The Best is Yet to Come! Psalm 16
We studied several of the Psalms the past few weeks and if you’ll recall many of them were written by David
David is a very prominent figure in history, much of his life spent as the King of Israel
But before David became King, we have seen in our studies that he was hunted down without mercy by King Saul
There were a couple of times, however, that David had opportunity to kill Saul, but did not take it
One of those times, David and one of his soldiers found Saul and all his men sleeping and they slipped in to the camp
Saul was lying there next to his spear
David could have easily killed Saul but did not…instead he took the spear and from a distance later taunted Saul and his men for dropping their guard
Pretty much made idiots out of them
Saul then relented from pursuing David
1 Samuel 26:21 (ESV)
21 Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and have made a great mistake.”
Psalm 16 seems to be have been written in the period following this time of Saul conceding from going after David
Let’s look at the Scripture (Psalm 16)
Keep your Bible open there…
This psalm reminds us that, in spite of our circumstances, we can still pause for a moment and reflect upon the goodness of God
There is always reasoning to count our blessings and see the things that God has done
That’s what David is doing in this Psalm
First, we see:
- David is remembering God for past blessings
As we walk down through the text, notice in the first 4 verses that David is remembering what God has done for him
He didn’t focus on the painful things that he had gone through, he focused on the great God that he served
God had preserved his life, when in fact David should have died at the hand of Saul
But he wasn’t dead, he was still alive, because God still had great purpose for David
Considering how good God is, David concluded that there was no goodness in himself apart from God
A lot of people don’t want to hear that, and even some Christians don’t want to hear, that there is no good in them apart from God…but it’s true
God is good, not us. And everything good that we do is because of the God who made us in his image
Even the good, kind or charitable things that a non-Christian does is because of the image of God that he was made in
All the good that’s in us, has its origin in God
Then David talks about the saints around him in v3
God had allowed David to have godly people around him that he was thankful for
We don’t do this often enough; thank God for the good friends and relations we have among the people of God
And some of those saints among us over the years have had an influence over our lives that make us who we are today
I know I have.
We should be thankful for those saints of God that he had put around us
David delighted in the saints that God had put around him
Notice too, we see in v 4 that David thanks God for the life he didn’t have…ever done that?
I imagine that David looked at the neighboring people groups around him: Moab and the Philistines
These people worshipped idols other than the true God
They did hideous and unspeakable things and David said he would not even take their names on his lips
Not being judgmental of thinking he was better than they were, but the fact is God saved David from that life
You can look around in the world and see many examples of life that you can be thankful God has saved you from!
How often do you thank God that he has saved you and preserved you to be who you are?
Thank God for past blessings of life!
Then we see:
- David is thankful to God for what he’s doing now: present blessings
In v 5-8, we see David’s thankfulness for what God was doing presently in his life
In v5, he says that the Lord is his portion and his cup; meaning that the Lord has provided all of his needs
God makes us complete in that he has provided what we need for this life…he really has if you stop and consider that
God is so good to us!
And further in v6, David said that the Lord holds his lot
He uses that word in the same way we do when we refer to our “lot in life” or our circumstances
David was thankful that God had maintained the circumstances in his life…how?
David was a hunted man for years; he had lost everything he had
No home, couldn’t be with his family or the people of God
All he had to hold on to was the promise of God that one day he would be king
Even though David’s circumstances seemed grim, God had kept his circumstances under control and would one day bring them to an end
Do you believe God is maintaining your lot in life in spite of the circumstances going on around you at this moment?
If you do, be thankful to God…God has got this!
Another present blessing David was thankful for was contentment
He said in v6, “The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance”
When the people of Israel came in to the Promised Land, they divided up the land between the tribes
Each tribe had their portion of the land separated by lines or boundaries
David refers to the boundaries of the life God has given to him as an inheritance
As he writes this psalm, he looks at what God has given to him, the way God portioned out his life, and he concludes that what he has is good
That’s called contentment: being satisfied with what you God has given you
It’s easy to complain about what we have or what we don’t have
But all in all, we are blessed
God deserves our deepest gratitude
Listen: Contentment and thankfulness for what we have are signs of spiritual maturity
Another present blessing David is thankful for is the counsel and instruction of God
We see that in v7
Before David ever made a move, he always asked for God’s counsel and wisdom
We should be doing the same. When you are faced with a decision to make, ask for God’s wisdom
James 1:5 tells us that if we lack wisdom, we are to ask God for it who will give it to you generously
I know by experience, that when I have had a tough decision to make, if I’ll go to God and ask for wisdom it goes so much better
God will give you wisdom if you’ll ask him for it
And then in v8, another present blessing of God that David realizes is the confidence he has that God is always right there with him
“The Lord is always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken”
As we have walked down through this psalm this morning, David has thanked God for past and present blessings of God
Now in the last verses, David thanks God for what is ahead
The best is yet to come!
There is a prophetic meaning to David’s words in these last few verses
David is rejoicing in the fact that one day he will rise from the dead and be with God forever
But he is writing about things that will come about in the NT
Portions of Psalm 16:8-11 are quoted in the book of Acts (2:25-28; 13:35-36) and are fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol or let your holy one see corruption.
Sheol means the grave. David rejoiced that God would not leave him in the grave
And he rejoiced that God would not let his “holy one” see corruption
In many of our English translations of the Bible, you see “holy one” capitalized…recognizing that David is prophetically talking about Jesus Christ not being left in the grave
And obviously this prophecy came about!
Jesus did not stay in the grave, he rose from the dead!
And one day, have received Jesus Christ as Savior, God will cause our soul to rejoin our body and we will rise from the grave
God will not leave us there!
Past blessings of God
Present blessings of God
And the best is yet to come; future blessings of God!
Any believer in Christ who gets bogged down in the present can get back on his feet by remembering who God is, what he has done, and what he is yet to do in the future!
If you’ve surrendered your life to Christ, he is the God that you serve