Good morning again and this morning I’ll like to look at another psalm, and that is Psalm chapter 16. So again I shall read this psalm. Psalm chapter 16. Alright Psalm 16, this is a Psalm of David.

Beginning in verse 1: “Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust. O my soul, you have said to the LORD, “You are my Lord, my goodness is nothing apart from You.” As for the saints who are on the earth, “They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.” Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god; Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, nor take up their names on my lips. O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance. 

I will bless the LORD who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”. Let us again look to the Lord in prayer for help. Let us pray.

“Our Father in heaven, we thank You again for this morning that we are able again to gather around Your Word. We pray for all of us in different locations that You might be with us. Help us to know of Your presence. And we also pray as we study Your Word, we pray that this morning You’ll again instruct us and bring comfort to us, for this, we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Alright as we look at this psalm again to perhaps take note of the fact that most of the psalms are written in the context of life’s experiences. Now the particular experience of David in this psalm is probably the one referred to in First Samuel chapter 20. So if you’ll just turn to First Samuel chapter 20 and look at verse 1 and verse 3. 1 Samuel 20:1, it says here: “Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and went and said to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my iniquity, what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?””.

And then verse 3: “Then David took an oath again, and said, “Your father certainly knows that I have found favour in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.””. Now we know that in David’s life, now he has been through many difficult times. And perhaps one of the most difficult is what we read here in First Samuel 20. It is when the powerful King Saul was going after him, wanting to kill him. And we see in this passage here that David knows that. He knows how dangerous he was in.

He knows that in fact, it is quite unlikely he might actually survive. He is so close to death, and that’s why in verse 3 he tells his friend Jonathan that there is but a step between me and death. Now we know that times of difficulties and trials like that, it’s not just unique to David. Now we all go through difficult times in our lives and at times perhaps we face something similar where we are perhaps face to face with death. I’m sure at a time like this there are many people who go through this type of experience. And so this seems to be a possible background of Psalm chapter 16.

And that’s why he begins in Psalm 16 by crying out in verse 1: “Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust.”. So to cry out to God to preserve him is to say, God, keep me safe. I’m in danger. There is just a step between me and death. And so David is in danger of death, but he doesn’t want to die. Just like us, there is an ever-present danger of death today. Now that leads to the question that I want to address this morning from this psalm, and that is: Can we Christians know joy in the midst of danger or in the midst of trials? And that is what this psalm is about, that is knowing joy in the midst of trials.

It’s not joy in the midst of vaccine, but joy in the midst of virus. And that is what we see here. And David tells us how he could know joy. And therefore today we can learn from him how we may know joy in the midst of trials. And so how can Christians know joy in the context of unpleasant circumstances, in the context of danger, hardship, pain, need? So let us find out. So there are three points, the three sections here I’d like to draw your attention to. Three keywords here, and they are- turn, submit, and hope.

Now the first is in the first four verses where we see David turning in the midst of danger or this difficulty. Now we find him turning to God. We find him turning to God. So in other words, instead of focusing on his circumstances, he fixes his eye on God. He in other words takes his trouble to God as we sing in the hymn alright “take everything to God in prayer”. A hymn that says: “What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sin and grief to bear?” and “What a privilege it is to carry, everything to God in prayer.”. I believe that is what David is saying to us here that in times of difficulties, he takes his trouble to God. 

And as he turns to God, as he takes his trouble to God, you see firstly that David focuses on who God is. You see as you come to God, you need to know Him in order to give you comfort. And here he uses two words to refer to God in verse 2. Verse 2, he says: “O my soul, you have said to the LORD, “You are my Lord””. Now you see the two words “the Lord” are not the same. Now one is in the capital letters and the other is not. Now, so the first word ‘LORD’ (you have said to the LORD) is actually the name of God or the covenant name of God, Yahweh. 

Now, this is the name that refers to God’s faithfulness to His people. It is a name that reminds His people of His commitment to them that He will never fail them, that He will never leave them. And so as David turns to God, the first thing he reminds himself is of this covenant-keeping God, a God that binds Himself to His people. And he needs that. He needs to understand. He needs to remember. He needs to know that this is the God who will never leave him nor forsake him at a time like this when he is in deep crisis, in a deep danger in his life. And so he comes to God, he turns to God, and he remembers. He reminds himself that this is a God whom he can trust. He is a trustworthy God, a covenant-keeping God. 

Now the second word is the word ‘Lord’, and that word Lord is the word ‘Adonai’ which actually means He is the Lord. In other words, He is the sovereign Lord or the Master. Now that word means that although David is vulnerable here, he is in danger. He is you know very close to death. But now he knows as he comes to God, not only God is a faithful God but He is a powerful God. He is the Master of the universe. He is the Lord, the sovereign Lord. And so he now knows that he is in good hands. He knows what Paul writes in Romans: “If God be for us, who can be against us? For nothing shall separate us from the love of God”. 

In other words, he comes to God and he reminds himself that God is not only reliable but God is able. Sometimes you go to a friend, a very reliable friend but the friend is weak. He can’t help you much. Yes, he is a good friend, but he is unable to help you. But not God. God is not only reliable but He is able to help us. And that is what David does here at the time, at the low point in his life. He turns to God and cries: God, preserved me! And then he reminds himself: For you are Yahweh and you are my Adonai. You are my Master, my sovereign Lord. 

And then he says alright- he says in verse 2: “My goodness is nothing apart from You”. My goodness is nothing apart from You. He comes to God. And he comes to God because he knows that true joy does not simply come from having good things in life like having good food or good shelter or good education or good houses or good bonuses. Now he knows that. He knows that these things are nothing without God. They are nothing apart from God. There is no true happiness without God. And so he comes to God, and he recognizes that. And therefore he sees that whatever is from God is good, and whatever is not from God is not good. 

Now once he realises this that there is no goodness apart from God, then he draws two conclusions. And the first is this: If there is no goodness apart from God, then it is so good to be a part of God. It is so good to belong to God. In other words, it’s so good to be a child of God, to be His, to be a Christian. Now I want to encourage you to see this in this psalm that it is such a wonderful thing if you are a Christian, It is such a wonderful thing to be a Christian. Then you can say like David it’s so good to be a part of God, to belong to Him.

Why? Because as he writes later in another psalm because if “the LORD is your shepherd, you shall not be in want”. If the LORD is your shepherd, now He will care for you to the very end. If the LORD is your shepherd, then you can walk through the valley of the shadow of death and you will fear no evil. You see, that is what David is thinking here that it’s so good to be part of God, to be a Christian, to belong to Him.

Now the second conclusion is this: Now if there is no goodness apart from God, then why envy those other people who are not a part of God? And that’s why he writes here in verse 4: “Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god; Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, nor take up their names on my lips.”. In other words, he sees the wicked. He sees those who do not belong to the true and living God.

These are the people who go after other gods, and he says I will not follow them, I will not take you know their drink offering, and I will not offer them. I will not be a part of these people. Although very often when you look at these people, it seems that life is so good with them. It seems that things are going well with them. And for the people of God, it seems to be always kind of suffering. But the psalmist says oh that is very deceptive, and that perspective is put clearly in another psalm in Psalm 37.

As we flip over to Psalm 37, beginning in verse 7, and the psalmist kind of reflect on this. In verse 7 he says: “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him”. So he’s encouraging us to rest, to trust in God, and wait upon the Lord. “And do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret—it only causes harm. For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, and it shall be no more.”

And then verse 34 to 37, it says here: “Wait on the LORD, and keep His way, and He shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it. I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a native green tree. Yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more; Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found. Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; For the future of that man is peace.”. So here is a comparison between the wicked and those who seek after God. He says those who seek after other gods (the wicked), though they may prosper, yet the end is doomed. But those who wait upon the Lord, it says their end, their future is peace. 

And so that is what the psalmist is doing here in Psalm 16. He is in some kind of danger in his life, in a deep crisis. But instead of dwelling on the circumstances, he turns to God. And he reminds himself of who God is that He is a reliable God and He is a God who is able to help him and that it’s so good to belong to this God and to seek after Him.

Now the second word is the word ‘submit’. The word ‘submit’. Now after turning to God, you find that psalm is submitting himself to the purposes of God. Now that is how we might know joy in the midst of trials. Not only to turn to God, look to Him, but also to learn to submit to the purposes of God. Look at verse 5 of Psalm 16. The psalmist says here: “O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance. I will bless the LORD (verse 7) who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.”. 

Now what the psalmist is saying here is this: That he accepts that everything in his life is ordered by God. Now, this is how we should understand our life. There is no accident. There’s nothing by chance. See, everything that happens to us is by the ordering of God. It is God who put it there. And that’s what he means in verse 5 that “LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance; You maintain my lot. And the lines have fallen to me in pleasant places”. It’s all the lines, all the things that is happening in my life is ordered by God. And that includes both so-called good things and the averse things or the bad things or the bad circumstances in life. 

Now remember as Christians, now things do not always go well with us. There will be times when we will experience difficulties as David here at this time. But he knows that even at times like this, it has been ordered by the Lord. It is God who designed it. It is God who enabled him or put him in such a circumstance. And so he knows that, and therefore he submits to the circumstance that God has allotted him. Do you- do you submit to God’s ordering in your life? Now if we are complaining and not happy with our circumstances, then we cannot praise God alright. We will have no joy because we cannot see that even in difficult circumstances these are ordered by the Lord. It is God who put us through and for a good reason. 

You might remember Job. Now Job could praise God in the midst of plenty. He was a man of God. He worshipped God. He praised God in his life. And then when things turned sour; when he suffered much, he could still say: “The LORD gives, and the LORD takes away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.”. Why? Why is it that Job was able to say that in times of adversity? And exactly this: Because he knows that everything in his life, every circumstance is ordered by the Lord. We know that we all can of course praise God in time of comfort, but to be able to praise God in the midst of trials is to learn to trust Him and to submit to His purposes.

Now the third- the third is the word ‘hope’ alright- it’s the word ‘hope’. Now the psalmist now turns to the third portion of this psalm and explains how he could find joy in the midst of trials. From verse 9 he says: “Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.”. My flesh will also rest in hope. In other words, the psalmist is saying ultimately- ultimately we can have joy because we have hope in God, because we have hope beyond death. In fact, from verse 9 through the end, that is what he has in view here. That’s what he’s thinking about here because remember he said there is a step between me and death. Would David die in this circumstance? 

Now you see very often when we are in a situation like this we ask questions like that. Would we survive or would we die? Well for the psalmist, it doesn’t really matter at the end even if he dies. Now even if he dies, he has hope alright- he has hope. For verse 10 says: “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.”. So even if I die, God is still with me because He will not abandon me to the grave. Now I want you to see that this psalm is a Messianic psalm. It is a psalm that is about the experience of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, look with me now to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2, and here we see the Apostle Peter quoting from this psalm. Acts chapter 2, and look at verses 25 to 28. Acts 2:25- “For David says concerning Him (then he quotes from this psalm): ‘I foresaw the LORD always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Hades (or Sheol), nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’”. 

And then the following verses alright, Peter continues: “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.”.

In other words, Peter is explaining when he quoted from Psalm 16 that the psalmist David was making a prophecy concerning Jesus Christ. He’s speaking with regards to Jesus Christ and the fact that when he dies, God will not leave His body in the grave but would raise Him up on the third day. In other words, this psalm (Psalm 16) is about the Lord Jesus Christ, and Jesus is the model of true joy. He is the example for us. He went through extreme suffering, more than David, more than any one of us. So what kept our Lord rejoicing in the midst of trials? What gave Him joy despite the fact that He went through extreme suffering?

Hebrews 12:2 tells us. Hebrews 12:2, and it says here: “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”. Now, this verse tells us that the reason why our Lord Jesus Christ could have joy in the midst of extreme suffering was that He had the joy that was set before Him. Why didn’t He turn back from those sufferings?

I say it’s for the joy that was set before Him. And so what was set before the Lord Jesus Christ? What was set before the Lord Jesus Christ? What did He see that gave Him comfort and consolation and joy although He was facing the cross? Well, it was the resurrection hope. It was the resurrection hope, and here in Psalm 16, it contains one of the greatest resurrection prophecies. And this is what Peter is speaking about in Acts 2 concerning Jesus Christ that He had joy in the midst of trials because He had this hope in the resurrection. 

So ultimately what gives David joy is this: That whatever might befall him in this life, even death, it does not matter. And that is what David is telling us in this psalm. Whatever might befall him in this life, even death, it does not matter, for verse 10 says: “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.”. You see, we live in a world where people are very worldly. They think only about the happiness in this world, think only about earthly blessings, perhaps about money and success and business and education and possession and physical health, that people cannot be happy without things. But the secret of the Christian’s joy- the secret of Christian joy is the prospect of heaven. 

Verse 11: “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is the fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”. And that is what David ends. How he ends? He said what gave us joy as Christians, as people who belong to God is the prospect of heaven. It doesn’t matter what happens to us in this life. At the end for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. Why? Why gain? Because in heaven is the presence of God.

And that is what Christians look forward to, finally speaking. It is what gave him the greatest comfort and the greatest joy. In other words, there is no ultimate joy until you are assured of heaven. If you continue to live in this world without that assurance, what would happen to you after that? You would have no true joy because your joy is always dependent upon good circumstances in life. 

But who can have this assurance? Who can have this assurance? I’d like to end by turning to First Thessalonians. First Thessalonians chapter 4. First Thessalonians chapter 4, I’d like to read beginning in verse 13. Now here is in the context of death. Now Christians do die, that is what Paul said. “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.” 

Now you see, what Paul is saying that Christians do die. We would see our loved one die. But there is a difference between Christians facing death and non-Christian facing death, for we have hope. Those who are in Jesus have hope. Verse 14 says: “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again”. I want to ask you again: Do you have hope beyond death? And you can have no hope apart from knowing the Lord Jesus Christ, coming to Him, and trust in Him. And then you are God’s children, you belong to Him, and then we can have the same assurance as the psalmist here in Psalm 16 that whatever might befall us, there is the prospect of heaven, of being with God forever. Let us pray.

“Our Father in heaven, we know that like the psalmist we continue to live in a world that is filled with all kinds of dangers. And in our own lives, we know that very often we go through tough times and maybe dangerous times in our life, either due to sickness and other causes. And yet we know that as Christians we can have joy.

We can have joy because of who You are, for You are the covenant-keeping God, a God who will never forsake Your people, a God who is a sovereign Lord, who is able to keep us safe. And Lord, we know that at the end we know that we can have true and ultimate joy because that is the prospect of heaven and being with You forever when we leave this world, for this, we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.