6 Keys to a Joyful Life

6 Keys to a Joyful Life - Ps. 16

Psalm 16:1-11 “Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” I say of the holy people who are in the land, “They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.” 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. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. 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. 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. 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.”

“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth” – from the wise prophet Mike Tyson. For those who don’t know Mike Tyson was a heavy weight champion boxer, and I never thought that I would put the words wise and Mike Tyson together in the same sentence but there you go. Now, weather you like boxing or Mike Tyson those words do ring true don’t they.

We all make plans don’t we, weather it is financial plans, growing old with somebody, having a healthy body and mind, maybe it’s the retirement plan, or the wealth plan… we all plan. So why do we plan? We plan so that we can be secure or comfortable, or we like what the reward gives us, there is a payoff that is meaningful to us. Ultimately, plans bring us some sort of enjoyment and a hope of something better.

However, what are you going to do when life punches you in the mouth? When that money is stolen, lost, or spent, when that body gives out to injury or disease, like wise the mind, or when the loved one you were going to spend the rest of your life is gone, or when the security and comfort are taken away, what are you going to do then?

Collie Church of Christ, collectively you have been punched in the mouth hard, what are we going to do now? The plan wasn’t to have the tragedy, suffering and pain that is being endured presently. It certainly wasn’t the plan to have to cancel services because of Covid, but these things have hit. Let’s make it personal, each one of you have either, or soon to have life hit hard. For me I was smacked in the mouth a few years back and my well laid plans trashed. To the point where I thought I would never minister again.

10 years of study, pain, missed opportunities and a hard slog as a minister at a church gone (it seemed). It seemed like over night the one thing I had planned for and executed was brought to naught! Now maybe you are more holy than me, or have more faith, or just more delusional. But I questioned God, I got angry, sad, broken and did not know what to do next. So, is planning wrong? Is that that the answer…. No, plans help order and guide us. Obviously if our plans become our idol, or the outcome of those plans do then yes. It is what we do, or where our heart goes to those matters.

So, if you just walk down the main street of Collie, you will find answers. The New Age shop down there has answers in self-belief and self-worship and the worship god of the day (Selfism), the pub and the local betting place has the answers to drown out your sorrows and the promise to make you forget (it doesn’t), There is the promise of peace with Buddha and of emptying yourself, there is the internet and all it offers. But they are all false gods, offering cheap grace and very temporary fixes.

Why do people not turn to the church in times of need? A lot, of the time the church at large looks like the world, act likes the world and engages in worldly practices instead if tapping into the real source of contentment, meaning, hope and ultimately a joy that cannot be stolen even in tough times. It’s because we, Christians who have the answer don’t really understand it ourselves. We think we know the gospel; we think we have intimacy with Jesus, but then we get smacked in the mouth and it shows us where we are. That is not taking away form the grieving, asking of questions or an honest conversation with God (we see these happening in the Psalms). But when we settle, we settle in him and his assurances. Because he is the only one who is unaltered, and therefore his plan is never thwarted or changed. To put it in an uncouth manner, Life nor anything else punches God in the mouth. He is not caught unaware, so regardless of what happens our salvation and eternal life with him in the unsuffering kingdom of God can not be shaken, loosed or taken.

King David is someone with whom we can relate to. He had it all, lost it all, had his grand plans thwarted and, in the end, couldn’t build God a temple (which was his grand plan) because of all the blood he had shed. He also committed, to put it politely used his power and influence to have an affair with Bathsheba (This was not in his planning) and murdered her husband to cover it up. Yet, he is known as a man after God’s own heart. He pretended to be insane to escape death and defeat, his own son was planning to take his life, he was impulsive at times and lived through a lot of pain. He is the poster child for life punching him in the mouth. So, he is someone to listen to when it comes to living a joyful life in the here in now. Here is 6 keys to living a joyful life amongst the pain and chaos. Psalm 16.

1. Safe Life — I trust in Him (v. 1).

2. Surrendered Life— I belong to Him (v. 2).

3. Separated Life— I side with Him (vv. 3–4).

4. Satisfied Life—I find contentment with Him (vv. 5–6).

5. School Life— I listen to and learn from Him (v. 7).

6. Steadfast Life—I am engaged with Him (v. 8ff.).

1. SAFE LIFE & SURRENDED LIFE

Psalm 16:1-2 “Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”

When I was a kid, I had a tree house that was built high into a massive tree. I could see the whole area from it, I even formed a gang with the gang numbers being only one… myself. Tells you the kind of childhood I had.... sad. I used to go there to feel safe, safe from the world when it became too much or when mum and dad were fighting. It was my fort, but unfortuntaely I had to come home for dinner and go back into the wide world.

Given the state of the world with covid, the war in the Ukraine, the bubbling up of tensions between the power houses of the world and the seemingly insane people who are leading these nations, I want to go back to my treehouse and never come home again. I am pretty sure I would have more than one in my gang now. Can we ever feel safe and secure in this world? Over the last several years, more bunkers and underground dwellings have been built than ever before and doomsdays preppers are growing. I get it, so How can we have joy and peace in a world that is volitile and totally unsafe.

Well the Psamlist was in perilious times as well, David knew all to well the fragility of the world and the lack of safety it could bring. King David was a military man and would have had military forts for protection and refuge, yet that is not where he said he felt safe and protected it was in the Lord. Where do you find refuge? is it your home, family, your job security?

To have a surrended life we must understand what the word refuge means, and believe that the Lord can actually deliver it. I would go one step further to say that the rest of the keys anchor into this. In other words if we don’t belive that God can deliver refuge we will not live a joyful and content life.

Refuge: the state of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or difficulty.

So, as you can see we cannot surrender ourselves completely unless we feel safe and sheltered by all threats. We of course say that we find refuge in Him, but do our lives, speech and actions convey this. Are we troubled like the world or do we stick out? When John Wesley was on a ship with some german believers and the ship began to sink, he witnessed the saints singing hymns and were at complete peace. This is when he recognized he didn’t have what they had, which was that peace. We should be different in times of trouble. However, we will at times fail due to the fact that we are pratical people and we sometimes believe what we see as reality.

If we truly understand the splendour of the effect of the gospel, and the one who offers such refuge we too would look no where else for our protection, even when life punches us in the mouth. Like a punch to the mouth it hurts when we are plunged into despair, physical and/or emotional turmoil. Or when plans don’t go to plan or if the world decides to blow itself up. Because of this safety we don’t have to turn to the worlds cheap flimsy poor excuses of refuge, like finances, relationships, houses and other assetts or world idealologies or other false religions rubbish.

Our God is safer than all the military bases combined, or anything else we can turn to. We then can lead a joyful life in sweet surrender to Jesus. We have this only when we whole heartedly (Head, Heart and Hands) Trust in him.

3. SEPERATED LIFE

Psalm 16:3-4 “I say of the holy people who are in the land, “They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.” 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.”

Most of you know by now that I played and love basketball, in fact the NBA finals are happening now. If you are like my wife thats a Meh to you but to Zion, Ethan and myself it is do or die for our team in the finals. Now, watching other people play basketball its not the player like Stephen Curry that we find our enjoyment in, its the way he plays the game of basketball, the game itself is what we love and appreciated. Now if Stephen Curry was to play lawn bowls not so much enjoyment of him.

David’s delight is not in the people of God themselves, his true delight is found in his Lord. We cannot find the source of our delight in each other as believers but its the essence of God in all that the believer does, says and lives out that we delight in. It would be of no benefit to catch up with those who profess Jesus but never speak of him or delight in the Lord themselves. It reminds me of a sad story that a Pastor was sharing, when he went to play golf with fellow pastors/believers he started to talk about Jesus and the christian life but was quickly hushed and told that we don’t do shop talk here.

A little slice of Gods Kingdom in Collie

I have had the blessing to be put up for the last few nights at John and Robyns house, who we really don’t know each other that well. But it was a very special couple of nights. Now was it because they are genuiunely nice peopel, whilst that helps that wasn’t it. Was it there nice home and property, again whilst that is true it is not what made it special. No, it was the testimonies of God in our lives, the way we all lit up when we talked about the gospel and about our Lord and Saviour. It wasn’t them per se even though they are salt of the earth people, no it was the common anchor in the Glory of God and it was a little taste of the Kingdom of God here on earth. And today we get another taste as we all gather today in worshipping God. We help each other by pointing to God with our speach, action and service to one another in ecouragement, confession, building up, challenging one another etc. So why do we not gather more together? why only sundays, why not every day of the week? Is it becasue we don’t yet fully understand the power of fellowship through the gospel.

Contrast of Worship of God Vs. Worship of Idols

This kind of delight in God will also keep us from chasing after idols, now we cannot relate to sacrificing blood and ritual to another God, but we certainly do have idols that rob God of his worhsip and rob us of our true joy. Now we know the obvious, lust, greed, power, our jobs, etc. But what about one of Australians most desired thing, retirement. I remember Mel and I driving across australia and encountering the wildest pack of natives I have ever seen, the Grey Nomads. Caravans and RV’s as far as the eye could see. You could set your watch by them, 10am was the best time to pass them as they were all pulling over for the cuppa.

Nothing against retirment per say, but it is not mentioned in the bible. Paul didn’t get to a ripe old age and say, well time to hitch the caravan up to the donkey and tour the world. We lostt two seemingly suitable elders at my last church to the grey nomad clan, both said they were going to evangelize and visit church both when pressed a few years later did neither of those two things. The idol of retirment is detremental to church as we are losing mentors with years of wisdom and christian living. But it really is the idol called “distratction” anything that distracts us, takes our worship away or full focus upon him is to be abjored.

We are on a battleship not a cruise ship. Because when life punches us in the mouth, we need people who have been punched and endured.

4. SATISFIED LIFE

Psalm 16:5-6 “Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.”

This is an appeal which is not only tenable, but graciously compulsory. “The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup”—literally, of my condition in life; I have nothing else;—but, as some commentator has said, how rich must he be who possesses the Possessor of all! “Thou maintainest my lot,” You see we are his, but he has also said that he is ours, he is our Father, our protector, our rear guard, our love, our..... everything. We have the one that has created all the beauty in the world which is a reflection of who he is, he has also made us in his image we are his workmanship in whom he delights. How can we not be content and satisfied in him. All that we are pursuing in life pales into insignificance when we compare it or weigh it against the intimate relationship that is knowing him deeply. the richness of joy and all things good are found in him. Those who are his redeemed people through the person and work of his Son Jesus can partake of this now, as well as in the kingdom of God forevermore.

We are in farming country, and we all know what boundary lines do, they seperate our property from the next one along. Wealth just like in Davids time could be determined by the amount of land you owned. Along with this knowledge, I know a few people that inherrited big farms and were set for life. Some actually sold their farms and land to commercial investors and lived a very comfortable life. Others worked the land and built it up for the next generation. We can look to these folks who inherit the wealth and become jealous or dispondent. But again this wealth and this inheritance is superficial and temporary when compared the light of eternity. Not so for God and his inheritance. He owns cattle on a thousand hills.

As for us as believers we are adopted into the family of God (which I have spoken about before in nearly all my messgaes to you thus far) and share in the inheritance as full blood (through Jesus’ blood) namely our salvation for eternity, but also partakers of the full kingdom riches. This is far more satisfying and lasts forever compared to the wealth in our accounts, or property we are waiting to inherit from our relatives like vultures circling an older animal, terrible way to live. So, when life punches us in the mouth by losing our wealth or inheritance that is due to us, we can remain joyus and content knowing that what God has stored up for us cannot be stolen, lost or destroyed.

But let me leave this to finish off this point, we get God as our inheritnace, he is our portion alloted to us. Let that sink in to your very soul.

5. SCHOOL LIFE & STEADFAST LIFE

Psalm 16:7-8 “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.”

Have you ever had good advice that you just didn’t take and it backfired on you? Sure you have, we all have. I remember someone who advised me to buy bitcoin when it first came out as he studied up that it would increase expandentially and even showed me by teaching me how it worked. It was cheap at the time, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I remember having the page open ready to buy it but never did. then it went through the roof. Its a good thing my inheritance is in the Lord. You may of thought I would learn my lesson, you’d be wrong. I brought some shares several years back, and they started to be a bit volitile and my friend said hang on and sit tight as they will go up. I didn’t listen and took my money out, and you guessed it it went up quite a bit. Good thing my inheritance is in the Lord.

You see David, found not only delight in Gods laws and wise counsel he grew in them and it gre him. You see the best investment you can make is not through shares, bonds, housing or if you listen to the internent entreprenuel gurus about about filling you minds and hearts with self help mantras and meditations. It’s by filling up with the word of God, but not only filling up but chewing over, pondering and sitting in it until it delights your soul and matures you in faith. The gospel and all its splendour should consume you. Not just the reading but acting it out.

When we are consumed by the inspired words of scripture (his voice) we will spontaneously praise God. One of the absolute privledges of preparing a sermon is the moments when his word grips me, excites or challenges me and I end up walking around praising God for what I have just read. Don’t take my word for it, Paul in his letters after perculating in Gods word would praise him right in the letter as it overcame him.

This leads onto the ability to lead a steadfast life even when the world and its idealogies (pride month) with its soddam and gomorah lifestyle or the doom and gloom of a dark world punches us in the mouth, or when we are tempted to stray or when all hope seems lost we can hook our lives into the promises of God. In order to do this we must have the ability to think in the gospel and allow it to influence our decision making.

Psalm 16:9-11 “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. 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.”

The psalm concludes with three verses that reaffirm and expand the conviction with which the psalm began. When the psalmist speaks of “resting secure” (verse 9) the word for secure is a form of the word that means “to trust.” Thus, as McCann says, “security for the psalmist is not an achievement but a result of a life entrusted to God.”1

Evidence of this security is in the psalmist’s continuing in life before God, which is the opposite of being given up to Sheol or the Pit, references to the abode of the dead and separation from God (verse 10). The source of life and security is the Creator of life. So the psalmist speaks of the divine presence as the place that is most desired, that gives “fullness of joy” (verse 11).

1. Safe Life — I trust in Him (v. 1).

2. Surrendered Life— I belong to Him (v. 2).

3. Separated Life— I side with Him (vv. 3–4).

4. Satisfied Life—I find contentment with Him (vv. 5–6).

5. School Life— I listen to and learn from Him (v. 7).

6. Steadfast Life—I am engaged with Him (v. 8ff.).

From beginning to end Psalm 16 testifies to a life that finds its ultimate rest in God’s protective presence. It speaks against the notion that security and satisfaction come from material wealth or human accomplishments. Indeed, it insists all that is good and all that is needed are found in the presence of God, the one the psalmist claims as refuge. The psalm provides support for the notion of resurrection (verses 10-11) and it identifies God as one who creates, supports, and protects life for all who trust in him. So when life punches you in the mouth and your best plans fail becasue of it, know that we delight and take joy in these keys that God has given to us, but we must belive he is our refuge and surrender all unto him. He will not fail you.