b. - Relationship
David also tells us that God provides relationship. The entire psalm here speaks to the relationship that exists between David and God. But it also sheds light on the potential for our relationships with God.
Read Psalm 16:2 I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."
There is joy in serving Jesus. The prayer of verses 1-3 is that the joy and happiness which David has found will continue. He delights in other believers as they together trust God. Notice the phrase, “You are my Lord,” in verse 2. This shows there was a choice made on the part of the one who is speaking. David chose God as his own God. We do not automatically become Christians just because we are born in a Christian nation, a Christian family, or were brought up in a church. God gave us wills of our own and the ability to make choices for ourselves. We must decide for ourselves to put our trust in God. We must choose for ourselves to have God be our God.
We live in a world that offers numerous choices.
God is not a guaranteed winner of our choices.
But those who choose God are guaranteed winners in Him.
The enemy places numerous obstacles and distractions in our way. There are enough other "feel-good" things out there in the world that entice people away from God. He could guarantee himself to win, but in doing so, we would not be coming to Him of our own free will in love. With choosing God to be our God we gain the riches of heaven. We are free.
Read John 8:36 - So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Read John 8:32 - Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free
We have talked in the past about choices. If you want freedom, you have to choose. You have to choose that relationship with God. He has already chosen you. But God is a gentleman. He will not go where he is not welcome. You have to make the next step, because God has already made the first thousand steps.
Read Psalm 63:1-8
1 O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6 On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.
Read Psalm16:3 - As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble, in whom is all my delight.
I like the way the NIV translates this verse a little better – As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight. Who are the holy ones, the glorious ones? We know that God alone is perfect in holiness; he alone is the King of Glory. But those who believe in him and accept him as Lord become holy and glorious as well, because they belong to the Glorious One. So there’s that relationship again. But David also says, in these – the glorious ones – is all my delight.
c. Sustenance
Read Psalm 16:5 - The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
What else does David’s God provide? My portion, my cup – kind of makes me think about food. And food tends to make us think about our body and our daily needs – what it takes to keep us going. David declares that God provides his sustenance. And I don’t think it’s a stretch at all to interpret this in both physical and spiritual terms. The God who provides all the things that can be produced for eating also provides food for the human soul.
Another way to state this is “You, Lord, are all I have.” Roll that around a couple of times. All in this world is fleeting.
The U.S. Department of Labor says that the average worker changes careers 3-5 times. Some experts say that number is much higher. Personally, I don’t know what I want to do when I grow up. And I’ve changed jobs more times than I can count. My point is that many define themselves by what they do. Yet what we do is fleeting.
How about homes? The average number of times a person moves in their lifetime is 16 times. And I would be willing to bet that number has drastically increased in our current economic crisis.
Marriages and relationships. More than 50 percent of marriages end in divorce. How many of you have friends from high school? How many have more than 10 friends from that time? The Lord is our portion. All else is fleeting.
When the Lord is our portion, our thoughts are occupied with thoughts of Him as we meditate on Him and the truths we know about Him. Do men and women who do not think about God from Monday morning to Saturday night really possess Him? When someone you love is away from home, or you are away from them, you still have them in your mind and thoughts. When you have God in your mind and thoughts, you continually turn your heart to Him in love and communion. This results in obedience in thought and reaction.
“And You give me all I need” is the second part of this verse. God gives spiritual blessings innumerable. No one can keep us from receiving these blessings but ourselves. God will help us so that no temptation will make us rob ourselves of our treasures. But, we are our own worst enemies. We are weak and surrounded by temptation, but God has told us he will be our strength in our weakness.
Read II Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
“My future is in Your hands” is the third part of this verse. God is my guardian. What security that fact provides! With God as our guardian, we live above fear of loss of things. God’s power surrounds the one who chooses (notice the phrasing) God for his heritage; nothing can take it from him. Material things we possess can be taken away, so even though the world says “keep up with the Jones’” “boy, want what they have”: We don’t want that, we don’t want those material possessions. But the spiritual blessings of God are ours forever. There may be storms, conflicts, and battles all around us, but silence and peace are in us for we are the possession of God. We belong to another kingdom. Our roots and foundations are in God.
Read Ephesians 3:17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong.
Our true wealth and possessions, which cannot be stolen, damaged, or decayed, are “in Him”.
There is joy for the believer when he has faith in God. Here the poet’s cup of happiness is overflowing because God has given him a choice possession. Of course, our heritage as Christians is much greater than the heritage David was talking about. We have many spiritual blessings as Christians.
Read Acts 20:32 Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
Read Ephesians 1:18-20 18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,
Read James 2:5 Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?
These are our spiritual blessings. These make our cup run over. These things, these blessings, these gifts from God fulfill our every need and sustain us.
Our next part of Psalm 16 will lead us about God's direction.
I pray from many blessings upon each and every one of you this day. Know that God loves you and desires to see you have an abundant life and so do I.
Pastor Jim
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