Psalm 16

"The Lord, My Inheritance"



We have seen how the Psalter opens by exploring the theme of refuge.

Psalm 1 sets forth the picture of the blessed man

as the one who delights in the law of the lord.

Psalm 2 shows how the Davidic king is the Son of God

-the one who reigns over the nations with a rod of iron.

-and declares that those who take refuge in the Anointed King are blessed.

Psalms 3-7 then explore different aspects of refuge:

the Psalmists call upon God for deliverance (salvation) from their enemies,

and justice against those who seek to destroy them.

Last week we saw how in Psalm 8, David returns to the theme of the Son of God,

or in this case, the son of man-which refers to the Davidic king,

who rules over all things as the Second Adam,

and as a picture of the Messiah to come-our Lord Jesus.



Psalms 9-18 continue to explore the theme of refuge.

Psalm 9 speaks of Yahweh as a "stronghold for the oppressed,"

who "does not forget the cry of the afflicted,"

and calls on the Lord to judge the nations and remember the needy.

Psalm 10 asks God why he delays judgment.

"Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?"

There are times when it doesn't look like God is going to deliver us.

There are times when the wicked seize the poor and crushes them.

And so the Psalmist cries out,

"You do see...you have been the helper of the fatherless.

Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;

call his wickedness to account till you find none."

God will do justice-and will deliver the afflicted in the end.

Psalm 11 then rejoices that because God is in his holy temple, in the heavens,

he will hear and see, and vindicate the righteous.

Psalm 12 warns against the wicked who speak lies-

and calls on Yahweh to "cut off all flattering lips."

David turns from the evil speech of the wicked,

and remembers that "the words of the Lord are pure words."

What he has promised, he will do.

Psalm 13, like Psalm 10, asks "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?"

My enemies are winning, and my foes are rejoicing over me!

And yet in the midst of doubt and confusion,

David does not despair.

He concludes "But I have trusted in your steadfast love;

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation."

There are times when you cannot see how God will deliver you.

But in the midst of doubt and fear,

trust in the steadfast love of the Lord,

the covenant faithfulness of Yahweh.

Psalm 14 (which is verbally identical to Psalm 53),

speaks of the fool who has said in his heart, "there is no God!"

But while bemoaning the fact that the children of man have turned aside

and become corrupt (portions of this Psalm are quoted in Romans 3)

David still believes God's promises,

remembering that "God is with the generation of the righteous."

And Yahweh is indeed the refuge of the poor.

And having shown that all the children of men have turned aside and become corrupt,

Psalm 15 then asks, "O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?

"Who shall dwell on your holy hill?"

David answers: (v2-5)

This is to describe all of us.

But it is especially to describe the king.

And as such, it is to describe the Anointed One-the Messiah.



But Psalms 14-16 belong together.

Psalm 14 declares that "there is none who does good."

Psalm 15 declares, though, that some may still dwell in God's presence.

And Psalm 16 shows how.



And Christ is the center of Psalm 16.

Peter, in Acts 2, says that David was a prophet-speaking about the coming of Messiah.



Did the prophets always understand the full implications of what they said?

Did they always even know that they were speaking of the future?

Peter later tells us in 2 Peter 1:21 that

"no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man,

but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."

Did David realize that he was speaking of Jesus?

Maybe. Maybe not.

But whether he realized it or not, he was indeed prophesying about the one to come.



Psalm 16 describes the Son of God in his reliance upon his Father.

This was to be Israel's attitude toward God.

It was to be especially the Davidic king's attitude.

And it was most emphatically the attitude of our Lord Jesus Christ.



"Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I say to Yahweh, 'You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."

The only way to avoid Psalm 14-the fool who says there is no God,

is through trusting in Yahweh.

The only way to become the blameless man of Psalm 15,

is through trusting in the Lord.

All that is good, I owe to you.

And because I take refuge in you, I also delight in your people.

"As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight."

I do not delight in the counsel of the ungodly.

I do not sit in the seat of the scornful.

I delight to share in the communion of saints-the fellowship of God's people.

Psalm 15 had said that the man who may dwell in God's tent

is the man who despises a vile person, but who honors those who fear Yahweh.

Now Psalm 16 fleshes this out.

I delight in the saints,

but I will not join with those who run after other gods.

Taking refuge in the Lord also means delighting in the fellowship of his church.

Worship and fellowship are intimately bound up together.

They cannot exist in isolation.



We were created as worshipers, designed to worship in fellowship with one another.

We will either worship the true God, or false gods.

We will either walk in the fellowship of true worship, or in idolatry.

You will either run after the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

or you will run after another god.

The gods of the nations promise all sorts of blessings,

but their promised blessings prove to be only curses in the end.

Think about how organized sports have taken on a religious aspect.

You all know people whose mood will be dictated for the next four months,

by how their favorite team is doing.

And these people gather every Saturday or Sunday to worship

together with their friends.

The mall can be provide a similar sort of worship and fellowship-

finding one's identity, power, pleasure or peace in the worship of "having stuff."



Why do you sin?

I'm not looking for the textbook answer.

I'm looking for the practical answer.

Why do YOU sin?

What temptations are you most susceptible to?

And why do you give in to those temptations?

Isn't it because you expect some blessing? (happiness, power, fulfillment, pleasure...)

For some reason, you are convinced that if you do this,

or if you say that, or if you see this-then you will be satisfied.

The Psalmist speaks the truth.

"The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply."

Does it ever turn out the way you planned?

Do you actually find that lust increases your happiness?

Do you find that anger gives you greater power?

Oh, there may be an illusion of happiness or power,

but the supposed "blessings" that we sought from other gods,

prove to be nothing but the source of misery and sorrow.

In the moment of temptation,

when sin rears its ugly head,

ask yourself-quickly!-"what lie am I believing?"

Because in order for temptation to be attractive, you MUST be believing a lie!



The solution, according to David, is to remember your inheritance.

Remember who you are.

The false gods promise all sorts of blessings and benefits.

Remember the benefits of belonging to Christ.



"The Lord-Yahweh-is my chosen portion and my cup. You hold my lot."



The drink offerings of the other gods in Psalm 16:4

are contrasted with Yahweh being declared as "my cup."

The two other uses of the "cup" in the first book of the Psalter refer to one's lot in life:



Psalm 11:6 "Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup"

Psalm 23:5 "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows"



But the image of the cup is always connected with the language of judgment.

Perhaps Jeremiah 25 is the most potent usage of the imagery of the cup (Jer. 25:15-29).



To say that Yahweh is my cup is at once a terrifying statement,

and a comfort beyond all words.

Yahweh is my cup!

The God who gives the cup of his wrath to the nations-

they drink, and fall, and are destroyed-

this God is my cup,

and I will drink of his judgment.

Terrifying? Indeed!

But if I do not drink of him, then I cannot stand in the judgment.

And since our Savior has drunk the cup of God's wrath,

bearing our sin and guilt,

therefore we may declare, "the Lord is my cup!"

He is my portion.

This is the language used of the portion of the priests

(in Nehemiah & Chronicles)

The priests and Levites did not share in the inheritance of Israel,

but God declared that he was their inheritance-he was their portion.

With God as his portion, David delights in the beautiful inheritance that is his.

Yes, trials and temptations may surround us,

but we must never forget the glory that is set before us.

Because the Lord is his portion,

the Psalmist declares,

"I bless Yahweh who gives me counsel; in the night my heart also instructs me."

The nearness of the Lord brings counsel and instruction.

And because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.



Psalm 16 may have been written for Israel,

and especially for the King,

but it is distinctively eschatological-

it most emphatically called Israel toward the future.



Why is the Psalmist glad?

Why does his "whole being" (or glory, in the Hebrew) rejoice?

Why does his flesh dwell secure?

Because "you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,

or let your holy one see corruption."

God had not yet revealed the details of the resurrection.

But he gave to David a glimpse of the joy of eternal life.

And Psalm 16 shows us that the road to eternal life leads through death.

Israel had to understand that the route to glory led through suffering.

David sees that Sheol (the grave) is in his future.

He knows that one day he will die.

But he prophesies that God will not abandon his soul to Sheol,

nor will He allow his holy one to see corruption.



Peter understood what this meant.

Once Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father,

Peter realized that this is what David was talking about.

On the Day of Pentecost (the feast of firstfruits-

as all Israel is bringing the portion for the priests and Levites)

The Holy Spirit is poured out upon the church.

The firstfruits of the Kingdom of God comes upon the people of God.

And Peter realized that this meant that Psalm 16 was about Jesus!

The Son of David literally did not see corruption!

"Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing."



And as Jesus has walked the path of life,

as he has been made full of gladness in the presence of his Father,

so now you and I may share in his life and in his joy.

Jesus has entered his inheritance.

And in Jesus, the whole of the new humanity comes into the inheritance of the new creation.

Israel was called to sing this eschatologically.

They were called to sing of this future glory in the present.

And so are we.

We, who live in the last days,

who have beheld the beginning of the age to come

in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ,

we must keep our hearts and minds fixed on the glory that will be revealed

in the revelation of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

As you meditate upon the death of Christ-in his suffering for us,

and as you meditate upon his resurrection and glory at the right hand of the Father,

you must see that his death and resurrection were the accomplishment

of the last-days redemption promised through the prophets.

And therefore, as you meditate upon the glory that will be ours in Christ Jesus,

do not forget that the Holy Spirit is the downpayment of that inheritance.

You already have a foretaste of heaven in the presence of Christ



This is the point that Paul makes in Romans 8.

(8:9-30)











If you are looking for something to do in family worship,

I would encourage you to read Psalms 16-20 this week

-especially Psalm 19, which will be the text for next Sunday.