20260222 Psalms 16.1-11 Sunday Sermon Mike Dickmann

Let's pray what's more than please Father we

do thank you for your help thus far for meeting

with us and encouraging us with your presence

We're thankful now for this time when we get

to open your word once again to study it and

to learn from you and pray that you would speak

to us through your word this morning That you

use me as your instrument to accomplish those

purposes Help me then to be true to your word

and helpful to all that are here We do pray again

for the loss that they would be found of you

today, that those who are gathered in among us

as well as in other Bible -believing and truthful

-speaking churches would hear the gospel for

the first time and be saved. We ask that all

that you might be glorified, that we would be

strengthened in our walk. We pray in Christ's

name. Amen. Well, I had quite a time. It took

me all week to come to a subtle conclusion as

to what the Lord would have me to preach this

morning. And I had attempted other things, other

passages, other topics. Had no real Conviction

that that's what a boy would have me to do but

on Friday he finally I Shouldn't say that on

Friday. I finally realized What he would have

me to speak on and I've confirmed in that Because

of all that's already been said today from the

opening It's it's what one common thread throughout

the service, so I'm going to bring a probably

brief word from Psalm 16 this morning and I'm

really going to shock everybody because I'm going

to do it from the New American Standard Bible

So it's one of these places where I really do

like this translation. So I'm doing it there.

So we've got to set the background a little bit

here. David's on the run. He's running from salt.

He's got no permanent residence, obviously. He's

got nothing. He's got a few of his mighty men

and his people with him, and they're going from

cave to cave and place to place, fleeing just

in the nick of time to escape Saul and his murderous

plots. That's what this psalm, when this psalm

is written, and it's what it's depicting. And

it's also... depicting David's cover. We looked

at cover last week, how it's impossible for us

to cover ourselves. We can't do anything to cover

our sinful ugliness before God. But David, in

that Psalm, told us what a blessed thing it was

that we have God's cover. God covers His people.

What we could never do ourselves He has done

for us. So now we're proceeding on then in this

Psalm to evaluate our lives under the cover of

God. We're in the regeneration. We have the Spirit.

And as we were called to stand fast throughout

the service, as we were called to get in the

battle. This is what David is facing here, and

so he's giving us a good example of what it is

and how it is that we can and must stand fast

in our faith. There is a cause. There is something

to fight over. The souls of men, our own souls,

the cause of truth. It's all worth every ounce

of our energy that we pour into it. Men waste

their lives fighting and battling over nothing.

It's all foolishness. It's not worth the effort.

That cannot be said in our walk with the Lord.

And in this Psalm then, and really in all the

Psalms, Some more than others and this is very

very clear here in this song that there's three

Participants in the song There's David this is

a personal testimony of David This is a this

is what he's testifying to in all of his troubles

So he's he's one he's also giving us a picture

of Jesus Christ in this song The life and death

and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is

on display in this psalm. And so those two things

being true, it's also of necessity true for all

of us to be in this psalm. We're under the cover,

reunited with Christ. We're at one with David

in our service of our God. So you can get all

of those things out of this. We're obviously

going to look at how this psalm affects us primarily.

We're going to learn from David and from our

Lord how to walk, how to stand. So we'll begin

to read that in the first verse. I won't be long

on any one of these topics. Again, this is something

to consider, to think on. It's not something

that you can just hear once. I could stand here,

I couldn't today, but normally I could stand

here for quite a while, probably at least an

hour on this sound. The Puritans would take one

verse of this song to preach for an hour. That's

how much is here. That's how much you can open

it up. And you can do it for yourself. If you

want to. If you have a mind to. It's not difficult.

David begins, preserve me, O God, for I take

refuge in thee. It's wonderful to be able to

pray that prayer. I take refuge in thee, Lord.

I'm depending upon you. Preserve me. He's not

claiming any merit. He's not claiming any ability.

David's only claiming his relationship to God.

And because he's in this right relationship to

God, he can pray, preserve me, with faith. That's

how we can all pray. We have to pray believing.

Do you have, the old timers used to say, what

is the warrant of your faith? Do we have a warrant?

Yes! We're covered in the righteousness of Christ.

We have every warrant or every right to come

to Christ for His perseverance. That's what David's

doing here. All of his confidence, all of his

trust is in the fact that he is in Christ, or

he is in God. He has taken refuge in God. Or

we would say of ourselves, we have taken refuge

in Jesus Christ. I said to the Lord, thou art

my Lord. I have no good besides thee. Okay, so

here it is. This is again how we have to come

to this understanding. This is what we have to

believe. This is my Lord. That's what David says,

right? I said to the Lord, thou art my Lord.

He makes it personal. It's always personal. We're

going nowhere in this life if it's not personal.

Do you pray to the Lord? You are my God. You

are my all Jesus Christ. And then he goes on

and he says, I have no good beside thee. Now

again, are you willing to contemplate? Are you

willing to meditate? Are you willing to think

on the essence of that statement? Nobody knows

but you, whether that's true of you or not. Nobody.

Do you really believe that? Could you pray that?

I have no good besides thee. It's quite the statement.

So he's declared his love and devotion and dependence

upon God in these first two verses. He has nothing

besides. It's all about you, God. I'm not the

center of my own life anymore. Nothing is at

the center of my life but you. I'm casting everything

else aside to make every effort to have you as

the center of my existence. You know when I was

first converted when we were, you know... just

beginning to learn all of the truths about God.

There were two groups of folks. We encountered

both of them in our travels. One, had no use

for any doctrine. Just loved Jesus. Jesus as

your Savior. But all the emphasis was on loving

other people. You had to love your neighbor as

yourself. And every Sunday you'd get a sermon

on that. Everything revolved around a horizontal

relationship with other people. Another group

was just the opposite. They didn't have any concern

for the dynamics of the relationship of the people

of God in the church. Their whole emphasis was

vertical. learning about God, loving God. Now,

both of those things are absolutely essential,

but not to the exclusion of the other. You've

got to have both. You've got to have both of

those goals in your Christian life. And David

demonstrates that in the third verse. And he

says, as for the saints who are in the earth,

They are the majestic ones in whom is all my

delight David understood if he claims to love

God he has got to love his neighbor These are

not Possible without the other you cannot love

your neighbor without loving God and vice versa.

It's all there is to it If you're not willing

If you're not willing to declare that you are

the least of the saints, then your thinking has

got to be changed. It's got to be amended. If

you can't consider everyone else before yourself,

that's what he's telling us here. That's our

attitude. Again, that's huge. And nobody can

see it but you. You can give hints to it. by

the way that you act but you can we can all put

on a good show we can all pretend but what's

in your heart what's in your mind are you really

ready to die for one another are you really ready

to sacrifice whatever you have for the good of

the other are you willing to empty your pockets

if needed be for the good of your neighbors That's

what he says. He says they're the majestic ones.

So we've got here in these first three verses

what every Christian should be. I mean, I could

quit right now, really. I've given you enough

to think of for days already in these three verses.

But I'm not. I want to go on. And here in verse

four now, is a negative. The sorrows of those

who have bartered for another God will be multiplied.

I shall not pour out their libations of blood,

nor shall I take their names upon my lips. In

other words, that's describing those who have

embraced false gods, false religions, sinful...

practices of worship. The whole ball of wax.

So we have to be aware that there are those people

out there. They're still there just as they were

in David's day. They're still preaching a false

gospel. They're still worshiping false gods.

They're not telling the truth. Their practices,

their worship practices are unacceptable. Now,

we have to love those folks. We have to give

them the gospel. I'm not saying anything else

but that. But we can't embrace them. We can't

include them. They're welcome to come and they're

welcome to learn, but they're not welcome to

teach. They're not welcome to promote any false

religions. personal responsibility in our personal

lives. You need to know who your friends are.

You need to know what they believe. You need

to know if they're Christians or not. You need

to know these things so you can accurately witness,

but so you can accurately protect your family

from any ungodly influences. It's part of the

battle. It's part of the standing. Oh, but these

people are so nice, and the overwhelming majority

of them are. They're so friendly. It doesn't

matter. They're not helpful. They're not honoring

God. They're not good for us. So then it goes

on in verse 5. The Lord is the portion of my

inheritance and my cup. Thou dost support my

lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant

places. Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me."

Now, you remember, this is David on the run.

He doesn't have a house. He doesn't have a home.

Well, what's he saying? He's declaring, the Lord

is the portion of my inheritance, my cup of my

standing, my lot. The lines have fallen in pleasant

places. Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.

Now this is really depicting like the dividing

up of the land and all the tribes and the families

of the tribes got their portions and they had

their boundaries set up and so on and so forth

and everything was fixed supposedly. And they

were to enjoy the promised land. whether how

much enjoyment they actually had, we wonder at.

Some of them probably had quite a bit. But David

is saying that that's not important to me. That's

not my inheritance. The Lord is my inheritance

and my heritage. He says the lines, the boundaries

of my heritage is falling to me in pleasant places

you are the you you are my support so again how

are we going to apply that well i don't i don't

know how much trouble you're going to have i

don't know how much Heartache is gonna come your

way God knows and he's preparing us all for what

he has for us But David was in the middle of

a lot of problems a Lot of problems that he would

never have had had God not selected him to be

the next king But anyway Try to imagine yourself

with nothing Try to imagine yourself without

a nice comfortable house Try to imagine yourself

with no no supporting family members nothing

no no good church Are you going to say that your

lines have fallen to you in pleasant places David

David did. That's how serious David was about

his God. That's how much he actually experienced

God. He knew the truth of God, and he experienced

the truth of God. And he really meant it when

he says, I have nothing besides you. But I have

you. And that is what I want most of all. He

says, I will bless the Lord who has counseled

me. Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.

Boy, that is a mouthful. Who can say that? Can

any of us say that? I bless the Lord who has

counseled me. Probably we can all say that. We've

all received counsel from the Lord, haven't we?

I hope so. It should be a common thing, really.

If you're really attuned to the Lord and in His

Word, it's not hard to find counsel. You don't

have to go searching for it. All you got to do

is ask. All you got to do is pray about it. Pray

over the Word. Put your confidence in the Spirit

to be working in you through the Word. But how

about that other statement there? Huh? How many

of us can say that? Indeed, my mind instructs

me in the night. Can we all say that? And that's

one of the reasons I really like this translation,

because it doesn't change it. It's talking about

the mind. It's talking about how we're thinking.

Do we have enough of the Word of God in our minds

to be able to be instructed by our minds? It's

dark. It's night. He can't read anything. It's

not like you flip on a light switch. You gotta

know it here. And he's saying that his mind has

been his counselor. Obviously not his... unconverted

mind or his untrained mind or his unlearned mind

but he had enough of God in his word in his heart

or his mind that he could be counseled by it

you know you don't need a Bible verse you don't

need a Bible reference I should say in order

to be counseled by the Word. You just have to

know what the Word says. I know countless things

that I can't give a reference for. It's my shame.

I probably should be able to do a better job

of that by now. But what I'm saying is it's not

Bible trivia that we're after. It's a thorough

understanding. of the truth of the word. And

I hate that game, by the way. And I've always

steadfastly refused to play it. And I don't even

like to mention it. And I don't know why it just

came out of my mouth. But it did. So I don't

recommend Bible trivia to anybody. The word itself

is almost blasphemy. How can anything in the

Bible be trivial? Okay, well, let's get back

on the subject here. So, in verse 8, I have set

the Lord continually before me. Because He is

at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Okay,

how are you going to stand? How are you going

to face the foe? How are you going to face all

of the powers of evil, the devil himself? How

can you make this statement? Or can you? David

could. He says, you're at my right hand. The

Lord has set... I have set the Lord continually

before me. Do we do that? Do you invite the Lord

to be with you continually? Do you have a...

knowledge and experience of him being with you

right there with you and David says because of

these things are true I I will not be shaken

I will stand it's nothing to do with David's

strength or his mighty men that were with him

or anything at all apart from God that's what

David's telling us it's all of God And that's

what the armor is. It all points to God, right?

Yeah. It all points to what God has done and

is continuing to do. And this is what David is

declaring to us now. Do you want to stand? Do

you just want to flow with the river, wherever

it goes? Or do you want to stand? You've got

to acknowledge the Lord. You've got to be with

Him. You've got to know He's right there with

you. Somebody said living in the presence of

God, that's what we need more of. More conscious

knowing of. We are all living in the presence

of God, but how does it affect us? We're living

in the presence of God. It should make all the

difference. in the way we act and what we do

and how we think, how we love our neighbors,

how we love God, if we're living in the presence

of God. And then he says in verse 9, therefore

my heart is glad and my glory rejoices, my flesh

also will dwell securely. So the whole man is

what he's referring to here. Because he is. conscious

of the presence of God in his life. His whole

being is rejoicing. He's glad. His heart is light.

It's rejoicing. It's happy days. And my flesh,

the flesh, not only the spirit, the mind, the

whole man himself will dwell securely. Again,

think about it. Take it home with you. Do you

want security? Do you want a light heart? Do

you want to be rejoicing? Live in the presence

of God. Acknowledge Him in all your ways. That's

what David is saying. Then in verse 10, now David

was saying this in the physical... a place that

he found himself in. And I don't know how much

he knew about the prophecy that he was going

about to write, but this is a prophecy of the

Lord Jesus. And we know it is because Paul and

Peter both quote this verse in regards to the

Lord Jesus. We know it is. So it says, for thou

wilt not abandon my soul to the grave or shield.

Neither wilt thou allow thy holy one to undergo

decay or to see corruption." So again, that's

a prophecy of the Lord Jesus. That's why we say

David, or one of the reasons why we can say David

was a prophet. Now, did he understand that or

was... We don't know that. Peter later on says

that the prophets wrote... as they were led by

the Spirit without having a full understanding

of what they were writing, as they wrote it for

us. So that's very possible that that's what

happened with David here. But if we understand

it spiritually, it's true of us. This is it's

true of our Lord Jesus, and it's true of David.

Those are true statements for us. for each of

us. Why? Because Christ did go through it. Christ

did come before us. Christ has been the forerunner.

Christ is ascended into glory. All of those things

are true of us because they're true of Christ.

Everything that is Christ is ours, remember?

So again, this should be great comfort to us.

And it never was for me until maybe the last

10 years. when I became more and more aware of

my growing weaknesses and frailties and the age

that I was approaching. Because we're all going

to face it. We're all going to go through death.

We're all going to have to battle that last enemy.

We're going to be victorious. But you're going

to have to battle just like you did the rest

of our lives to maintain your testimony, to maintain

your faith. to give glory to God in your death.

In the face of death, what will be coming out

of our mouths? At least that verse is true. For

that reason, we live in hope. And then finally,

thou wilt make known to me the path of life.

You see the confidence in there? David is so

confident in God. All of his confidence is in

God. He's not begging God to make the path of

life known. He's confident God's going to do

it. He's going to know. It's a truth. Thou wilt

make known to me the path of life in thy presence

is fullness of joy. Joy unspeakable and full

of glory. You know the reality? David didn't

know nearly what we know. You know that? None

of the Old Testament saints know what we know.

But they talk of all these glorious things, all

this happiness, all this joy. We ought to be

really Wondering how can I not be so these be

more happy? How can I not be more rejoicing?

We should be We we know the path of life And

we're confident that God is going to keep us

on that path. That's what David is saying He

knows he's going to bring me I know he's going

to bring me to himself. There's no doubt. I don't

doubt that a bit. At thy right hand there are

pleasures forever. If you don't enjoy God now,

how are you going to enjoy him in heaven? In

heaven it's all about God. you're going to lose

all the rest of your cares and concerns all of

the battles with everything you're going to set

all that stuff aside and your whole attention

is going to be upon God. Pure service of God.

You'll have no other obligations. Is that going

to be fullness of joy for us? Can we spend a

half an hour contemplating God? A half an hour

a day contemplating God? Can we do that? Well,

we can, but will we do that, I should say? Is

God so interesting to us that we can look for

good books to read about God? Theology books?

I don't mean books that are hard to read. We're

not professors or theologians, but there's all

kinds of good books, all about God, all about

Christ, all about systematic theology, all about

biblical theology, readable books. What are we

pursuing? What are we spending our time on? There

are certain books that every Christian should

read. We always talk about Pilgrim's Progress,

yeah, that's one. The Forgotten Spurgeon. That's

another one. You know Spurgeon's got these big

books and thick and Forgotten Spurgeon is just

a little paperback. But that will inflame you

and inspire you and encourage you in your walk.

You want some burning in your chest? Read that

book. Moiter's John Bunyan biography is another

one. It's just a paper bag, a little paper bag.

I don't even know why I started yet, but I'm

stopping now, but that's not all. There's a lot

of other ones. But there's no shortage, is what

I was trying to point out. The only shortage

is us. What are we interested in? What are we

pursuing? How are we studying? How are we learning?

You've all been to school, right? Nobody's had

no education here. You all know what it takes

to pass a course in school. Do you think of your

learning of God and Christ in that way? Is it

just as important to you to pass that course?

To grow in your faith and knowledge of the Lord.

That's what we're called to do. That's what the

Bible says. joy, happiness, peace, abundance

of life. And it's forevermore, forever. All of

those good things have no end. Hope in God. Serve

Him. Love one another. Amen.