[0:00] I want you to go with me to the book of Psalms, and I want to go to chapter 16. Before that, Brother Randy Sterwalt's in heaven. Brother Randy was my friend, and Brother Randy gave his entire life to reaching Kenyan people with the gospel.
[0:18] There's a video on Facebook right now, and in fact, it's the only video we've ever had to have so many hits that I know of. But whenever I do any kind of video, when it gets to 10, I think it went viral.
[0:32] And Brother Randy's is over 2,000, and so I thank the Lord for that. I would like to ask you something. I haven't asked the deacons. I haven't asked anybody. But I'd really like to send Ms. Phyllis $5,000. She's a loan.
[0:44] They've never had good support. And she's got a funeral, and she's got all those costs. And she was in her—she called—I guess I called—I can't remember.
[0:55] I think I called her. And she said, she said, you kept me up all night last night preaching. And I told him, Randy, you've got to be quiet so I can sleep.
[1:07] And he said, now, Phyllis, you know I have to preach. And then he got up that morning. And when I talked to her first on Facebook Messenger, she said, he's very anxious this morning. He wants to know why his kids aren't here.
[1:18] He wants to talk to his children. And they were all over the world. He has a daughter in Brazil. Her family, their missionaries in Brazil. The rest of the family has been able to come in. The family in Brazil can't even get here because of the quarantine.
[1:31] And she said he got a little bit tired, so he went to lay down, and she was there with him. And she said, he just laid down and left me and went to heaven. And so I love them to death.
[1:42] How many of you would be in favor of us giving him $5,000? Say amen. Amen. All right. Now, thank you, Bob, and go with me to Psalm 16. What a great passage of Scripture.
[1:54] I'm going to go ahead and reread part of it with you and bring your attention to it in case we don't get to it, because we'll be out of your own time today. But in Psalm 16 and verse 10, David says something that without Holy Spirit, supernatural intervention, he didn't even understand what he said.
[2:16] He didn't even know what he was saying. He said in verse 10, For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell. That's the place of the dead. God, you won't leave me dead.
[2:30] How did he know that? Job knew it, and other Old Testament people knew it. They knew that God had done something special. But he doesn't probably know what he's saying, but he's really not talking about him.
[2:42] He's talking about Jesus. And we know that because that's what the New Testament tells us, and I'll prove that to you in just a minute. But he said, Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one.
[2:54] I just love the way that's written. Look at your Bible, not a line. Holy one, capital H, capital O. Thou wilt not leave thy holy one to see corruption. You will not let Jesus rot.
[3:05] That's really what that amounted to. He died, and he was buried, and he could have easily done what every other great religious leader has done. He could have rotted, but he didn't rot. And it wasn't some plan that the apostles made up after the fact, because David lived a long time before Peter, James, and John.
[3:22] And David knew that Jesus would die and be buried and raised again. You ought to write the word resurrection by that verse. There is a resurrection. There's a resurrection for Jesus, and there's a resurrection for us.
[3:35] I can tell you this. My friend, Brother Randy, is not in the grave. His body may rot, but he will not rot. Then I want you to look at verse 11. You can write the word rapture beside this.
[3:46] Write the word heaven beside this. He says, Thou wilt show me the path of life. In thy presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
[3:58] I know that Jesus will sit at his right hand. But David writes this saying, you know what? When David writes it, he has to be thinking about himself. I don't know if he even understands what he's saying, but he says, you know what?
[4:09] I'm not going to die and be buried and rot. There's life after this, and I'm going to go to heaven. And not only am I going to go to heaven, I'm going to be in his presence. And not only am I going to be in his presence, in his presence is fullness of joy.
[4:21] You should underline that. Say people have got you with a really warped idea of heaven, like you're going to sit around for a gazillion years playing a harp on a cloud. No, no. David said in his presence is fullness of joy.
[4:34] And then it says at thy right hand, look at this, there are pleasures forevermore. You should underline that, pleasures forevermore. So from the time when we get out of here and we get there, there will be pleasures forevermore.
[4:49] I just want you to think about that. I'll give you a little more on that in just a second. In the Psalm, David's running from Saul. And he lives in great danger due to Saul's jealousy. You remember Saul was the king of Israel.
[5:01] David was simply a shepherd boy who had now become a shield bearer. And now he's leading the armies of Saul. And when David goes out to do battle, he comes back. The ladies sing songs that say David has killed his 10,000s and Saul has killed his thousands.
[5:16] And so Saul is mad at David and wants him gone. Because no king wants somebody else to get more glory than he does. So David's been living like an outlaw. David has done the right thing.
[5:27] At least two occasions, he could have killed Saul, but he didn't do it. And now he's trapped again and he's in a cave. But he finds in the middle of the cave, surrounded by his enemies, that he will enjoy God and enjoy the goodness of God.
[5:41] And we get to the Psalm. I do want you to know that this is what it's called, and you might write it in the Bible there, it's a messianic Psalm. That means it's a Psalm about the Messiah. The Messiah is the anointed one, the sent one.
[5:54] The Messiah is the Lord Jesus. And you can't claim that unless you got Bible evidence. But we have Bible evidence. Look in Acts chapter 2 and verse 25.
[6:04] Now, when the preacher Peter says David, he's like saying the book of Psalms. He's just saying David wrote in the book of Psalms, and this is what David said.
[6:16] David speaketh concerning him. I foresaw the Lord always before my face. He is at the right hand that I should not be moved. He's quoting Psalm 16.
[6:28] And he says, Therefore did my heart rejoice. My tongue was glad. Moreover, my flesh shall rest in hope. Because my flesh can rest in hope. Even as my body gets old and I get ready to die, I know this.
[6:42] Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell. Neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.
[6:53] He's quoting Psalms. And he said we're talking about Jesus. That's how we know we're talking about Jesus. The New Testament explains the Old Testament. You can read the Old Testament, and you might say, Now, why would David say holy one?
[7:06] Who does he think he is? Well, David might not have even known what he was writing. Because you've got to remember, the Bible is not just what a man wrote. The Bible has one author and 40 writers.
[7:17] And the writers just put down what the author says. And it is the word of God, though David was the one doing the writing. In Acts chapter 13 and verse 35, again, it's quoted and said, Therefore, as he said in another psalm, this time he said the word psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine holy one to see corruption.
[7:34] This is a messianic psalm. Now, let me just explain why that's important. Critics say that the apostles, after the movement failed, made up a bunch of fables and stories to cover for why Jesus died.
[7:52] And the liberals and the non-Bible believers and the publicans and the sinners, they claim that the Bible was just kind of made up afterwards.
[8:02] But if you read the Bible, you know that's a lie. And you know that they're just showing what idiots they are. Because right here in the Old Testament, in the book of Psalms, it just flat out says that it's going to happen.
[8:13] And in the New Testament, they just quote the Old Testament. So it's just showing us. So the Messiah, when man sinned, man deserved to die and go to hell. And there was no solution.
[8:24] There's nothing human beings can do to get things right with God. There's just nothing human beings can do. You can't do what you might do 99%, but you can never get the job done.
[8:35] So God got the job done. And so from Genesis 3.15 all the way through the Bible, he's saying, I got a guy I'm sending, and he's going to take care of things. And that was Jesus. And that ought to make you excited and make you shout about how good our God is.
[8:50] Now go with me, if you would, through the Psalms. Psalm 16.1. First thing you can write down is protection. David asked for protection. David says, preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust.
[9:02] O my soul, thou hast said unto me, Lord, thou art my Lord. My goodness extendeth not to thee. The emphasis on the Lord God is mentioned three times in two verses.
[9:15] So when David starts this Psalm, and you've got your Bible open, underline God, Lord, Lord. God, Lord, Lord. His emphasis is on, I need God. It's not on, I need an army.
[9:26] It's not on himself. His emphasis is on, God, I need you. James 1.17 says, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. It comes out from the Father of lights with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
[9:41] So David, when he approached God in prayer, knew one thing. There's only one that answers prayer. There's only one who doesn't change. There's only one that comes through, and that's God. David is worshiping God as his all-powerful creator, Lord.
[9:54] David sees God as his maker, as his mediator, as his master. David knows he's talking to God. But with David, it's a very personal thing. Look, if you would, at verse 2 and underline the word my.
[10:07] He wasn't emphasizing his faith or his need as he mentions God, but he mentions personal pronouns at least three or four times in the verse. He knew it wasn't his goodness.
[10:18] It was God's goodness. He knew he didn't deserve what God could do. He knew it would be God's grace. For David, his relationship with God is a very personal thing.
[10:29] He is my God, my Lord. It is God doing all the work in his life. This is not a cry like I'm afraid and I'm in trouble, but it's a cry saying, oh, God, I know who you are, and I remember who you are, and I look to you.
[10:44] And as I start this psalm, I'm going to talk about you. And when I finish this psalm, I'm going to talk about how when I get to be with you, it's going to be wonderful because I'm a born-again believer. When we pray, we're given the same challenge that's used in this psalm.
[10:57] Our challenge is to cry out to God. In Matthew 6, 9, you might have heard this. After this manner, therefore, pray ye. Pray, recognizing God for who he is.
[11:08] Our Father, which art in heaven. Matthew 6, by the way. 9. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he said, start with this.
[11:19] Not you, not your needs. Start with, I know who I'm talking to. Start with, I am talking to the God of heaven who is all-powerful, who hears and answers prayer. That's who I'm talking to.
[11:30] And after you've said to him, I know who you are, guess what? He said, now you can bring me personal things. Matthew 6, 11. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
[11:40] Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. So he said, start off with God and make sure you're worshiping God. Make sure God's not a genie. Make sure God's not somebody who's supposed to just give you what you want, but make sure you realize, oh, you are the creator.
[11:55] You are the Lord. You are the God. You are the judge of the universe. And I come to you because I know who you are. That's what the verse is saying. Recognize him. And then he said, when you finish praying, be sure and remind him you know who he is.
[12:09] Matthew 6, 13. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. So we, like David, bring our requests to God. And we know he hears and answers prayer.
[12:21] He wants us to find our security in him. David's in a cave with his soldiers and he is surrounded, but David knows my security is in the Lord. He wants you to know that you can trust him no matter what's happening all around you.
[12:36] And David said, you know who I like? I like God's people. That's probably why some of you cried this morning. That's probably why you just like being here. That's probably why I've got more than one text saying, boy, I'm just glad to be together with God's people in God's house.
[12:51] Look at what David said in Psalm chapter 16 and verse 3. But to the saints that are in the earth and to the excellent in whom is all my delight. He said, you know what I like? God's people.
[13:02] They're my delight. Understand, underline that. There are two classes of people on the earth. There are those that love God and those that love other gods. There are those that seek to please God and there are those that seek to please themselves.
[13:16] The saints are the holy ones. Look at Psalm 16, 3. David says, but to the saints that are on the earth. You know who a saint is? It's a holy one.
[13:27] You know who a saint is? It's somebody that's been saved out of a sinful world and made holy. You know who the saints are? They're God's people. And these saints are excellent. Look at the verse. They are excellent.
[13:38] They love God and they try to please him. And David loves the saints. David loves the saints. And a good sign you're saved is when you just love other saints.
[13:48] Saints love saints. Brothers love brothers. No matter where I go in the world, I meet them. 1 John 3, 14 said, we know that we have passed from death to the light because we love the brethren.
[14:00] He that loves not his brother abides in death. And David knew. Two classes of people are those who worship God and those who worship other gods. And David knew the consequences of worshiping false gods.
[14:12] Look at Psalm 16, 4. Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hastened after another god. Their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.
[14:26] The idolatry in David's day was flagrant. There was a god called Dagon. He's a weird half man, half fish god of the Philistines. There's a guy named Chimos.
[14:38] He's a bloodthirsty idol that wants human sacrifices, human blood. And David knew there's no protection and there's no delight in those gods, only sorrow. And David separated from those gods and those that worshiped them.
[14:51] And as a born-again believer, I ask you this morning, where do you find your joy and your fellowship? God's people love God's people. God's people love God's people. That's who our friends are.
[15:02] That's who we hang out with. We have nothing in common with those that worship other things. Those that want money and fame and comfort and convenience and sex. As a god, we have nothing in common with them.
[15:13] The idolatry might not be so flagrant today, but it's subtle. So you must choose to make God the focus of your life. Look, if you would, in Psalm 16, verse 5. This is a wild passage of Scripture.
[15:26] David is not a priest and David's not a Levite, but David's about to take and say, I want that, I claim that. Look, if you would, in Psalm 16, 5. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup.
[15:40] Thou maintainest my lot. The lions are fallen unto me in pleasant places. Yea, I have a goodly heritage. Now, when we read those words, they kind of don't make a lot of sense to us.
[15:52] This portion and stuff like that. But what happened is, remember, when the nation of Israel, when Joshua gets them into the promised land, they take the map of all the land God's given them, and they divide it up, and they draw lots, and every family got a portion, a part of the land.
[16:06] And that part of the land became a part of their inheritance that they would keep forever. And David's family got, his was over near Bethlehem. And David, that's why David liked the water from the well at Bethlehem.
[16:17] And David was, that's David's family. David's unable to get to what God gave him. But this is what he finds in the verse. I'll choose God as my portion. Now, look at that, if you would, underline.
[16:28] The Lord is my portion of mine inheritance. No, the inheritance comes down from the days of Joshua, and it's been passed down. That's why Naboth was killed, because Naboth wouldn't sell the Lord's portion, the Lord's inheritance.
[16:43] God is looking, David is looking to God, who is everything to him. David's claiming the same portion that the priest and the men of God had. You see, the priest didn't get a piece of land.
[16:54] The priest didn't get an inheritance. So David says, I'll just take what they got. I don't need my land, I just need my God. I don't need my land and my house, I just need my God.
[17:06] David knows that God's been good to him. So I have a question for you this morning. How are you dealing with adversity in your life? Are you mourning the loss of what makes you comfortable or rejoicing in the depth of your relationship to God?
[17:20] David's living in a cave. He's lost all the creature comforts. He's lost what happens at home. David's in a cave. Soldiers are surrounding him. But David says, I've got the Lord.
[17:33] He's still in a cave saying this. He's sleeping on the ground, not in a nice bed. Where's your focus? Is it on this earth in human comfort or your relationship to God?
[17:44] Are you finding your life pleasant because of the Lord or because of carnal comforts? David said, I've got no creature comforts right now. I've got no carnal creature comforts.
[17:55] All I've got is the Lord in a cave and I'm surrounded and I might die. But boy, what a pleasant place because I have the Lord. And David said, boy, I want some stability.
[18:09] Look at Psalm 16, 7. I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. My reins also instruct me in the night seasons. I've set the Lord always before me because he's at my right hand.
[18:23] I shall not be moved. So David's in the middle of chaos. How do you deal with chaos in your life? David believed that he found his stability in the Lord, not in his army, not in his house, not in his palace.
[18:41] He said, I set the Lord before me. I shall not be moved. In Psalm 16, 8, he said, I've set the Lord always before me. Real stability doesn't come because the government's going to take care of us.
[18:55] Real stability doesn't come because we're Americans. Real stability doesn't come because of any of that. Our real stability is in the Lord. And no matter what happens in our country, whether it's disease or economic chaos or whatever's going to happen, we have stability in the Lord.
[19:12] We have set him before us. In Psalm 16, 7, he said, I have received the counsel and the instruction of the Lord. I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel.
[19:22] God's been working in his life. God's been teaching him. And in trying days, God's supposed to be teaching us and working on our lives. And we ought to be growing even in the worst of times.
[19:33] And David said, God worked on me in the night seasons. That's kind of like when the darkest times in my life, it's kind of like maybe even some dealings with him like chastisement.
[19:45] But whatever it was, it sounds like he might have been just extremely depressed and discouraged. Verse 7, my reins. We don't really get that. Reins here. My reins is kind of like my kidneys.
[19:58] It's kind of like my emotions. It's kind of like the center of my being. He said, boy, in the night times when I was crying and in the night times when things were going rough, when everything wasn't there, God spoke to my heart and God did a work in my life.
[20:13] He kept his relationship with the Lord not just in times of trouble, but always. Look in Psalm 16, 8. I have set the Lord always before me. We don't worship God when things are bad.
[20:25] We don't go to God when we're in trouble. Every day of our lives, we want to get up and say, God, I love you. God, I'm looking for you. God, I'm seeking for you. God, I want to serve you. It's an everyday, all day, all the time thing to be in love with our God.
[20:38] To live in stability, we learn to praise the Lord in spite of everything. In Psalm 16, 7, I will bless the Lord. Psalm 16, 7, I will get truth and word of God into me who has given me counsel.
[20:54] I will accept discipline or whatever training God gives me. My reins instruct me in the night seasons. I will keep God where he always ought to be, always before me.
[21:06] And I will expect his blessings because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. As you live in trying times, you need to focus on the Lord and what he's doing in your life.
[21:19] Get in the word. Cast all your care on him. Trust God in whatever life throws at you. Now down to Psalm 16, 9.
[21:30] David has the greatest of confidence because of his relationship with God. Now here's the deal. He could die. He doesn't know if, he thinks he knows because of promises, but will Saul win?
[21:43] Will he die? And he comes out and says, my heart is glad. My glory rejoices. My flesh shall rest in hope. I know God.
[21:53] I'm worshiping God. I've tried to learn the lessons God's teaching me. And so I can live in great expectations. His heart knows the truth and the truth has set him free. He's excited for what God is going to do.
[22:07] He knows somehow that death's not the end for him. In a day and time, when they didn't understand, Old Testament people don't have the teaching that we get in the New Testament. You see, in the Bible, God reveals himself at the beginning and he slowly builds.
[22:21] And by the time we get to the revelation, we get the revelation of Jesus Christ. We know more than they ever knew. We have the full word of God. But he says, thou wilt not, verse 10, leave my soul in hell, neither shalt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption.
[22:38] David knew he would live again. David knowingly or unknowingly says, and I know Jesus will live again. You must circle holy one and write Jesus.
[22:49] It is the Lord Jesus and he knows somehow that he will live again. The resurrection in the Old Testament, that's not an Old Testament idea, that's a New Testament idea, but the Holy Spirit knew it and gave it from beforehand.
[23:02] And somehow, David knows that we live in God's presence, we will live in God's presence, and it will be great. I need you to really focus on this and take this in.
[23:15] I sorrow because my friend died, but my friend is in the presence of the Lord and fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. I sorrow for the loss of my friend, but my friend is knowing what David knew by the Holy Spirit of God.
[23:34] Somehow, David knows that we will live in God's presence and it will be great. You cannot study the Bible without knowing this. He loves you.
[23:46] And he has prepared not only today, but all of eternity for you. We are eagerly anticipating the rapture to go directly to him and enjoy it all soon.
[24:00] You need to understand this. Please get a hold of this. You know what the very next thing on God's calendar is? Snatching us out of here. And I watch all the junk going on right now.
[24:10] I just wonder, is this a trial run? Is this a practice on the Antichrist getting his stuff together? I have no idea what's going on, but I know this. I know this. He's going to come get us and he's going to take us home.
[24:22] And heaven will be a wonderful place. You need to underline fullness of joy. Like if you can name joy, name it. Jesus gives us fullness of joy.
[24:33] At thy right hand are pleasures forevermore. We will be in his presence that we will enjoy like beyond anything we can understand or imagine being in the presence of God.
[24:45] Now here comes the question. Are these truths real to you? Are these truths real to you? I'm pretty sure that those of you in this room and those right here close that I can see, you've probably trusted Christ.
[24:57] But our families and friends have not. And they don't know this. And can I just take verse 11 and say this? Outside of his presence, there's no fullness of joy.
[25:10] Fact is, there's a fullness of pain and suffering and agony for all of eternity. At his right hand are pleasures. Outside of his presence, it's hell.
[25:24] It's a lake of fire. It's a memory that plagues them of the times they heard the gospel. I don't know what's going on in our world today. I don't know if God's at work and fixing to do something crazy like take us out of here.
[25:37] I hope he is. But I know this, if we don't get the gospel to them, they will not enjoy these pleasures forevermore. They will not enjoy this fullness of joy.
[25:49] They must know Jesus. You're their family. You've got to talk to them about Jesus. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. We've got to get the gospel to the other side of the world too.
[26:03] We've got to just take care of getting the gospel to people. we're