The Golden Psalm of Triumph-Assurance

READ: Psalm 16:1-11

Last week we heard King David sing in verse 5-7 of this mikhtam, this Golden Psalm of Triumph:

He sang in verse 6 that God gives us a beautiful heritage, A BEAUTIFUL PAST, which is actually JESUS’ heritage.

Psalm 16:6 (NASB95) The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.

TPT: Your pleasant path [has led] me to pleasant places. I’m overwhelmed by the privileges that come with following you, for you have given me the best!

We understand that we have a godly heritage NOT because of anything WE have done.

But when we consciously and intentionally repent of our sins and BY FAITH lean on Jesus to save us from the judgment our sinful past deserves — we become clothed in the beautiful heritage of Jesus’ righteousness.

God reaches into our past, cuts out our sinful, disobedient, rebellious heritage and gives us a godly heritage — a beautiful heritage.

We also saw that our PRESENT is guarded and guided by God.

As we saw last week in Psalm 16:7 The way You [Lord] counsel and correct me makes me praise You more, for Your whispers in the night give me wisdom, showing me what to do next.

I don’t have to live in fear or anxiety in the here and now.

Early this morning we received a prayer request from Jonathan.

He is struggling with the “right now.”

I told him the Bible’s prescription for the problem:

Philippians 4:6-7 “6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

But I also told him that putting this promise into action is difficult.

It works best when you are part of a church family.

Let’s pray for Jonathan and others who are struggling with anxiety, fear, and worry.

Finally, last week we saw that our future is glorious.

Verse 5 says: Lord, I have chosen you alone as my [future] inheritance. You are my prize, my pleasure, and my portion. I leave my destiny and its timing in your hands.

Our destiny, our future is in the hands of Jesus.

We can let go of anxiety about the future.

We can obey Matthew 6:31–34 (NLT) [where Jesus says:

“... don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of UNBELIEVERS, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need. 34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

If we put of destiny, our future In God’s hands, seeking the Kingdom of God above all else, what will God give us?

Everything we need!

What will He give you?

EVERYTHING I need.

We can be assured of this promise — that Jesus will give us EVERYTHING we need — because of the prophecies of 8, 9 and 10.

Messianic Prophecy

Whereas, David wrote Psalm 16 as his testimony, another aspect of this Psalm is that it speaks of One to come.

It speaks of Messiah.

Verses 8-11 reveal Jesus to us.

Psalm 16:8–11 (NLT) I know the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. 9 No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. 10 For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. 11 You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.

In our Wednesday Bible study a few weeks ago we saw these verses quoted in a NT passage:

Acts 2:24–29 (LSB) “But God raised [Jesus] up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. 25 “For David says of [Jesus], ‘I SAW THE LORD CONTINUALLY BEFORE ME; BECAUSE HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, SO THAT I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN. 26 ‘THEREFORE MY HEART WAS GLAD AND MY TONGUE EXULTED; MOREOVER MY FLESH ALSO WILL LIVE IN HOPE; 27 BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT FORSAKE MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR GIVE YOUR HOLY ONE OVER TO SEE CORRUPTION. 28 ‘YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE; YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.’ 29 “Men, brothers, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

Peter is saying in vs. 29:

Folks, David was not talking about himself in Psalm 16.

His body was put into a grave and obviously saw “corruption” — it rotted away.

No! David was talking about Messiah.

He was talking about Jesus!

The Messianic prophecy of Psalm 16 is particularly important in light of Resurrection Sunday coming in a few days on April 9.

And Psalm 16 was not just mentioned by Peter in his sermon on the day of Pentecost, it is also preached by Paul in Antioch, Pisidia. We hear Paul preaching the resurrection of Jesus by quoting OT passages including Psalm 16:10:

Acts 13:34–37 (LSB) “But that [God the Father] raised [Jesus] up from the dead, no longer to return to corruption, He has spoken in this way: ‘I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and FAITHFUL lovingkindnesses OF DAVID.’ 35 “Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘YOU WILL NOT GIVE YOUR HOLY ONE OVER TO SEE CORRUPTION.’ 36 “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his fathers and saw corruption; 37 but He whom God raised did not see corruption.

As I said last week, it is the resurrection that makes our faith different than other faiths like Islam or Buddhism.

Not only did Jesus die for OUR sins, He died in OUR place taking the judgment WE deserve — that is something the founders of other religions did not do — because they couldn’t.

Jesus defeated death by rising from the dead.

A Plan for Our Future

Because Jesus is the fulfillment of Psalm 16:8-11

We not only see a prophecy about the resurrection of Messiah, but we also see an action plan for us.

First, in verse 8, we need to do what Jesus did when He was facing the Cross:

He “set” the Lord continually before himself

He constantly kept His eyes on the Father

He kept a laser focus on the Father.

The Message: Psalm 16:8 (The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language) Day and night I’ll stick with GOD; I’ve got a good thing going and I’m not letting go.

TPT: Because you are close to me and always available, my confidence will never be shaken, for I experience your wrap-around presence every moment. Psalms 16:8

Even in His deepest trial, Jesus kept His eyes on the Father.

Conversely, when Peter tried to walk on the water, he took his eyes off Jesus and nearly drowned.

THAT’s what will happen to us if we take our eyes off Jesus.

It’s not so much that the situation will take us under — it’s that our fear, our anxiety, our worry will sink us.

So, like Jesus, let’s keep our eyes on the Father — no matter what.

And when we DO face that final exit from planet earth — and we all will — let’s remember that Jesus went there before us:

He went in confident assurance of what we read here in Psalm 16.

Psalm 16:9 (ESV) Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.

This is a prophecy given hundreds of years before His coming as the Babe in Bethlehem.

When Jesus stepped off the cross into eternity:

He did so with gladness and joy — the joy spoken of in vs. 9.

It was finished — not just the pain and agony of the trials that He went through,

the beating, the torture at the hands of Roman soldiers,

The humiliation of the via de la rosa

Not just the nails being pounded into His hands and feet

NO! I am convinced that the joy that Jesus felt when He stepped off the cross was because it was finished —

He had won the victory, OUR salvation — for us.

When Jesus descended into Sheol, into hell to take the keys of death, hell and the grave — He did so with the assurance of vs. 10:

This is a temporary trip.

I’m just here long enough to accomplish what the Father commissioned me to do.

I will not be abandoned.

And that body I left in the grave — it will be changed into a glorious resurrected body

And then there was the final promise that ascend to the Father’s right hand where He would be in the Father’s Presence with fullness of joy.

Do You Have Confidence?

We too can walk in the assurance of verses 8-11.

These promises are also for us.

Do you need them this morning?

Let’s pray.

The Lord’s Supper

A. This morning we will close the service by remembering that we are Redeemed from the threat of the grave by the Mercy and Grace of Jesus.

1. His desire to extend the ultimate in mercy and grace, not only to Jews but to Gentiles as well, meant that He had to go to the Cross and die for our sins.

B. Just before Jesus went to the Cross, at the Passover meal before His death, He talked to His disciples about a New Covenant.

1. A covenant that would even include the “outsiders.”

C. This New Covenant would even “graft” outsiders, called by the Apostle Paul in Romans 11:17, “wild olive branches” into the root of the original olive tree of Judaism.

1. The New Covenant established through the wounds inflicted on His body and the Blood He shed, would bring Gentiles and Jews into one body — the Church which is the Body of Christ.

2. Ephesians 3:4, 6 (NASB95) By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, … 6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,

3. Praise God!

D. Preparation

1. Before Jesus instituted this New Covenant at The Lord’s Supper, He sent His disciples to prepare.

2. Matthew 26:17–19 (NASB95) Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” 18 And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.” ’ ” 19 The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.

3. More accurately they prepared for the Passover meal that would become The Lord’s Supper.

E. Preparation was part of the Lord’s Supper then and it is STILL part of this meal.

1. 1 Corinthians 11:27–28 (NLT) … anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup.

2. 1 Corinthians 10:15–17 (NLT) You are reasonable people. Decide for yourselves if what I am saying is true. 16 When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? 17 And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body.

3. 1 Corinthians 10:21 (NLT) You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too.

4. Prayer of self-examination.

F. Invitation and Distribution

1. You don’t have to be a member.

2. Come, break off a piece of the bread, receive a cup and hold till ALL can partake at once.

3. Stand here at the front together.

G. Bread:

1. Matthew 26:26–30 (NASB95) While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

i. This bread stands for the Body of Jesus:

a. No leaven- Sinless

b. Stripes – He was beaten for our healing

c. Pierced – He was pierced for our transgressions

ii. Prayer before we partake of the Bread:

a. Prayer over bread.

iii. End prayer with prayer from Seder: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, who brings forth bread from the earth.

H. The Cup

1. Matthew 26:26–30 (NASB95) 27And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. 29“But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

2. This cup stands for the Blood of Jesus.

i. The blood that cleanses us from sin.

ii. The blood that, According to Revelation 12:11, gives us victory over the accuser of the brethren.

3. Prayer before we partake of the Cup:

i. Prayer over the cup.

ii. End prayer with prayer from Seder: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.

I. Matthew 26:26–30 (NASB95) 30 After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

1. Let us sing a hymn of anticipation for the return of Jesus.