Sunday, August 28, 2022 AM

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Sunnyside Baptist Church "The Lord is Our Good" Psalm 16:1-11

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All right. Good morning, everyone. Good to be here to worship together today at Sunnyside Baptist Church.
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Lovely morning outside. We'll start with a few announcements this morning. Obviously this morning we have the Lord's Supper, so begin preparing your hearts for that near the end of our service today.
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Looking ahead to this afternoon, there will be a wedding shower, bridal shower, in the
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Fellowship Hall for Joel and Nicole. So that will go from 12 .30,
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I believe, to 2 .30. So probably a lot of guys are responsible for their own lunch today figuring out what to do there.
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Yeah, prayer request there. And then also this evening, regular evening service at 5 .30,
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truth group this evening after that service for our young adults. Looking ahead to this Wednesday, again, it's the last
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Wednesday and last day of the month, so there will not be a meal this Wednesday but come for devotion and prayer at 6 .30.
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Looking ahead to next Sunday, that's going to be promotion Sunday for our Sunday school classes.
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So be sure, if you haven't done so already, if your kids are promoting, thank those teachers who have had those kids for years now and it really poured into them.
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They would appreciate that. And then looking ahead to next Wednesday on the 7th,
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TAG children's program resumes. They are still in need of some volunteers. So if you can volunteer, there's a variety of ways that you can serve for TAG children's program there on Wednesdays.
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There are some new Bible reading plans on the back table for To the
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Word, the year -long Bible reading challenge. So feel free to pick one of those up.
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They're free for you to take and that will take you through the next roughly nine months or so of Bible reading.
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I know a lot of people have participated in that in the past. It's an enjoyable thing to do together.
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Also, don't forget to check mailboxes. A lot of times people will leave cards of encouragement or sympathy in those.
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Check those regularly as well. Any other announcements? This morning, this week's fight or verse comes from 1
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Peter chapter 4 verse 16. Yet if anyone suffers as a
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Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.
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We're going to prepare our hearts for worship this morning through prayer and just a quiet time and then at the conclusion of that,
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Dad will come and open us in prayer. Oh Lord, our
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Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. The heavens declare your glory.
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The sun, the moon, and the stars are all your handiwork. And Lord, when we consider who we are, we are amazed that you would be mindful of us.
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How grateful we are for Christ, who is our righteousness, who came to fulfill all righteousness and by his perfect obedience and through faith in him, imputes to us his own righteousness, that we might stand justified, forgiven, and free before your throne.
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We thank you for Christ, who is our joy, in whom we have every blessing because of Christ.
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We thank you for Jesus, who is our peace, who has taken us from being enemies of God to being your sons and daughters.
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We praise you for Christ, our salvation, who has redeemed us from the curse of the law and given us hope, given us life.
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Lord, we pray that as we come this morning, that we would, even as we see your word projected on the screen, even as we see the lyrics of hymns projected on the screen, that those words would stir our hearts to give you praise and glory and honor and blessing for you are good and you do good.
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Lord, help us today with one heart, with one mind, with one voice.
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May we declare that Christ is Lord to the praise of your glorious name.
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Amen. Thank you,
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Brother Ken. Would you stand with me for our call to worship this morning? This passage has already spoken to me personally this week, so I'm excited about getting to read this together with you.
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So if you would, read with me together Psalm 79, 8 through 10. Do not remember against us our former iniquities.
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Let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.
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Help us, O God, our salvation, for the glory of your name deliver us and atone for our sins for your name's sake.
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Why should the nation say, where is their God? Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants be known among the nations before our eyes.
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So if you would, turn to your Songs for Worship hymnal, page 79B, and we'll sing all three verses 7, 8, and 9.
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Verses 7, 8, and 9. Oh, charge us not with former sins, but your compassion show.
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Come quickly meet us in our need, we are brought low.
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Oh, God of our salvation, help to your name glory take.
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Deliver us, forgive our sins, for your name's sake.
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New nations say, where is their
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God? Let nations know instead, your vengeance for your servants' blood which has been shed.
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And then our regular hymnal, hymn number 404, The Solid Rock.
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My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
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I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but only lean on Jesus' name.
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Oh, Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.
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All other ground is sinking sand.
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When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest upon His unchanging grace.
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In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.
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Oh, Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.
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All other ground is sinking sand.
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His hope is calm, I net His blood, support me in the whelming flood.
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With all around my soul His way, He bears all my hope and stay.
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Oh, Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.
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All other ground is sinking sand.
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When He shall come with trumpet sound, oh, may
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I then in Him be found. Rest in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.
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Oh, Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.
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All other ground is sinking sand. Oh, Christ the solid rock
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I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.
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All other ground is sinking sand.
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A king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice. Each will be like a hiding place from the wind, a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.
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Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed, and the ears of those who hear will give attention.
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The heart of the hasty will understand and know, and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly.
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The fool will no more be called noble, nor the scoundrel said to be honorable.
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For the fool speaks folly, and his heart is busy with iniquity, to practice ungodliness, to utter error concerning the
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Lord, to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied, and to deprive the thirsty of drink.
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As for the scoundrel, his devices are evil. He plans wicked schemes to ruin the poor with lying words, even when the plea of the needy is right.
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But he who is noble plans noble things, and on noble things he stands.
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Would you pray with me? Our gracious Heavenly Father, we come before you, and our desire is that we might have kings and rulers who are righteous here and now, and yet we know if that doesn't come, while we live here on earth, we have hope that a king is returning who is righteousness, and he rules over all.
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All the rulers and the princes of this world, they will bow their knee to him, as will we.
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Father, as we await his return, the return of our King and our Savior and our
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Lord Jesus Christ, help us to stand firm in his truth, to love those who are lost, to spread his good news to the world, and in all things to give you glory.
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Be with us as we open your word together, as we continue to sing worship songs to you.
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We love you and we ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated.
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For our next song, there was a handout in the back. I hope you were able to pick that up. I appreciate so much the ladies on the worship team.
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Our heart's desire is truly to worship the Lord in song, and so grateful so much for the ladies as they've used the gifts
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God has given them to serve him. And on this song, Haley is going to start us off. ♪
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Lord, from the depths I call to you.
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Lord, hear my prayer and give attention to my voice.
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When I for mercy cry,
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Lord, in your presence who can stand?
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In you our sins record.
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My death forgiveness is with you, that we may fear you,
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Lord. ♪
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Out of the depths I cry to you. In darkest places
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I will call. Incline your ear to hear the moon and hear my cries for mercy,
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Lord. Learn to count my sins for ways.
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How could I come before your throne? Yet full forgiveness meets my gaze.
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I stand redeemed by grace, Lord. I will wait for you.
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I will wait for you. One by one I will rely.
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I will wait for you, surely wait for you, till my soul is satisfied.
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♪ So put your hope in God alone.
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Take courage in his power to save.
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Completely and forever one. By Christ emerging from the grave.
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I will wait for you. I will wait for you. On your word
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I will rely. I will wait for you, surely wait for you, till my soul is satisfied.
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♪ Now he has come to make a way. And God himself has paid the price.
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Let all who trust in him today find healing in his sacrifice.
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I will wait for you. I will wait for you. On your word
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I will rely. I will wait for you, surely wait for you, till my soul is satisfied.
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I will wait for you. I will wait for you. Through the storm and through the night.
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I will wait for you, surely wait for you, till my love is my delight.
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I wait, my soul, wait for the
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Lord. My hope is in his hand.
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More than the watchman waits for dawn.
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My soul waits for the
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Lord. Let's go to the
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Lord together in prayer. Heavenly Father, I thank you for the day. I thank you for the hope that we have in Christ.
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I thank you for the joys of coming together as brothers and sisters in the love that you have given to us through your
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Holy Spirit. I thank you for the prospects of thanksgiving and rejoicing today that you have brought about.
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And I ask that here this morning as we read your word, as we bow the knee to this scepter of your lordship in our lives, that you would have your way among us, that your will, established from heaven, will find a hearty amen in this world, in our lives, that thereby you would be greatly glorified and you would do us great good.
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We pray all of these things, seeking these mercies in the name of your son,
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Jesus Christ, the one with whom you are well pleased. Amen. I invite you to open your
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Bibles and turn with me to Psalm 16. Psalm 16, we will be reading verses 1 through 11, the whole psalm here in a moment.
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The connection to the book of Acts is that in Acts chapter 2, among other passages that Peter quotes, interprets, and applies, is
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Psalm 16. And it just so happens that this psalm is rich with the themes of our communion with the
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Lord. So in the Lord's providence today, we will be looking at this psalm. Recall that Peter is preaching on the day of Pentecost, the
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Holy Spirit has arrived in that promised and special way, signaling the reality of the new covenant, and signaling, therefore, the end of the old covenant.
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Now that the new has come, the old is obsolete and is ready to pass away.
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It shall pass away with judgment. However, the promise of the
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Holy Spirit, the arrival of the Holy Spirit, signals that promise from Joel chapter 2, that whoever calls upon the name of the
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Lord shall be saved. Peter does not leave this call ill -defined, and he begins to proclaim who this
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Lord is by declaring the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, who is the
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Christ, the Son of the living God. He then begins to clarify even further the importance of this resurrection and its significance for the rule and reign of Christ, made so manifest by the arrival of the
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Holy Spirit. He does this by quoting the latter half of Psalm 16 and clarifies that although this was indeed the
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Psalm of David, that David proclaimed and prophesied by the power of the
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Holy Spirit, that ultimately David was not speaking of himself in the resurrection from the dead, but ultimately he was declaring
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Christ who would reign upon the very throne of David.
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So in this interest, we turn our attention to Psalm 16 and I invite you to stand with me as we read the text.
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Here is the word of our Lord Christ, by His Holy Spirit, through His prophet
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David. Preserve me, O God, for in you
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I put my trust. O my soul, you have said to the Lord, O Lord, you are my
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Lord. My goodness is nothing apart from you. As for the saints who are on the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.
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Their sorrows shall be multiplied, who hasten after another God. Their drink offerings of blood
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I will not offer, nor take up their names on my lips. O Lord, you are the portion of my inheritance and my cup.
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You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places.
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Yes, I have a good inheritance. I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
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I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
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Therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoices.
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My flesh also will rest in hope, for you will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will you allow your
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Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life, and your presence is fullness of joy.
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At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. This is the word of the
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Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. My goodness is nothing apart from the
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Lord. The Lord is the portion of our inheritance and cup.
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These themes are also present in Psalm 23.
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Are they not? As we consider that the nearness of the Lord is our good, here we see these very same truths being expressed by David.
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It's important that we think about the connection of Psalm 16 to Joel 2 and Acts 2.
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To consider the happy amalgamation of the scriptural truths together in the way in which
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Peter, having been so blessed by his Lord, having his eyes opened to understand the scriptures, being blessed by the power of the
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Holy Spirit to proclaim the truths of Jesus Christ from Joel 2 and Psalm 16 and several other passages that he's going to reference here in Acts 2.
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We need to understand these connections and to rejoice in them if we too are to grab hold of the meaning of Pentecost and the joys that we now experience in the new covenant.
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Indeed, as we gather together to partake in communion, what are we doing?
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What joys are here set before us? Psalm 16, in light of Acts 2, helps us with that.
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We are to rejoice in our Savior at all times. We are to rejoice in our
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Savior at all times. Psalm 16, at the beginning you see a little note, a mixtum of David, an especially quality kind of poem, a skillful poem, and like so many other psalms, set in chiasm, so that we have several layers that echo one another in their themes.
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We'll look at them in order. We'll look at the bookends and work our way inward until we hit the very heart of David's skillful psalm.
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We're going to see in verses 1 through 3, in verse 11, the call to trust in the
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Lord. We'll consider in verses 4 and 10 that the
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Lord alone saves. In the meat of the psalm, we'll see in verses 5 and 6 and verses 8 and 9 that we are to rejoice in hope because of who the
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Lord is and how he saves. And at the heart of everything, in verse 7, we receive the main point, that we are to bless the
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Lord always. Let's begin with verses 1 through 3 and verse 11.
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Consider the prayer of David here, the call of David to his Lord. Do we remember the life of David, the situation that we often think of him being in?
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On the run, outlaw, hunted. The things that God had promised him.
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The anointing that he had placed upon him. The favor he had had in the royal courts.
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Now, all of it changed. On the run from King Saul, with his band of 600 fellow outlaws.
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A triple agent. Hiding from Saul amongst the
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Philistines, pretending like he's doing the Philistines' job of attacking and raiding his own people, while actually attacking other enemies besides the
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Philistines. Trying to hold it all together. Sometimes his men ready to go to war with one another.
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Sometimes mutinous against him. Listen to the prayer of David.
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See how he calls upon the Lord. Acts 2, what was just said.
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The promise of Joel chapter 2. Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
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Peter says, you know who this Lord is? It's none other than Jesus of Nazareth. That's who the
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Lord is that you're to call upon. That's the Lord you're supposed to trust in. And then he starts quoting from Psalm 16.
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Look here at what it looks like to trust the Lord. Perhaps that phrase is used so often.
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But what does that look like? Psalm 16 verses 1 and 2.
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David prays, preserve me, O God, for in you I put my trust.
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O my soul, you have said to the Lord, you are my Lord. My goodness is nothing apart from you.
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What does it mean to trust in the Lord? First he says, preserve me, O God. Save me. Keep me.
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I trust in you. He says, I've said to my soul.
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He dresses himself. He upbraids himself. And he says, soul, you have said to the Lord, you are my
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Lord. Not only do I look to the Lord to be my Savior. Please preserve me.
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Please keep me. But I look to the Lord as actually my Lord, my sovereign.
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You are my Lord. You are king. You're in charge. You have authority over my life.
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Not only do you keep me, but you also rule over me. And then he says, my goodness is nothing apart from you.
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My goodness is nothing apart from you. Anything that would be good in my life is absolutely meaningless, without foundation, without you.
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I've got nothing without you. In other words, David is saying to God, I trust you.
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What does that look like? It means that in every way possible,
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David addresses the Lord and says, you are my Savior. You are my sovereign. You are my shepherd.
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I've got nothing without you. That's what it looks like to trust in the
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Lord. So much so, that David says, everybody else who's in the same boat as I am,
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I deeply love. The saints, the saints who are on the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.
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Those who also know the Lord as their Savior, and their sovereign, and their shepherd in every way possible.
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Oh, I delight in those. Those are my people. I rejoice in them. To trust in the
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Lord, you see, is to be drawn to Him. And everybody else who trusts in the
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Lord, drawn to Him. We come together. We rejoice in one another. For we find the same joy in the same
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Lord. The same Savior, the same sovereign, the same shepherd. That's what it looks like to trust in the
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Lord. Is this not reminiscent of what
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Jesus described as eternal life? That eternal life is not some dubious, rusty escape hatch from death.
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But He said, this is eternal life. That they know you, the one true
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God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. That this is eternal life. To trust in the
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Lord is to live in the Lord. That in every way possible,
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I look to the Lord as Savior, and sovereign, and shepherd. Then, verse 11, notice the parallel of themes.
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You will show me the path of life. It's not Christ told us He is the way, the truth, and the life.
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Eternal life is to know Him, to trust in Him, to live in Him. You will show me the path of life.
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In your presence is fullness of joy. In your presence is fullness of joy.
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Apart from you, I've got nothing. But in your presence is the fullness, is the everything of joy.
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At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
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David has just said in verses 9 and 10 that he's got hope. Even death is not the end.
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Ultimately, life is in the Lord. And there's hope, not just for the now, but in the hereafter.
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There's hope forever. Trust in the Lord. Trust in the
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Lord. He is our salvation. He is our authority. He is the one who provides for us.
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And in Him, we are His saints forever. Trust in the
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Lord, and you will rejoice in your Savior at all times. How does the table teach us this?
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Are we not looking upon the elements that remind us of the Lord's salvation? It was
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His broken body and His shed blood in our place and for our sake. He is our
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Savior. Has He not risen from the dead and given us this ordinance to proclaim
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His death until He comes? Does He not show us through this meal that He provides for us?
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He sustains us. He's the one who gives us life ever after through His personal provision.
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And do we not rejoice in one another as the saints as we come together around this table?
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The table of our Lord. Trust in the Lord. He alone saves.
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Now, I want you to look at verses 4 and 10. Again, thinking of the context of David on the run from King Saul, him and his 600 men trying to stay at least two spear lengths ahead, running around with the
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Philistines, trying to fool everybody at once. What does he say in verse 4?
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In contrast to the saints, he speaks of those who hasten after another god.
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He says, their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god.
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Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, nor take up their names on my lips.
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He's running around with the Philistines. They worship false gods. They offer sacrifices to false gods.
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They invoke the names of their false gods. They offer up blood sacrifices to their false gods.
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They're worshiping Dagon, the fish god. There's nothing wrong with a fish.
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But a man who worships a fish, there's nothing right about him. And David knows where his hope remains is in the
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Lord. He is not going to begin to call upon the fish god of the
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Philistines. He says, their sorrows will be multiplied who hasten after another god.
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Doesn't David have enough sorrows already? Doesn't he have enough problems already? It will only be multiplied, exponentially made worse, by worshiping a false conception of the
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Creator, the Provider, the Ruler, and the Savior. David says, there's only one
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I'm going to pray to. Only one name I will put upon my lips and invoke in prayer.
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It will not be these false gods. Similarly, in verse 10, David knows where his hope lies.
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He says, for you will not leave my soul in Sheol. You're not going to leave the life of me in the grave.
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Nor will you allow your Holy One, your Messiah, your Christ, to see corruption.
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Consider. Consider, David first considers the hopelessness in prayer of idolaters.
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And then he considers the hopelessness in peril for those who do not rejoice in the
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Lord's anointed one. And both of these things are untrue about David.
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He knows who to pray to. He knows who to trust. He knows who saves. And ultimately, how many times has
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David faced death? He knows one thing. God is not going to leave the life of me in the grave.
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Why? Why does David have hope of the resurrection? Because of the way the Lord thinks about, treats, honors
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His Holy One. His Messiah. His Christ.
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You're not going to leave my soul in Sheol because you're not even going to allow your anointed one to see corruption.
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David has hope of the resurrection because of God's anointed. This is what comes to mind for Peter when he's preaching in Acts chapter 2.
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As he's clarifying the good of the New Covenant. The joys of the
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New Covenant. The reality of the superiority of the New Covenant. Because we have a new mediator who is Christ.
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He has just declared that it was according to the sovereign plan of God that Israel, by lawless hands, put this
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Messiah to death. But He didn't stay dead. He was raised from the dead. And that was made proof positive, not only by the arrival of the
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Holy Spirit, but that He showed Himself to so many. And this means that He's Lord of lords and King of kings.
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He sits upon the throne. There was a question about who should be in charge in David's time.
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Wasn't there not? Saul was the Lord's anointed. And then all of a sudden
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David was the Lord's anointed. At the same time. Now that caused some problems.
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Didn't it? The unfaithful anointed one,
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Saul, was told that the Lord was taking away his kingdom and giving it to another.
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Saul had been unfaithful. He had broken stewardship with God.
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He did not do the right thing. And he knew his lineage was coming to an end. His dynasty was going to stop.
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All of a sudden there's another anointed one. And Saul's jealousy begins to burn more and more, as he considers
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David. And so he is obsessed with trying to murder the other anointed one, the worthy anointed one who was going to take his place.
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That story sounds familiar. It's because you also find it in the New Testament. Where there was murderous jealousy on the behalf of the unfaithful stewards of the
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Old Covenant who were jealous of the Son who came as the mediator of the New Covenant. And they wanted to murder
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Him out of jealousy. Peter reflects upon David's psalm and his trust in the
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Lord that he alone saves. There's no other name.
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There's no other blood. There's no other Savior except for the risen Lord. And gathering here today, we proclaim the
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Lord's death. The risen Lord's death we proclaim until He comes.
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Also, we are to rejoice in hope. We see this in verses 5 and 6 and verses 8 and 9.
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It is the very character of our Lord. It is the nature of His salvation that leads us to hope.
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Hope is perhaps the most absent of Christian virtues.
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One would think that given the state of Christianity today, that these abide, these three, faith, love, and despair.
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But no, we are a people of hope. Because of who Christ is.
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Because He's risen from the dead. Because He's reigning from the right hand of the Father. We have hope.
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We have hope. And we are to rejoice in His hope. Now look how David rejoices in the hope of the
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Lord. Verses 5 and 6. Oh Lord, you are the portion of my inheritance and my cup.
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You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Yes, I have a good inheritance.
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Now, David is on the run. He's not even in the land of Israel.
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He's an outlaw. Who knows what his father thought of him and his brothers thought of him.
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He's out on the run. He's trying to escape. What land does he have?
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He's not at home helping to shepherd the flocks on the lands of his father.
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A portion of which he may inherit. What does he have? But he begins to use the language of inheritance.
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He uses the language of an allotment of land. He speaks of inheritance and lot and lines.
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These are the words from the second half of the book of Joshua.
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Where the one who succeeds Moses, Yeshua, takes the people into the promised land and lays out their inheritance for them.
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And they were given lines that apportioned the land and they were called their lot.
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Because they cast lots to give out the land. What does
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David say about his inheritance? Oh Lord, you are the portion of my inheritance and my cup.
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You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Yes, I have a good inheritance, says the man on the run.
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What was the concern of somebody's inheritance, their land that they were to inherit and to steward through the rest of their lives?
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Was it good land? Or was it really bad land? Plus, if it was good land, did it get sold?
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Will the family get it back in the year of Jubilee? And further, what if someone who is really deceptive and devious comes along and they begin to roll that ancient landmark over the ancient boundary and they begin to move it around and steal some of our land without us knowing?
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This land is fragile. What if foreign armies come and take it away from us? What happens to my inheritance then?
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Notice what David says. Oh Lord, you are the portion of my inheritance and my cup. You maintain my lot.
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This is why he says the lines have fallen in pleasant places. Yes, I have a good inheritance. Because he's looking at the
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Lord and he's saying, You are my inheritance. You are my guarantee. You are the one who maintains my inheritance.
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You are the one who sustains this guarantee. He's in a position where there's the potential that there's nothing left.
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It could be that not even David will be left by the time that Saul gets through with him. It's possible that David might be in despair.
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And yet, look, he is full of hope. He is looking for an inheritance. That is something that is set ahead of us, in front of us, that inexorably draws us forward.
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That's hope. And he begins to talk about it in a very specific way.
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A way that is reaching back to Numbers and Exodus.
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Numbers 18. In Numbers 18, the
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Lord's speaking to the Levites. Remember there's the twelve tribes that they all got an allotment. The twelve tribes got the allotment.
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But then there was the one tribe, Levi. Twelve tribes got their land.
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And then there was that one tribe, in addition to the twelve. And what did they get? Here's what the
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Lord says. Verse 20. Then the Lord said to Aaron, You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor own any portion among them.
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I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.
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What did David just do? He took up the language that God reserved for the tribe of Levi.
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And David is here praying to the Lord. He grabs hold of that. No matter
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I'm from the tribe of Judah, I grab on to the promise you made to the tribe of Levi, and I make it my own. And I say to the
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Lord, You are my portion. You are my inheritance. Was that not the
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Lord's design all along? Had not David looked appropriately into the heart of the old covenant, and seen the promise of the new?
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Exodus. See, we can even go back further. Exodus chapter 19, verse 5.
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Now then, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant... Notice the conditionality on Israel.
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Now then, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine.
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So God says, I own it all. I own it all. But if you're faithful in keeping covenant with me, you're going to be my peculiar people, a people from my own possession, if you keep covenant with me.
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Verse 6. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests. A kingdom just chock full of priests, everywhere a priest and a holy nation.
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These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel. This is the language from Numbers and Exodus that Peter picks up.
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And Peter, who preaches Pentecost, Peter who quotes Psalm 16, Peter picks it up in his own letter and says,
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Those who were once called not a people are now the people of God. We are a people for His own possession, a peculiar people.
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We're a kingdom of priests to the Lord. And guess who is our inheritance? Guess who is our lot? It is none other than the
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Lord Himself. The Lord is the inheritance.
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The Lord is the lot. Why? Because Christ inherits everything.
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Hebrews 1 .2 says, Christ is the heir of all things. It all belongs to Him. And if you're in Christ, you're a co -heir to everything.
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Romans 8 says that despite all the suffering that Christians have to undergo, we must understand it from the proper perspective and realize that if we're in Christ, we are co -heirs with Christ.
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That we share in this inheritance of everything. Indeed, the lines fall to us in pleasant places because we have the
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Lord as our inheritance. Take away our land, take away our freedom, take away our jobs, take away our finances, take away our stewardship, take away our children, take away our lives.
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You'll never take away our inheritance. You'll never take away our lot. Because we have the Lord. We have
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Christ. And He's Lord of lords and He's King of kings. It is absolutely impossible to defeat those who are in Christ.
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We are overcomers in Him. Rejoice in that hope. Rejoice in that hope.
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Paul rejoiced in that hope so much that think about Paul. He said, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.
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Think about Paul, who was better known in his earlier days as Saul from Tarsus.
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Was there anyone who was more esteemed, better positioned in the
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Old Covenant to have prestige and inheritance and allotment and wealth and influence?
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He was an Israelite of an Israelite. He knew his inheritance. He knew his heritage.
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He knew his lineage. He was from the tribe of Benjamin. He could trace it all the way back. None were more righteous and law -keeping than him.
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He was a standout in zeal among all the other stewards in that Old Covenant.
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But you know what he did? He realized that his allotment in that Old Covenant was placed upon a mountain that would be shaken and destroyed and done away with.
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And so he said, I count it all as loss for Christ. It's all a dunghill.
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It's rubbish to me because I have gained Christ. Rejoice in the hope.
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Peter preaches the hope. Verse 8 says, I have set the Lord always before me because He is at my right hand.
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I shall not be moved. Consider what he's saying.
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He just said, I'm not going to worship another god. How multiplied are the sorrows of those who worship a false god.
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People, if you're not careful, you leave them alone and somebody can pick them up and carry them off. Those false gods.
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Nobody's going to pick up the Lord and set Him down in front of them. He's too glorious.
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He's too weighty. No, to set the Lord before me means
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I orient my life on Him. Lord's not in orbit around me.
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I'm in orbit around Him. And when that happens, when that happens, because He's at my right hand, because He is at the position of my glory, my glory is attenuated to His, I shall not be moved.
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My heart is glad. My glory rejoices. Look at the shalom. My flesh will also rest in hope.
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You know, rest in hope. You've floated down a river, haven't you?
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Isn't that great? When you're in the canoe, you're in the kayak, and you're not even paddling, and you're moving.
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Resting in hope. Resting in hope. Being drawn along by the gravitational pull of the
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Lord to love Him more, to know Him more, to rejoice in Him more. Everything at peace in its proper place.
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Why? Because I have set the Lord always before me. He's my inheritance. He's my lot. I rejoice in His hope.
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And so, verse 7, at the heart of everything, I will bless the
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Lord who has given me counsel. My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. Bless the
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Lord always. Rejoice in your Savior at all times. I will bless the
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Lord who has given me counsel. My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
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The Lord gave counsel to David. He says, I'm going to praise you for it. It's by your counsel, by your word, by your meaning, by your truth that I can see how all of this actually fits together.
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What is required of me and what it all means. But notice, the good counsel of the
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Lord is good even in the bad times. Because my heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
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It's not only in the restful times when I can learn something new and grow in my faith, but it's also in the night seasons.
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You know what the night seasons are? It's just the nights. It's the Hebrew word for plurality of nights.
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Who knows how long it goes. The night seasons are the seasons where it's like night after night after night.
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The nights dominate my life. It's sorrow, it's suffering, it's despair, it's difficulty.
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In the night seasons. Look, look. The Lord has given me counsel. I'm going to bless Him, rejoice in Him, and sing to Him because He's given me counsel.
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This is what the instruction is in the heart. My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
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Oh Lord, your counsel is good for the night seasons. The Lord leads
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His dear children along. Some through the water, some through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the blood.
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Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song in the night seasons and all the day long.
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Let's pray. Father, we come before you today and we do rejoice that you indeed have given us a wonderful inheritance in the riches, in the goodness of your
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Son, Jesus Christ, in whom all of your promises are yes, and we live as the amen.
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We rejoice today that we can come together and partake of this meal to bless our
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Savior and rejoice together. Pray these things in His name. Amen.
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Turning, if you would, to our Psalms for Worship panel, page 100, or, excuse me, page 16D,
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I will sing, Preserve Me, O God. Preserve me,
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O God, for I'm trusting in you. Yes, you are my master,
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I said to the Lord. Besides you,
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I do not possess any good. In you, holy messengers,
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I'll take delight. Those who run to their idols will multiply drinks.
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I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood, nor will
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I confess their vain names with my lips.
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The Lord's my inherited portion and cup.
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You care for my lot where the life fell to me, my blessed and lovely inherited land.
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The Lord who gives counsel to me I will bless, for surely my mind teaches me through the night.
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The Lord ever present before me
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I keep. He stands at my right hand,
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I shall not be moved. My glory rejoices, my heart is made glad, and also my flesh will live safely at ease.
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For you'll not abandon my soul to the grave.
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Your godly work you will preserve from decay.
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Life's path you will show me, for joy is with you.
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Your right hand holds pleasures for me evermore.