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1:00Many of you know my family, and a lot of you know that Beth and I went through a season of very dark depression about four years ago. I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that we were new parents in a new city with a new job. And the pace of this intense change, coupled with unmet expectations, caused us both to descend into a deep darkness and even to despair. Of life itself. It was during that time, praise the Lord, that my wife reached out to godly women in the church, and they encouraged her to read and memorize Psalm 16. And she did. Day by day, she meditated on these words, savoring the truth of God's character. So now, today, I can't think of Psalm 16 without remembering that season of darkness in our life. So I invite you to read with me. And as we read together, I invite you to reflect on two things. The first is reflect on a season of your own life when you were trapped in the grip of despair. Perhaps you're in that season now.

2:14And holding that in mind, number two, meditate on the character of God. The character of God reveals in these words that we're about to read. So without further delay, let's read Psalm 16 together. Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in you. I said to the Lord, You are my Lord. I have no good besides you. As for the saints who are in the earth, they are the majestic ones, in whom is all my delight. The sorrow of those who have bartered for another God will be multiplied. I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, nor will I take their name upon my lips. But the Lord is my portion of my inheritance. And my cup. You support my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me. I will bless the Lord who has counseled me. Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night. I have set the Lord continually before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will dwell securely. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will you allow your holy one to undergo decay. You will make known to me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand are pleasures forever. The word of the Lord.

3:50The Psalm begins, Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in you. So, David, the writer of this psalm, begins with a cry for help. It's a petition. And the rest of the psalm, verses 2 through 11, is an answer to these first two words. Interestingly enough, this isn't God coming down in a whirlwind telling David these things. This is David talking to his own soul. This is self-counsel. Thinking back to my own family's experience with despair, I hear the agony in David's first two words: Preserve me. I know because I've cried out those words myself. I feel David grasping for hope. I know how it feels to long for preservation because I've just got nothing left in my own strength. I imagine that there are many of you here today who have felt that way too. How do you counsel your soul in these times of trouble? Well, let's look. What did David do? David follows his plea with a declarative statement: O God, I take refuge in you. This isn't a statement of denial. David is fully aware of the perils in his life. It's a statement of trust. To put it another way, David is refuge shopping. He recognizes I need help. Should I trust in military strength? Should I trust in great wealth and treasures? A large inheritance? Perhaps some other God?

5:28But David chooses and declares that Yahweh is his refuge, because he will conclude later on that only in God can be found eternal security and joy. How does David know this? Well, I believe he tells us. I believe this is the purpose of Psalm 16. It answers the question: how do we know that we can trust God on our day of trouble? Is God really a safe and worthy refuge? In the following verses, David lays out three reasons. Why God is worthy of our trust. Number one, we can trust God because he is good.

6:07Number two, we can trust God because he is wise. And number three, we can trust him because he is faithful. Let's begin. We can trust God because he is good. Let's read verse two. I said to the Lord, You are my Lord. I have no good besides you. Let's just be clear who we're talking about. This is David speaking in the first person to the Lord, all caps, Lord. Now, this indicates the proper name for Yahweh. That's the name revealed to Moses at the burning bush. David says, I said to Yahweh, you are my Lord, lowercase. Now, this is a different word in Hebrew, Adonai. In English, we use the same word, but the difference between these two can't be overstated. David is submitting to a Lord, a sovereign, a master, and that Lord is Yahweh. There is no refuge apart from this relationship. You see, David lived in a time where safety, physical safety, was found in walled cities. You had these marauding kings going about from village to village, town to town, and the people who worked and lived outside of the walls, when the enemy came, they would retreat. They would retreat into the walled city. And who would protect them? The king of the city. In return for his protection, the people would serve the king. They would pay tribute. They would obey his laws. David is describing a very common social contract for his time. It's the idea that he will serve and obey the Lord because he knows that he's defenseless without him. Thus, David declares lordship to Yahweh. And then here comes the reason in the second part of verse 2: I have no good besides you. That preposition, besides, can be understood as without or apart from. David has nothing good apart from God. In other words, this social contract is exclusive. If Yahweh is Lord, then nothing else can have David's allegiance. Choosing God as your refuge means not choosing everything else. But David calls this choice good. In Psalm 34, 8, he says, Taste and see that the Lord is good. Happy are those who take refuge in him. Yahweh is not just a safe refuge, he's a happy refuge. It's the good pleasure of the king to welcome David into his protection, and it's the good pleasure of David to be welcomed. David knows that his life, his treasure, his property, they're all forfeit if he's dead. The goodness of God. God must supersede the goodness of everything else. And the Apostle Paul, he reaches the same conclusion. He wrote in Philippians, For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ.

9:16So picking back up in Psalm 16, verse 3, it says, As for the saints who are in the earth, they are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight. Verse 3 expounds on the delight of David that he has found in God. He says that this delight extends out to the people of God as well. This is a biblical fact. If you love God, you will love his people. Allow me to make it personal for a second. Do you find delight in God's people?

9:51I heard John Piper issue this challenge once, and it convicted me. He said, if you do not find joy in being around other Christians, then you should ask yourself two very important questions. One, you should ask yourself, do you know any real Christians? I mean, seriously, not just churchgoers, but real Christians who are redeemed and made new by the grace of God. And if the answer is still no, you should ask yourself, are you really a Christian? Because if your heart's chief desire is to know and be like Christ, then how can you not rejoice in those in whom Christ rejoices? Why are the people of God? God so majestic? Well, just look at everyone else. Verse 4 says, The sorrows of those who have bartered for another God will be multiplied. I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, nor will I take their names upon my lips. That phrase in verse 4, bartered for other gods, that carries the nuance of paying a bride price, which we know from other Old Testament passages is an allegory for idolatry. David sees the sorrows of those who are literally selling out for other gods, even Israelites who are divorcing their covenant with Yahweh and chasing after other gods. David vows not just to abstain from idol worship and ritual practice, he swears not even to speak their name. Such is his commitment to Yahweh as his exclusive Lord and sovereign.

11:25Now look with me at verses five and six, which I believe summarize David's argument to this point. He says, The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup. You support my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me. If you have an ESV translation, you might see the word chosen inserted there. The Lord is my chosen portion. This is an appropriate nuance and a reminder that David has chosen to follow God. God, because David knows of all the gods in the universe, of all the things that can draw our affections, nothing can satisfy like Yahweh.

12:12All other cups are empty, but his cup is overflowing. Psalm 23, right? My cup overflows. Why? Because goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. You choose, but you only get to choose one. You can't drink the cup of the Lord and of demons. So who does David choose? We'll go back to verse 5. God holds my lot. Now, a lot is a physical, tangible device. It's kind of like a stone. It represents what we call chance, like a dice or a coin flip in modern day. But by nature, a lot is uncertain, it's unpredictable, but in God's hands, it's secure. In my work as a hospital chaplain, I've gotten to have a lot of conversations with people who are on their deathbed. Very recently, a couple of weeks ago, in fact, I met with a believer who was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer. And he said something to me. He said something that I don't think I'll ever forget. My response to hearing his diagnosis was immediately one of sympathy. It was, I'm so sorry to hear that. He looked at me with calm in his voice and peace in his eyes. And he says, John, you don't need to be sorry. I have given my will to God.

13:40See, this man was telling me that even in the uncertainty of death, he is secure in the goodness of God. He's given his lot to the Lord. And I pray that when I'm on my deathbed, I have such confidence. Verse 6 picks up that theme: The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me. What is that heritage? In David's context, I think there are a few possibilities, but the one that jumps to the front of my mind has to do with land.

14:20I'm reminded of the children of Israel when they entered the promised land, and Joshua is literally tasked with forming boundary lines set between the tribes of Israel. It's their inheritance. That is, you may remember, all except for one tribe, the Levites. Do you remember what their inheritance was? Numbers 18:20 tells us, The Lord said to Aaron, You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them, because I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel. Now, if you were a Levite, would you be. Satisfied with this? I think I would be a little disappointed. Well, David is not a Levi, but he has spent much of his life as a fugitive. No land, no family, no property to fall back on. He was disinherited in almost every physical sense of that word. But he is content. Not just content, he is thankful because he says, God, even if you are all I have in this world, you are enough. I'm not coming to you for material gain. I'm not coming to you for physical healing. Those things are not my heritage. You are my heritage. I'm coming to you because you are a better inheritance than anything else I could have in this world.

15:51Friend, is God worth more to you than the sum of his blessings? It's a subtle temptation, especially in seasons of anguish and despair, to treat God as nothing more than a pressure relief valve. God can and does provide peace and healing and rest for your soul. Amen and amen. But beware, God's goodness does not equal your comfort. Because you may just discover that the trial from which you are seeking relief, perhaps that trial is his goodness in action. James 1 says, count it. Joy, my brethren, when you face various trials and skipping down, so that you may be complete, lacking nothing. Part of trusting God is recognizing that his heritage is beautiful, even if it doesn't appear so at the moment. We could spend more time here, but I'd like to move on. We can trust God because he is good. That is to say, he deals bountifully with his people when they come and submit to his lordship and eat at his table. Secondly, we can trust God because he is wise. This can be found in verses 7 through 8. Read with me in verse 7: I will bless the Lord who has counseled me. Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.

17:20Now, I know we all probably have an image that comes to mind when we hear the word counselor, and I'm sure that image is not always positive. But let's just remember that counseling is God's idea, it's intrinsic to his work on earth. You can trace God's counsel all the way back to the Garden of Eden, when he tells the man, Don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day that you eat of it, you will surely die. And I don't need to tell you that the rest of the Bible plays out as a result of Adam and Eve refusing to submit to the counsel of God. And I'm glad. God is not like me because at this point I would have been like, all right, humans, you don't want my device. I'll just shut my mouth and let you handle it. But God doesn't do that because God is a wonderful counselor. In an act of stunning mercy and loving kindness, God continues to reveal himself and he has laid out instructions for life and godliness. If you have your Bible open in front of you, you are holding the counsel of God. What an undeserved gift.

18:34Psalm 33, 11 through 12 says, The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage. Why are the people of God blessed? Because he has revealed to them the way of life. Deuteronomy chapter 30, verses 19 through 20. Now, to set the scene here, God has just laid out the terms of the covenant with Noah and the people of Israel. And they have just received God's counsel, and this is what he has to say about it. God says, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God. Obeying his voice, holding fast to him, for he is your life and your strength of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob. See, there is life and security in the counsel of the Lord, which, by the way, is the whole point of biblical counseling. It seems pretty obvious, right? If you're not familiar, Jeff DePue and Redeemer Baptist Church, they have been working to open up a biblical counseling center here in Bryan College Station. It's a wonderful ministry. And I've been talking to Ethan Thatcher about it, and he's very involved in that counseling center. They just opened their doors, and he tells me that they're already overbooked. People are just pouring in. Why do you think that is? I mean, aren't there plenty of therapists and psychologists here in the area? Sure, there are. But I think people are realizing that the counsel of God is better able to speak to their circumstances than the counsel of men. And it makes sense when you think about it. When we do soul care, which is the root of the word psychology, shouldn't we at least consult the architect of the soul?

20:45David realized this as well. He says in verse 8, I have set the Lord continually before me because he is at my right hand. I will not be shaken. Notice the verb tense. Have continually set. It's a continuing action, not something you can do once and be done. Also, notice where he sets the Lord. At my right hand. This is the place where the king's advisor sits. And King David, as we know, had many advisors, and we know a couple of their names from the pages of Scripture. One of them is Ahithophel. And it said that Ahithophel's counsel was so good, it was like he consulted directly with the oracles of God. So of all the guys in the kingdom, he was the guy that you wanted at your right hand. So the question I pose to you is simple. Who's at your right hand? What counsel do you consult again and again and again?

21:51Now, if I'm being honest with myself, it's usually this. Can anyone relate? What is it for you? Is it social media? A certain celebrity? Fox news? See, there's no security in these things. There's no life. But did you know that God has given us a counselor specifically for this purpose? John 14:16, Jesus says, I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper. That word helper can also be translated advocate or counselor, that he may. Be with you forever. That is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see him or know him, but you know him because he abides with you.

22:43Friends, if you are a believer, if you have submitted to the Lordship and refuge of Jesus Christ and are found in Him, like the book of Ephesians says, if this is true, then the Holy Spirit is living inside of you. And if God dwells in you, then you can truthfully declare, like Psalm 16, verse 8 says, God is at my right hand, therefore, I will not be shaken. Do you see the confidence that comes from the wisdom of God? Do you see the generosity with which God grants wisdom to those who ask?

23:24We can trust God because He is good. We can trust Him because He is wise. And finally, the third reason we can trust that God is a safe and worthy refuge is because He is faithful. Let's turn back to verse 9. It says, Therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will dwell securely. Now, here in verse 9, we have our first and only therefore in the text, implying that the last eight. Verses have been building up to a sort of grand declaration. So, what is that declaration? My heart is glad, and my glory rejoices, and my flesh will also dwell securely. Notice that David is not just talking about bodily security, although bodily security is very much a part of it. The refuge of God is a refuge for his heart. That's the center of thinking and feeling in the Hebrew language. It's a refuge for his glory. That's another way of saying for his reputation and his influence. And God is a refuge for his flesh, physical, bodily flesh, which brings us to verse 10. Now, verse 10 should be very familiar to most of you. It says, God, for you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will you allow your holy one to undergo decay. So, I want to stop here briefly and talk about what is probably on a lot of your minds right now, which is, why haven't we talked about Psalm 16 as a messianic psalm? I mean, isn't that the whole point of Psalm 16? Well, it's a good question, but let me start with a simpler question, which is just, is Psalm 16 a messianic psalm? And to that, the answer is undoubtedly yes. Here's why. If you remember back in Acts chapter 2, Peter, he's filled with the pets. With the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and he starts preaching. He presents the resurrection of Jesus Christ to the crowds in Jerusalem that have gathered for the feast. And what's interesting is that of all the passages in the Bible that Peter could turn to, he builds his argument on this verse of Psalm 16. This is what Peter says about it. This is his commentary. He says, Brothers, this is Acts chapter 2:29, by the way. Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. Paul uses the same argument in Acts chapter 13, also talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So if there is any doubt that Psalm 16, 10 is pointing forward to the physical bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, if there's any doubt about that, be assured that this is not the case. You can't explain away that this isn't a messianic psalm. So why have I waited so long to mention this? Well, it's very simple. So I'm convinced that this prophecy is not. The main point of Psalm 16. Is it beautiful? Yes. Is it significant? Yes. Is it supernaturally inspired? Absolutely. It's just a part of David's argument, not the main conclusion. Remember what 1 Peter 1:10 through 12 says about the nature of prophecy. It says, Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves in the things that have now been announced. So for David's part, he had no illusions about his own death. The prophet Nathan told him in 2 Samuel 7 that when your time is fulfilled, you will lie down with your fathers, and I will raise up offspring after you. That's what Peter says when he's quoting this prophecy. So David knew, being filled with the Holy Spirit, that he was talking about somebody else's bodily resurrection, that someone else would not see corruption or decay. But inspired though he was, he didn't understand how that would work or the time that that would be fulfilled. It was like he was looking through a clouded looking glass. But we get to see the clearer picture. So what is David's point? How does This messianic prophecy fit in the context of God being a safe and secure refuge? Simply this: David is emphasizing the significance of God's faithfulness. Let me explain with a little bit of a using our imagination a little bit. Imagine that you're an Israelite, and let's say you're working on a building and you're swinging your hammer, and suddenly the head of the hammer flies off and it strikes someone in the head and it kills them. Now, God's law stipulates that there's actually a place you can go if you unintentionally kill someone, and it's called a city of refuge. And this is found in Numbers 35. The point is that in these cities, you are protected from vengeance. Let's say the man that you killed had a brother and some angry cousins, and they band together and they're coming after you. Well, the Torah says that outside of the cities of refuge, Lex Talionis is the law of the land. And that's just an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, blood for blood. But within the city of refuge, nobody can touch you. Now, imagine that you're running from the angry mob, and you finally arrive at the city of refuge just in the nick of time. But to your dismay, the king has closed the city gates. They're bolted, and there's a note on the door. Gone on vacation. Come back later.

30:01Now, for you, that would be tantamount to a death sentence. You don't stand a chance. That's what it feels to be abandoned to death. And I think that was David's greatest fear. You see, there is no security in a good and powerful and wise refuge if it's only open on Sundays, Christmas, and Easter. God made a covenant to his people to be their God. He promised life and length of days to those who obey him. We read that in Deuteronomy 30 just a few minutes ago. So, David's hope, it's rooted in the fact that God will never, ever default on his side of that covenant. See, David knows that God has promised life. Therefore, God will not abandon his people to death. He will never abandon them to death. A truth that somehow, although David didn't understand exactly how, somehow that stretches into eternity. See, you and I, we get to know how. We have the clearer picture. Romans 6, 8 through 9 says, if we have died with Christ, we will also live with him because we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him. See, this is what David saw. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, death conquered, freedom restored. But can David trust this prophecy? Yes, because God is faithful to his promises.

31:44Friends, do you believe that God will keep his promises to you? Because if God is not faithful, then your adoptions as sons is meaningless. Praise God that he has demonstrated his faithfulness over and over and over and over again. You see, we could spend a lifetime examining the evidence of God's faithfulness. The examples are so many. But if you want just a glimpse of the assurance that David felt, read Psalm 136. Pastor Tom read this psalm last Sunday on the day that his father passed away. In it, David repeats again and again the refrain: the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever. In grief, in loss, in crisis, in despair, the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever.

32:44When I visit patients in the hospital, this is what I emphasize when I'm in the room with a believer. God does not abandon his people. And I can tell you from my own crisis that this is exactly the truth that I needed to hear and believe. But for unbelievers, all I can offer them is pity. So, for you, my friend, have you sought refuge in Christ? See, in verse 11, David describes exactly what you're going to find there. Verse 11 says, In your presence, there is what? Fullness of joy. In your right hand, there are pleasures. How long? Forever.

33:34See, God's goodness does not equal your comfort, but it does produce joy. How could it not produce joy when we have a God who is not far off, but who has endured the cross, despising its shame, redeeming you, canceling the written debt that's against you? How can we not rejoice that Christ right now is acquainted with grief, your grief, and he's sitting at the right hand of God the Father continually interceding for you? Does that not produce joy?

34:10My friends, if you are saved, nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. And if you are not saved, then please, I beg you, before it's too late, forsake that old refuge that you've placed your trust in. Like the main character in Pilgrim's Progress, we tell our kids at BBS, flee destruction. Flee. Run to Jesus. Revelation 19, we just went over in church. His name is what? Faithful and true. Why can we trust him? 1 John 1:9, because he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of unrighteousness. You can trust him because he is good, because he is wise, and because he is faithful, and there is no other name under heaven by which men can be saved. So, friends, take refuge in him today.

35:18Let's pray. Father, thank you that you are a safe and worthy refuge for our souls. Father, that in you are the words of life. Where else can we turn? But God, you have freely given. Lord, I'm humbled by that. I know I don't deserve that. But Father, thank you for being there. Thank you for your mercy and grace, which is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Father, that your mercies are new every morning, because great is your faithfulness.

36:13Please, as I live, as my friends live, Lord, that that would sink into our hearts, that we would not just know that, but we would live that, that your Holy Spirit would guide us in all things. In Jesus' name, amen.