My Joy to Trust

Introduction

Good morning First Baptist Church of Hilliard! It is truly an honor and a joy for me to be here with you all this morning. And I always consider it an immense privilege to preach the word of God each time I get to do it.

I would like to just briefly thank Pastor Ryan, Pastor Jared, and the rest of the leadership here that have made me getting to this point possible. I would also like to thank you, the church as a whole, for allowing me to be here with you all now for the second time. You all have been so welcoming, kind, and hospitable.

I’m honored to be considered for the role of Pastor of Families and Youth here at First Baptist Hilliard. And my family and I couldn’t be more excited for all that the Lord is doing, in our lives and here among you all.

This past Tuesday, my daughter Shiloh and I went to the park. Our time there was short lived because before long, she told me she was hungry for a snack and wanted to get back into the car to go home.

I of course listened to her, got her strapped back into her car seat, cleaned her hands off, and handed her her pretzel sticks. Now, mind you, she had just found some play dough in a container underneath the front seat and was holding on to that thing for dear life, even while playing at the park.

I figured no worries, its not worth the short car ride home to take it from her just yet.

Of course, she was being just a little too quite. Any parents know what I mean? Once we stopped, I take a look back, lo and behold, Shiloh is basically dipping her pretzel sticks into the play dough and eating them.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure kids should not eat play dough. So, I grabbed the pretzels and play dough out her hand as quick as I could and tried my best to explain to my beautiful little 2 year old that we can’t eat play dough, its not good for you.

Shiloh of course was incredibly upset by this. She thought I was taking a good thing away from her, something that she absolutely needed to have. And what I was trying to explain to her in that moment was that this thing you have in your possession, this nastiness that you’re enjoying somehow, the joy you think you’re getting from this is not good for you.

I want her to understand that her father had something better for her, even though she couldn’t comprehend that. If she would just trust me, it’ll all work out.

Now, you and I aren’t dealing with pretzels and play dough in our lives. But, is this not how we act with our Heavenly Father? We can be so quick to doubt the Lord and what He’s doing in our lives, so quick to throw tantrums and fits when we don’t get our way. We’re so quick to trust ourselves or others before or even over the Father.

Perhaps we trust Him initially upon salvation but have fallen away from that sweet confidence in Him since. Or maybe you’ve never placed your trust and faith in the Lord. Maybe there’s some here this morning that are somewhere in between.

That is why the title of my sermon this morning is My Joy to Trust. By God’s grace we will see in Psalm 16 how David takes refuge in the Lord, how that contrasts with the sorrows of those who worship idols, and how we therefore, as true Christians learning from the example David provides, find fullness of joy and righteous pleasure in our God, the One whom we trust.

God Our Refuge

16:1-3- Right away in Psalm 16 we are met with David praying to God, apparently in the middle of some sort of crisis. He is making a plea for God to preserve him, for, as David makes known here in verse 1, he takes refuge in God.

In a time of trouble and crisis, David cried out to God. Preserve me, keep me, I find refuge, rest, protection, in You. Is this how you respond in the face of trial and tribulation? Do you cry out to the living God first, foremost, and above all?

Or do you run to yourself, or your spouse, or your family, of your friends, or your children first? Who we run to first in the midst of trouble and crisis reveals where our heart and trust lies.

Do you respond as if you confide in the Lord or in others? It’s not bad to rely on other Christian brothers and sisters, however, our actions should reflect that we take refuge in our God.

David then states that his refuge is his only good. What a statement he makes here in verse 2, David has NO GOOD apart from the Lord. Zero. Nothing. Only dirty rags. We see him use similar language in Psalm 14:1–3 “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.”

Not a single one of us has anything of worth to bring to the Lord. He lacks nothing. He is goodness. The Lord is altogether holy. Altogether wonderful, powerful, amazing. There is no good thing about you, there is nothing good in your possession that is not the Lord’s.

And this is wonderful news! The best news ever! Why? Because Christ meets us in our lack and imputes His righteousness to us through His death, burial, and resurrection. Repent and believe this today! Get this, because of Christ’s completed work, we can state verse 2 with confidence to the Lord! We are His and He is ours.

We then see David reference other believers, the saints, even calling them excellent ones. These are other covenant Israelites. A question we must all ask ourselves here is “Do I view and speak about the church of Jesus Christ this way?” Do we delight in His church? Do we love the local church, or is it a chore to be around these people?

If you don’t enjoy Christ’s body this way, perhaps you should evaluate your love for the Lord Jesus. To love Him is to love His church! The world will know us by our love for one another, let us love and delight in the saints of God.

The Sorrows of Unbelievers

16:4- We then come across a contrast between David delighting in the saints and observing the sorrows of those who worship idols and refusing to associate with their idols. There is no joy to be had with those who do not believe in the Lord and pursue idols instead. Just temporary feelings that always fade.

How often do we catch our selves running after another “god”/idol? That is not a mark of a follower of Christ. We are dead to the world and alive in Christ, let us throw off the idols that once compelled us. Christ has smashed them all to the ground, stop trying to put them back together!

Yet, we become distracted. We drift. We pour offerings before these idols and take their names upon our lips. Money. Ungodly pleasures. Food. Football. Stuff. Status. Politics. Our phones. Acceptance of others. Clothes.

You name it. The sorrows of those who run after these things shall multiply. Leave them in their proper place.

Our Portion and Our Cup

16:5-6- Why can we do so in confidence? How can I speak so definitively that the things of this world will never satisfy? Because the Lord is our portion and our cup. We can and should run to Christ instead. He is better than all these things.

Portion here in verse 5 is most likely a metaphor referring to the allotment of land given to the 12 tribes of Israel. And more pointedly this is a nod toward the Levites inheritance who recieved no land, for the Lord was their inheritance.

Allen Ross explains that this word “cup” means that everyone has been given a cup in life, the Lord is what David has chosen for his. And its good.

David praises the Lord here in light of rejecting the false gods of his day. Instead of associating with idols, the Lord is David’s portion and cup!

This translates the same for us today! If you have placed faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and have repented of your sins, you have a beautiful inheritance, hallelujah! The lines have fallen for us followers of Christ in beautiful places. All that we receive in Him is wonderful and good.

But beloved, its not just that! You see, too often we can focus only on what the Lord gives us, what He blesses us with. Which, don’t get me wrong, is amazing. Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,”

We must also remember though that our beautiful inheritance is Him! It is Christ our Savior. He is the Christians chosen portion and cup. All that He is is wonderful and in Christ, He is ours!

When we’re saved, we aren’t just saved from sin, from the wrath of God, from Satan, from Hell, from ourselves. We aren’t just saved to a mere place where we have all our favorite leisures at our disposal. As Christians, we only end up in Heaven because the Lord is there!

It is He that we’re after. It’s Christ that we want. It is the Lord whom we desire to be in the full presence of. It is Him, our portion and our cup. Our inheritance is fully secure in Christ because it is Christ!! This changes how we view everything!!

Great Comfort, Fullness of Joy, and Righteous Pleasure

16:7-11- And in Him is great comfort, fullness of joy, and righteous pleasure. The last section of Psalm 16 seems to be David just exuding and busting out in praise for the Lord as he reflects on His goodness. And this culminates in verse 11. We see David bless the Lord in verse 7, the God who gives him counsel.

The Lord directs our steps. He has all our days planned out. Nothing catches Him by surprise. But, do you ask Him? Do you pray for the Lord’s counsel? Do you trust Him in this way?

James 1:5–6 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.”

Our loving Heavenly Father possesses all wisdom and counsels His children. Let us ask Him boldly as His children for the wisdom we so desperately need. And He will provide it.

This excludes nothing. From the most intense tragedies to the most trivial of matters, the Lord is our wonderful counselor. From the loss of a child, to the unexpected loss of income, to the cancer diagnosis, bring everything before the Lord who gives us counsel. He will always be there.

This last half of verse 7 can be a bit tricky. What David is referring to here is contemplation and meditation on God and His word and prayer and how the Lord gives instruction to him and us through these means.

David then goes one to state how he always sets the Lord before him. That is, being ever mindful of the Lord throughout all of life, giving priority to the Lord in all of our thoughts and actions (Ross). It is when we neglect the Lord that sin creeps in. We practically set the Lord before us through constant contemplation of the Him, study of His word, and constant prayer.

The third thing that brings great comfort to the believer in the Lord is that the Lord is at the believers right hand. The right hand is symbolic for strength, support, and honor (Ross). God is our strength, therefore we will not be shaken in this life or in the life to come, which provides us with great comfort.

I was my best friend Phillip’s best man at his wedding. My job to return his suit the next day after the wedding, I jacked it up. Not like the Lord. He is consistent and faithful.

Because the Lord is at our right hand as His children, are hearts should be glad and our whole being should rejoice! We are to be a glad, joyful, happy people because our security comes from the Lord.

This is all not to say that life will be perfect or that we won’t struggle. Followers of Jesus are promised tribulation and suffering in this life. Yet We are also promised His everlasting presence.

Christians are not those who have a pain free life, they are those that can get back up and still rejoice in the Lord time and time again. Why? Because we know that He is working all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

So we press on for His glory in all things. Followers of Jesus are a people of hope, gladness, and joy.

We are confident that our God will never abandon us, not even to Sheol (death). The Lord will never depart from us, even in the face of perhaps the one thing every human being is equally afraid of. Not a single one of us can control death, no matter how hard we try. And not even there will the Lord abandon His people.

Verse 10 and surrounding is actually a bit of prophecy here seen in Acts 2:25–28 “For David says concerning him, “ ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’”

David couldn’t have known per say that he was writing about Jesus here, therefore he was most likely referring to himself as the “holy one”. But of course, we should know that verse 10 is most actualized in THE Holy One, the only Son of God, Jesus Christ. Who did not see corruption but was raised from the grave on the third day. So that we, His followers, wouldn’t see corruption to the grave.

It is in the final verse of Psalm 16 that we find the chapters climax. The cry of the Christian is that the Lord makes known to us the path of life. That is, Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and the life. There is fullness of joy in only one place in this universe: the presence of the Lord.

In just His right hand there are pleasures that satisfy forever. Nothing in this world can compare!!! You name it, God’s right hand beats it every single time. He is our satisfaction and our joy. Shouldn’t we live like it?

Conclusion

There is no true refuge other than our God. He is the only One worth trusting in with your entire life and everything in it. Without Christ, life is absolutely meaningless. Praise the Lord that by His Son’s death, burial, and resurrection, we now have a beautiful inheritance, that is, Him.

Through the Lord’s counsel and security, have have obtained great comfort in Him. He is the only One who satisfies in life and death. We are safe in Him. Nothing compares to the joy that is in Christ. It is not burdensome to trust in the Lord. It is truly joyful.