The NXR Podcast - July 10, 2022


SUNDAY SERMON - How To Pray In Times Of Trouble (Part 2) - Psalm 16

Topics
anxiety and prayer jobs intellectual property theft
Hosted by
Joel Webbon Harrison Smith Antonio Griffith Dale Partridge Wewsley Todd Calvin Robinson
Mentioned
David Absalom Joe Biden Donald Trump Moderna King Saul Solomon James Jonah Paul Charlotte Spirits Notice David C.S. Lewis John Piper Joe Rigney Crucified Preserve Complete Goliath Hebrews Abraham and 4 more
QUESTIONS - Should Christians Imitate The Amish？ DAILY TRUTH - Desperate To Be Changed

Episode Stats


Length

1 hour and 9 minutes

Words per minute

166.02

Word count

11,579

Sentence count

622

Harmful content

Toxicity

3

sentences flagged

Hate speech

20

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. -Psalms 16:16 God promises to preserve all his people, both physically and spiritually, through life, this life, and even death, to a particular end, which is complete and eternal pleasure!

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00 Hey guys, real quick, before we get started, I have a small request.
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00:00:18 Again, our text for this morning is Psalm chapter 16. The Bible says this,
00:00:24 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
00:00:27 I say to the Lord, you are my Lord. I have no good apart from you.
00:00:32 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.
00:00:38 The sorrows of those who run after another God shall multiply.
00:00:42 Their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out, or take their names upon my lips.
00:00:48 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup. You hold my lot.
00:00:52 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.
00:00:55 Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
00:00:59 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel in the night.
00:01:02 Also, my heart instructs me.
00:01:05 I have set the Lord always before me.
00:01:07 Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
00:01:12 Therefore, my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices.
00:01:15 My flesh also dwells secure.
00:01:18 For you will not abandon my soul to shield or let your Holy One see decay.
00:01:23 you make known to me the path of life in your presence there is fullness of joy and at your
00:01:29 right hand are pleasures forevermore this is the word of the lord all right please be seated and
00:01:37 join me as i pray father thank you for your word we pray lord that through the preaching of your
00:01:42 word the exposition and application of your word today that your people would indeed arrive at a
00:01:49 greater more biblical more faithful understanding of who you are of what you've done and of what
00:01:54 it is that you require from us as a right response of obedience of worship of adoration and love
00:02:02 father we pray lord that you would fill our minds with your truth so that our hearts might be
00:02:10 propelled to worship we pray that we would not arrive at right theological knowledge of you as
00:02:17 an end in itself, but rather as the necessary means of propelling our hearts into greater
00:02:24 affection and love and worship and obedience to you. The heart cannot love what the mind
00:02:31 does not know. So we pray that you would fill our minds with your word in such a way that it would
00:02:37 direct our hearts and our worship in a way that pleases you and does great good to us. We pray
00:02:44 all these things ultimately that you might be glorified in all the earth. But we also pray
00:02:48 these things for the good of those people that you're saving across the globe in our particular
00:02:53 city here in Texas and our area. And also perhaps Lord, even in this room, especially with our
00:03:00 children, we pray these things in the name of your son, Jesus. Amen. All right. Let me remind us
00:03:07 kind of a recap, our introduction. I'll read it again, just so that we can get back on page this
00:03:13 morning from where we were last week i wrote this the main point of this particular psalm psalm 16
00:03:19 is this god promises to preserve all his people both in body and in soul not just in a spiritual
00:03:25 sense but even physically god promises to preserve sustain save all his people those who trust in
00:03:33 jesus both physically and spiritually in body and soul through life this life and even death
00:03:40 all the way to a particular end. What is that end? Complete and eternal pleasure. That is fullness
00:03:47 of joy and everlasting joy. Now how does God fulfill this promise? He fulfills this promise
00:03:55 by being for us our safe refuge, our supreme treasure, our sovereign Lord, and our sure
00:04:04 counselor. What we saw last Lord's Day in the first few verses of our text, verses 1 through 4,
00:04:11 is the way in which God promises to preserve us by being, in particular, our safe refuge. Today
00:04:18 we're going to pick back up with God being our supreme treasure and Lord willing we'll see also
00:04:24 how he is our sovereign Lord and sure counselor. Psalm 16 begins with David's petition. It's his
00:04:33 request it's his earnest plea he says preserve me oh god his plea is four words and technically
00:04:40 it's only two preserve me sustain me save me the rest of the psalm is devoted to david
00:04:48 ultimately praising god for who he is and what he's done and what it is that god promises to do
00:04:56 for him and not just what god promises to do for david in terms of the actions of god as it were
00:05:02 but it's what God promises to do for David in light of who God promises to be for David, right?
00:05:09 God promises to protect him, defend him because God promises to be his safe refuge. God promises
00:05:16 to satisfy David because he promises to be his supreme treasure. God promises to provide for
00:05:23 David because he promises to be his sovereign Lord. And God promises to instruct and guide David
00:05:29 because he promises to be his sure counselor and so we see David very briefly making his plea
00:05:37 his request and then spending the bulk of his time the bulk of his prayer in Psalm 16
00:05:42 praising the Lord ultimately what we see David doing is this we see David inspired by the Holy
00:05:49 Spirit in this particular passage of scripture setting for us an example of how we as the people
00:05:56 of God should pray, especially in times of trouble. And one of the principles that we see
00:06:02 in prayer, prayer especially in the midst of trial, tribulation, and trouble, is that we should make
00:06:08 our requests known to God. It reminds me of other passages of scripture, be anxious for nothing,
00:06:14 but with prayer and supplication, make your requests known to God. But furthermore, we've seen
00:06:20 in Matthew chapter 6 that Jesus says, when we make our request to God in the Sermon on the Mount,
00:06:26 Jesus says that our words should be few because God, our Father, already knows what we need.
00:06:33 And he already has modeled for us provision as a benevolent creator, not only with those made in his image, human beings,
00:06:42 but even for lilies of the field that he clothes and dresses in an array that's more splendorous than Solomon and his temple.
00:06:49 or even the way that he feeds the sparrows.
00:06:54 They neither store up or have to prepare for the future,
00:07:00 but God gives them their daily sustenance,
00:07:03 just as he's promised to give us our daily bread.
00:07:06 And so Jesus says, let your words be few.
00:07:09 And that's precisely what David is doing in Psalm 16.
00:07:11 His words are very few in terms of his petition,
00:07:16 his plea, his request to the Lord.
00:07:19 But you'll notice, at least in terms of proportion, his words are very many in terms of praise.
00:07:27 So what we see is this, David begins with a petition and it's brief, but then he proceeds
00:07:34 with praise and it's thorough.
00:07:38 And so too, we as the people of God, when we come before the Lord with a need, first,
00:07:45 the first thing that we need to do is come before the Lord, be anxious for nothing.
00:07:49 But with prayer and supplication, make your request known to God.
00:07:53 I spoke a few weeks ago about this innate, inherent prayer reminder
00:08:00 that it seems that every single man, woman, and child has or possesses, namely anxiety.
00:08:08 And as often as we are anxious, that is, biblically speaking, as often,
00:08:13 at least as often, at a minimum, as often as we should pray.
00:08:18 We spend so much time being anxious.
00:08:21 And with our anxiety, we spend time plotting, scheming, planning, thinking.
00:08:28 And then eventually, we spend some time praying.
00:08:33 Oh, if we would begin with prayer.
00:08:36 I like what Charles Spiritson says.
00:08:38 He says, anxiety does not rob tomorrow of its trouble.
00:08:41 It robs today of its joy.
00:08:45 That's all anxiety does.
00:08:47 Anxiety doesn't ultimately fix the problems of the future, it just ruins the present.
00:08:54 And so when we are anxious, let us make prayer, supplications, petitions, pleas to the Lord.
00:09:01 But when we, so that's the first step, when you're anxious, pray.
00:09:05 Make your request known to God.
00:09:07 The second step is, now looking at Matthew chapter 6, the Sermon on the Mount,
00:09:11 when we make that request known to God, let's remember, keep in mind that He already knows it.
00:09:17 He already knows it. So let your words be few. And so the principle that Jesus gives us in Matthew chapter 6, we see the case study in Psalm 16. David makes his request, his petition, in two words. Preserve me. And then what he continues to do is exalt and praise the Lord for who he is, what he's already done, and what he promises to do.
00:09:44 It reminds me of what David says to King Saul when he wants to go into battle against Goliath, the giant, that uncircumcised Philistine who is mocking the armies of the living God. 0.51
00:09:56 What does David say? What's the basis of his confidence? 0.84
00:10:01 Saul says, you're just a boy. You can't do this.
00:10:04 David says, the Lord has already been faithful to empower and strengthen me to do what?
00:10:10 To slay the lion and the bear.
00:10:13 that David he had already experienced victory and success as he was guarding the flock and now just
00:10:21 at a greater level no longer is he going to guard a literal flock of sheep as a shepherd but he's
00:10:26 now going to stand in representative as a defender a protector an advocate for the flock of God
00:10:33 Israel and his confidence comes from what God had already done in the past and so too we see in
00:10:40 psalms chapter 16 what we see david doing is he's saying i have a present petition but i'm going to
00:10:47 praise you for your past faithfulness and the confidence the basis of my my confidence and
00:10:54 hope and trust that you will meet and answer my present request is your past faithfulness
00:11:02 it reminds me of what david says elsewhere where he says surely goodness and mercy will follow me
00:11:07 all the days of my life and i will dwell in the house of the lord forever and ever amen
00:11:13 what is david doing in that prayer in that particular song he's saying god has been good
00:11:19 to me so many times and in so many ways and for so long i cannot help but believe that he will
00:11:28 continue to be good because it makes no logical sense set aside a biblical understanding for a
00:11:35 moment. That's a phrase you won't hear me say often, but to set aside a biblical understanding
00:11:39 strictly from a logical standpoint, it would make no sense. Think of God as a great, wise investor
00:11:46 who would invest and invest and invest so methodically, so carefully, so thoroughly, so
00:11:53 compassionately for years, year after year, and the years roll into decades, and then all of a
00:11:59 sudden stop it just makes no sense it's not what we see in scripture in a biblical sense and it
00:12:06 doesn't even make logical sense and so David says surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the
00:12:11 rest of the days of my life because I've been so drenched in the goodness and mercy of God thus
00:12:16 far that it would make no sense that he would stop what he has done so well and for so long
00:12:24 And so David makes his petition briefly, and then he begins to praise.
00:12:29 And one of the lines that I believe I used last week is this.
00:12:33 David is committed to bolstering his faith by declaring who God is for him.
00:12:39 Or we could say it in a shorter, simpler phrase, and hopefully it'll be better for your memory.
00:12:46 We as the people of God are called to bolster faith by praise.
00:12:50 bolster faith increase faith raise faith by praise so when we make our petitions we need faith
00:13:01 the book of james in the new testament speaks of that it says make your request known to god but
00:13:06 but when you ask right it does does any man lack wisdom let him ask god he is without finding
00:13:12 fault without reproach meaning god does not count your past failures against you when you come before
00:13:18 him and make a request for something. But God gives generously to the one who asks. But when
00:13:23 you ask, James says, you should ask with faith, not doubting, not like a wave tossed to and fro
00:13:31 in the ocean. Don't be double-minded, James goes on to say, right? And what do we do when we're
00:13:37 double-minded? Meaning that part of our mind says, God will grant this request. I trust him.
00:13:43 And then in a sense, it's almost like we have a second mind telling us that God's not going to
00:13:47 be faithful. Well, in those cases, what we do, as we've discussed before, is we follow the example
00:13:52 of the centurion who comes to Jesus and says, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. Part of my mind
00:13:59 trusts you and part of my mind does not. So what we need to do when we come to God, when we have
00:14:04 anxiety, first, we need to quickly go to God before his throne of grace. And we need to make
00:14:10 our petitions. In our petitions, our pleas, our requests, we need to be brief because God already
00:14:16 knows what we need now what do we what one of the things that we require as we make our petitions
00:14:22 faith well where does faith come from what do we do when we're double-minded what do we do when we
00:14:28 believe and don't believe well we ask the lord help my unbelief but what agency does god use
00:14:35 to bolster faith praise and why how do we know that well we see it in psalm 16 but we also see
00:14:43 in Hebrews. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And when we're praising God,
00:14:49 that's precisely what we're doing. We are speaking forth. We are declaring the word of God.
00:14:55 What God says about himself. No man has ever praised God in a way that would be an invention,
00:15:02 in a way that would be novel. When men praise God, we merely echo what God has already said
00:15:08 about himself. That's what men do. That's what we do when we praise God. We're not coming up with 0.99
00:15:15 new things about God. No, we're merely echoing what God has already said about himself, our triune
00:15:21 God who praises himself. He's not selfish. He's not self-consumed. No, God praises himself because
00:15:31 it's the most righteous thing that he can do. Think about that for a moment. For God to truly
00:15:35 be god he must be holy and for him to be holy he must live by as it were his own law and what's
00:15:44 the first commandment that we read each lord's day from the 10 commandments in exodus chapter 20
00:15:50 thou shalt have no other gods before me if god was to love anything more than himself he would
00:15:56 be an idolater god loves himself more than anyone else not because he's selfish or vain but because
00:16:03 he's holy and good and it is the right thing to do and the good thing to do to love the most
00:16:10 lovable person the most god loves himself the most god is for god and so when we praise god
00:16:19 we're merely echoing god's own praise for his triune self what god has said about himself in
00:16:26 his word in other words when we praise god for who he is what he's done and what he promises to do
00:16:31 we are speaking forth, declaring the word of God. Words that God has already spoken about himself.
00:16:38 And faith comes, not by sight, but by hearing. And hearing what? The word of God. So when we're
00:16:45 anxious, go to God. With what? A petition. The petition, let it be brief. For our heavenly
00:16:51 father already knows what we need before we ask. And then what do we do? When we petition, we need
00:16:56 a petition not being double-minded not with doubt but with faith but what happens when we believe
00:17:01 but also don't believe where do we get faith we get faith when we hear the word of god and so we
00:17:08 should preach to ourselves and we should preach to ourselves the word of god who god is in the form
00:17:15 of praise petition and praise praise as a means for bolstering faith all that being said let's
00:17:25 look at Psalm 16 verse 5. The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup. You hold my lot. This means
00:17:34 that David recognizes God is the one who both satisfies and sustains. David is saying this,
00:17:41 God is sufficient. God is enough. We choose God as Christians, as lovers of God. We choose God
00:17:53 not because he is the only portion available.
00:17:57 No, we choose God precisely because he is the only portion
00:18:01 that will not give us empty and sorrowful.
00:18:05 That's what we saw last Lord's Day in verse 4 of our text.
00:18:09 Verse 4 says the sorrows, the emptiness,
00:18:14 the deception and depression,
00:18:20 all of these things of the wicked,
00:18:22 It's multiplied as they commit idolatry, as they further and further run after other gods.
00:18:30 Psalm 16, 4, the sorrows of those who run after another god shall increase.
00:18:36 They shall multiply, exponentially grow.
00:18:40 Their sorrow, their emptiness, their misery grows as they commit idolatry.
00:18:47 Their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips,
00:18:51 But by contrast now, contrast in verse 5, you see, the Lord is my chosen portion.
00:18:58 See, David's saying, he's saying the wicked go after other gods and their sorrows are multiplied.
00:19:03 But as for me and my house, we choose the Lord.
00:19:08 He's not just a portion.
00:19:10 And notice, David doesn't just say the Lord is a portion or even the Lord is the portion, the best portion.
00:19:16 He says, he's my chosen portion.
00:19:18 there are many in the church today including myself in moments of failure and sin that will
00:19:26 salute the concept the doctrine the idea in theoretical terms that god is the best portion
00:19:35 laid before us at the table we'll acknowledge it in word we'll recognize it and salute it in theory
00:19:43 but oh how many times we still choose abortion how many times do we even as christians break
00:19:53 the first commandment how many times do we look more like the wicked in verse four than the
00:20:00 righteous david in verse five how many times have we even as christians saved by the grace of god
00:20:07 run after other gods, run after idols, put our hope and our trust and our treasure in other
00:20:15 gods. And how often have we seen the fulfillment of verse four, that in those moments our sorrow
00:20:21 is multiplied. When we're anxious and we run to something or someone other than God,
00:20:29 it doesn't solve the problem. It doesn't assuage our anxiety. It doesn't calm us or bring us peace.
00:20:37 what does it do it only produces more anxiety it exasperates our fears
00:20:43 it accentuates our depression and our misery but David in verse 5 as a direct and stark contrast
00:20:54 to the wicked in verse 4 he says the Lord is my chosen portion he's my cup and he furthermore
00:21:05 goes on to say that you hold my lot. John Piper in commenting on that little phrase in Psalm 16
00:21:14 verse 5, you hold my lot. He says the following, when the dice are rolled and the straws are drawn
00:21:20 and the wheel is turned, whatever happens to me comes from the hand of God. God holds my lot.
00:21:26 That is, God decides it. God rules over it. God is my sovereign, and I am glad to have it so. I don't just affirm it stoically. I exult in it. That is, I take joy in it. I praise the reality that God holds my lot.
00:21:48 And I say that for a moment because it's important,
00:21:51 especially for those of us who would claim to be reformed in our soteriology
00:21:56 and our view of the sovereignty of God.
00:21:57 Too often, again, the same principle that I've already spoken of,
00:22:02 we salute the sovereignty of God,
00:22:04 but how often do you rejoice in the sovereignty of God?
00:22:09 Right?
00:22:09 There is a difference in acknowledging God's sovereignty over all things
00:22:14 versus rejoicing God's sovereignty over all things.
00:22:18 There are far too many in the church today,
00:22:20 too many stoic Calvinists
00:22:22 who salute the sovereignty of God as a doctrine,
00:22:25 but don't rejoice in the reality of God's sovereignty
00:22:29 in the form of praise.
00:22:31 Are we happy about the fact that God holds our lot?
00:22:36 Right, because there's a way of having a begrudging spirit
00:22:41 and an obligation a you know that i'm i recognize and i acknowledge the sovereignty of god but i'm
00:22:49 not particularly happy about it see there's a dynamic difference in theologically acknowledging
00:22:57 the sovereignty of god versus someone who is actually excited about the fact that god is
00:23:02 sovereign and not just over the universe but they are particularly excited and rejoicing over the
00:23:09 fact that God is sovereign over them. You hold my lot, not just the lot, not just someone else's
00:23:16 lot, not just the universal human history, big picture, 30,000 foot view lot. No, you hold Joel's
00:23:22 lot and my lot for today. All these things come from the hand of God that even when it comes to
00:23:30 suffering and even sin, nothing can come to me in this moment, this day, if it does not first pass
00:23:37 through the banner of your sovereign benevolent love do we rejoice not just acknowledge
00:23:46 theologically the sovereignty of god but do we rejoice in the goodness of the sovereignty of god
00:23:54 now this concept is fleshed out even more in verse 6 of our text psalm 16 verse 6 says the lines have
00:24:01 fallen for me in pleasant places. Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. Notice again, David is
00:24:08 speaking now of the sovereignty of God. At first, he names the sovereignty of God in the big
00:24:13 overarching general principle, you hold my lot. So he names the principle, but he's already made
00:24:20 it personal. So he names the principle, but in personal terms, you hold my lot. But now he begins
00:24:26 to give some practical examples of what it looks like, of what it means for God to hold
00:24:32 his lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
00:24:40 Notice David doesn't say that the kingdoms that I have conquered and the ways, the territorial
00:24:45 boundaries that I have expanded through my exploits and my decisions and my work and my
00:24:51 actions are good. No, he says, the lines have fallen for me. See, David recognizes his own
00:24:59 agency, his own human responsibility. But above all that, beyond all that, in an ultimate sense,
00:25:06 he recognizes that the lines for him, his lot in life has been given him. It hasn't been something
00:25:13 that he's accomplished, that he's executed. David's lot in life is not the work, ultimately,
00:25:19 of David. David's life is ultimately the provision of the Lord. It's fallen for him. It's been handed
00:25:28 down from heaven, from God. It's been ordained for him. See, David proves that he does not merely
00:25:35 affirm God's sovereignty, but he actually rejoices in it. And he does so by celebrating the results
00:25:41 of God holding the law.
00:25:44 So we must not merely acknowledge
00:25:47 the sovereignty of God.
00:25:49 We must rejoice in the fact that God is sovereign.
00:25:52 But one of the ways that we rejoice in real terms,
00:25:55 a test, if you will,
00:25:57 a measuring rod in order to discern
00:25:59 whether or not you're actually rejoicing
00:26:01 in the sovereignty of God
00:26:03 is can you rejoice
00:26:04 in the practical circumstances
00:26:08 today that God has provided.
00:26:11 Right? So we say God is sovereign. But are you happy about that? You take joy in the fact that
00:26:18 God is sovereign. That's the next step. From acknowledging the sovereignty of God to exulting
00:26:24 in the sovereignty of God. But then the third step is this. How do you know you're exulting
00:26:28 in the sovereignty of God? Not merely acknowledging or affirming or recognizing, but praising the fact
00:26:34 that God is sovereign. How do you know? Well, you know when you're content and happy with what God
00:26:41 has executed in his sovereignty for you today. That's what David's doing. So he says, you hold
00:26:49 my lot. I am happy. I am pleased. I am comforted. I am relieved that you, O God, are sovereign for
00:26:57 me. You hold my lot. But then he gets even more practical, even more specific. He says, in this
00:27:05 principle of you holding my lot, this is what it looks like on the ground in real terms. It looks
00:27:13 like the lines falling for me in pleasant places. And at this point in the life of David, it's
00:27:19 important to note there were enemies that David had still not defeated. It would have been very
00:27:24 easy for David to say that the lines for me have fallen in decent places, but not great.
00:27:29 yeah i have a lot more than than maybe the average person i'm the king of israel but
00:27:35 but there are still enemies that have territory that are encroaching upon israel borderlines
00:27:41 there are threats out there i mean there was even threats threats outside but even threats inside
00:27:47 later on in the life of david what we'll see is is his own son from his own family his own lineage
00:27:52 absalon turns against him and absalon he does this strategically and subtly and deceptively
00:27:58 One of the things that Absalom does is this, as people were coming to meet with David the king, Absalom would meet them at the gates.
00:28:06 And he would say, what's your problem, brother?
00:28:09 What can I do for you, sister?
00:28:12 And he would have a really, you know, kind of Joe Biden tone, right?
00:28:15 Really soft and really, you know, it's kind of like Absalom and David is like kind of the difference between Biden and Trump.
00:28:21 David actually has some good policies.
00:28:24 David's actually being obedient to the Lord.
00:28:26 But David's also, he's a man of war.
00:28:29 He wasn't even permitted by God to build the temple because he had shed too much blood.
00:28:33 It went ultimately to his son Solomon, right?
00:28:36 Whereas Absalom, he was graceful in his speech, deceptive in his heart, horrible policies,
00:28:43 wanting to undo all the righteous things that David, his father, had accomplished.
00:28:48 And yet Absalom won the heart of the people.
00:28:50 How?
00:28:51 By righteous policies and principles?
00:28:54 No.
00:28:54 by good tongue.
00:28:58 I just got to stop for a moment and just say,
00:29:00 how often do people fall prey to good tongue?
00:29:05 And that's not to say that there aren't scriptures
00:29:07 that speak to the Christian saying
00:29:09 that we should be gentle
00:29:10 and that our speech should be seasoned with grace.
00:29:13 There is a biblical mandate.
00:29:15 There is a biblical principle
00:29:16 for not just what we say, but how we say it.
00:29:19 But notice this, brothers and sisters,
00:29:21 clearly in biblical terms, in the whole of scripture,
00:29:23 what we say matters more than how we say. Now we should strive to do both righteously.
00:29:30 But often what we see in the church of God, not just in culture, not just I use political examples
00:29:36 with Joe Biden and Donald Trump, but even in the church, even the evangelical church in America
00:29:43 today, what we see is often ministers and Christian leaders that rise to prominent positions.
00:29:50 they're not the ones who necessarily have the best policies,
00:29:53 the best theology.
00:29:54 They're not necessarily the guys who are the most faithful,
00:29:57 the most courageous,
00:29:58 who are actually doing the most for the glory of God
00:30:01 and the most for the good of his people.
00:30:03 It's just the guys who, they speak with a silver tongue.
00:30:07 Right?
00:30:08 Out of their mouth, out of their lips,
00:30:10 it's like honey dripping.
00:30:12 But honey, although it's sweet, it's not sustenance.
00:30:17 It doesn't actually satisfy.
00:30:18 It doesn't actually sustain the people of God. See, faithful ministers give bread and it's not
00:30:25 their bread, right? A faithful minister is not a chef. I've heard that illustration before,
00:30:29 you know, in a sermon, he's cooking up a meal. No, a faithful pastor is less of a chef. He's
00:30:36 just a butler. Chef is beyond him. That's too glorious of a position to use to describe a
00:30:42 faithful minister of God. He's not a chef. He's not cooking up dishes. The dish is already made.
00:30:49 It's right here. God makes the dish. God provides the sustenance. He provides the bread. He provides
00:30:56 the meal. And all a faithful pastor does, he doesn't make the dish. He just runs it from heaven
00:31:02 to the earthly table where the saints are gathered. Here's the meal. Here's the meal.
00:31:09 And what is this meal?
00:31:11 What is the word of God?
00:31:13 It's like bread.
00:31:14 Remember, even the Israelites, they were discontent in the wilderness.
00:31:22 They were being fed every morning with manna from heaven.
00:31:24 But eventually they say, give us meat.
00:31:27 We want something else.
00:31:29 We're tired.
00:31:29 We're bored.
00:31:31 It's bland.
00:31:36 We're sick of it.
00:31:37 and so too we the people of God we are so often dissatisfied with sustenance and what we want
00:31:46 and said is something sweet but but but not satisfying right it's like bread versus honey
00:31:55 it's it's something that's simple and satisfying versus something that is sweet but empty
00:32:01 sweet but empty and so this isn't just a universal human problem but this is a church problem it's a
00:32:09 problem for even the people of God and so too it was with David Absalom he would meet people as
00:32:15 they were coming to meet with David and he would sort out their problems he would extend his hand
00:32:20 the Bible says and he would he would lock arms with them and say I will fix your problem you're
00:32:25 upset about something I'll fix it now here's the deal David wasn't actually fixing or Absalom rather
00:32:30 wasn't actually solving problems one of the reasons he was able to win the hearts of israel is what
00:32:35 the bible says win the hearts of israel away from his father david to himself was because he would
00:32:41 solve someone's immediate problem but but in such a way it would create a further problem down the
00:32:46 line for someone else right so when there was conflict the first person who came to him absalom
00:32:52 would just simply give them what they wanted whether it was righteous or not right it's like
00:32:57 proverbs chapter uh i believe 17 verse 18 or it's 18 17 one of the two where it says you know uh one
00:33:04 is thought right the one who presents his case first is thought right until another cross examines
00:33:08 him and what absalom was doing is just whoever got in the door first arrived first and stated
00:33:15 their problem gave their criticism their complaint he would he would tell them what they want to hear
00:33:21 he would do what they want because he wasn't actually interested in israel's long-term
00:33:26 good. He was interested in his approval ratings, his polls, in the immediate. All he needed was
00:33:35 for Israel to like him enough temporarily for him to seize that opportunity, that window of
00:33:42 public favor to overthrow his father, who is in current. And that happens in the church all the
00:33:51 time that happens with nations that happens with pastors i mean that happens with parents
00:33:58 i have been shocked when i think of the fear of man i've been shocked to realize that i am such
00:34:05 a sinner that i can fall prey to the fear of man not not just with with dozens of adults
00:34:12 i can fall prey to the fear of man with a three-year-old turns out gosh i really hope she
00:34:18 likes me. With a three-year-old. And I can give her presently what she wants to garnish her
00:34:24 temporary favor at the cost of what she long-term ultimately needs. And so this is what's happening
00:34:33 with David and Absalom. And so my whole point is to say that David, he had rising threats within
00:34:38 his kingdom, in his own family, his own son. And he had looming threats outside of his kingdom.
00:34:45 Borderlines and foreign nations that hated God and hated the people of God.
00:34:49 They were still posing a great threat. 1.00
00:34:51 And yet David is still able to say, the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.
00:34:58 What he's saying is this.
00:34:59 He's saying, God is not just sovereign in theoretical theological terms.
00:35:05 And I'm not merely acknowledging and affirming that doctrinal truth.
00:35:09 No, God is sovereign in an ultimate theological sense.
00:35:13 but God is also sovereign in a personal sense for me.
00:35:16 He holds my lot, and I don't just acknowledge it.
00:35:19 I exult in it.
00:35:20 I rejoice in it.
00:35:22 And furthermore, this is what it looks like
00:35:26 in practical terms on the ground
00:35:28 for God to be my sovereign.
00:35:31 And how do I know that I'm not just acknowledging
00:35:33 the sovereignty of God,
00:35:34 but actually rejoicing in the sovereignty of God?
00:35:36 Because I rejoice and take pleasure,
00:35:39 and I am content with what God sovereignly provides.
00:35:45 How do you know, Christian?
00:35:47 How do you know whether or not you are actually content
00:35:50 with God being your sovereign
00:35:52 when you are content with what he sovereignly provides?
00:35:57 To say that you rejoice in the fact that God holds your lot,
00:36:02 but then to be dissatisfied and frustrated
00:36:05 and anxious and angry about your lot
00:36:07 is to completely refute the prior statement.
00:36:11 God, you are sovereign.
00:36:12 I don't just salute it.
00:36:13 I rejoice and exult in the fact that you are sovereign
00:36:16 and not just for someone somewhere out there,
00:36:19 but you hold my lot.
00:36:20 You are my sovereign Lord.
00:36:21 I rejoice in that today.
00:36:23 Man, I'm really frustrated with the size of my house.
00:36:25 I don't like my work.
00:36:26 My marriage, I'm not really happy with.
00:36:29 You've just undone everything that you previously said.
00:36:33 You have proved otherwise.
00:36:35 to rejoice in god's sovereignty is ultimately it is to rejoice in what he provides now that being
00:36:43 said you might be thinking well i don't know if i agree with that principle should we rejoice
00:36:48 or when when god provides what about suffering what about sickness well i don't know what did
00:36:54 paul and silas do when they were chained up in prison they're rejoicing and praising god see
00:37:00 this is the biblical principle the christian is not ever commanded or expected to petition that is
00:37:07 to ask for suffering but there is a mandate biblically for the christian to praise and be
00:37:16 thankful for all things including suffering so so we're not masochistic or oristic in the sense
00:37:24 that the christian isn't supposed to be someone who is you know whipping themselves you know as
00:37:30 they pray and cry out to God in inflicting pain and suffering on their own life
00:37:34 or in love with suffering or in love with pain.
00:37:36 No, no, no.
00:37:37 The Bible does not teach that.
00:37:38 We petition and request that the Lord would give to us pleasant things,
00:37:43 that he would give to us things that are good.
00:37:46 So we ask the Lord, and rightly so, for physical health in this life.
00:37:50 We ask the Lord for many children,
00:37:53 because children are a blessing and healthy children.
00:37:55 We ask the Lord for homes and jobs and all these things.
00:37:58 and there's nothing wrong with that
00:38:00 so long as that we don't put our ultimate hope
00:38:02 and trust in these earthly blessings
00:38:04 that come from the Lord
00:38:05 but rather we ultimately trust in the Lord himself
00:38:07 so we ask for good things from the Lord
00:38:10 we don't ask for pain
00:38:11 we don't ask for suffering
00:38:12 but when it comes
00:38:14 not if
00:38:15 because it will come for all of us
00:38:17 in various ways
00:38:18 and at various times
00:38:19 suffering is part of God's plan
00:38:22 for his people here in this life
00:38:24 and when that suffering comes
00:38:26 we don't ask for it
00:38:28 but when it comes we do thank God for it. We see Peter speaking about that through various trials
00:38:35 and tribulations that God uses this for not only his glory but for your good. Through suffering
00:38:41 comes endurance. Through endurance comes faith and hope and all these different things. God is
00:38:46 producing something in us. Hebrews 12 says that the Lord disciplines his own. That if God doesn't
00:38:53 discipline us it's actually a sign that we may be an illegitimate child that we may not actually
00:38:59 belong to the Lord because if we do in fact belong to God and that he is in fact our heavenly father
00:39:05 then he does not only give us provision and sustenance and good but he also gives us his rod
00:39:11 and when he disciplines us again we are grateful we are thankful for his loving discipline that
00:39:21 comes through the agency sometimes of sickness or suffering. All these different things. The Lord
00:39:28 disciplines his own. We thank him for that discipline. We thank him for the difficult
00:39:33 things in life. And there is a dynamic difference, again, between asking for pain versus thanking God
00:39:39 for pain because we know that if he gives us pain, it is for good, wise, and holy purposes. He is
00:39:46 giving us pain for our ultimate joy our ultimate good it is to produce in us something that is
00:39:53 beautiful i remember a minister once said speaking of suffering that suffering is our slave and he
00:40:01 was using the writings of the apostle paul it says that suffering produces and he was using that
00:40:07 that language of suffering produce thing and and speaking in in the terms of a master slave
00:40:14 relationship. That a master would say to his slave, go out into the field and produce fruit for me.
00:40:22 Produce gain, increase, resources, grain. Go and work, produce. I own you and I own you for the
00:40:34 very purpose of you producing wealth for me. You work for me and your work is my fruit. It's my
00:40:42 gain. You produce wealth for me. And this minister used that to speak of the Christian and his
00:40:51 relationship with suffering. In the same way that a master has a relationship with a slave where 0.70
00:40:56 he owns a slave and therefore because he owns the slave, he has ownership over the slave's labor
00:41:02 and the production of the slaves. Right? The kind of ownership that people think they have today in
00:41:08 america right it's the difference between passive and active rights when people say i have i have
00:41:14 an inerrant right simply by virtue of existing and breathing i have this this god-given right
00:41:19 this inerrant right to free health care no you don't and the reason why is because it is because
00:41:25 god in his word clearly prescribes the beauty and the righteousness and the goodness of property
00:41:33 ownership. And that's not just land or houses or physical property and cause, but that's also the
00:41:40 property owning the property of our labor. That's also intellectual property. So some of you might
00:41:46 be aware that in some, you know, of the current events and the news that we've seen lately in
00:41:51 our nation that all of a sudden companies like Moderna, right? The government didn't get us
00:41:56 through COVID. The government doesn't get us through anything because the government doesn't
00:42:00 never do anything. That's what you can count on the government to do. Nothing. So what ultimately
00:42:05 produces jobs? Not Joe Biden. He's never produced a single job in his life. Not one. And for the
00:42:11 record, neither did Donald Trump or any other president or any other government official.
00:42:15 They don't do anything like that. What produces jobs is the American people. It's people who work.
00:42:20 It's entrepreneurs. It's companies. And so what got us through the pandemic? Well, I mean, a lot
00:42:27 of things. One was people waking up and realizing it's not actually that bad. But another one that
00:42:31 got us through the pandemic was the vaccine. The government did not produce the vaccine.
00:42:37 Certainly Biden didn't. He's taking credit for it. But Trump didn't either. He had some policies
00:42:41 that helped expedite it. But who created the vaccine? Private companies. And now Moderna,
00:42:47 the government is trying to step in because there are third world countries who need the vaccine.
00:42:51 And rather than buying it from these private companies that worked to produce this intellectual property, the formula, the vaccine,
00:43:00 rather than the government say, well, we want to help these several countries, they can't afford the vaccine, so we'll buy it and give it to them.
00:43:06 No, instead, what they're doing is they're trying to, through legislation, through coercion,
00:43:10 actually take the intellectual property from private companies like Moderna and say it belongs, they don't actually have a right to it, it belongs to us now.
00:43:19 Well, that is theft, right?
00:43:22 If somebody, if a private citizen breaks into their neighbor's house,
00:43:26 sneaks through the window, and steals their stuff, it's stealing.
00:43:29 It's theft.
00:43:29 When a government does the same thing, it's still theft.
00:43:33 We have this mindset in America today that if a government does it, it's not stealing.
00:43:37 No, that just means instead of a private individual stealing, a government is stealing.
00:43:42 And a government can steal from its citizens.
00:43:43 They can also steal from private companies like Moderna.
00:43:47 But it's theft.
00:43:49 It's stealing.
00:43:50 And so in terms of property ownership, one of the principles that we see in Scripture is that owning property is a human right.
00:43:58 And so to say, well, I have an inerrant right to free health care.
00:44:02 What that says, that active right, if you will, what it does is it actually blatantly and directly contradicts the passive right that actually is biblical, is inerrant, of the right to labor, the right to intellectual property.
00:44:17 See, when someone says, I have a right to free health care, what it says is, to the doctor, it says, you don't have a right to your own labor, your own time, your own research, your own intellect, your own knowledge.
00:44:29 You owe me.
00:44:30 You're my slave. 0.86
00:44:32 See, a right to free health care makes doctors the slave of a person.
00:44:36 It says, your right to your labor is trumped by my right to free health care.
00:44:42 And there are nations that have done this.
00:44:44 You know what happens in those nations?
00:44:46 When they need surgery, they come here.
00:44:50 Because it turns out doctors don't want to be robbed from.
00:44:52 Nobody wants to be stolen from.
00:44:54 People want to be able to own their property,
00:44:58 whether it be physical or intellectual,
00:45:01 or the property of their labor, their time, whatever it is.
00:45:04 And these are things that God's word protects and defends.
00:45:09 The goodness and the inherent righteousness of property ownership.
00:45:15 and so all that being said the idea that that god is sovereign david is saying hey here's my
00:45:25 property here are the lines here are the territorial boundaries around israel there's
00:45:30 more that i would like and and and not only there's more that i would like for pleasure but
00:45:34 there's more that i would like going all the way back to god being a safe refuge there's more i
00:45:37 would like for security for safety because it's not just here are my boundaries but on the other
00:45:41 side of these boundaries are enemies and threats that loom over me and even threats like my own
00:45:47 son within but God has given me what I have and in order for me to be integrous and truthful when
00:45:55 I say that I not only affirm the sovereignty of God but I actually rejoice in the sovereignty of
00:46:00 God in order for that to be a true statement if I really rejoice and celebrate the sovereignty of
00:46:06 god i must rejoice and celebrate the provision of god if i rejoice in the fact that god is
00:46:12 sovereign i must rejoice in the fact that he sovereignly provides 16 verse 7 says i bless the
00:46:19 lord who gives me counsel in the night also my heart instructs me god is not only our safe refuge
00:46:26 we've seen that thus far not only our supreme treasure i have no good beside you you're my
00:46:32 portion, the chosen portion, my cup. We've seen that now. And not only our sovereign Lord, the
00:46:38 one who holds our lot, the one who dictates and ordains for us the lines that fall in pleasant
00:46:44 places. He's not only our safe refuge, our supreme treasure, our sovereign Lord, but he is also our
00:46:50 sure, that is our trusted counselor. It is vital for us to recognize that God is our refuge,
00:46:57 treasure and sovereign by this is what i want you to see by how is he these things see the way that
00:47:05 i as i was executing this text over the last couple weeks and working to expose it and seeing
00:47:09 how but the question you always want to ask with scripture is this not what not merely you got to
00:47:15 get that what is the bible saying what is god saying about himself but but the next question
00:47:19 that we want to ask is how how is he good how is god safe how how does god accomplish these things
00:47:27 How does he preserve his people? How does he save his people? How does he satisfy his people?
00:47:32 See, that's what it is in Psalm chapter 1, where we started just a few weeks ago.
00:47:36 Psalm chapter 1, it says the righteous man, the blessed man, he meditates.
00:47:41 He doesn't just read the Word of God. He doesn't even just memorize the Word of God.
00:47:44 But he meditates on the Word of God day and night.
00:47:46 And I said Christian meditation is not the emptying of the mind, but it's the focusing of the mind on the Word of God.
00:47:53 It is to think deep thoughts upon what God says in his word.
00:47:58 And one of the deepest thoughts that we can ever think is asking simply the question, how?
00:48:03 How? How is God trustworthy? How is he good?
00:48:08 And so one of the things as I was working through the text and exposing the text that I saw is this.
00:48:15 I think this fourth characteristic, if you will, of God.
00:48:19 Sure counselor. I'm using the word sure to say trusted counselor.
00:48:23 The kind of counsel that you want.
00:48:25 The kind of counsel that is trustworthy, that is true, that is good.
00:48:30 Good counselor.
00:48:32 There's a lot of people who will give you advice whether you ask for it or not.
00:48:35 They'll give you counsel, but it may not be good.
00:48:37 God is the good counselor, the trusted counselor, the sure counselor.
00:48:40 And as I was working through the text, what I saw is this.
00:48:42 It's almost as though, in the way that David writes in Psalm 16,
00:48:46 it's almost as though he's saying that God is actually three things, not four, three things.
00:48:52 He's our safe refuge, supreme treasure, and sovereign Lord.
00:48:58 And he is these three things for us by the fourth thing, namely his short counsel.
00:49:08 Now he is a short counselor, but I think the better way to read it is this.
00:49:11 He is a supreme treasure, a safe refuge, a sovereign Lord through his or by his.
00:49:17 The way he is these things for us, our safety, our satisfaction, right?
00:49:22 That's the supreme treasure, the safety, safe refuge, and the sovereign Lord, right?
00:49:26 The protector, the provider, the way that he is our safety, the way that he is our satisfaction,
00:49:32 our joy, our pleasure, and the way that he is our provider, our sovereign Lord, our sustainer,
00:49:38 the one who holds our lot, he does all this by his counsel.
00:49:43 So the way that God is these first three things for us, refuge, treasure, and Lord, is by the agency.
00:49:54 The agency that God utilizes is his instruction, his counsel.
00:50:01 And I think it'll make more sense as I read on.
00:50:05 See, it's vital for us to recognize that God is these things by his counsel, or that is by his instruction and guidance.
00:50:12 For instance, see, safety, joy, and contentment, they're not automatic in this life.
00:50:17 See, in order for us to find these things, we must submit to God's word.
00:50:22 We must live out, we must obey God's counsel.
00:50:26 For instance, here's an example, just using the first safe refuge as a case study.
00:50:31 God is a safe refuge, but how?
00:50:33 See, God becomes our refuge by counseling us how to walk in the way of life and not death.
00:50:40 And for those who regularly meditate upon God's word,
00:50:42 his counsel, furthermore, in verse 7 of our text,
00:50:46 it comes to us even in the night.
00:50:48 And what's significant about that?
00:50:50 I think what David is getting at, as I read commentaries on this,
00:50:52 David's saying that at the night, in the nighttime, in the evening,
00:50:56 when it's dusk, when it's dark,
00:50:59 and that's often the time where the work of the day
00:51:02 that preoccupies our mind and our thoughts and our inclinations has ceased.
00:51:06 And is it not at those moments of the day,
00:51:09 Usually the evening and the night when we're laying in bed, when our work has ceased, when we begin to worry.
00:51:15 See, night is often the time where our heart condemns us.
00:51:21 But David says, David says that by praise, that when the blessed man, when the righteous man praises God for who he is and meditates on God's word,
00:51:31 not my anxious thoughts, not my worry, not my fear, but when I focus my mind and meditate on God's word day and night,
00:51:38 then in the night rather than my my heart condemning me my heart accusing me my heart
00:51:44 worrying me my heart instructs me now dave is not saying that the heart is inherently good
00:51:50 no the heart biblical in biblical terms well jeremiah says the heart is deceitful above all
00:51:56 else out of it comes malice and wickedness and deceit and all kinds of manner of evil
00:51:59 but but sometimes christians we we look at the heart and we and we see you know all the things
00:52:06 and we're so quick to affirm total depravity
00:52:08 and we see what the Bible says about the heart
00:52:10 and how it can deceive us,
00:52:11 how it can mislead us
00:52:12 and then we develop this doctrine
00:52:15 and our doctrine of original sin
00:52:16 but we apply it to the Christian
00:52:18 and that's actually theologically wrong.
00:52:21 Right?
00:52:21 As Christians we sometimes say,
00:52:23 well even the Christian, 1.00
00:52:24 their heart is above all else wicked. 1.00
00:52:26 Why?
00:52:26 No it's not.
00:52:27 You know why it's not?
00:52:28 Because Ezekiel 36 says
00:52:30 that God removed the heart of stone
00:52:31 and replaced it with a heart of flesh.
00:52:34 of the Corinthians.
00:52:36 Paul's letter to the Corinthians says
00:52:38 that we've been born again,
00:52:39 that we've become a new creature in Christ Jesus,
00:52:42 that we've actually been changed.
00:52:44 And so for the Christian,
00:52:46 the heart is, 0.70
00:52:47 well, really, the heart is a civil war.
00:52:50 See, this side of heaven,
00:52:52 this side of heaven, 1.00
00:52:53 for the Christian,
00:52:54 there is an internal war.
00:52:56 What is it?
00:52:56 It's Galatians 5.
00:52:58 It's Galatians 6.
00:52:59 It's do not gratify the evil desires of the flesh.
00:53:04 But do what instead? Walk by the Spirit. By walking by the Spirit, you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
00:53:10 So for the unregenerate man, for the unbeliever, the heart is nothing but deceitful. Nothing but deceitful. 0.93
00:53:17 And for the Christian in heaven, David now, as he's with God in heaven, the glorified Christian man, the heart is only good. 0.93
00:53:26 But for the Christian, it's this in-between. The unbeliever, an evil heart. 0.98
00:53:31 The Christian now glorified in heaven, a good heart. 1.00
00:53:35 But for the Christian here, the heart, it can be a tool for evil. 0.98
00:53:40 It can also be a tool for good.
00:53:42 David says, my heart instructs me, even in the evening, at the night.
00:53:48 David is ultimately saying this.
00:53:49 He's saying, I have so saturated my heart with the word of God, the character of God, the promises of God, the goodness of God,
00:53:59 by praising God, that my heart, rather than working against me, my heart is working for me.
00:54:07 Rather than my heart working to my detriment, my heart, even at the nighttime, is working for my
00:54:14 benefit. See, this is the result of the blessed man all the way back from Psalm chapter 1.
00:54:20 What do you get? What do you get? What's your benefit for modeling your life after the blessed
00:54:26 men in psalm chapter one the person who is a tree planted by streams of water whose leaves are
00:54:31 evergreen and who bears fruit in its season well what's your benefit what's your reward for
00:54:36 meditating on god's law and delighting in god's law day and night the benefit is this
00:54:41 the benefit is that when you've ceased for the day with the work of your hands when your thoughts are
00:54:47 no longer preoccupied by your task and endeavors and you lay your head down on your pillow to sleep
00:54:53 And all of a sudden, that's the time when your mind is stilled and your heart tends to rise up and begin to present you with a host of worries and anxieties.
00:55:04 For the blessed man who meditates on God's word day and night, the heart, rather than rising up to cause you fear, the heart rises up to give you peace.
00:55:14 Because your heart has been trained.
00:55:18 We need to train our hearts.
00:55:20 It is possible for the Christian.
00:55:23 By dwelling and thinking deeply upon the word of God day and night.
00:55:27 By delighting in his law and by praising him.
00:55:30 Not just petition, petition, petition.
00:55:32 Short petition, lots of praise.
00:55:35 And by the time you finish it, I don't think it's a coincidence.
00:55:38 This is the last thing that David's saying in praise.
00:55:41 You're my sure counselor.
00:55:42 I think what David is saying is because I've praised you and seen you.
00:55:46 And remembered you and celebrated you as my safe refuge.
00:55:50 Because I've done that with you as my supreme treasure.
00:55:52 because I've done that now with you as my sovereign Lord,
00:55:55 because I've saturated and reminded and preached to my own heart
00:55:59 your goodness and your promises.
00:56:02 When I lay down at night, while others are plagued with worry and fear,
00:56:07 my heart rises up and instructs me.
00:56:10 My heart counsels me.
00:56:12 My heart reminds me of the very thing I've trained my heart with discipline to do.
00:56:18 My heart, it's not just your word instructs me.
00:56:21 No, my heart has been so saturated in your word that even my heart, its default position now, through discipline, through practice, through study, through prayer, through righteous living, through obedience and worship and adoration, because I have chosen to be so diligent to saturate my life in the righteousness of God and in the word and truth of God.
00:56:44 my heart's first default position when i silence my day at the end of my day and silence my mind
00:56:51 the first thing by default that my heart begins to speak is your word that's what i've been thinking
00:56:57 about all day i remember there was a season in my life where i was playing hours and hours of chess
00:57:02 and it was crazy to where i would literally close my eyes and i would see squares and chess pieces
00:57:08 i would be driving and i would see even the road like it was a chess board if i needed to merge
00:57:13 lanes i was thinking about a bishop you know going around at night like by default i didn't mean to
00:57:18 it was it was weird it was probably not not super safe you know it's like almost like i was on on
00:57:24 some kind of chess drugs or something like that it felt like i'm not even fit to drive anymore
00:57:28 i've been i'm so obsessive playing so much chess i'm seeing chess pieces and squares everywhere i
00:57:33 look so it is with meditating upon god's word day and night you close your eyes the law of god that
00:57:41 you've been delighting in all day long is the first thing that your heart pushes up to your mind.
00:57:47 Your heart instructs you. So David's not saying my heart is my counselor. My point in all that is
00:57:53 to say this, the Lord is my counselor and he's a sure counselor, a trusted counselor. And because
00:57:58 I have chosen by diligence to saturate my life in his counsel, my heart now echoes the counsel
00:58:05 of the Lord. It's not my heart is my counselor. The Lord is my counselor, but I've so submitted
00:58:11 my will to his counsel that my heart by default echoes his counsel. Even at the end of the day,
00:58:20 when often the heart would bring worry, my heart brings promises and peace. All right, we need to
00:58:30 go ahead and land the plane here. David has spent seven verses declaring who God is for him. God is
00:58:35 his safe refuge, supreme treasure, sovereign Lord, and sure counselor. The result of David's 0.52
00:58:40 declarations, his praise to bolster faith for that original petition, preserve me, save me. What's
00:58:46 the result of all his praise, his declarations about the character of God is that his original
00:58:51 petition in Psalm 16, one preserved me, right? That was a request. Now it's become a confident
00:58:57 assertion in Psalm 16, eight. So now instead of David asking the Lord to preserve him like he did
00:59:03 in verse one, in verse eight, after seven or six and a half verses of praising God for who he is,
00:59:09 David now says, I shall not be shaken. See, at first it's, God, would you please preserve me?
00:59:16 A question. But now it's a statement. I will be preserved, is essentially what David's saying.
00:59:22 I will not be shaken. And this confidence that David will not be shaken, it leads to the final,
00:59:28 the final thing that we find in his prayer in psalm 16 rejoicing joy happiness he says therefore
00:59:38 my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices in verse 9 and then he furthermore goes to the last
00:59:44 verse of our text verse 11 and says in your presence there is fullness of joy and at your
00:59:48 right hand are pleasures forevermore see petitions this is the principle of prayer in times of
00:59:55 trouble. Get this. If you want to underline this line in your notes, this is the map, if you will.
01:00:01 It's the itinerary for prayer, specifically in times of trouble. Petitions for God's preservation
01:00:07 lead to declarations of God's character, which lead to confidence in God's promises,
01:00:13 which lead to joy in God's presence. I'll say it again. Petitions for God's preservation
01:00:20 lead to declarations of God's character and declarations praising God for who he is his
01:00:26 character leads to confidence in God's promises and I will not be shaken verse 8 and confidence
01:00:34 in God's promises leads to verse 9 which is joy in his presence my heart is glad in verse 11 in
01:00:41 your presence is fullness of joy that is the model the map of prayer for the Christian in times of
01:00:48 trouble. Petition. Praise. And then, and then remember his promises. Declare. And then ultimately,
01:01:00 finally, rejoice. Exult. Revel in the goodness of God. See, a chief cause of our anxiety is that
01:01:10 we often spend far too much time listening to ourselves and far too little time preaching to
01:01:16 ourselves listening how do i feel rather than preaching what do i know see finally in psalm 16
01:01:24 verse 10 we see that's the final verse i i went from 8 to 9 real quick and then to 11 because
01:01:29 9 and 11 are both this rejoicing in the presence of god because of verse 8 which is david now
01:01:36 making a confident assertion i will not be shaken and he has that confidence in verse 8 because of
01:01:41 Verses 1b through 7, which is David praising God for his character and who he is and all that,
01:01:48 beginning with the first half of verse 1, his petition, right?
01:01:51 So first half of verse 1, God, I need you to save me, preserve me.
01:01:54 And then second half of verse 1, all the way through verse 7, I'm doubting whether or not you'll save me.
01:02:00 And so I need to bolster my faith through praise, praising you for who you are,
01:02:03 a safe refuge, a supreme treasure, a sovereign Lord, and you do all this for me through your
01:02:11 sure and trusted counsel. Then verse 8, because I've bolstered my faith through praise, I'm now
01:02:16 no longer with a doubt petitioning. I'm now declaring I will not be shaken. You will preserve
01:02:22 me. And because I have that confidence now, verse 9 and 11, I'm rejoicing. I'm rejoicing in your
01:02:28 promises, your goodness, your protection, your salvation, your preservation, and all of that
01:02:33 is kind of the map of prayer, but there's one little verse that we haven't done, and we'll end
01:02:39 on it this morning, and that's verse 10. Now, at the surface level, verse 10, it's strategically
01:02:47 positioned, rightly positioned, right in between verse 9 and verse 11, because it's David again
01:02:52 declaring. It's his confident assertion. You won't abandon me. You're not just going to preserve my
01:02:57 soul. You're not just going to save me, sustain me spiritually, but you're going to preserve
01:03:01 my body, right? That was the main point that I started last week with. And this week, as a
01:03:06 reminder, God promises to preserve all his people, both in body, not just soul, but in body and soul
01:03:13 through life and death to complete an eternal joy. God fulfills this promise by being our safe
01:03:18 refuge, supreme treasure, sovereign Lord, and sure counselor. That's where we began. And that's
01:03:23 precisely what David is saying in verse 10. He's saying, my heart is glad. You've preserved me. I
01:03:28 want to be shaken. Spiritually, I'm rejoicing. Spiritually, I'm secure. Spiritually, I am safe.
01:03:34 And all of that's going to culminate, verse 11, in my eternal and everlasting full joy and pleasure
01:03:41 in your presence. But verse 10, he speaks to the safety and security that he is now confident of,
01:03:49 not just spiritually not just his joy but but his body you will not abandon my body to shield
01:03:56 you will not let your holy one see decay at the surface level david is simply making another
01:04:03 confident assertion because he's bolstered his phrase not only about god's protection and
01:04:09 preservation and salvation for him spiritually but even his preservation for david physically
01:04:15 that god is going to save and preserve david both in body and soul that's the surface level meaning
01:04:21 but we know that there's a much higher meaning to verse 10 of our text
01:04:27 that the true holy one is not king david the true holy one is who is now seated on the davidic
01:04:34 throne the one that david ultimately looked to to be his refuge to be his rock to be his treasure
01:04:42 to be his sure counselor
01:04:44 and his sovereign Lord.
01:04:46 The true holy one
01:04:48 who God the Father
01:04:49 would not abandon his body to shield
01:04:52 or let this holy one see decay
01:04:54 is not David, but Christ.
01:04:59 In closing, I want to just read a quote
01:05:01 from Joe Rigney.
01:05:02 I thought it was beautiful.
01:05:04 And speaking of the true fulfillment
01:05:06 of Psalm 16, particularly verse 10.
01:05:10 He says this,
01:05:12 This verse is a puzzle because of a simple fact, David died. His body did see decay. He was buried
01:05:20 and his soul was abandoned to shield. He was laid with his fathers and saw corruption.
01:05:27 And not only David, but all the saints in the Old Testament died in this way. Psalm 16 gives us a
01:05:33 window into what happened when people died. At death, the soul is separated from the body. The
01:05:37 body is laid in the ground and decays. The flesh falls to corruption. The soul is sent to Sheol,
01:05:43 to Hades, to the realm of the dead. The righteous journey to Abraham's bosom, to the place of 0.65
01:05:48 waiting, while the wicked land across the chasm wide in a place of torment. This is speaking to
01:05:54 the righteous and the wicked before the cross. Old Testament and Old Testament unbelievers. 0.97
01:06:00 but everyone wise and foolish rich and poor like everyone goes the way of all flesh no man can 0.91
01:06:08 ransom another from the power of Sheol no amount of wealth or riches can suffice to keep us from 0.88
01:06:14 the place of the dead death comes as a shepherd and all of us are his sheep but unlike the myriads
01:06:20 who had sunk down to Sheol before Christ took the journey with joy he wasn't just going the way of
01:06:27 all flesh he was making a new way for all flesh and he knew it we know Jesus knew it because he
01:06:33 sang psalm 16 he had warned the scribes and pharisees who would crucify him just as Jonah
01:06:39 was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish so will the son of man be three
01:06:44 days and three nights in the heart of the earth Matthew 12 40 and just as Jonah sang in the belly
01:06:50 of the fish, as we see in Jonah chapter 2, Jesus went into the earth, into the tomb, singing. Like
01:06:57 Paul and Silas, who would shake the foundations of a prison with a simple melody, in Acts chapter
01:07:02 16, Jesus sang a greater earthquake into the prison of all prisons. Christ had run his race
01:07:09 and finished his course. For the previous six days, he had labored, and now on the seventh day,
01:07:15 he rested in Sheol, in the belly of the earth.
01:07:19 And while Jesus waited, he sang Psalm 16.
01:07:24 It makes me think of the magician's nephew,
01:07:27 I.C.S. Lewis, that Aslan, the great lion,
01:07:30 speaks the creation into existence through song.
01:07:35 Christ, as he waits in the belly of the earth,
01:07:38 he went to the cross for the joy that was set before him.
01:07:41 He went with joy because Christ knew
01:07:43 that his body would not be abandoned to shield that he would not see decay he had prophesied he
01:07:52 had spoken with confidence that in the same way that jonah was delivered up from the belly of the
01:07:58 fish after three days three nights that so too the son of man would be delivered up that the earth
01:08:04 the tomb could not hold him that like the fish spewed up jonah out of his mouth that the earth 0.86
01:08:10 itself that Sheol, the grave, would spew up the Son of God, because the Son of God, if you think
01:08:16 of it almost like a fish, like digestive, the fish, Jonah just didn't sit well with the fish.
01:08:21 He couldn't digest him. He couldn't keep him. He couldn't consume him. He had to throw him up. In
01:08:26 the same way that you eat a meal or something that, you know, you get food poisoning. It's like,
01:08:29 I can't keep it down. So too, the tomb could not keep Christ down. The earth swallowed him up
01:08:36 at calvary but the earth could not hold him the tomb could not digest him as it were but rather
01:08:43 three days later just as the great fish with jonah the earth the tomb spewed up the son of god
01:08:49 and while he was there in the belly of the earth he's saying you will not let your holy one see
01:08:57 decay you will not abandon my soul to shield and it came to pass the son of god raised on the third
01:09:04 day. Crucified for the forgiveness of sins and raised for our justification. Let's pray. Father,
01:09:14 we thank you for your word. We pray that you would bless it to our hearts, our minds, our bodies.
01:09:19 And we pray, Lord, that you would be glorified in all that we do and all that we say. We pray
01:09:24 these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks so much for listening. But real quick, before you go,
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