is eternal.
He's my portion, my part, my share of my cup, and He maintains
my lot. I looked at that, and then I
went to some of the writers And one of them said this, one old
fellow years ago wrote this, Thou maintainest my lot. He said,
I think this would help us. Some renters have a clause in
their lease that requires them to maintain, repair, and keep
the lot and the property in good order. I delight that my Lord
maintains even my property, and cares for my lot, and defends
my cause. And when he saved me and gave
me a dwelling in glory, he didn't leave it to me to keep it up.
He maintains my law. And Christ said, the lions are
falling unto me in pleasant places. I have a goodly heritage. Our
Lord found And I talked about this Wednesday night on the good marriage, the good
life, and the good confession. Our Lord found that the way of
obedience to God leads to pleasant places, notwithstanding the trials
and sorrows that we encounter along the way. He said, he said, the lions are
fallen to me in pleasant places, besides still waters, in paths
of righteousness, in green pastures. I have a goodly heritage. My
cup runneth over. Goodness and mercy follow me
all the days of my life. And I have the promise of dwelling
in the house of the Lord forever. I have a good heritage, a good
heritage, notwithstanding the troubles that I encounter along
the way. I have a good heritage, and he's led me into pleasant
places. You too. So I bless the Lord who hath
given me counsel. Our Lord Jesus Christ is called
Wonderful Counselor. Why would he need counsel? Well, as a man, he sought the
counsel of his father. And he said, let me show you
that in John 7. Turn to John 7. As a man, our
Lord sought counsel of the father. He said in John 7, verse 16,
Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine is not mine. Now
he's speaking here as the Redeemer, the Savior, the substitute, the
representative, covenant surety. My doctrine's not mine, it's
his that sent me. If any man will do his will,
he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether
I speak of myself. He that speaks of himself seeks
his own glory. He that seeketh his glory that
sent him, the same is true. And no unrighteousness is in
him. The Lord's given me counsel. I'll show you another verse in
John, John 8, just over a page. John 8, 28. He said to them in John 8, 28,
When you've lifted up the Son of Man, then shall you know that
I am He, and that I do nothing of myself, but as my Father has
taught me, I speak these things. And He that sent me is with me.
He's not left me alone. And I do always those things
that please Him. He taught me. All right. Cannot we say the same thing?
God has taught us. Our Lord said, no man comes to
the Father. No man can come to Me except
My Father. Draw him. And I'll raise him
up at the last day. It's written in the prophets,
they shall all be taught of God. And he that hath heard and learn
to the father comes to me. So our Lord said, I'll bless
the Lord who taught me, gave me counsel, taught me from his
word, instructed me. And then my inner man, my reins,
I read this to you a while ago, my inner man will instruct me
in the night season. God has taught me, instructed me in His Word, given
me His promises, given me His truth. And when I come to the
night season, when things are dark and I can't find my way,
my inner man calls, you know what I'm talking about? calls
back to my heart the things he's taught me. See what I'm saying? We gather
here and we read these scriptures that I teach you. And then you
go down to the hospital and they say you have cancer or got to
have surgery, bypass. It's a night season. There's
tears. It closes in on you, the room
kind of does. You've got to go through a deep,
dark valley. What do you hold to? What confidence and comfort do
you have? What He's taught you. And your
inner self, your inner being recalls the counsel, the words
of God, the truth of God. I wonder how the people who do
not know Him People who have not been taught of God. I read
about, like down in East Kentucky, those four high school boys that
were killed the other day, and the students, they brought in
counselors. What do they tell them? What do they tell them? What
can they say? I mean, if you've got no hope, how do you give
hope? If you've got no joy, how do you give joy? If you got no
purpose or foundation, how do you help somebody to have a purpose
or foundation? You do. Because I'm going to
bless God that he gave me counsel. He taught me. And when the night
season comes around and the clouds close about me, I see the light
shine right into my soul, teaches me. And I have set the Lord always
before me. That's what our Lord said in
the Gethsemane from that cross. God taught it. I've set the Lord
always before me. I've set the Lord always before
me. When Peter quoted this, did you
notice the different way he quoted this in Acts 2? Turn over there
a minute to Acts 2. Acts 2. quoted this a little
differently, and it might help us to understand it. Verse 8,
he said, I set the Lord always before me. He's at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Now, Peter
said in Acts 2, 25, David speaketh concerning him.
I foresaw the Lord always before my face. I foresaw the Lord always before
my face. He is on my right hand, and I
shall not be moved. Our Lord always knew that He
had divine direction and divine support and divine protection,
so that even though He was a root out of dry ground and a man of
solace and acquainted with grief, and despised of men, he always
knew that the Father had an eternal purpose for him. I have set, I foresaw the Lord
always before my face. He is on my right hand, and I
shall not be moved. I shall not be moved. From eternity
to eternity, He's always before me and at my side, and I'll not
be moved. I'll set my face like a flint
because I'm fulfilling His purpose and His will." Now, we can say
that. We can say that. Let me show
you something here, a little outline I picked up. When we
see the Lord's will and purpose and divine providence in all
things, when He's always before our face, And at our side, these
four things are true. The first one is this. Verse
8, I foresaw the Lord always before me. He's at my right hand,
and I have this confidence I'll not be moved. In verse 9, I have
this joy, my heart is glad. In verse 9, I have this comfort,
my glory rejoices. In verse 9, I have this hope,
my flesh also shall rest in hope. I'll not be destroyed. He's always before me. His sovereignty,
His power, His glory, His love, I shall not be moved. All right,
this verse 10, let's look at this a moment. Thou shalt not leave my soul
in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to seek corruption." Our Lord Jesus Christ did not
go to hell. He did not go to hell. He did
not, as they say in that thing they recite, descended into hell. Our Lord endured hell on that
cross. Separation from God is hell.
bearing sin, and the wrath of God against sin is hell. He endured our hell, but he did
not go to hell. The Son of God cannot go to hell. What he is saying here is this.
He will not leave my body in the grave. He will not leave my body in
the grave. He will not suffer his holy Redeemer
to see decay and corruption. This body, if I died tonight,
you'd bury me in the tomb just like they did David. And David
went back to the dust. In fact, the body of David is
still there. But David speaks concerning Christ,
I will not leave my body in the grave and my body shall not see
corruption. And this is true of you and me.
He's not going to leave our bodies in the grave. Die we must, and arise we shall. Die we must,
and go to corruption, this body. But raised in His likeness we
shall be. And so we can take this assurance. Let us therefore go to our graves
as we confidently, as we go to our beds at night. Think about
this when you go to lie down tonight in your bed. You crave it. Your body's tired. You're weary. Your eyes are heavy.
And that bed in there is so comfortable. And you go in and lie down. What
is your expectation? Stay there? get up in the morning,
rested, stronger, meet the glorious sunshine. Let us go to our graves as we
go to our beds at night, knowing joy comes in the morning. And
God will not leave us in the ground. And he will not allow
us to see eternal corruption. will never endure the second
death. Weeping may endure for the night,
but joy comes in the morning. Let's go to our graves as we
go to our beds, expecting to rise. Now watch verse 11, and
I'll close. This is our Lord speaking too.
Thou wilt show me the path of life. To our Lord The path of life,
the way of life was shown to him in the eternal covenant.
The Father made him the surety, and made him the way, and made
him the life, and made him the path, the path of life. The Father revealed it to him.
The first begotten of every creature, he himself is the way, and he
opened the way. And God showed me the way. Christ,
the path. And secondly, he showed me this. In his presence, in his presence,
there's fullness of joy. All the fullness of joy is in
his presence. Let me read you something over
here. This is what we're talking about.
It says, in the book of Revelation. Listen. And I heard a great voice
out of heaven saying, the tabernacle, the dwelling
of God is with men. He's going to dwell with them,
his presence. There'll be his people. And God himself shall
be with them and be their God. And he says here that in your
presence there's fullness, complete joy. And God will wipe away all
tears from their eyes. There'll be no more death, no
more sorrow, no more crying, no more pain. The former things
are passed away.