Psalm 16 - True Security

Psalm 16 – True Security A False Sense of Security? what makes you feel secure? would you believe it was only 9 months ago that level 1 water restrictions were brought in in NSW it was 6 months ago that the bushfires started and thousands were put at risk 5 months ago, level 2 water restrictions started. and then it was late December that a new form of respiratory disease began to appear in Wuhan. A city that few of us in Australia had heard of before, but at 19million in the metro area, is almost as populous as Australia and it feels like that was years ago, doesn't it. but think back - did you feel secure then? in May last year? or even just more secure than you do know? our sense of security and safety is only about 150nm in diameter. 500 times thinner than a human hair - the size of a Coronavirus. our security, our safety has always been out of our control, it's always been a false sense of security - even at our best. we are not in control - and are looking for safety how are you feeling? How are you trying to find some stability and comfort in this world - that has always been one virus, one spark, one drought away from disaster. Turn to Ps 22 - and as we do, ask - where does the Psalmist - King David - find safety. How can he be sure? God is our Refuge The Psalmist begins with a prayer, Keep me safe my God. v1 and I'm sure that this prayer has been repeated millions of times around the world in the past 2 months Keep me safe as I look for work to feed my family keep me safe as I tend to the sick and dying keep me safe as I go to the supermarket, to the doctor, to the pharmacy, teach children how many times have we thought, breathed that exact prayer we know that one of our highest needs as human beings is safety. And this is a cry from a heart that is desperate for safety. and even those who do not claim a God may have turned to some idea of a god to seek protection. the first question to ask is which god to turn to Which God and at the very beginning of this Psalm, David is clear about the God he is praying to say to the LORD, "You are my Lord;" v2 he is talking to the God of Israel, YHWH, That's what the capital letters mean, God's personal name, and it's significant, it matters God is not just a force, he's a person, and we should treat him as a person so we need to talk to the right person. If we talk to the wrong person, or the wrong God, we won't be heard, our pleas for safety are being asked in the wrong place. you don't go to the newsagency to make a Centrelink application, and even if you tried, you utterly fail. So what makes David think he's got the right God to talk to? He was aware of many other gods of the nations around him, even of stronger nations. God is the source of all good the first thing is that God is the source of all good "...apart from you, I have no good thing." v2 there is nothing that he can see that is good that doesn't come from his God, YHWH. All good gifts come from God, every happiness, every pleasure everything of use, or beauty, or joy, or comfort comes from this God, the God of Israel to the whole world everything good that you and I have, even if we don't recognise it is actually from the hand of God. It's what theologians call providence, but it's what we call grace - unmerited, unearned kindness. from the God who owes us nothing, because we deserve nothing, because have so often turned away from him and ignored him yet still, he acts in kindness. Still, he gives us good things. sometimes in our sinfulness we feel that what God gives us isn't good, that he doesn't want us to have joy or happiness but he does, though it may be different to what you think is good and joyful but actually, God is right, he does know what's best for us, he does know it's best not to lie, or cheat, or steal, or covet, or commit adultery and when we do seek to live the life that God sets out for us, then we do find life in its fulness. Living the way we were created to! and it's our sinfulness that means we don't look to God as our refuge and our source of all good. - apart from him, there is nothing worth having! he delights in God secondly, David delights in God. that is, he is wholly devoted to him Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more. I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods or take up their names on my lips. LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. vv4–5 The Lord, YHWH is everything to him, he needs nothing more than what God provides. his portion and his cup. Everything he needs it's so easy to think we need more than what God provides and so to want to take things into our own hands and so we lie, we deceive, we lust and we take what we think will give us pleasure, and so every time we do something like this, every time we lie, we are saying "God, you are not enough for me" because you don't know what's best for me and so we run after other gods, gods of pleasure, or acquiring things, or significance, or…. you can think of your own ways, your own weaknesses in this because we are all experts at this, at finding ways to NOT have God as our portion and cup. and not to rejoice and take refuge in him and him alone God is in control in his life thirdly, he sees God's hand in his life in v5 he says "you make my lot secure" The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. v6 these are all things God has done for him he has looked after his present and his future both his life now and his future are decided and given by God, they come from God's hand So where else could you turn in times of need? when you were a child and everything you had ever needed had come from your parents, where did you turn for help? it was to them because they were the ones who could help you and so it is with God. He has given us everything good. There is only one place to turn for refuge because God is has given us all, but even more as well God is his counsellor and saviour God is with him at every stage of his life He guides and instructs David all the time 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 will not be shaken. vv7–8 The Lord is always there for him, he never forsakes him, Because the Lord is faithful and he will be at his right hand, helping, guiding, strengthening and so v9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices this is what God does! He guides, strengthens, counsels, he is at our right hand there for us, if we will just see and listen and delight in him. and the promise goes even more than that he doesn't even forsake him after life 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. vv9–10 even beyond the grave, God is faithful. He keeps his promises. He never abandons those who are faithful to him, to those who put their trust in him and the joy and happiness will last forever beyond the grave. 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. v16:11 Eternal joy, eternal pleasures, in the presence of God, for the faithful one but does that describe you? Or me? Christ the Faithful One we all fail no. I cannot in any honesty say that I have perfectly kept the Lord as my ONLY portion and cup or that my eyes are always fixed on the Lord. We all fail I am way too rebellious and self-centred for that - sinful is the Bible's word. what about you? Are you perfectly faithful to the Lord? have your eyes ever slipped off him and keeping his laws? delighting yourself in him at all times? look inside, and if you are anything like me, then you will feel shame about how often these things are not true of you, and how far from this picture we all are. And I know you are like me in this, because we are all like this, every one of us so how can this Psalm be for us? How can we find refuge and safety in God? If this is what he is after, how can we possibly be acceptable well the good news is that Easter is for you. Easter brings you hope. Easter allows you to find refuge in God, and safety in his arms. the faithful one because the faithful one is not David, he died, and his tomb is still there the faithful one came 1000 years after David Our NT reading points this out very clearly, straight after he quotes from the end of Psalm 16 he says this: 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. Acts 2:31–32 Jesus is the one that is the faithful one, he always delighted in the Lord he always rejoiced in God's goodness to him, he always obeyed his Father - even to death on a cross. the risen king but what Easter day celebrates is that he triumphed over death. He was not abandoned to the grave, he did not see decay and is now risen as the faithful one of God. God's chosen king of all "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah." Acts 2:36 Jesus is the one who was always led by the Lord and Easter, when Jesus walked from the tomb that first time, proclaimed this about him Jesus the faithful one, Jesus the Messiah - God's anointed king, Jesus the one who tasted death for all of us. True security is because he stands in for you. you see, because he died, we don't have to die, we don't have to face eternal death. Because when we trust in Jesus, his faithfulness is counted towards us in the most amazing act of generosity that has ever been Your sin on him, and his faithfulness on you and so you can be confident too, you can know the path of life and you can be filled with joy in the presence of God himself no longer bowed by guilt and shame, but righteous in Christ alone and Easter declares the truth and power of that the grave is conquered, our great enemies death and sin overcome and it can be yours today if you will put your trust in Jesus, and accept the fact that he died for you. Follow him. Commit yourself to him in the midst of some of the greatest restrictions on life and lifestyle in living memory, you can find the fullness of life, your heart can be glad and your tongue rejoice. because our future is no longer bound up only in our own selves and relationships, and physicality, but with Christ, at God's right hand in eternity is that what you want? Is that longing deep inside you? Are you looking for hope and security in this distressing time? Then Easter is exactly the time for you Because Jesus, the one always faithful to God, is offering you that hope and security and life in abundance if you will just trust in him. and for those of us who do trust in Christ, then Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! True security is found in him, when you make him your refuge, when you go to him for safety. the Easter message is that he is dead and risen for us and our salvation let's remember that he alone is our portion and cup, and not be distracted by the 1000 things that can take our eyes off and satisfaction away from Christ. perhaps afterwards - what things distract you most often from being faithful to Christ?