Psalm 16 - Success

We're going to get straight on with it. So turn in your Bibles to Psalm 16 and I'm going to read for us and then I'm going to hand over to Seth who's going to speak for us.

So on these Lord's Supper evenings, we've been looking through the Psalms and so we're up to Psalm 16. It is on page 549, if you have a church Bible, which Charleston very helpfully put out on all the chairs.

So you should have got one. Page 549, Psalm 16.

A mictam of David.

I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods or take their name on my lips.

Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup. You make my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Surely I have a delightful inheritance.

I will praise the Lord who counsels me. Even at night my heart instructs me.

I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand I shall not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. My body also will rest secure.

Because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead. Nor will you let your faithful one see decay.

You made known to me the path of life. You will fill me with joy in your presence.

With eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Well, this is God's word. Over to you, Seth.

So we are going to indeed be in Psalm 16 as we just looked at.

So if you do have a Bible, make sure to get it open or on your phone.

Because we'll be referring back to it multiple times.

But before we start, let me pray. And then we'll get into it.

Father in heaven, thank you for just the opportunity to open your word.

God, thank you that it is living and active and still speaks to us today, Lord.

I pray that you would speak through me today, Father.

Father, that your word would be able to minister to the people in this room.

So that we can go out and be lights in a dark place.

I pray all of these things in your name. Amen.

Alright. Psalm 16. Let's talk about success.

Success is a tricky word, isn't it?

It's only got four letters. S, U, C, and E.

But it means a whole, whole lot.

See, success can be the difference between a three-week holiday in the Maldives

or a day trip down to Brighton.

Success can be the difference between driving a Lamborghini or taking the bus.

Success can even be sometimes defined as the haves and the have-nots.

Or maybe you're not into that definition of success.

Maybe you're not into the rat race or the overachieving.

You're not into the high-stress situations.

Instead, maybe you would be more mindful.

You would define success as understanding your surroundings.

And it involves more than just achieving something.

So instead, you would say, well, we each get to define our own success.

If the first person that I described is your very typical finance bro that goes down to Canary Wharf

and has loads of stocks and trades,

then the second person I'm describing here would probably be your stereotypical yoga instructor

that is very happy with, you do you as long as you recycle.

Everything will be okay.

See, in the 21st century, we have many definitions for this word behind me,

for the word success.

But we can all pretty much agree

that is the one definition that we can get behind.

As long as you are feeling fulfilled,

then we would call that success.

At least that's what the world would say.

As long as we stay away from meaningless-ness on this side,

and we are going towards fulfillment,

we'll be okay.

But where does that fulfillment come from?

What if you're working a dead-end nine-to-five job?

Or maybe you're not working at all.

Maybe you're retired.

Where does that fulfillment come from?

Well, today we're going to look at a man

who had all the pleasures that he could have ever wanted.

He was king of Israel.

His name was David.

And yet, it wasn't the kingly pleasures that fulfilled him,

but something far greater.

So let's take a look.

Let's look at verse 1,

and we're going to start with the first point,

which is preserved in the Lord.

Verse 1 says,

Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge.

The words keep me safe,

there can also be translated as preserve.

So right from the very beginning,

we're going to start,

David starts,

by saying the Lord is his place of refuge.

The Lord is his strong tower.

The Lord will not falter.

Wherever David goes,

he knows that the Lord will be with him.

It is security.

The Lord is security for David.

So you're not normally supposed to start your sermon

with the punchline.

You're supposed to build up.

You have this crescendo.

And then finally,

you build tension.

You get to the end,

and you give people an answer, right?

If you've been at church for any amount of time,

you know how this goes.

It's build, build, build gospel.

That's how you're supposed to do it.

But that's not what David does,

right here in the Psalms.

He starts at the very beginning of this Psalm,

saying,

I want you to see how this is possible.

I want you to know what I am saying here

is indeed possible.

It's not possible because I'm a king,

and I have a lot of money.

It's not possible because I wake up at 5 a.m.,

do an ice bath, and drink a matcha.

None of that is what makes this possible.

See, David can have success,

feel fulfilled,

because he has been preserved in the Lord.

How has he been preserved in the Lord?

That's what the question that we should be asking is.

And as I was dwelling on this question this week,

it brought back a memory.

How many of us in the room, show of hands,

were lucky enough to meet our great-grandparents?

I remember being able to meet my great-grandparents.

I met three of them.

And I remember a few things about them.

Two really stand out in my mind.

One, my great-grandmother Archer,

she had a smell.

Now, notice I said a smell.

She didn't smell.

But she had a smell.

I remember distinctly, to this day, 20 years later,

after I gave Grandma Archer a hug,

my nose would kind of tingle a little bit.

The other thing that I remember about my great-grandparents

is that they had this huge walk-in pantry.

And once you got into the pantry,

if you looked on the back wall,

from the floor to the ceiling,

I kid you not,

were tinned vegetables.

When I was five years old,

I could have sworn they were 10 feet tall.

And what these tinned vegetables were,

were a way for my grandparents

to preserve fruits from their garden.

See, they were pretty prolific gardeners.

They would plant every year.

They would have fruits and vegetables

that would come in harvest time.

But if you've ever gardened at all,

you know that very quickly,

you go from having zero fruit and zero vegetables,

to all of a sudden,

you're blessed with 120 courgettes all at once.

And I don't know about you,

but I don't eat 120 courgettes in a year,

much less in a month before they go bad.

And so,

how do you keep them from going bad?

You would jar them,

and you would preserve them.

See, that's what my grandparents were doing,

is they were jarring these courgettes,

jarring their fruits,

jarring their vegetables,

so that they could have them

and extend their usefulness.

See, their usefulness would go

from lasting a very short time

to really lasting years.

That's what David is saying right here

at the beginning of this psalm.

See, we are the vegetables in this illustration.

We need to be preserved.

If we are left to our own devices,

we will rot.

Yes, we will look good for a time.

We will look juicy and succulent

for a time.

But there will come a time as well

when we rot

or when we're eaten by foxes.

And we will no longer be useful.

Instead, we need to be preserved.

But how?

Now, I want to start right here by saying

you can push illustrations too far.

All illustrations have a breaking point, okay?

And I want to tell you

that we are pushing this illustration

about as far as I am comfortable

pushing it right here, okay?

But I think this will be really helpful

in helping us understand

what David is trying to get at

right here at the beginning

by going just a little bit farther.

So from the beginning,

do you remember how I said,

I don't even actually know

if I've even said it,

but how you preserve vegetables.

So you preserve vegetables

by applying an intense amount of heat

to remove toxins.

And so these toxins go in,

they get rid of the imperfections,

and then once you get rid of the imperfections,

you seal that jar.

It requires heat.

Now what would happen

in our hypothetical here

if I took the courgettes

and I just threw them in the boiling water?

Well, you, me,

and everybody else

would be having courgettes

for the next week

because they would be cooked, right?

If courgettes would no longer be preserved,

they would be cooked,

you'd have to eat them

before they went bad,

which would maybe be a few days.

Instead,

if you're going to preserve them,

what do you need?

You need a jar.

Something that's going to stand

between the heat

and the vegetables

that takes the heat

but keeps the vegetables

from cooking.

See, in this illustration,

again,

you can push illustrations too far,

Jesus is the jar.

See, in this illustration,

he took the wrath of God,

the heat, if you will,

and that we deserved,

and yet,

he kept us.

And so now we are preserved

because of him.

See, David starts

off his psalm by saying,

this is good news.

We are safe

because we have been preserved.

We are safe

because God is our refuge.

He is the one that has done it.

Nothing that we could do,

we would rot without God.

And one of the best things

about this illustration as well

is that once you are preserved,

the jar never leaves

the vegetables either, right?

It's always with them.

So once you have been preserved,

David then will go on,

so let's move on

to the second point,

and that preservation

will overflow

into something

that is counter-cultural.

That was the heat.

Point number two

is contentment

in the preservation.

So we've established

that preservation

is necessary.

David is saying

that our preservation

now should overflow

into contentment.

Look back at the verses

with me.

Verse two,

he says,

apart from you,

Lord,

I have no good thing.

Verse five says,

you are my portion

and my cup.

Verse eight says,

I will keep my eyes

always on the Lord.

David says,

it doesn't matter

what is happening

around me.

I will be content

in the Lord.

He makes this

very apparent

if you look at verse five.

David is saying,

Lord,

you are my portion.

You are my cup.

You are the only need

for me to survive.

You're the only thing

I need

for survival.

See,

this is counter-cultural,

right?

David is choosing

to be sustained

by the Lord

instead of looking

for the things

of the world.

And let's not

kid ourselves.

See,

David had other options

to be fulfilled in,

right?

He was the king of Israel.

He could have had

his choice

of worldly pleasures.

But David,

in this psalm,

is saying,

no, no, no,

I do not need

more land.

I do not need

more mythical stories

told about my greatness.

I don't need

better clothes.

I don't need

a bigger palace.

What I need,

what can sustain me

in what I am doing

only comes

from the Lord.

And one of the

more famous psalms

in the hymns

of the psalms

is Psalm 119.

It says,

the word

of the Lord

is a lamp

unto our feet

and a light

unto my path,

right?

If you need

to be able

to see 50,

100,

150 meters

ahead of you,

you don't need

a lamp.

You need

a spotlight,

right?

That's the only

way that you're

going to see.

What does

a lamp illuminate?

It illuminates

the area

right in front

of you,

right around you.

So David

is saying

in Psalm 119

and here in

Psalm 16,

it doesn't matter

what is happening

around me,

I can't see it.

I'm holding up

a lamp.

What I can only

see and what

only matters

is what you

have provided

before me.

I will be content

in those circumstances,

Lord.

It doesn't

matter how

the world

defines success,

it doesn't

matter even

the persecution

that I might

come under.

The world

doesn't matter,

but the word

of the Lord

does.

So are you

going to be

content in

what the Lord

gives you?

Or do you

want to fall

into the trap

of what the

world wants?

See,

we've already

talked about

the world

has a different

definition of

success than

we do as

Christians,

right?

But it's

really easy

to sit in

here on

Sunday night

and think

of the world

as something

out there,

something that

doesn't really

affect us.

But if I

can,

for just a

second,

let me bring

the world

just a little

bit closer.

Christian,

in the room,

are you content

where you are

at in your

life right now?

Are you content

with the flat

that you are

in?

Are you content

with the money

in your bank

account?

are you

content with

the job

that you

do or do

not have?

To keep on

taking it a

little further,

parents,

are you content

with how your

children are

turning out?

Spouses,

are you content

with your

other spouse?

Now,

please hear

me.

This is not

a license

for us to

be lazy

and call

it contentment.

See,

Paul,

the Proverbs,

multiple other

spots speak

out some

strong words

against laziness.

This is not

license to be

lazy.

Raising kids,

earning money,

living life

in London

is hard

work.

It takes

diligence.

But if you

put in the

hard work of

raising kids,

of doing

your job,

are you content

with the results

that come?

And I

can't tell you

the amount

of time

that you

need to

spend with

the Lord

or the amount

of time

you need to

spend with

your kids.

That's

legalism.

I can't

do that.

That's

between you

and the

Lord.

But what

I can

say is

that real

trust,

real contentment

comes when

we trust

the Lord.

So we

have two

options.

We can

buy in

to what

the world

is trying

to tell

us.

to become

consumeristic,

if you

will,

discontent,

to where

we have a

desire for

more and

more and

more until

it becomes

almost

insatiable

and we

collapse

under the

weight of

those desires.

Or

are we

going to be

content in

the Lord?

David

in this

psalm had

his answer.

What's

ours going

to be?

finally,

let's move

on to the

last point

as we

move towards

a close

here.

We'll talk

about

rejoicing.

This is

the fun

part.

Let's look

at verse

nine.

David

says,

Therefore,

my heart

is glad

and my

tongue

rejoices.

My body

also will

rest secure

because you

will not

abandon me

to the

realm of

the dead,

nor will

let your

faithful

ones see

decay.

You

make known

to me

the path

of life.

You

will fill

me

with joy

in your

presence,

with eternal

pleasures at

your right

hand.

after finding

refuge and

preservation in

the Lord

and then

being content

in that

preservation,

now David

gets to the

fun part.

Now David

rejoices.

See,

David is

celebrating.

If you look

back at verse

four,

he's celebrating

because he's

not like those

people in

verse four.

He doesn't

run towards

other gods.

Instead,

he has found

contentment and

his joy in

the Lord.

not only

that,

he's found

blessings and

eternal pleasures

at God's

right hand.

That's what

he's saying.

This is the

party at

the end,

right?

This is the

celebration.

This is the

happily ever

after.

This is what

David's struggle

has all been

for for his

entire life.

This is the

celebration.

This is what

he's deserved.

If you think

about in our

terms,

this is the

party after

you've gotten

a promotion,

or this

is the

party once

you've

graduated.

This is the

prize at

the end

for your

struggle.

Or is

it?

See,

David lists

some criteria,

some entry

requirements,

a dress code,

if you will,

for entering

this party.

In verse

eight,

he says,

I keep my

eyes always

on the

Lord.

Was this

true of

David?

Has he

always?

Kept his

eyes on

the Lord?

If you

know anything

about the

Bible,

you're probably

familiar with

King David's

story.

He was

picked as

special from

a very

young age.

The youngest

of eight

brothers,

he was

anointed as

king while

he was

still watching

sheep.

While he

was still

quite young

as well,

he went

out to

battle and

fought a

giant and

won.

His name

is synonymous

with underdog

stories to

this day.

And then

when he

finally did

become king,

he pushed

Israel's

borders to

the largest

they had

ever been.

And yet,

if you

looked at

David's

rap sheet,

he would

not pass

the DBS

to be hired

here at

West Kilburn.

You would

not trust

your kids

with him.

Adulterer,

murderer,

liar,

all

accurate

descriptors

of king

David.

And yet,

how does

he get to

rejoice at

the end?

Why is he

enjoying the

blessings of

the saints?

Look at

verse 6.

That's the

key to

understanding

this.

David says

there's a

delightful

inheritance.

What's

significant

about an

inheritance?

inheritance.

But you

get an

inheritance

when someone

dies.

See,

when most

people die,

they have

a will,

and they

get to

determine

where their

earthly

treasures

go.

John

gets the

car,

Bridget gets

the house,

et cetera,

et cetera.

If you

fast forward

a thousand

years from

King David,

there has

just been

a death.

A carpenter

was crucified

on a cross

outside of

Jerusalem,

and most

people thought

it was no

big deal.

But instead

of business

returning as

back to

usual,

there's been

a disturbance.

And a man

who's been

accused of

being drunk

at 9 a.m.

stands before

a crowd

and proclaims

these words.

Fellow

Israelites,

listen to

this.

Jesus of

Nazareth

was a man

accredited by

God to you

by miracles,

wonders,

and signs,

which God

did among

you through

him as you

yourselves

know.

This man

was handed

over to

you by

God's

deliberate

plan and

foreknowledge,

and you,

with the

help of

wicked men,

put him

to death

by nailing

him to

the cross.

But God

raised him

from the

dead,

freeing him

from the

agony of

death,

because it

was impossible

for death

to keep

its hold

on him.

David said

about him,

this should

ring familiar,

I saw

the Lord

always before

me,

because he

is at my

right hand,

I will

not be

shaken.

Therefore,

my heart

is glad

and my

tongue

rejoices.

My body

also will

rest in

hope,

because you

will not

abandon me

to the

realm of

the dead,

you will

not let

your holy

one see

decay.

You have

made known

to me

the path

of life,

you will

fill me

with joy

in your

presence.

Fellow

Israelites,

I can tell

you confidently

that the

patriarch David

died and

was buried,

and his tomb

is here to

this day,

but he

was a

prophet,

and he

knew that

God had

promised him

an oath

that he

would place

one of his

descendants on

his throne.

Seeing what

was to come,

he spoke of

the resurrection

of the Messiah,

that he

was not

abandoned to

the realm

of the

dead,

nor did

his body

see decay.

God has

raised this

Jesus to

life,

and we

are all

witnesses

of it.

See,

Peter,

when he

looks at

Psalm 16,

he says,

yes,

in order

for us

to have

an inheritance,

there has

to be a

death.

But who

can go

and gain

all the

treasures

of heaven

in order

to give

us the

inheritance?

It had

to be

God himself.

It could

only be

God himself.

So he

sent his

son to

live the

life we

couldn't

live,

and then

he died

a death

that we

should have

died.

He took

God's

wrath for

our sin,

and he

gave us

God's

grace,

that he

had

earned,

in order

that we

could inherit

internal

life with

him.

Peter is

saying,

look,

Psalm 16,

it's not

talking about

David.

See,

we already

know David

had sinned,

so it

couldn't

obviously

be talking

about him.

But on

top of

that,

Peter says,

look,

David's

dead.

There's

a tomb

in the

city right

here where

we are

at.

We can

go point

to the

body.

But David

was a

prophet.

he saw

someone

coming in

the future,

and in

Psalm 16,

he points

us to the

greatest

inheritance

ever,

Jesus

Christ.

All we

have to

do is

believe.

believe.

I am

constantly

amazed at

the Bible.

The way

that the

Spirit speaks

through the

Word of

God

consistently

blows me

away.

How all

of these

things,

thousands

of years

apart,

can

connect.

Mind-boggling.

God

is

going to

I believe

today the

Spirit was

ministering to

you as

you heard me

talk,

as he was

ministering to

me when I

was writing

these words.

So the

question remains,

what are we

going to do

about it?

Maybe you

need to go

home and

meditate on

the fact that

you've been

preserved.

You're a

vegetable.

the fact

that the

Lord cares

and protects

me leaves

me speechless

when I

actually stop

and think

about it.

Or maybe

the Lord

has been

working on

your heart

when we

talked about

contentment.

Maybe you

need to go

home and

pray that the

Spirit would

change the

desires of

your heart.

Or maybe

the reality

that there is

a party at

the end of

your life and

you do not

meet the

criteria to

join has

really hit

home for

you today.

Maybe you

have the

realization that

you really

do need

Jesus.

Do not

fight it.

Give your

life to

Jesus.

Let him

change you

today.

Wherever you

are on this

spectrum,

what a

beautiful

opportunity we

have today

as we take

the Lord's

Supper to

remember the

sacrifice that

Jesus made

for us,

but also so

we can join

in the

celebration of

what that

sacrifice means

for us.

Remember,

everyone out

there is going

to want you

to define

success for

your life,

but contentment

and fulfillment

can only come

when we lean

into God's

definition of

success.

Let's pray.

Father,

thank you for

today.

Thank you

just for your

word that

speaks,

God.

Thousands of

years from

when these

words were

spoken,

you are

ministering to

us today

in a city

that these

people didn't

even know

existed,

God.

You're

bringing the

word to

our city,

Lord.

We want to

be a part

of it.

So help us

to define

success not

by how people

out there

want us

to define

it,

but how

you define

it here

in your

word,

Lord.

Help our

priorities to

look so

strange to

people out

there that

they just

count us as

weird and

those Christians.

God, I pray

that we would

be on fire

for you,

that we would

share and

show that

true contentment

and true

success is

knowing you

and making

you known.

Pray all of

these things

in your name.

Amen.

Amen.