Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Why is contentment so hard to have?
It seems that if you just fulfill your desire then it would be satisfied right?
I mean if you scratch the itch it goes away right?
Well not all things bring the ability to be content and not all things truly satisfy.
Ever since the garden we have seen this truth played out.
Adam and Eve had everything they ever needed and would have desired.
Except for the one tree and its fruit, that God had withheld.
The scriptures state that when Satan deceived Eve and she saw the fruit was good for food, delightful and desirable - she desired it.
Tempted by the thought of missing out and that God was withholding from her - Eve took and ate seeking satisfaction and only being left wanting.
Sin makes us discontent by making us not trust God - He is withholding, He doesnt want us to have fun or fulfillment and the only way to be satisfied is to sin against God.
Sin may bring short-term pleasure to the flesh, but with it comes misery and pain and whatever pleasure was there quickly fades.
Sin also separates us from the true source of our contentment - God. Man was created to glorify and enjoy God.
To the glory of God we are satisfied and content when we are content in Him.
Contentment is not found in the things of life but in the one from whom life has come.
Contentment is found in knowing and following Jesus.
Jesus says those who come to Him will be content.
Psalm 16 is the song of one who has found contentment and how they found contentment.
Exclusive Trust in God
A celebration Psalm of the joy and contentment that comes from faith in the Lord.
The tone of this Psalm is not one of despair or complaint, but contented settled joy.
Despite ongoing troubles David had exclusive confidence and trust in his God.
This Psalm has a new title seen here and in the Psalms 56-60 Miktam which is commonly understood as golden.
A wonderful Psalm of David relating the golden key of contentment and gladness even in the most pressing times.
We do not know the circumstance exactly, but again David is looking to God to protect him.
David calls out for protection as he states he is seeking refuge in the Lord God.
David is not looking to anything else for refuge - but to God alone.
David writes I said to the LORD - Yahweh, you are my Lord Adonai.
I have nothing good - besides you.
Beside you God there is nothing good or trustworthy that I have, nothing I can look to for safety and security.
It all in You Lord.
Like David though many things around us promise safety and security - helmets, seatbelts, health food, doctors, procedures - etc.
The truth is God has everything in His hands and is the only one who truly can provide shelter protection and refuge.
If God were to let go - everything would come apart at the sub-atomic level.
We must make God our exclusive protector and refuge.
There is no refuge in anything else and therefore we must not look to anything else.
There is no good besides God
C.S. Lewis said it best “he who has God and everything else has no more than he who has God only”.
To have everything without God is to have nothing and to have God without anything is to have everything.
David then stated that he delights in the holy people.
His delight is found in the very people separated and consecrated to God.
He trusts the Lord exclusively and knows that if the people are people of the Lord and the Lord is with them then that is enough for him to also desire to be with them in their presence.
To trust God exclusively is not to remove ourselves from community but rather we must seek community that encourages our trust in God our seeking God our relationship with God.
Like David the content person delights in the company of God’s people growing together and encouraging one another in holiness.
We must seek out and delight in the people of God - despite their failing, short-comings, scandals and embarrassments.
Do not be so judgmental and negative about the people of God that you cannot see any excellence in them and are unable to delight in being around them.
Simple test those who love and trust the Lord as their Lord will delight in the company of those who also love and trust the Lord.
David knows (as we have seen before) that this life lived for God is not guaranteed to be easier, it is wrought with many trials, troubles and sorrows.
The troubles faced by those who follow and exclusively trust God may be there but they are nothing compared to the sorrows of those who follow after other Gods.
It is even more difficult to follow after false gods and to observe with false worship.
To whom shall we go?
To who else can we go?
David declares that the LORD - Yahweh is his portion, his cup of blessing and He holds his future.
The NKJV brings out a little bit more understanding of verse 5.
The Lord ALONE is THE portion of David’s inheritance and cup and the Lord maintains his allotment or makes it secure.
The Lord is David’s assigned portion of his inheritance.
When God apportioned the land in Joshua He made various boundaries and was determined by lot.
The tribe of Levi however did not receive and inheritance int he land and neither did they receive any ownership of any portion of it.
No piece of land was a better inheritance than the Lord as one’s portions was.
John Calvin in his commentaries says it best “For he who has God as his portion is destitute of nothing which is requisite to constitute a happy life.”
David’s words speak of contentment and being content with what God has alloted for him.
Just like back in the garden Satan desires to tempt us to not trust God or His word and to be discontent with what we have so we will seek from outside of God.
Like David - when you make the Lord your exclusive trust then when you have Him you have everything you could want or need and have true contentment.
Benefits of Trusting in God
Like David our exclusive trust in the Lord is not based on anything but trusting the Lord.
However there are several blessings or benefits that come from exclusively trusting in the Lord.
The first of which is the enjoyment of counsel and guidance of the Lord.
The word for mind is literally in Hebrews kidney and refers to inner most personal life most secret part of man.
Night is plural in the Hebrew and this is to indicate that it is nights or night after night the Lord counsels when thoughts trouble David.
When you exclusively trust in the Lord His word becomes precious and desirable to you.
As you meditate on His word and receive it into to your heart then you have the counsel needed to sustain you during times of difficulty and times that are troubling.
The Lord goes before you.
David says he lets the the Lord guide him always.
This is literally to follow the Lord and where He goes David goes.
The decision to set the Lord before Him and trust Him exclusively comes with a cost.
The cost must be acknowledged and counted to be appreciated and understood.
Perhaps the cost is pleasures, popularity, anonymity, relationships, goals, career path, finances - etc.
Despite the cost David says that because the Lord is at his right hand - he will not be shaken.
No matter the cost - he will remain stable and not be shaken not waver not be made to move.
When you trust the Lord exclusively you will receive His stability in trials and troubles.
Because of the steady counsel and guidance and the solid ground to stand upon David says his heart is glad and his whole being rejoices.
The benefits are greater than the cost and so David is glad and rejoices, because his body rests securely.
David means his whole being inward and outward is glad and joyful because God has caused him to live securely.
David final words in this Psalm indicate that he understood that the benefits of exclusively trusting God comes in this life and also goes beyond this physical life into the next.
Sheol is where the dead reside.
David is confident that God has never abandoned him before and will not even abandon him in death.
David says with such exclusive trust in the Lord - You will not leave me dead.
David also says you will not allow your faithful one to see decay.
Faithful one, pious one, characterized by a fierce exclusive loyal trusting love to the God of Israel.
To see decay or to see the grave where the body will decay.
David says that God reveals the path of life.
Those who trust exclusively in the Lord will have the path of life revealed.
The path of life is in the presence of God.
Eternal life is enjoyed now and into eternity.
The presence of God is literally face to face with God.
Abundant joy - contentment and gladness can be had both now and forever in the presence of the Lord.
He gives eternal pleasures.
Right hand is always regarded as a place of dignity and nobility.
This life is to be lived above shallow wants and desires by living in exclusive trust to God where in the next life He will give us eternal pleasures at His right hand of dignity.
David’s contentment is a stark contrast to Solomon’s dissatisfaction
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