Our Refuge in Life and Death #1

What I want you to see here in Psalm 16 is an entire way to think. Our minds are being formed by what David is instructing us here.

This is laying out a whole life view. Hello and welcome to The Truth Pulpit with Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. I'm Bill Wright and today Don continues in his ministry of teaching God's people God's Word with more of a series titled Set Apart for God. Don will show you how to have a steadfast and unbreakable commitment to living a life that is faithful to God no matter what the circumstances are.

Here is Don with part one of a message called Our Refuge in Life and Death here on The Truth Pulpit. Psalm 16 is a psalm that encourages us to step back and take the whole big picture view of life into account. To have a comprehensive world view, if you will, about the nature of what it means to be a follower of the God of the Bible and what the implications of that are for your life. And what the implications are are this, is that given who God is, that that calls for a response from us of a commitment to complete faithfulness to Him. And that there is settled in our minds a fundamental premise, a fundamental presupposition that shapes all of life, that there is a non-negotiable commitment in the core of our being that says, I will be faithful to this God no matter what. And that we gladly abandon the back door, if you will.

We close the back door behind us and lock it. That we're not going to exit the back door and stray into unfaithfulness. That we're not going to now give ourselves over to a life of sin or a life of unfaithfulness or forgetting this God that we have come to know. We consciously close that door, we lock it, we bolt it shut, and we say, I am only going forward.

I would not go any other direction. There will be nothing to mark my life but faithfulness to God is the core conviction of the heart. Now, we know from other scriptures that we're going to, that there will be times when we struggle and sometimes we're tempted and sometimes we fall short and fail, but that is not the focus of Psalm 16.

We're not making allowances for those failures here in Psalm 16. Instead, David is purifying the commitment so that it has a guiding force. There is a fundamental power in his heart that is responding that says, the premise of my life will be shaped by faithfulness to my God. We're going to see that in the first half of the psalm and then along with that, ah this is so magnificent, along with that in the second half of the psalm, is that he is expressing a confidence that God will bless him as a result of his faithfulness. And even more so deriving from God's goodness and his faithfulness to his people, David is absolutely confident in the blessing of God on his life. So that he settles in his mind that God will bless him because God is good, because he belongs to this God, it is certain that God will always bless him and that nothing could ever contradict the final goodness of God in his life. So there's this commitment to faithfulness in response to the character of God and in recognizing his goodness there is an utter absolute confidence in his blessing upon his life in the end.

Now those are fundamental principles simply stated. What you're going to see as we go through Psalm 16 is the way that that works itself out in life. This commitment to faithfulness has very practical consequences. This confidence in God's blessing is one of eternal certainty that David wrote about even 3,000 years ago.

So that's the overview, that's where we're going. We're going to see these two convictions that shape our relationship to God, that shape our affections and utterly shape the way that we think. And I say this often I think, I know that I think it often, what I want you to see here in Psalm 16 is an entire way to think.

That it's more than just individual issues, that we're seeing that which should shape the entire way that we think. Our minds are being formed by what David is instructing us here. This isn't a little spiritual bump to get you through until Sunday, this is laying out a whole life view that is defined in relationship to the God of the Bible.

Well with that in mind let's dive into it and enjoy this together shall we? Point number one here is you see in Psalm 16 David making a commitment of faithfulness. He's making a commitment to faithfulness. He opens Psalm 16 with a prayer of pure undivided devotion to God. Look at it here in verse one where he says, preserve me O God for I take refuge in you. He's appealing to the mighty God. If you weren't here last week we looked at the three names of God that are discussed here that David addresses God with in the first two verses. But he's addressing God in his capacity as the mighty sovereign of the universe as we open up here in verse one.

Preserve me O God, preserve me O mighty one. He appeals to the power and the omnipotence of God to keep him secure as he goes through life. It's an opening appeal for protection and he's expressing submission to God in the process. He says I said to the Lord in verse two, you are my Lord I have no good besides you.

And so in this prayer he appeals to God as the mighty one of the universe and he's saying Lord I am coming under your wings for protection. I am confident in your power and I submit to your role as my master, as my Lord, I submit to you and I, watch this, I lock all of my affections up into your very person. You are my Lord I have no good besides you. There is nothing that I desire Lord more than you. I don't desire sin in light of your presence. There is not a human relationship that has a higher claim on my affections than you.

Because Lord you are my good. You alone are the owner of the central throne room of my heart. I bow before you. I love you immensely. I love you with all of my power. I come into your presence and I bow down in worship and commitment to you. That's what he's saying. And so we see right from the very start beloved, we see right in the very way that this psalm opens up that David is putting all of his affections into and under the watchful care of his God.

And he says I exclude any competing affections. There is you God in first place, in second place, third place, tenth place, there is no one that comes close. There is nothing that comes close.

There is no prosperity. There is no other human love. There is nothing that will compete for my affection for you.

I have no good besides you. He locks himself up into the care and concern of Yahweh and he leaves himself there and he leaves himself no alternative, no second way. Very challenging isn't it to think that way? You know as you examine your heart and your affections for God, for the God of the Bible, for your Lord Jesus Christ. Here's the question for you beloved. Is it that clear in your mind as you think about your relationship with Christ?

As you think about the one who suffered and bled to purchase your redemption from sin? Is it that clear in your mind that the whole world could pass away? That you could lose it all and that you would still be secure and content in God? That there would be nothing that would compete with your affections for him? Do you really say, and as we sung earlier, when you sing, it is well with my soul, is that really the fundamental conviction of your heart?

And has that worked its way out in your affections in a way that it's clear and there's no contest over your heart? In that way, that's what David is expressing, that kind of exclusive affection, that supreme love for the God to whom he prays. And what's he praying here? He says preserve me. He's asking God to keep him safe. And some commentators, many commentators have speculated on maybe there's a particular trial that David was having and they tried to posit different biblical examples that would have given rise to this psalm.

I think that misses the point. When you read the rest of Psalm 16, and just keep this in mind as we go through the rest of it here, as you read the rest of Psalm 16, he's not complaining about any circumstances. He's not expressing fear from foes who are after his life.

He's not expressing a complaint about physical debilitation that he's feeling. Rather, he's expressing this confidence of which we talk. He's speaking in terms of commitment and confidence. And I believe that what he's saying here when he says preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in you, the question is preserve you in what?

Keep you in what? Well, what does he say in the rest of the psalm? I believe what he's saying is, Lord, I am conscious right now of the supremacy of your being in my life, of this heart commitment that I have and this confidence in your blessing. I'm asking you to keep me in this realm of spiritual growth and maturity and confidence and faith. Keep me here because this is a joyous place of confidence for my soul and I don't want to leave from where I'm at. Preserve me in the confidence and commitment that I'm about to express in what follows in the rest of this psalm. God, I'm conscious of your blessing. I'm conscious of gratitude.

Keep me here. And, you know, sometimes, and I did this myself once many years ago, sometimes people think that there's a maturity and there's a spiritual aspiration and they will pray for trials to come into their life. I've talked about this before, maybe not from this pulpit, but people say, I want to grow and so I want God to, God, and they start to pray, God, bring trials into my life so that I might grow.

I don't think that's wise. I think that's actually unbiblical. I think, you know, it is a misguided thought about what it means to walk with God. When people pray that way, and I am guilty of this, so I'm condemning what I used to be, what I've done in the past. When people pray that way, they are far too overconfident of their spiritual ability to respond to trials in their lives. It is a boastful prayer that says, God, give it to me because I can take it. Why would you pray that way? Why would you invite trial and sorrow into your life in prayer before God? If you're conscious of God's blessing, thank Him for it and say, Lord, keep me right here. You know, and look, I prayed that way one time and I immediately entered into trials of such an awful nature that I never want to go back to that again. I'm like the little girl that reached up to get a sandwich off of the stove, and the stove was hot and it burned her hand, and she pulled back. Ow!

Didn't have to teach her not to do that again. Beloved, what I want you to see is that we should so treasure the goodness of God, so treasure the realm of His blessing, that we ask Him to keep us and to strengthen us in that realm of faith that we are conscious of. If trials come, as they inevitably will, deal with those when they come up, but we don't actively court them as though our present sense of joy and contentment in God was something to be lightly discarded for the sake of a false view of spiritual growth and maturity. If you are conscious of the blessing of God, if you're conscious that my heart commitment is pure as well as it can be, I'm confident in goodness of God, then pray, God, keep me here!

And I take refuge in you and preserve me in this spiritual confidence that I'm mindful of. That's how David prays as he opens up. God is the source of his blessing, his first affection, and as David has clarified that in his mind, expressed his commitment to faithfulness, as you move on in the psalm you see that it has great implications for his personal relationships and the people that he wants to associate with. Look at verses 3 and 4 with me. Again, this is all under the first point of a commitment to faithfulness.

Your commitment to faithfulness, beloved, has an immediate direct impact on the kinds of human relationships that you seek out and have in life. David says in verse 3, As for the saints who are in the earth, they are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those who have bartered for another god will be multiplied.

I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, nor will I take their names upon my lips. What David is doing here is he is expressing and he is working out the implications of his fidelity to God. He said, God, I am committed to you.

You are the owner of my affections. And therefore, as a result of that fundamental conviction, that's going to determine who I associate with in this life. He says, God, as I think and reflect upon my commitment to be faithful to you, I want you to know that your people, the saints who are in the earth, the majestic ones, they're the ones in whom I delight. God, I identify with your people. I identify with your godly ones. Their welfare is my desire. Their love and fellowship is where I find my human delight.

I am delighted to be with your people. These verses express David's view of the people of God. It's their welfare, their love, their affections that he shares in. Stated differently, he casts his lot in with the people of God.

And he says, that's where I want to be. By contrast, David, as he goes on, he consciously separates himself from idolaters. Look at verse 4 again. He says, the sorrows of those who have bartered for another god will be multiplied. He said, those who do not honor you, God, those who follow a false god, they are going to suffer immense sorrows, and it will be multiplied, and their sorrow will eventually overwhelm them.

I realize the outcome of their unfaithfulness and their disbelief, God, and it does not come out well with them. See how this just applies? Psalm 1.6, the way of the wicked will perish.

He's just articulating that principle in another way here. And so he separates himself. He says, I won't be identified with their false worship.

I won't take the names of their gods on my lips. And so, his faithfulness to God, watch this, his faithfulness to God determined the nature of his relationships with men. He was going to pour his energies and loves in with the people of God.

He was going to separate himself from sinners who did not want anything to do with his God. We're not talking about reaching out to people with evangelism here. We're talking about who do we cast our lot in with? We're not talking about reaching out to people who are lost, but who do we associate with? Who do we share affections with? Who do we enjoy our time with? Where do we find common interests, common love, common desires? Well, that becomes really searching, doesn't it? And sometimes, as new Christians, people have to kind of sort through this and sort through their relationships and realize that the friends that they had as unbelievers are no longer fit companions because these companions are still committed to their sinful ways, their false gods, and you just come to see, you know what, I have to separate from that.

I have nothing in common with that mindset, with that worldview. That's what David's expressing here, and it's good for us to think about that. Watch this, beloved.

This is so very important. As Christians, speaking to you as Christians, God has blessed us, hasn't he? He has been good to us. He has showered us with mercy and goodness, and it only gets better as we go forward into eternity. Well, look, as a principle of the fundamental loyalties of your heart, the goodness of God and the way that he has shown goodness to you means that he has a claim on your fidelity, on your affections, on your loyalties, and that expresses itself in the people that you choose to relate with on earth. It affects our human associations, beloved, if we're thinking clearly, if we're thinking clearly, it should be clear in your mind.

There should be no contest. It should be a matter of firm conviction that your hands start to get animated, as if you were Italian. Nothing against Italians, if there's Italians here. But if you talk with your hands, your hands start to move and say, God has blessed me and I will be faithful to him in return. Look over at 2 Corinthians chapter 6, where you see a New Testament expression of this principle. 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14.

Oh, this just affects things. This drives the way that we approach life. 2 Corinthians 6 verse 14 says, Do not be bound together with unbelievers. For what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? You see, we're meant to think through these things and say, you know, if their heart is committed and convinced and is unmoving from their idolatrous sinful ways, we have nothing in common. How could we? How could he who is committed to rebellion against God have fellowship with me who's in submission to him and I have no good besides him?

How could that be? Verse 16, we're the temple of the living God, just as God has said, I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they shall be My people. Therefore come out from their midst and be separate, says the Lord, and do not touch what is unclean and I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you and you shall be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty. Somewhere in our lives there's this principle of separation that comes into place. And I know that some of you have given up earthly friendships that once were dear to you because you realized as a growing Christian that there was simply an inconsistency in maintaining that close relationship with a person who was committed to sin.

Good on you. That is a proper expression of spiritual growth and I'm confident of the blessing of God in your life as you pursue that and as you approach life in that way. You see, the whole thought of spiritual adultery, of being unfaithful to God should just be absolutely abhorrent to us. And we should not be reluctant to say the core commitment of my heart is faithfulness to God and God helping me, I will not be unfaithful to Him. I will not associate with those who love rebellion against Him. By contrast, I find that my natural love, my natural environment is with the most humble people of God.

It's huge. And all of a sudden the things of this world grow strangely dim and the allure of those who build popularity on their sinful lifestyles is not even appealing to us anymore. They can have their popularity.

They can have the wealth that they come from prostituting themselves before men and they can have it. I want no part of it because you say to yourself, because my heart is with my God and I know that He condemns that. Powerful words of encouragement from our teacher Don Green. And Don will bring you the second half of his message, Our Refuge in Life and Death, next time on The Truth Pulpit. Meanwhile, if you'd like to learn more about Don or you'd like to share this or any of his messages again, just click on TheTruthPulpit.com. That's TheTruthPulpit.com.

And now before we go, here again is Don with a closing word. Well, thank you so much for joining us today on The Truth Pulpit. I want to let you know that we have a number of topical series available for download or CD requests at our website, TheTruthPulpit.com. Over the years, I've tried to address controversial matters that confuse Christians, issues like the place of Roman Catholicism, anxiety, transgenderism, homosexuality, and the charismatic movement.

You'll find series on those topics and so many more at our free authors link at TheTruthPulpit.com. I invite you to take advantage of them all. And as we say goodbye for now, I commend you to Christ and the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance of the truth. God bless you. We'll see you next time on The Truth Pulpit. Thanks, Don. And friend, that's all the time we have for today, but we'll see you again next time as Don Green continues teaching God's people God's word here on The Truth Pulpit.