Let's turn back tonight in our
Bibles to Psalm 16. First thing I want you to notice
is the title. Midstum of David. This is the
first of six psalms with that title. And we cannot speak with
certainty as to the meaning of that word, midstum, but many
of the writers, the authorities, I guess you'd say, they believe
that it means golden, golden. And a golden psalm this is. because it speaks to us of our
Savior's death, his burial, and his resurrection, as well as
his life. In the New Testament, in the
book of Acts, the apostle Peter, first of all, on the day of Pentecost,
he quotes from this psalm to show how the resurrection of
Jesus Christ had been prophesied. that though David wrote the psalm,
David was speaking in prophecy as Christ is speaking here. And he said, my soul thou will
not leave in hell or in the grave. David, the point that Peter makes
there in that message is that David's sepulchre is still here. His ashes are here. So this psalm,
what is declared in this psalm could not be true of David, that
it is true of Christ. And then in Acts 13, when the
apostle Paul was preaching in one of the Jewish synagogues
on his first missionary journey, you know, he was invited to speak
and he gave a summary really of the history of Israel. And
he included this in his message that David was a prophet and
he spoke in the psalm. And he could not have been referring
to himself again because his ashes, his dust is here with
us. But he was speaking of the Lord
Jesus Christ and his resurrection from the dead. It is by the spirit
of prophecy. that it is the Lord Jesus Christ
who is speaking in this psalm. And he's speaking as a man, the
one mediator. Remember the Apostle Paul said,
for there's one mediator between God and men, the man, the man,
Christ Jesus. And what we have here is the
Lord Jesus Christ speaking as a man. And as we go through it
tonight, I hope If you will, just in your mind, think if you
were in a room with the Lord Jesus Christ and you were listening
to him, that everything that we read here, it is the Lord
Jesus Christ speaking. These are his words. And as we
think of the psalm like this, and that's the way it must be
understood, then we will I believe, be benefited from it. Look at
it like a prayer, like you are privileged tonight to listen
in. Remember what David said in Psalm
110, the Lord said unto my Lord. He overheard, as it were. David overheard the Lord, that
is God Almighty, speaking to Christ. The Lord said unto my
Lord. Set thou on my right hand till
I make thine enemies thy footstool. And think of this as though we
are privileged to be with the Lord Jesus Christ as He is praying. You know, in the Gospels, we
read of Him spending the night in prayer. When the disciples
would go to their houses, He would go out to the Mount of
Olives. And then early in the morning,
He would be in the temple. Where had he spent the night?
Out among the olive trees. What was he doing? He was praying.
He was talking to his father. As a man, as a man, he's speaking
to his father. And then in Hebrews chapter five,
the writer tells us this about our Lord's praying. He said,
who in the days of his flesh, that is when he was here in this
world as a man, when he had offered up prayers and supplications
with strong, strong crying and tears unto him that was able
to save him from death and was heard and that he feared. The
Lord Jesus Christ prayed as a man when he was here. He spoke to
his father, and that's what we have in this psalm. We have him
pray, and that's the way we want to look at it as we go through
it tonight. First, he prays to God in verse
one. Preserve me, O God, for in thee
do I put my trust. Again, it is only as He is made
flesh, the son of God is made flesh, that God is his God. He addresses him as, oh God,
preserve me, oh God. He said this to Mary Magdalene,
the day of his resurrection, when he sent her to his disciples
to tell them that he was alive, he said, I send unto my father
and your father and to my God and your God. I've often thought
about the fact that when he cried on the cross, my God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? He didn't cry my father, my father. He cried my God. It was as a
man, as he became flesh, the eternal son of God. that God
became his God. And he told Mary, you go and
tell my disciples I sinned unto my father and your father and
to my God and your God. It would be impossible, I want
to maybe say that with caution, but for the Lord to have cried,
my father, my father, why hast thou forsaken me? God is one,
indivisible, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And it was only
as his God that he was forsaken there on the cross. But here
he begins this prayer. Preserve me, O God, for in thee
do I put my trust. The name of God that he uses
here, it's the name El, E-L, the Hebrew word El. It's a shortened
form of Elohim, Elohim, which is the word, the title. And God, in the beginning, God,
Elohim, created the heavens and the earth. It's God Almighty
that he's calling to, he's praying to. A God with whom all things
are possible. Nothing is impossible with Him.
Preserve me, O God. And we see in the life, in the
Gospels, how His life was preserved. As just an infant, maybe a year
or two, three years old, remember Herod gave the command to destroy
all the boys that had been born close to Bethlehem, God preserved
him. An angel appeared unto Joseph
and told him, take Mary and the young child and go into Egypt,
preserving him. And then as we read through the
gospels, once he began his public ministry, we see how many times
the Lord preserved him. After he was baptized, we read
this in Luke's gospel, he returned to Nazareth. That's where he had attended
the synagogue for many, many years, right? And he goes back
there after his baptism, after confronting Satan in the wilderness. He goes back to Nazareth, he
finds a place in the scripture where it was written of him,
the spirit of the Lord is upon me. And then he told those people
this day, is this scripture fulfilled in your hearing? And you know
what they attempted to do? They attempted to kill him, didn't
they? Immediately. Push him off a cliff. Believe
it, the city was built on some kind of a cliff and they would
push him off. But he was preserved. That's
what he's praying for here. Preserve me, oh God. And then
how many times in the Gospel of John do we read where they
were ready to stone him, but what? His hour was not yet come. The hour that God had appointed.
in which he would give himself a sacrifice, an offering had
not yet come. He was preserved. That's what
he's praying for here. Preserve me, O God Almighty,
for in thee do I put my trust. He believed, he trusted in God
Almighty. What does it mean? What does
it mean to trust in God? We have that on our coins. In
God we trust. What does that mean to trust
in God? Well, the word that is translated
here, the Hebrew word, it actually means to flee to for protection. And it's the same word that is
used in Psalm 57, which is another one of these Psalms that has
this same title. And there we read, my soul trusteth
in thee. Yea, in the shadow of thy wings
will I make my refuge until these calamities be over past. What does it mean to trust in
God? It means to flee to him for protection. flee to him. I think about the
avenger of blood. Remember when a man was responsible
for the death of another man in the Old Testament in the nation
of Israel. Then the next of kin of that
man who was killed, he was the avenger. And he would avenge
his relative's blood by taking the life of the man who killed
him. But sometimes those deaths were
what we would call accidental, right? Manslaughter. Wasn't premeditated
murder or anything like that. So God ordained five cities,
called five cities of refuge. And that manslayer, just as soon
as he realized what had happened, he'd better take off. Because
if he was caught outside the city of refuge, then the avenger
of blood could take his life. But as he flees to that city,
just as soon as he steps over the threshold of that city, he
was safe until there could be a judgment rendered about the
case. Flee, that's what it means to
trust in the Lord. Flee to him for protection. And every sinner, every sinner
should flee to Christ for protection from the justice of God. Justice
which demands satisfaction. Flee, flee to Christ. Now his prayer here, preserve
me, O God, may also concern his body. We know that He is the
head of his body, the church. He prayed not only for himself,
his preservation, but for his body's preservation. And we know
we have that in John chapter 17, in his high priestly prayer. One of the petitions there is,
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but
that thou shouldest keep them from the evil, or from the evil
one. And we have a wonderful example
of that, don't we, in the Gospels concerning Peter. You know, the
Lord told Peter, Satan hath desired thee, Peter, but I prayed for
thee. I prayed for thee. Here he is
praying. Preserve me, O God. What did he pray for, for Peter?
That his faith not fail. Yes, he did deny the Lord, but
he was granted repentance, wasn't he? His faith, he continued to
believe, to trust in the Lord. So that's the first verse. Preserve
me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust. Now second, in verses
two and three, We hear him confessing his regard and his delight in
the saints. Oh 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." These,
of course, are his words speaking to his father as his Lord. He acknowledges that his goodness,
now what would be included in his goodness, the Lord's goodness? Well, his righteousness would
be included, his righteousness. forgiveness of sins, peace, reconciliation. All of these benefits, these
blessings that He has procured for His people by His intercession,
He says, say, My goodness extendeth not unto thee. Didn't add anything to God's
essential glory. Not anything. Did he glorify
God in his obedience and his suffering? Absolutely. But he
didn't add anything to God's glory, not his essential glory,
not at all. But notice he says, it extends
not unto thee, my goodness, but who does it extend to? To the
saints, to the saints that are in the earth and to the excellent
in whom my soul delights. His goodness added nothing to
God's essential glory, but His goodness extends to the saints,
to those who are chosen by the Father and given to Him as His
bride. His goodness, His righteousness,
forgiveness of sin. He has the sure mercies of David. That's one of the things. In
Acts 13, when Paul is speaking there and he uses this psalm
to show that it had reference to Christ, he speaks about the
sure mercies of David, not the psalmist David, but the Lord
Jesus Christ, the mercies, the goodness, all these things that
I mentioned, his righteousness, peace, and reconciliation, justification,
sanctification, all these things They do not extend unto God,
but they extend unto us, his saints, the excellent of the
earth. Third, I believe, as I understand
this, this verse four, our Lord foretells the sorrows of the
Jews, the nation of Israel. 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. As a nation, they rejected him
as the Messiah. You remember Pilate asked them,
what shall I do with your king? Crucify, crucify. And then, what
did they say? We have no king but Caesar. In other words, in this verse,
our Lord is foretelling the sorrows that would come upon the nation
of Israel. Why? Because they rejected the
Messiah. Because, as it says here, they
hastened after another God. After another God. As a high priest, he would not
offer up their sacrifices, nor pray for them. Verse 9 of John
17, remember, tells us, I pray not for the world, but for them
which thou hast given me, for they are thine, and he by his
blood. Now this is very important, I
think we see this. Their drink offerings of blood
will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. The
Lord Jesus Christ put an end, an end to the offerings, the
blood offerings that the law of Moses commanded. When he cried
on the cross, it is finished. It is finished. That old dispensation. with all the ceremonies and rites
and shadows and everything else that was involved. It all came
to an end. It's finished. And to show that
it was finished, remember in the temple there in Jerusalem,
that veil was rent from top to bottom. He put an end to the
blood sacrifices. It would be a blasphemy If someone
today were to take a lamb and in the name of Christ offer that
lamb as a sacrifice. I remember hearing that years
ago down in the valley. Some preacher did that, trying
to make a point. I think they arrested him for
animal abuse. But the man clearly was mistaken
not realizing that There are no more sacrifices for sin. He
offered that one sacrifice for sin forever. Put an end to the
blood sacrifices forever. Including the drink offerings.
That's what is mentioned here, the drink offerings. Remember, a glass of wine or a container
of wine. I forget if it was a hint of
wine. But anyway, when they would offer A sacrifice put the fat
on the altar and the fat would be consumed and they would also
pour wine. There was always a drink offering
involved with the meat offering and the other offerings as well. It all came to an end with his
sacrifice. Aren't you thankful tonight that
you were not born under that old dispensation? I am in the providence of God. We were born in the time that
God allotted us. And the gospel is so much plainer,
clearer today by the coming and dying of Christ. It was preached
in those sacrifices, but not nearly as clear as it is to us
today, seeing that Christ has come and he has shed his blood.
Well, let's read on. The fourth, he confesses in verses
five, his satisfaction in God is his portion. The Lord is the
portion of mine inheritance and of my cup, thou maintainest my
lot. One of the ways that men are
sure, tell us, we are sure that this Psalm doesn't refer to David
is because David was not a priest. We have no record at all where
David ever offered a sacrifice. He shouldn't have offered one,
not a blood sacrifice, because he was not a priest. He was a
prophet. He was a king, but he wasn't
a priest. The Lord Jesus Christ is both
a prophet, priest, and king. And the priest under the law,
here's the point in this verse, verse five, the Lord is a portion
of mine inheritance and of my cup, thou maintainest
my law. The priest, when they came into
the land of Canaan, remember the priests were of the family
of Aaron. He was of the tribe of Levi,
and God took them, that whole tribe, to be His own. But when
they divided up the land by lot, they didn't divide any up for
the tribe of Levi. In fact, God told the priest,
And I'll read it to us here, it's found in Numbers 18. Thou shalt have no inheritance
in their land. Speaking to Aaron, God said,
thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt
thou have any part among them. I, I am thy part and thine inheritance
among the children of Israel. And here we have the Lord Jesus
Christ as priest delighting, finding pleasure in God as his
portion. And think about it. If you have
God, or you're God, you don't need anything else, right? You don't need anything else.
What else could you need if God is your God? He's promised to supply all your
needs. Oh, God is our portion. And sixth,
he's pleased with his portion, that is his people, are his heritage. In verse six, the lines are fallen
unto me, the boundary lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places. Yea, I have a goodly heritage. What is the heritage of the Lord
Jesus Christ? It's you. If you're a child of
God tonight, you are His heritage. And He takes delight in you. Yes, He's pleased with His heritage. He takes great delight in His
heritage, in His people. And then we see in verse seven,
the Lord thanks God for His counsel. I will bless the Lord who hath
given me counsel. My reigns also instruct me in
the night seasons. Now the Lord Jesus Christ, one
of his names is Counselor, isn't it? According to Isaiah, Counselor,
the mighty God, the everlasting Father. Yes, one of his names
is Counselor. And he is my counselor, he is
your counselor, child of God, but God was his counselor. That's what he says, that God
was his counselor. Remember how many times be interesting
for you to read through the gospel of John and see how many times
the Lord Jesus Christ said, my words are not mine, but him that
sent me. My doctrine is not mine, but
my father's. How many times he confessed that,
that the doctrine, the word that he preached, he received it from
the father. He received counsel from his
God. And then he speaks about his
reigns. It has to do with the heart,
doesn't it? The heart, the reigns. And it has to do with the mind
and the will and the affections that reigns. His heart includes
his affections that directed him in the night. And I think
about that night, especially when he was in the Garden of
Gethsemane. when his heart, father, if it
be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as
I will, but as I will. His reigns, his heart, his affections,
for first of all, his father, for his God to do his will, but
also for his people. And then lastly, these last few
verses, I want us to see his assurance and his joy and his
comfort in view of his death, his burial, and his resurrection. Verse eight, I have set the Lord
always before me because he is at my right hand throughout his life and especially
looking at the cross. The cross didn't surprise him,
you know that. But looking at the cross, seeing
the suffering, who for the joy that was set before him endured
the cross, despising the shame. Looking at the cross, his eye
of faith was fixed upon the Lord. My heart is, therefore I have
set the Lord always before me, because He is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Would to
God that we could all the time have the same ability, right,
to look to Christ, always have our eye upon Him, looking unto
Him, the author and finisher of our faith. Our Savior did,
He kept His eye, eye of faith, eye of His soul upon God. Yes,
He knew what He was experiencing, but He knew His Father too, right? He knew His Father, His God,
how faithful He is. And then verse 9, Therefore my
heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth. According to this verse in Acts
chapter 2, that word glory is tongue. That is something different for
man from all of the other creatures of God. God has given man a tongue
and that's our glory, that we are able to praise God. We're
able to worship God with our tongues, and that's the way that's
translated in Acts. Therefore, my heart is glad and
my tongue, my glory rejoices. My flesh also shall rest in hope. Yes, he knew his body was going
to be put in the grave, but as he said, it would rest. One of the reasons that you and
I do not need to fear death, I'm not saying we don't, nobody
looks forward to the experience of dying, I'm sure of that. But
just to know that Christ has been there before us, that his
body has laid in the tomb, rested, rested there. Yes, for a short
time, ours maybe for a longer time, but still it's just a rest.
The body rests, my flesh will rest in hope. His work of redemption was finished. You know, when you rest after
you've been working hard and laboring and then you rest, rest
is sweet, isn't it? And our Lord, throughout His
life in this world, only 33 years more or less, I know, but it
was filled up with labor, with working, doing His Father's will. But now, He says, my flesh shall
rest in hope. In hope of what? In hope of resurrection,
right? It's not gonna stay in that grave.
No, He knew that. For thou wilt not leave my soul
in hell. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ, he
did not go to hell when he died. You know that. When I say hell,
I'm talking about the place at the dam, the place where that
rich man is tonight, still desirous of a drop of water. Our Lord
did not go there. This word hell, sometimes it
means a grave. the grave, that will not leave.
And when he says soul, it's not just talking about his spirit
because his spirit, he commended unto his father, we know. And
he told that that thief that he saved today, thou shalt be
with me. Where? In hell? No. In paradise. This word hell here,
it either means the grave, thou will not leave my soul, my body
in hell, or it refers to the place of the dead when the soul
and body are separated. I personally believe that's what
it means here. Thou will not leave my soul or
my body separate from my soul. Yes, for three days, Yes, but
thou will not leave my soul in hell. And then look at this,
neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to seek corruption. The body of the Lord Jesus Christ,
someone said, was free from moral corruption. As he lived in this
world and as he lay in the grave, it was free from physical corruption
as well. But his God, he says, will show
me the path of life. Notice he didn't say the way
of life. He is the way of life, right?
He said, I am the way. the truth and the life. No, he
says thou will show me the path of life, the way, the path into
thy presence. And then he confesses in thy
presence is fullness of joy. A man's life in this world has
joys, has sorrows, But even when we experience days
of joy, it's only temporary. It's only for a while. But in
His presence, it is an eternal joy, everlasting joy, without
the least possibility of that joy ever being diminished in
any way. Joy in the presence of God. and at thy right hand are pleasures
forevermore. That is eternal happiness. I'd like to preach a message
on heaven one day. You know, that's not as easy as it
sounds. Do you know why? Because most
that we know about heaven is what heaven isn't. No sickness, no sorrow, no death,
no separation. But those are all negatives. We're going to have to die and
go there to really experience the positive. Pleasures forevermore. May the Lord bless His word to
us tonight.