Fullness Of Joy

We'll be reading from Psalm chapter 16, and God's Word reads as such.

Psalms 16 · chapter mention

Mictem of David, preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I say to the Lord, you are my Lord, I have no good apart from you.

As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.

The sorrows of those who run after another God shall multiply.

Their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup.

You hold my lot.

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.

Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

I bless the Lord who gives me counsel.

In the night also my heart instructs me.

I have set the Lord always before me.

Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Therefore, my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices.

My flesh also dwells secure.

For you will not abandon my soul to shale or let your Holy One see corruption.

You make known to me the path of life.

In your presence there is fullness of joy.

At your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

This is the word of the Lord.

You may be seated.

Well, it is certainly a privilege to be here with you.

And I was greatly surprised that some of you remember the last time I was here.

And Jonathan introduced me and prayed for the church that we had intended to plant in Somerville.

And so I am thankful for this congregation, this church here.

This morning I am here just to give you a preview of what Jonathan will look like in another 25 to 30 years.

But let's go ahead and get into God's word.

In 1985, Bruce Springsteen released the single Glory Days.

The song reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

And it was the 5th of a record-tying 7 top 10 singles to be released from the album Born in the USA.

Here are some of the lyrics from the song.

I had a friend who was a big baseball player back in high school.

He could throw that speedball by you, make you look like a fool boy.

Saw him the other night at his roadside bar.

I was walking in.

He was walking out.

We went back inside, sat down.

I had a few drinks.

But all he kept talking about was, glory days will pass you by.

Glory days in the wink of a young girl's eye.

Glory days, glory days.

Now I think I'm going down to the well tonight, and I'm going to drink till I get my fill.

And I hope when I get old, I don't sit around thinking about it, but I probably will.

Yeah, just sitting back, trying to recapture a little of the glory of, well, time slips away and leaves you with nothing, mister, but boring stories of glory days.

Bruce Springsteen, 1985.

So what about your glory days?

What time in your life, if you could hold on to it and keep it and have it forevermore, what would that be for you?

Would it be maybe back in high school?

If you were playing sports, involved in other activities?

Well, for some of you, you may look back, just like in the song, and say, yeah, I wish I could go back to that day.

And I wish I could go back to that time and have that forever.

For some of you, your glory days might be right now.

You're like, oh, man, this is the best time in life.

If I could just stay like this and have this time forever, that would be wonderful.

And for some of you young people, maybe you're looking ahead to glory days.

Oh, this, if I could have this in life, and I could have this position, and if I could be with this person,

oh, I would just want to hold on to that, and that would last forever.

This psalm, Psalm 16, is both a prayer and a testimony of David, as many of the psalms are.

And in this psalm, we see David explaining what his greatest glory is now in life for him,

and that greatest glory that he wants to hold on to forever.

So this psalm, which is a song, has both a temporal presence to it, but it also has an eternal presence to it,

both now and forever.

For David, what was his greatest glory?

Was it when he defeated Goliath?

Was it being a great warrior and defeating the Philistines time and time again?

Or was it being a great king?

Or did he simply want to go back to the simple days of being a young shepherd boy?

Well, as we will see, David's greatest good and greatest glory is not a time in his life

or an event in his life.

It's not a position or a possession, but rather as a person in his life, the person of God.

That's David's glory days.

The glory days that he experienced and wanted to hold on to forever.

The main point of this psalm is experiencing God as your greatest good,

both now and forevermore through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, through the gospel.

I have outlined the psalm into two sections.

Verses 1 through 6 describe why God is David's greatest good and glory.

And verses 7 through 11 tell about David's response of joy to having God as his greatest good,

both now and forevermore.

And both of these sections are dependent on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Take away the gospel.

Take away the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

David truly has no good that he can experience both in his life then and forevermore.

Now this psalm contains many references to the promised land of Israel

and points its readers to a greater eternal land of promise

where God's people will dwell with him and enjoy him forever.

So here in verse 1 we see David start off and he's praying to God

and he's asking God to preserve him.

He says, preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

So the question that should come to our mind when we see that is,

what is he asking God to preserve him from or to preserve him for?

Well, as we read through the psalm,

it's not outwardly obvious what David is asking God to preserve him from or for.

But as we go through the psalm, we'll see that the answer is right there.

And we'll get there and we'll talk about that.

David says here, preserve me, O God.

Keep me, O God.

Either from something or for something.

And then he says, in you, in you, God, I take refuge.

As I said, there's many references to the Israelites going into the promised land.

And we see that God gave the Israelites in the promised land cities of refuge.

Places where they could go and they could be safe.

If someone had unintentionally killed another person,

they could run to the city of refuge.

And they could find safety and protection from the avenger of blood,

as the Bible talks about it.

David states here,

it wasn't a city that he was looking for refuge in to find safety and protection.

His refuge is God.

God is the one that he can turn to for his safety,

for his protection,

for his wellness in life.

Verse 2 says,

I say to the Lord,

You are my Lord.

I have no good apart from you.

Can you imagine that?

Can you imagine no good apart from God?

Many of us, if not all of us,

are very blessed to live here in the United States.

For many years, I was a missions pastor.

I had to travel around the world multiple times to many other places.

Where they didn't have life nearly as good as we have it here.

So we have a lot of good in life.

Each and every one of us.

But David says here,

that apart from God,

he has no good.

How is it that David can say that?

How can God be his only source of good?

Well, that's one of the keys to understanding this psalm here.

And we'll talk about that a little bit more.

There in verse 2,

it says,

I say to the Lord,

if you pay attention,

you look at your Bibles,

you'll see that that word Lord there is in all caps.

L-O-R-D are all capitalized.

Then you are my Lord,

where the L is capitalized,

and the O-R-D is in smaller case,

lower case letters.

So the first word Lord,

which is in all caps,

is the word Elohim.

And it gives reference to God,

as Elohim,

as the one who is creator and ruler of all things.

And then the second word used for Lord there,

with the capital L,

and the lower case O-R-D,

is the word Adonai.

And that gives reference to the sovereignty of God.

God as master over his subjects.

So here,

David's saying,

I have no good apart from you.

Because God,

you are my creator,

you are my ruler,

you are my master.

And David sees that as good.

So my question for us is,

do we see that as good,

that God is our creator,

God is our ruler,

God is our master,

to whom we are to obey?

Do we see that as good in our lives?

If so,

why is it that we so often try and take God's place?

Why is it that we so often want to be master of our own lives?

Why is it that we want to have control over our lives so often?

David sees this as good.

This is God,

my creator,

the one who rules over me,

my master,

the one who I am to obey.

David says,

this is part of what it means

that he has no good apart from God.

Now this saying,

I have no good apart from you,

God,

flies right in the face

of our Western American culture.

The advertising agency,

the marketing agencies,

want to tell you

how you can have a good life.

And we can't avoid it.

TV,

radio,

billboards,

everywhere you look,

there are these messages coming at us

all day long

that we can't avoid.

Saying,

buy this,

have this,

do this,

be in this place

so that you can have good

in your life.

this message here

that David has

in verse 2,

I have no good apart from God,

flies right in the face

of our culture.

And we need to be aware of that.

What if we don't have

all that

these companies

are trying to sell us?

What if we don't have

the right house,

the right car?

What if we don't

have

the right relationship

with the right person?

And we could go on and on.

But all we had

is God.

Would we still say,

God,

I have no good

apart from you

when we want

all these things?

That's pretty tough.

But that's what

David is saying.

David was king of Israel.

David had a lot of good

in his life.

He wanted to build

a house for God,

a temple for God.

And God said,

no,

but I will build

you a home.

And David had this

magnificent palace

that he lived in.

Riches beyond

anything we can imagine.

But ultimately,

none of that

mattered to David.

He says,

God,

I have no good

apart from you.

As we go on,

take a look

here

at verse 3.

David says,

as for the saints

in the land,

they are the

excellent ones

in whom

is all my delight.

These are

another reference

to the land here.

Remember,

I said there's

going to be a lot

of references

to the promised land.

He says,

as for the saints

in the land,

they are the

excellent ones

in whom

David delights.

Why is it

that David

delights in the saints?

By the word saints,

some of the

translations say

holy ones.

He's talking about

other believers.

Now,

not all of the

nation of Israel

had a saving faith

in the promised one

that God would send.

But there were some.

The remnant

that God preserved.

And those are the saints

that David is talking about.

And why is it

he's saying

they are the

excellent ones

in whom

is all my delight?

Well, it's because

other believers

were around David

to encourage him

to continue

living his life

for God.

He saw

these other believers

as those who

God

not only chose

but those

but those who

God himself

delighted in.

And so David says

I'm going to delight

in what

God delights in.

And what God

delighted in

was those

he had chose

to be his followers

amongst the nation

of Israel.

And so David says

as for the saints

in the land

they are the

excellent ones

in whom

is all my delight.

And then

in verse 4

we get a contrast

to the saints

in the land.

The sorrows

of those

who run after

another God

shall multiply.

Their drink

offerings

of blood

I will not

pour out

or take their

names on my lips.

This is a reference

to those

who are not

worshiping

the one

true God

Elohim

Adonai

as we saw

but

they are

worshiping

idols.

They're

worshiping

little g

gods

false gods.

It says

the sorrows

of those

who run

after another

God

little g

God

shall multiply.

They think

they're doing

the right thing.

They're

worshiping

these little g

gods

these false

gods

these idols

and David

says I want

nothing to do

with that.

I will not

take part

in the sacrifices

they're offering

their drink

offerings

of blood

because for David

it was only

the blood

of the Savior

to come

that mattered

to him

not the

offerings of

blood

and sacrifices

to these

false gods.

he goes

as far

as saying

I will

not even

take

the names

of these

false gods

on my lips.

And so

we see

David

praising

and finding

delight

in the saints

in the land

and then

as to the

culture

and the

people around

him who

weren't

following

God

who weren't

truly

believers

in the

promised

redeemer

because at

this point

Jesus Christ

hadn't come

in history

he said

I don't

want anything

to do

with their

worship

in our

culture

even as

we referenced

earlier

where it

says I have

no good

apart from

you

in our

culture

we have

worship

of false

idols

all around

us

as we

were driving

here from

Somerville

there was

somebody

in a

brand new

Land Rover

Defender

that passed

by us

I'm like

man that's

a nice

car

I would

love to

have one

of those

and then

my wife

said well

that's probably

about 80,000

which is

probably about

80,000 more

than I have

and so

what did I

do

I got on

Siri

well the

base price

was 46,000

maybe doable

in another

lifetime

80,000

not at all

and although

that sounds

funny

the culture

around us

worships

false idols

false gods

and it's

so subtle

we are not

to get caught

up in that

David says

I want

nothing to

do with

what the

culture around

me is

worshiping

if it's

not the

one true

God

I need

other

believers

around me

I need

Christian

friendships

to encourage

me

to remind

me

to help

me

along the

way

to continue

to worship

the one

true God

I have

no good

apart from

that God

David says

why would

I want to

go to

these other

things

which are

temporal

that may

bring

pleasure

for a

time

although

80,000

driving it

around

may bring

pleasure

guess what

you got to

make that

payment

every month

after month

and what

do you have

to do to

make that

payment

you have

to work

hour

after hour

and so

there's a

price to

pay

what seems

like a

great pleasure

comes at

a great

cost

I have

no good

apart from

God

David says

I'm not

going to

chase after

false idols

false gods

I'm going to

be encouraged

by the

believers

around me

then here

in verse

five

David says

the lord

is my

chosen

portion

and my

cup

you hold

my lot

another

reference to

the Israelites

going into

the promised

land

the lord

is my

chosen

portion

and my

cup

for

the

twelve

tribes

of Israel

actually

eleven

of those

tribes

excluding

the tribe

of Levi

God

gave them

each

places

in the

promised

land

that they

were to

live

but the

Levites

they did

not get

a place

a portion

of land

that they

could call

their own

and I

remember

as a

younger

believer

reading that

in the

Old Testament

and saying

gosh

they got

the raw

end of

the deal

all these

other

tribes

they get

this

wonderful

land

promised

land

full of

milk

and honey

but the

Levites

they didn't

get any

of the

land

what's

up

with

that

God

but you

see

the

Levites

got

something

even

better

they got

God

as their

portion

while these

other

11 tribes

got a

portion

of land

the

Levites

got

God

himself

as their

portion

if you

had a

choice

between

taking a

portion

of land

and there's

some

great

land

around

here

if you

had a

choice

between

taking a

portion

of land

that God

would give

you and

say this

is yours

you could

live on

it

enjoy

it

do with

it

what you

want

or having

God

himself

land is

valuable

it's becoming

much more

valuable

all throughout

South Carolina

I'm sure

you've seen

that

as your

property

taxes

have gone

up

but as

valuable

and as

great

and as

wonderful

as

owning

a

plot

of

land

is

having

God

as

your

portion

is so

much

better

if you

didn't

have

the

land

but you

had

God

would

that

be

good

see

David

is

describing

how he

has no

good

apart from

God

if I

don't

have

the

land

but I

have

God

that's

good

David

came from

Bethlehem

Bethlehem

was known

as the

city of

David

he could

have

claimed

that

he could

have

said

that's

my

good

I

have

my

own

city

it's

named

after

me

the

city

of

David

Bethlehem

but that's

not

David's

portion

he's

saying

God

is

his

portion

and

he

sees

that

as

good

and then

it

says

the

Lord

is

my

portion

and

my

cup

you

hold

my

lot

well

my

wife

reminded

me

as we

were

driving

here

this

morning

that

there's

a

saying

that

we

use

quite

a

bit

my

lot

in

life

what

does

that

mean

my

wife

hasn't

been

feeling

well

for

most

of

her

life

and

she

says

I

guess

this

is

just

my

lot

in

life

that

I

wake

up

every

day

and

I

don't

feel

good

and

I

don't

feel

right

and

I

just

have

to

go

through

life

we

use

that

term

what

is

my

lot

in

life

well

back

in

the

Old

Testament

Deuteronomy

we

see

that

there

were

these

small

pebbles

or

stones

that

the

Israelites

used

to

determine

God's

will

and

God's

destiny

or fate

for them

and so

this word

lot

we could

substitute

the word

fate

or destiny

and he

says

here

the Lord

is my

chosen

portion

and my

cup

you hold

my lot

God

you hold

my destiny

God

you hold

my fate

God

you hold

the lot

for my

life

once

again

this is

another

reference

to

the

Israelites

going

into

the

promised

land

remember

I told

you

that

the

Levites

they

didn't

get

an

inheritance

of

land

they

didn't

get

a

portion

of

land

that

they

could

call

their

own

they

got

God

as

their

portion

well

God

did

make

allowance

for

them

to have

a place

to live

because

they had

to live

and serve

as

priests

and so

what God

did

was

he said

for each

of those

other

11 tribes

that did

get

an

inheritance

of land

they were

to

set

aside

cities

where

the

Levites

could

live

and to

give

them

pasture

land

where

they

could

raise

their

livestock

so

although

the

Levites

did

not

get

a

portion

of

land

they

were

given

a

place

to

live

in

the

places

of

the

other

11

tribes

and

as

we

look

at

the

Levites

they

were

divided

into

different

clans

and

it

was

by

lot

by

God's

determination

by

God

determining

for

them

which

of

these

cities

they

were

to

live

in

and

they

could

raise

their

livestock

in

and

so

going

through

that

study

of

the

Old

Testament

seeing

that

God

did

provide

a

place

for

the

Levites

to

live

in

these

cities

that

belong

to

the

other

11

tribes

it

was

by

lot

that

each

clan

of

the

Levites

then

had

had

a

place

where

they

could

live

and

raise

their

livestock

and

I

say

this

because

David

here

is

saying

it's

good

that

God

holds

my

lot

it's

good

that

God

holds

my

destiny

my

fate

what's

going to

happen

to me

in

life

so my

question

for us

is

do we

see

that

as

good

that

God

holds

our

lot

that

God

holds

our

destiny

that

God

holds

our

fate

do we

really

see

that

as

good

do you

want

another

destiny

in

life

is

there

something

else

you'd

rather

be

doing

something

that you

thought

man

if I

could

do

this

if

God

just

had

this

for

me

my

life

would

be

good

but

God

had

something

else

for

you

are

you

willing

to

look

at

that

other

thing

that

God

had

for

you

and

say

this

is

good

this

is

right

this

is

what

God

has

and

I

will

find

joy

and

pleasure

in

it

rather

than

what

you

wanted

for

your

own

life

that's

something

that we

all have

to struggle

with

on a

daily

basis

now I

love

living here

in South

Carolina

I was

raised in

Southern

California

and San

Diego

and lived

there

half of

my life

and I

wouldn't

mind

having

that

back

but God

says

my lot

my destiny

my fate

is living

in

Somerville

that's

a good

place

to live

I'm

not

complaining

I'll

take

that

any

day

over

many

other

places

in the

United

States

and

many

other

places

in the

world

that I've

been

to

so I'm

not

complaining

but if I

could just

be back

in San

Diego

living

in

at the

beach

be a

pastor

of

one of

those

congregations

that meets

at the

beach

and there

are those

places

there in

San

Diego

man

that

would be

a cool

destiny

but that's

not what

God has

for me

and I

have to be

willing to

say

God

your destiny

for me

your fate

your lot

for me

in life

God

that is

good

it's

better than

what I

even wanted

for myself

that's what

David's saying

here

God holds

his lot

and it is

good

for David

and I'm

hoping

that we

can say

God

holds

our

lot

and it's

good

for us

verse

six

David

explains

why it's

good

that God

holds

his lot

he says

the lines

have fallen

for me

in pleasant

places

once again

reference

to the

Israelites

going into

the promised

land

the lines

the boundaries

that God

set up

for those

eleven

tribes

the lines

have fallen

for me

David says

in pleasant

places

God's given

me a good

place

but it wasn't

really a place

it was a person

it was God

right

the lines

have fallen

for me

in pleasant

places

indeed

I have a

beautiful

inheritance

what was

David's

inheritance

what was

David's

portion

it was

God

himself

Ephesians

chapter

one

verse

eleven

says

this is

apostle

Paul

talking about

Jesus

Christ

says

in him

in Christ

Jesus

we have

obtained

an inheritance

having been

predestined

according to

the purpose

of him

God

who works

all things

according to

the counsel

of his

will

for us

as believers

if you are

truly

a follower

of Jesus

Christ

we have

an inheritance

in the kingdom

of God

and God

predetermined

that

predestined

that

for us

according

to the

purpose

of him

who works

out

everything

according

to his

will

according

to God's

lot

our

inheritance

is in a

place

is in a

position

doesn't

involve

possessions

it involves

our being

brought into

the kingdom

of God

where we get

to dwell

with God

and enjoy

him forever

and we're

going to

get to

that

but that's

what verse

Ephesians

1 11 says

David sees

that as good

I get God

as my

inheritance

verse 7

I bless

the Lord

who gives

me counsel

in the night

also my heart

instructs me

that word

bless

how do you

bless the

Lord

you praise

him

you worship

him

and here it

says I

bless the

Lord who

gives me

counsel

God had

given his

word to

David

through the

prophet Samuel

he was

anointed as

king

David had

access to

the Old

Testament

scripture

up to this

point

and David

sees it as

good

that God

is counseling

him through

his words

to David

we have

God's

word

do we

see it

as good

that God

counsels us

through his

word

God gives

us instruction

that we're

called to

live by

to obey

do we

see that

as good

David

says I

have no

good apart

from you

God

and included

in that

is his

counsel

his instruction

his words

to David

we need to

take that

at heart

for ourselves

as well

verse 8

David says

I have set

the Lord

always before

me

because he

is at my

right hand

I shall

not be

shaken

I set

the Lord

always before

me

he says

I always

have the

Lord in

mind

it's like

he's always

looking at

the Lord

he's always

right there

before me

I can see

him

I dwell

in his

presence

and because

I'm in his

presence

always

I shall

not be

shaken

he's at

my right

hand

he's right

there next

to me

do we

live our

lives

with God

always set

before us

what is it

that shakes

our lives

the things

we can't

get

the things

we don't

have

growing old

not being

able to do

the things

we used

to do

what is it

that shakes

our lives

well if

we have

God

there with

us

in our

presence

if he's

at our

right hand

we can

say like

David

I have

no good

apart from

God

I shall

not be

shaken

that's what

David is

saying here

as a result

of

God

as a result

of

what he

said here

in verse

eight

I have

set the

Lord

always

before me

because he's

at my

right hand

I shall

not be

shaken

so as a

result

of that

David

says

my heart

is glad

and my

whole being

rejoices

my flesh

also

dwells

secure

as a

result

of

always

having

God

before

him

as a

result

of

having

God

at his

right

hand

not being

shaken

in life

can you

imagine

what life

would look

like

if we

weren't

shook

up

by the

experiences

of life

for some

people it's

the loss

of loved

ones

maybe the

loss of a

job

maybe it's

sickness

or disease

that shakes

us up

in life

but

David

here says

I have

God

before me

always

he's at

my right

hand

I'm dwelling

in his