Pleasant Things from Psalm 16

Today I am commenting on Psalm 16:1-11, which reads,

Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you." As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble, in whom is all my delight. Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips. The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage. I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I keep the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure. For you do not give me up to Sheol or let your faithful one see the Pit. You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

My wife and I were blessed to serve as international missionaries for seven years. Sometimes, however, we found that life on the mission field was stressful, especially in Africa.  For example, you never knew when a friend might want to visit, and it could happen anytime of the day or night. Their sense of time wasn’t like ours but if a friend came by, you had to entertain them and speak their language, even if you were very tired and your brain was “fried.”   It got to the point that if even a passing car rattled our compound gate, I got tense.

As tense as we could be at home, we could be just as relaxed when we took a break at a hotel along the coast.  We’d step into our room, turn on the air conditioner, and feel the tension melt away.  We found those breaks to be so very pleasant!

Things have been tense lately.  People are worried about the COVID-19 virus and about the economy. We have lost people to illness and other people have lost their jobs. It is time that we remind ourselves of the pleasant things we have in God.  Psalm 16 gives us a look at some of them, and we need to see them clearly in light of today’s tense situation.

First, We Need to See Pleasant People:

David confessed that he found his refuge in the Lord, and in that process, God used a number of factors to give him refuge, including some pleasant people. Who were these people?

First, they were people set apart by God. This is what the term “holy” means. Holy people are not perfect, but they are designated by God for a purpose. That purpose includes becoming a blessing to Him and to His people.

To accomplish this task, God’s people must have certain character qualities. David calls them “noble,” which implies the qualities of excellence, gallantry, and worthiness. These people were distinguished personalities in David’s view, and they came to be in that state because of their submission to God and their acceptance of His rule in their lives.

David was delighted by God’s people and he was blessed by them. The longer we are away from our fellow church members due to the COVID-19 crisis the more we will miss them and the deeper our desire to fellowship with them will become. God intends His people to bless one another and David found great pleasure in relating to God’s people.

Next, We Need to See Pleasant Places:

David said that God had set the boundaries of his life.  Everyone has boundaries; God sets them for His people. He has defined the limits of our being and the scope of our lives. We go over these lines to our own detriment.

The office where I work is literally across the road from a busy airport. Like every airport it has defined approach routes for landing and departure routes for takeoffs, and I am glad these exist. It would be a bad day for many people if a pilot deviated from these established safety measures and crashed an airplane.

What David found was that these boundaries are pleasant; far from limiting, these lines are enjoyable, and beneficial.  Dr. James Dobson illustrated the benefits of boundaries by quoting a study of how children react to playgrounds which have a fence, as opposed to unfenced playgrounds.

Children in playgrounds with a fence were observed playing over the entire space, including adjacent to the fences. On playgrounds with no fences, the children did not venture out very far from the center of the playground and actually used a much smaller percentage of the space available to them. The fences actually gave the children more freedom. Likewise, God’s boundaries in our lives actually free us to live pleasant lives without the pain and regret that comes with the consequences of sin.

We Also Need to See our Pleasant Position:

David could be unmoved by adversity because he knew he was in God's presence.

During the social distancing measures we have implemented in an effort to quell the spread of COVID-19, we are finding many different ways to communicate using technology, and we are grateful to have so many tools at hand of which we can take advantage. One denominational leader commented that he was glad that our current situation did not occur back in the 1990’s because churches would not have all the internet tools that they have today. This is all to the good, but nothing replaces actually being in another’s presence.

When we are in Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to us. That means we are always in God’s presence. This is a place of assurance, comfort, fellowship and hope!

Note, however, that David placed God in an honorable position. The right hand is the place of honor; we know that Jesus has sat down on the right hand of God the Father. Military personnel are taught to walk with a superior officer to their right. We need to place God in the place of honor in our lives. We do this by the way we live our lives, by how we allow the Spirit to lead us and infuse our lives with God’s grace and peace and mercy. When we do this we have confidence like David did, because, as Paul said, “If God be for us, who can be against us?”

We Also Need to See the Pleasant Path on Which God Leads Us:

What is the path that David was referring to? A path is a way of life. It is the events of our lives on earth and the decisions we make, and the direction we take.

We know that God's path is narrow, not broad. As Jesus said in Matthew 7:13, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.” It is a joy-filled path. It is a path of contentment, if not always a happy path.

Sometimes we don’t know where to go or what to do. Like Thomas during the Last Supper, we might cry, “Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Like Paul, we might admit that we sometimes don’t even know how to pray.

The good news is that God is our Guide. God will show us the way, and teach us His path. Jesus told Thomas, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Paul said that “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” This is an intimate process! In the 1st Century, disciples would sit and learn at their master’s feet. The same is true for us today as our Lord leads us!

 Finally, We Need to See our Pleasant Prospects:

Parents are concerned about the future for their children. They are concerned about their job prospects, their health prospects and their marriage prospects.

One father was questioning his future son-in-law about how he was planning to provide for the man’s daughter and their children. He asked the young man about his job prospects, and the fellow replied, “God will provide.” The father then asked about where the couple would live, how they would have health insurance, and what their plans were to save for retirement, and other probing questions. The groom-to-be answered again and again with the same refrain, “God will provide.” Later, the man’s wife asked how the interview with the future son-in-law went. The father answered, “Well, the boy hasn’t got a clue about real life, but at least he thinks I’m god!”

One preaching professor taught his students that every sermon needs to be able to answer the question, “So what?” This is the “so what” moment in this passage. All of the other elements of this Psalm are driving us to this point.

God is even more concerned about us than our parents were. He wants our lives to be fully joyful. He wants us to enjoy the blessings of life from His right hand, the place of power, honor, and goodness. He wants us to enjoy the eternal pleasures of His heaven, and in His power and provision we can!

Conclusion:

Isn’t it pleasant to get some good news? This is exactly what Psalm 16 gives us.

God has plans to give us pleasant things, both here on earth and in the hereafter. As John 10:10 tells us, “The thief comes not but to kill, steal, and destroy. I am come that they may have life, and that more abundantly.”

Even so come, Lord Jesus!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt