July 14 Sermon: In His Presence
Explore the deep-seated joy and eternal promise found in Psalm 16 with us this Sunday. Discover how God's permanent protection and profound presence offer us a foretaste of eternal pleasures. Join us to uncover how these truths can transform our daily lives.
Consider these questions as you listen to this message on Psalm 16:
How can acknowledging the temporary nature of life's difficulties help us maintain a perspective rooted in eternal joy?
In what practical ways can you reflect and share the joy of God’s presence in your daily interactions this week?
How does the promise of 'permanent pleasure' in Psalm 16 challenge the way you view the setbacks and successes of earthly life?
Transcript:
Maybe my memory isn't very good. I would freely admit such things. But I think this is the greenest that the grass has been at this point in the summer in quite a few years. And I'm really enjoying all the different colors of summer this year because, first off, we haven't really had them in this way for what seems like quite a long time. And also because while the weather was unseasonably warm this spring, it never really got warm enough for the trees to pop early and give us those colors that we love very early. It took a while for us to get that view of the world. Well, a few nights ago, I was at a baseball game and I happened to notice that the infield grass was basically perfect, luscious and green and manicured, like you would expect to be with all the rain that we have had so far this year. But then I happened to notice that the outfield was brown in several spots. Well, between innings, I paid attention to this again. And my mind wandered to that. And I saw that contrast between the two sections of grass just a few feet apart. And while I'm soaking up the colors of summer this year, especially after we have a rain, it just really makes all the colors so magnificent when you can see them in all their splendor. This scene at the baseball game reminded me that I need to soak it in. I need to appreciate the colors. Because before long, our view... The view of the landscape on a whole will be dominated by brown and, unfortunately, white. Now, my point in talking about this isn't to depress you by thinking about winter. That's not my goal here. Instead, I want to draw out that death and decay is the expectation of a fallen world. Even in places with warmer climates, they experience this reality as well. You and I cannot fathom a world where the flowers don't wilt and the vegetation doesn't deteriorate. And have you ever wondered why we find so much peace on these perfectly sunny, green days?
And why do we always expect that the decay will follow? And what does this tell us about what our real, true longing is? Why is it that we long for those... Feelings of joy and happiness that will not end, even though we see that that isn't a reality of our world and the current state of affairs? And I think the reality of the world around us makes the idea of eternity difficult for us to comprehend. And I personally struggle to grasp not just the concept of time without end, but also the idea of a new... A new heavens and a new earth that will not be subject to decay. Decay is the expectation as we look around the world. But yet, I believe the promises of God. I believe what the Lord tells us in Scripture. And this has me longing for a world that isn't subject to the curse because of the pain that the curse brings into our lives. Well, today, as we arrive in... Psalm 16, we're going to look at the idea of God's preservation. And at the end of this chapter, we're going to consider the truth that we find there. That we, as the people of God in Christ Jesus, have the promise of pleasures forevermore. So let's quickly slide into looking at what our three main points are going to be. Get those in the mix. And then we'll consider the words given to David under the inspiration... of the Holy Spirit here. So, today, our first emphasis from the text will be the peaceful protection that we have from our God. At the beginning of this psalm, we see the familiar theme of God as a refuge for His people. Second, we will look at the profound presence of God in the lives of His people. He helps us to stand firm. And He causes us to rejoice. Rejoice. Rejoice. Finally, we see that there is a permanence to the pleasure that we find in God. Because this joy and protection comes from the One who is eternal, the One who is immovable, we know that we have this blessing from God into eternity. And so let's find ourselves here in verses 1 through 5 as we consider this first point in these opening verses of this chapter. We see this familiar language that I brought up at the beginning of the service in describing God as a refuge. When David asked God to preserve him, he is doing so acknowledging that God is his only real hope for preservation. And this is a wise position to put yourself into. As I pointed out several weeks ago, when a storm comes, we will always choose... We will always choose a stone fortress over a pup tent every day of the week. We want the best shelter we can find. And this idea here of God being David's only hope is made clear as he says, You are my Lord. I have no good apart from you. But I want to zoom in on that verse here for a minute and consider the way that it's stated for us here in the text. Now, as I pointed out many times, as we've been in the Psalms, and I point it out regularly in the Old Testament, when we're reading the Old Testament, it's important that we pay attention to how our English Bibles show us the word LORD. When it's all caps like this, it's the proper name of God. You've heard me say this many times. It's this personal name of Yahweh. Now, if it isn't in all caps, like the second one here, this is the word in Hebrew, Adonai, which the best way to translate it is, the word LORD, like the title of LORD. And so, what we see here in those words as we look at them is David is expressing to us that he spoke to the personal God, Yahweh, that has revealed himself to his people, and now he is saying to that God, You're my Lord. He's saying, You are my Master. You are the one that I put myself in subjection. And so, this is a very personal statement of David's personal faith in God. That God is his refuge. And if we don't get that idea from just the first part of verse 2, we see this really clearly in the second half. The psalmist says, I have no good apart from you. There's not a clearer statement that can be made to express David's trust in God as his refuge, and as his strength. He is putting all that he's got into this fortress that is his God. The storm is coming, and he's got everything in God's shelter. He realizes that any shelter that he has built isn't going to withstand the storm. And so, he is resting in God alone. He has no good apart from God. And so, he abandons his own strength and decides to rely, rely on the Lord. Now, considering what we have seen in other psalms over the last few weeks, we understand that this is where we need to find ourselves. The psalms and the scriptures as a whole make it clear to us that our sin has rendered us helpless before a holy God. As rebellious creatures, we're not merely sick and in need of some strong medicine, or some sort of cure. We are dead in our trespasses and sins. And we need to be brought to life. We can't do this for ourselves. And so, like David, what we need to do is we need to abandon our own ability, and what we need to do is we need to rest in the work that God has done for us. And so, the psalm continues with some expressive and poetic language to help us see the benefit of dwelling in God. And so, the psalm continues of dwelling in God as a refuge. David delights in the saints, the holy ones in the land. They are excellent. They are blessed. But in contrast, those who go after false gods will have their sorrows increase. So, David is expressing to us that he wants nothing to do with their idolatry and rebellion.
David is expressing to us he will not speak the name of the idols they worship. That's an important thing. As we've talked about many times about the personal name of God, about the third commandment, that you shall not take the Lord's name in vain. Speaking God's name is important to the people of God. Why? Because he has revealed his name to us. He has given us the gift of being able to speak that holy name. Now, David says, says, I'll speak the name of the Lord, but I won't take the names of the idols on my lips. He won't even bring them up by name. Instead, we see that Yahweh is David's chosen portion and his cup. See, he speaks the name of the Lord. He won't speak the idols' names, and he won't drink their blood-offering cup, but he will speak Yahweh's name and say that he is his portion and cup. See, he rejects the cup offered to the idols, but he drinks deeply of God. And that's vivid language here. Idolaters are coming to him with blood offerings to their false gods, but David knows he would be drinking poison. It would be death to him. And so what does he do instead? He drinks deeply of Yahweh. And so what does he have? He has peaceful protection in the fortress of the Lord. Things have fallen for him in pleasant places, and this is more than just a temporary short-term thing. He has what we see here, a beautiful inheritance. Where he is placing his trust is the long game. He isn't going anywhere because he knows the protection he has isn't going anywhere. He has more than just peaceful protection. He knows the profound protection that he has in the presence of a holy God. So Yahweh is set before him always. This is the cup that he's going to drink over and over. It's set before him, and he will drink of it deeply, and he will drink of it often. He isn't going to try anything else. He isn't going to mix anything else in. This is the cup, and he is going to drink deeply and continually of it. And the result is that he is confident that he won't be shaken. He has confidence that God is giving him absolute stability. His heart is glad, and his whole being rejoices. The peace and joy that he has is more than just an emotional sense of well-being. Even his flesh dwells secure. He is safe. Because God is the one who protects him. And notice in verse 10 that we once again have the sense that David understands the permanence of this arrangement. He knows that he will not be abandoned to Sheol, or that's the word for the grave, the place of death where the grave is. He has a hope in something beyond his short temporal existence. David has a hope for something beyond this life. And really, this is the ultimate embodiment of this peaceful protection and profound presence that we've seen, even death and the grave. Remember, that's our greatest enemy. Our greatest enemy is not the things that come at us in this world. Our greatest enemy is death. We've read about it in our public reading of Scripture from 1 Corinthians 15, right? You know, where, oh, death is your victory? Where is your sting? That's what David is saying. Death does not have a sting. Our greatest enemy is rendered dead before us because of the power of God. This is vital for us to understand. And we know this is true because we know the New Testament fulfillment that I just mentioned from 1 Corinthians 15. Because of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, what we see in this psalm is perfectly fulfilled. The Holy One of God did not see corruption. We're told this in the New Testament. And because of this, because we know of those covenant promises coming to pass, we rejoice in the salvation that we have in Jesus. Our shelter and our refuge goes beyond the storms of this life. It protects us into the next. So through the first 10 verses, we have seen the peaceful protection and the ramifications of God's profound presence. And the first 10 verses, we have seen the peaceful protection and the ramifications of God's profound presence and the blessings these things establish for the people of God. And our final point here is the permanent pleasure that we have. It's something I've alluded to throughout the passage, but we see spelled out clearly for us in this final and 11th verse of this chapter of the Psalter. The statement we see in the first part of this verse is significant. He makes known to me the path of life. God has revealed... this path to him. It could have remained a secret, right? Those who have offered David the cup offered to their idols, they're blind in their sin. They don't know this. They're deaf. They are unable to hear and believe in the word of the Lord. It is by the grace of God that David knows this. He has revealed the truth to David, and it's the work of the Holy Spirit that has quickened faith in David's heart to believe the truth. Without this mercy, David is lost. Without the mercy and grace of God revealing himself, without him being made, God making himself known to him, this path of life, David is an idolater, and he's drinking of that other cup. He is making meaningless sacrifices to images of stone, wood, and fire. He is making sacrifices to images of stone, wood, and fire. And metal. He's lost. And I'm continually blown away by this idea. In the middle of a world filled with idolatry, God set apart a people for himself, and he brought them out of their idolatry by his grace. He revealed himself to them, and he gave them the gift of faith. And this path of life was not just for their benefit. These people, that he revealed himself to, David and his offspring, he revealed himself to them to cradle the path to the Messiah. It was to nurture. It was to protect the line to this offspring of David, the one who was to come and crush the head of the serpent, the one who would bring salvation to people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. This was revealed to David. The path of life was made known to him. So that through the blood of the Messiah, David's offspring, you and I could be saved from the sin and idolatry that surrounds us. There are times where I'm just blown away by the truth that this is the story of Scripture, that God has come to us, and he has brought this story to rescue us from all of it. And look at these verses here. I want you to lay hold of this truth. I want you to lay hold of this truth. I want you to lay hold of this truth. This morning, you can pray. You can sing these words with the exact same confidence that David has here. These are the words of every believer ever. These aren't just David's words. They're your words. We don't come to faith by our own strength. We don't believe because we are smarter or because we're moral than anyone else. That's not how we come to faith. We know God because he has made known to us the path of life. That should humble us. That should drive us to our knees. There is no place for boasting here other than boasting in the greatness of the God who mercifully has brought salvation to his people, and he blesses us with his presence. And so we know the fullness of his joy, the joy beyond measure. It's not a joy that's on the surface. It's not a quick burst of happiness because something fortunate has gone our way. This is the fullness of joy. The things of this world can make us happy in the short term. We can even feel pretty good about life for an extended period of time, perhaps, but there's only so much time that it lasts. This all goes to the depth of our being. We understand this. We understand that this joy that we're looking for is something that can't be shaken even when life is at its worst, and it's really not. We're rooted in the grace that we have that comes from this rescue that the Almighty has given us from sin and death. And because we are in Christ, because we are united to him, we have absolute confidence in the fact that this joy is something that we will know forevermore. There is permanence to this pleasure. It does not fade. It does not weaken. And as I said, as I opened up this morning, as a finite being, as finite beings, all of us, we struggle to wrap our minds around things that do not fade and deteriorate. Anytime we have something great happen, we might think that it might last, but we know earthly joy fades. Life happens and time passes, and you can think back fondly on those things, but we don't always have the deep sense of joy. We don't always have the deep sense of joy. We don't always have the deep sense of joy. We don't always have the deep sense of joy that you had when that thing first happened to you. Honestly, I can't fathom feeling fullness of joy forevermore. I can't even begin to wrap my mind around this. But that is the promise we have because we have been given the gift of faith in Christ, and because we have the sure and certain promise of eternal life. We have been saved from the wrath of God by his grace. And the promise is, eternity in his presence. This is our source of hope, peace, and joy. And this drives us to live our lives in service to our great and merciful God. So as we've journeyed through Psalm 16 together today, we've uncovered the profound truths of God's peaceful protection, his profound presence, and the promise of permanent pleasure that transcends our earthly experience. And it's important that we remember that this final point, permanent pleasure, is not just a distant theological concept, a distant truth. It is a reality that can transform how we live each day. And so as we close up this morning, I want you to take a moment and try to imagine a joy that never fades, a satisfaction that never diminishes. That's the promise God offers to us. It's like the deepest laughter that never ends, or a moment of awe that stands fresh forever. And this eternal joy is ours in Christ, who conquered death to secure this for us. But here's where it becomes practical. How do we live in light of this eternal promise while we navigate the daily routines, challenges we face? Well, first, by recognizing that every moment, every interaction, is an opportunity to experience and reflect the joy of our relationship with Christ. When you're at work, with your family, or even alone, remember that the presence of God with you in this life is a foretaste of the greater eternal joys that are to come. Second, let this hope shape your response to life's difficulties. When you face disappointment, loss, or frustration this week, remember that these things are temporary. The eternal joy promised in Psalm 16 offers a perspective that can radically alter our response to the troubles that we encounter in this life. And finally, share this hope. In a world where we may feel the weight and despair and the sting of the curse, let's share this hope. Let's share this hope. Let's share this hope. Let's share this hope. The story we have to share is the promise of joy that doesn't fade. Joy that is as real and as lasting as the God who gives it to us. So as you step out from here today, carry this joy like a torch, as a light in a dark world. As David trusted completely in God, may you also find your strength and your joy in his presence this week. That your life might bring glory to his great name, for who he is, and for what he has done to rescue a people for himself. Amen. Let us pray. Great and merciful God, we thank you that you have shown us the path of life. That you have come to us in your grace and given us the gift of faith and united us to the Son. We pray, O Lord, that we would find joy in this truth. And then that we would know that this joy is but a foretaste of the joy that is forevermore. May we have a confidence in your salvation. That it might spring up from us. That it might be a life-giving word of truth that goes out to those around us. That they might hear and believe and experience this joy as well. It's in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
