Reading
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
231.
We're pilgrims in love.
We are far from.
Home. Good morning.
No.
No, no stranger.
Lord.
Mercy.
Ask the Lords help.
For those that were not with us yesterday, we started out in Psalm 16.
Be nice to continue on with it because we didn't get very far.
Psalm 16.
Should we start with verse five? Would that be that'd be about right. Yeah. Thank you.
00:05:05
May I suggest that we just read the whole Psalm over again? Why not?
Sounds good.
Psalm 16.
Victim of David preserved me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust.
O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord, My goodness extendeth not to thee.
But to the Saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent in whom is all my delight, their sorrow shall be multiplied. That hasten after another God their drink. Offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance, and of my cup. Thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places. Yeah, I have a goodly heritage. I will bless the Lord who have given me counsel.
My reigns also instruct 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 rejoiceth. My flesh also shall rest in hope. For Thou will not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One, to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life in the presence. In Thy presence is fullness of joy.
At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
Thank you for reading the whole chapter, the whole Psalm. Part of the reason I suggested reading the whole Psalm is because right in the first verse, as in many of the psalms, there's a statement that's made. And then for the rest of the Psalm, there's an explanation of what that statement is. And so I think it's good to remind ourselves that the theme or the idea that the psalmist started out with was preserve me, O God, for indeed do I put my trust. And yesterday we saw.
A little bit of the hazards of idols and as we commenced this morning with verse five, we're going to see a little bit of why the psalmist put his trust in the Lord.
So just to recap a little of what we had yesterday, this Psalm is portraying the Lord Jesus as the perfect dependent man. It's really the Lord Jesus speaking. Of course, ultimately, I shouldn't say ultimately, but in writing it, it was the words of the psalmist, but as often happens, the Spirit of God.
Takes the psalmist beyond his own experience.
To bring in things that have to do only with Christ. And so this is the.
Perfect dependent man as depicted in the Lord Jesus. But of course, ultimately it's our pathway too. And so the Lord Jesus, although He was and is and ever will be the Son of God, yet he voluntarily took that place of dependence as a creature, submitting to everything that the Father wanted him to do in this world, not having a will of his own.
But simply following the will of the Father.
And thus showing us the pathway of faith in which we can walk.
So in verse five is Rob has pointed out we have some of the reasons why.
The psalmist, and ultimately the Lord Jesus himself, was able and willing to put his trust in the Lord.
And perhaps others can develop it more, but I suggest we have three separate things in this verse.
Inheritance and Cup and lot.
And all three, I believe, have a different meaning.
We know that the Lord Jesus has an inheritance coming to him, and if we were to turn back to the second Psalm.
God the Father says to him, Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. And so the inheritance, I believe, is all created things, and God has ordained that the Lord Jesus is going to inherit and enjoy and reign over all created things. Does he have them now?
00:10:12
No, they're all his, not only by virtue of creation, but by virtue of his work of redemption.
But they will be his in a coming day.
But then you and I, what do we have? Hebrews 9 talks about eternal inheritance and it talks in Peter about an inheritance incorruptible and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven. For you heaven is not the inheritance, but it's reserved in heaven. And so you and I are going to inherit all things with the Lord Jesus.
And we can look forward to that. We may not have very much down here.
Neither did he, but we look forward to it.
But then it says.
Then it talks about.
My cup, the Lord, is the portion of mine inheritance and my top. And I would suggest that the cup is the present enjoyment of all that we have in Christ. And so when it talks about the inheritance and our cup, it doesn't merely say that it's all created things, but it's Jehovah is the Lord himself. It's all embodied.
In the Lord himself everything that we have and even though we don't have the inheritance now.
The psalmist can say in Psalm 23, My cup runneth over. That was the present enjoyment of all that he had in the Lord, and you and I have the privilege of enjoying all of that now by faith.
But then, what about our lot? Our lot, I would suggest, brings in all the circumstances through which the Lord passes us.
And they're not always present, pleasant, I should say. The Lord could say in John 16 in the world you shall have tribulation. And sometimes the Lord puts us through difficulties and problems in this world.
But what is it doing to us? Ultimately, it takes us away from everything that might distract us and brings us into a deeper enjoyment of those things that are eternal. And so we realize more and more that the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. And the Lord Jesus himself, if we could say it with all reverence.
Those were things that kept him going in this world because he looked beyond at all to what was in the future and to the joy that he would have in doing the Father's will. And being able to go back to the Father and say, I have finished the work which thou gave us me to do. And then ahead of him was all that God had given him in that inheritance.
Speaks in verse six about lines.
A lot and the children of Israel were came into the land, and the land was divided among them.
They all got their lots.
And.
Unlike in the wilderness, where?
The food, the manna fell from heaven. They were provided for when they got into the land. That man has stopped falling from heaven, and they had to. They began at the start just to enjoy.
The food that was already in the land, but eventually they had to start there to till their land and to work it in order to have food. So the lot.
And speak of all of our circumstances. Sometimes in the world people say that's my lot in life and they're referring to all the circumstances, usually adverse.
But the law can be seen, as our brother said, is all of the circumstances that God has arranged in our life with this very important addition. It's our enjoyment of Christ in all of those circumstances, including the adverse, and perhaps even more importantly, the adverse circumstances where we can enjoy Christ and gain him, as Paul says, to gain that I may gain him.
00:15:18
But in our circumstances, in all what we call our lot in life.
We have to, as it says, as a first Peter, all those things we add to our faith.
In order to sort of chill the ground, if we just go through life haphazardly and let things come and we don't.
Positively at positive energy till the land, so to speak, so that we might enjoy Christ in our circumstances. We have our lot, but we're not enjoying what was intended to be enjoyed in that. So it's all of our circumstances in life particularly you could think of the adverse circumstances of being most important an opportunity to gain price.
The the language the Lord is the portion of my inheritance reminds us of the Levite and in Numbers chapter 18 and verse 20 says in the Lord spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shall thou have any part among them. I am thy part, and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.
And so not only the Levite, but very specifically the House of Aaron, the priesthood.
The Lord was their portion and their lot, and you think of the Lord Jesus Christ himself and the 110th Psalm.
Set thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Thou art priests forever after the order of Melchizedek. And so there he is in heaven, waiting for that moment when he'll have his inheritance. The heathen, as was mentioned in Psalm 2, every created thing, he's son and heir. But there he is in heaven, our great high priest, and we've been brought into the family of that priesthood.
We've been made part of that priesthood and in that same sense we take our inheritance like the priests of old. It's the Lord himself. He's our portion, he's our inheritance, he's our lot. You know this is a Psalm of David. I I was thankful that little bit was read at the beginning. David was of the tribe of Judah and there arise that no priest we read in Hebrews from Judah.
But I think David all his life wished he was part of that family of Aaron. He longed to be in the Lord's presence. It's expressed over and over in the Psalms. And I think the, I think perhaps the highest point in David's life was when the ark was being brought back to Jerusalem and he put on a linen ephod, he put on a priestly garment, and he got as close as he could to the ark and he danced before the Lord. This was going to be his only opportunity.
And he wanted it and he wasn't going to give it up because once that arc went in behind the curtains of that tent, it was close to him. And so he took advantage and he got as close as he could. In the 15th Psalm, where we get God finding the man, He's looking for the first verses who shall abide in thy Tabernacle. That was David's longing to abide as close as he could to the Lord. And then now in this Psalm.
The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance. How close to the Lord can we get? How close do we want to be? He is our portion.
We see that David tells him how Thou and Zyba divide the law, but the fibership was so occupied with the person he didn't give any thought for.
The material possessions, he said that Zaiba could have it all.
So here's one who has occupation with Christ.
I would suggest another thought to in connection with that phrase.
00:20:00
Thou maintainest my lot.
And in connection with what Brother Ted was saying, we all have.
A certain lot in life and yes, on the one side it is connected with our circumstances.
A brother long since with the Lord used to remind us that God doesn't put his Saints into a classroom. He has an individual tuition for each one.
But then there is in that sense to a certain, shall we say?
Lot that each one of us has connected with the enjoyment of Christ and all that he is. Yes, it's all there for us. Everything of Christ is available to us. I trust we enjoy as much as possible, but being human and being what we are, we are generally characterized by a particular enjoyment of certain things perhaps.
Where others have a special enjoyment of something else, all that is quite an order. That's why in a reading meeting like this, it's nice to hear from different brothers.
But then it says thou maintainest my life. What a wonderful thing that is. Sometimes when it comes to going through circumstances, we can get discouraged. And it was mentioned in prayer this morning that there may be those here who are heavily burdened, those who are passing through difficult circumstances. Maybe it's family problems, maybe difficulties in the local assembly where we are.
Maybe something to do with financial problems, maybe health problems, maybe a combination of many different things.
Thou maintain us my life. But then what about the enjoyment of Christ? Does He maintain that for us to? Indeed He does, and if we are willing to follow Him, we can trust Him to maintain those precious things for us. A brother.
One of our old writers back in the 1800s made this remark. It meant much to my own soul, he said. If the Lord sees in you and me any desire in our hearts to go after Christ, we can depend on him to work it in US.
He will work it in us. He will, if necessary, put us through circumstances. He will make Christ real to us. If there's a desire there, that is a very precious thing. And so He maintains our lot, whether it's in the enjoyment of Christ, whether it is passing through difficult circumstances which ultimately are designed to increase our enjoyment of Christ, and of course, ultimately a view of coming glory.
And we can recognize and appreciate that it is the Lord that does that for us.
So he says yeah, I have a goodly.
Heritage.
And if we could see enough in all of our circumstances, again particularly in the adverse circumstances, that we have a goodly heritage.
Than we can gain and everything give thanks.
Says her brother said God has arranged all our circumstances so that we could gain price, so that we could enjoy Christ in them.
So tell us, Brother Ted, how could the Lord Jesus say prophetically here the lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places, when he knew that he was going to be rejected and went for the most part from the human side, his life looked like a complete failure. How could he talk like that? Well, two thoughts come to mind. One is for the joy that was set before him, you could see.
When that seed fell into the ground and died, he was looking for what would be produced from that beyond the grave, when actually he would have you and I, he would have all of us there as his produce. You might say, the result of that seed falling into the ground and dying.
00:25:14
And in connection with that, I don't want to do all the speaking, but turn to a verse in Second Timothy chapter 2.
I believe the Lord through Paul was encouraging Timothy when things were starting to break up, when ruin was already starting to come into the church, when the precious things that Paul had so strenuously labored for were already beginning to be laid aside. And Paul has to say in the first chapter all day, which are in Asia, be turned away from me.
In Second Timothy 2.
He says.
In verse 8.
Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel. But allow me to quote that as it appears in the Darby translation. It's a little different.
It reads Remember Jesus Christ of the seed of David raised from the dead. According to my gospel, a little difference.
It is not so much that we need to remember the fact of the resurrection.
But remember the one who was raised from the dead.
What does that mean?
I believe the thought is that did the Lord Jesus see the results of faithfulness and obedience and submission to the Father's will during His pathway down here? No, he did not.
As Ted has been bringing out all of the blessing, all of the glory, all of the results of it came in resurrection. And you and I, if we are faithful to the Lord.
May not see the results of that faithfulness down here. We may not see the results of following Christ, submitting to his will, walking before Him in a world that has rejected Him and will reject us. But.
In this Psalm we will experience the blessedness of His preserving care over us, but we look on to the glory of the reward for a pathway of faithfulness to the Lord will be, not down here necessarily, but in coming glory.
There's a beautiful progression in these Psalms that lines up with that because you get the present enjoyment of that inheritance in verse 6.
But he's, it's a present enjoyment of what he's looking on to in the future. And then in the 17th Psalm, you get in the 15th verse. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awaken Thy likeness there in resurrection. He's going to come into the good. And possession in Psalm 18 is a resurrection Psalm. It's remarkable in the beginning verses of that Psalm how it lines up.
With a with a very circumstances that surround the resurrection of the Lord, the earthquake. The stone was rolled back, the Angel sat upon it. His face was like lightning. The keepers fellas dead at his at before that appearance of the Angel, the Lord was raised from the dead. God raised him, His beloved Son from the dead. Until you see the picture of God coming down on the cherubs. He flies down.
And he raises him from the depths, and then he teaches my hands to war. And you get the the Lord as a man of war coming out of heaven to take that which is his by right. It's a beautiful Psalm. And so there's a progression, a present anticipation and present enjoyment of what's to come. Having it in resurrection and then going on and taking possession of it in power and glory in the 18th Psalm. It's a beautiful progression. We're going to go through that with him.
00:30:07
We're going to go through it with him.
So we've been talking about how this is Speaking of the Lord Jesus and his enjoyment of those pleasant places.
When He was going through trial as a man on earth, and it was in anticipation of those things. And I think if I understood rightly, spoke of two things. One was the joy of doing the Father's will. The other is the joy of having us that coming day. And I'd just like to go to verses to support that because we do often speak of it on the first one, just in Psalm 40.
Psalm 40. Psalm 40.
These are well known verses, but it's good to see them. Verse 7 Then said, I lo, I come in the volume of the book, it is written of me, I delight to do thy will. Oh my God, hear thy laws within my heart. Was no doubt His first and primary delight, wasn't it, to do the will of His thought and his Father? And so that was the lines.
Late in pleasant places.
For him, no matter what the cost, but it also includes us. And I think that's wonderful to see from my point of view, our point of view. And just reverse on that. Matthew chapter 13.
Matthew 13 and verse 44 Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hid in a field, Speaking of us individually, unlike the Pearl which follows. He says, The witch, when a man hath found, he hide it, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
Oh, the Lord had a joy.
In going to the cross, because of you and me as well, didn't he? So it's really precious to see these two things and then to consider in our chapter his attitude as a man on earth, to look forward to that and just take it as pleasant places where the lion were laid. Hard to think of of those things when we go through trial.
But the Lord is bringing us to the trial, to bring us into something that we wouldn't have had if we didn't have the trial. And the Lord plainly saw that, and He's Speaking of that here. But what would have happened if the Lord took up the Kingdom when He was here on earth? He had the right to it. What would have been the loss, or what would have been our loss if we had never gotten out of Eden? Tremendous loss, that would be.
Those were pleasant enough, but nothing compared to what was gained by his death and resurrection and by whatever trials that we might be LED through the things that He brings us through for His own glory.
In the 18th Psalm, there's another ninth bird, verse 19.
Brought before also into a large place.
Delivered me because he delighted in me.
We think of the Lord's goodness to the children of Israel, providing them that land of Canaan, that land which milk and honey.
But they had to go in and possess that man, didn't they? And we think of the Lord's blessings to the children of Israel as they went through the wilderness.
He provided matter for them on a daily basis and.
We see later on that they despise that, like to just read a verse that we have in Psalm 106.
Says verse 24.
Gay they despise the pleasant land. They believe not his word so.
Let us value these things. Let us value the position the Lord has brought us into.
And not like those that we read about here in Psalm 106.
00:35:09
So I cannot really experience in our Psalm verse six very well unless I have fully appreciated verse 5.
My eye is really on the Lord if He really fills my heart, and if I really trust Him to maintain my lot, it's only then that I can look on present circumstances as being.
As it says here, the lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places.
Again, we emphasize it is not easy to say when you're in the middle of difficult circumstances, and it's easy to talk about it when you're not going through it. But when we are going through very difficult circumstances, the test is, is the Lord really the portion of my inheritance and my copy? Do I really trust Him as Brother Rob was bringing out? It takes us back to the first verse.
Preserve me, O God, for thee do I put my trust.
And that's the only way we will be preserved. Otherwise Satan will persuade me that those difficult circumstances are not worth it to follow the Lord. I better look or look for a way around them. And Satan is quite ready through compromise to.
Perhaps allow us to go through something a little easier. But all of those circumstances, as we have often remarked, are designed for blessing for us and to bring us closer to Christ.
Like to link this to.
Because of the portion of mind inherits. Think this to Matthew chapter 6.
That's the first part of verse 21 for where your treasure is.
There will your heart be also.
So treasure is something that we value, portion is something that we value.
And so.
We have these wonderful verses both in Psalm 16 and in Matthew chapter 6.
So going on to verse 7.
We find a further revelation. It is the Lord that gives us counsel.
I suppose one of the commonest questions that is often raised.
How can I know the Lord's mind for a particular decision that I have to make in my life?
How can I know the Lord's mind for a particular situation that arises?
And we have to say that there is no human parameter by which we can judge the Lord's mind. Yes, if we have a positive scripture for us, that settles it. But there are many decisions in life, in the Christian life, that we cannot in that same sense have a positive scripture for. Rather, we have to rely on that statement again in the Psalms here, that the secret of the Lord is within that fear Him.
And it's in communion with the Lord that by the Spirit of God we can learn the Lord's mind.
But is he willing to give us counsel? Is He willing to make his mind known? Indeed He is. But sometimes we find, and I speak to my own heart, that in seeking to know the Lord's mind in a circumstance, we find that the Lord brings us into His presence by perhaps not giving us an immediate answer. Why is that? Oh, perhaps I have gotten away from Him.
Perhaps there is that in my life which I have allowed, which I have not judged in His presence.
And then when I go to the Lord seeking his mind, I don't get an answer.
I find that I can't pray in the right way. I find that I don't get immediate guidance. Well, of course, sometimes the Lord does not give me guidance until I really need it, but at the same time, the Lord uses all of that to bring us back to Him. And so sometimes the question of guidance.
00:40:06
Well, I shouldn't let me rephrase that. The question of knowing the Lord's mind cannot be separated from our state of soul.
And that's a very, very important principle to recognize. I cannot talk about being guided of the Lord without bringing my state of soul into the picture.
And that's why I believe, and I just suggest the thought. Maybe others have another thought. But the latter part of the verse says my reigns also instruct me in the night season.
I believe the rains in Scripture very often are a reference to the kidneys in the human body. And as most of us know, the kidneys are largely used to purify our blood. Now they have other functions, but for our purposes this morning, I believe the thought of purification is a good one if I wish to know the Lord's mind and to have His counsel.
I have to be ready to allow that purification process which the Lord seeks to do in our lives, and I would suggest it's a very important thing that the Lord wants to bring before us, something which is very necessary to recognize.
With the night night seasons or nighttime speak of those times when things aren't real clear.
You know when the lights on, when it's day and bright, you don't really think about having to navigate. It's pretty clear where you walk. You're not going to trip over things. Typically it's lights on, pretty clear things that are playing. But the night time is when things aren't like that. And I wonder too, if perhaps it's Speaking of the fact that many times when things aren't clear in our lives.
We sense restrictions on ourselves.
And sometimes we feel like that restriction is uncomfortable, but it's a great time to get in the Lord's presence and to enjoy communion with Him.
A notable teacher in the past and said that, you know, when he was laid low, it was a very valuable time to him. Most times when he was laid low and restricted from going about and so on, he gained a lot in those times through his communion with the Lord. So I'm just looking at the reins a little differently here as being restrictions that are upon us often times in our lives.
When we would rather they not be there, but they teach us in those times when things are not so clear.
Another practical point in connection with this verse seven. I will bless the Lord.
And I think that that's an important part of having trust in the Lord is taking the time to look back at your life and my life and understanding how the Lord has guided me and directed me in the past helps me trust for the future.
Before we go on, just want to go back real briefly to something my brother said.
About believing and that being the key to our enjoying Christ in our adverse circumstances. That is the key is to believe. It was unbelief that was the result of all the failure code of Israel. And I just thought of this verse in Romans, Romans chapter 15 and verse 13. It's a beautiful verse. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing.
That's the key.
Especially in those adverse circumstances or when times aren't clear that God would fill you with all joy and peace in believing.
Leaving is the key.
Well, it's a wonderful thing always to have before us the goodness of God, isn't it?
I can remember well many years ago now, at least 3035 years ago now, speaking to a dear sister in Christ. And I say it with all humility, I trust, because it could happen to me.
She was very clearly away from the Lord. She was in tears because of difficulties and problems in her life.
00:45:10
And she was very obviously, in speaking to her, I could not help but notice that she was very obviously very bitter about the way things had gone. Very bitter.
I said to her, Have you been able to take these circumstances to the Lord? Now she was old enough to be my mother, so I was respectful in the way that I spoke to her. But I said, Have you been able to take these circumstances to the Lord in prayer and lay them out before Him?
Oh, she said. I've tried to do that, but the Lord doesn't answer me. He doesn't give me any answer.
Perhaps a little more recently, but still a good many years ago, there was a dear brother who was going through difficult circumstances, a brother younger than I, and I cringed at hearing his remark. He says he said to me, I trusted the Lord and I hesitate to repeat his words, but he said. But the Lord let me down.
Was that true? Indeed, not, indeed, not in both cases. And I say it, I guess again with humility, because it could happen to any of us. There was something in the lives of both of those individuals. I believe the dear sister I did not know so well. I do not know what the Lord was talking to her about. The other dear brother I knew somewhat about.
But I believe the Lord had something that He wanted to bring before them, wanted to teach them something in their lives that He wanted them to judge.
And instead of dealing with it, there was a serious doubt in their hearts as to the goodness of God. Dear Job, thousands of years ago, had to learn that lesson, that he was to justify God first of all.
And then to say to the Lord, if he didn't understand that, which I see not.
Teach thou me. May that be our prayer. So that, as Rob has reminded us.
We bless the Lord for the counsel He has given us in the past and at the same time allow Him to teach us what we need to learn.
In present circumstances.
Just another thought on the night. The night is when it's quiet. The night is when there's no activity.
And.
Sometimes the Lord needs to get us in a quiet place before we really hear what He has to say to us.
All the activity of life and the things that can occupy us sometimes shut out what he has to say to us. And so it's in a night season, in a quiet time, that we can hear his voice when everything else has been done and put away and responsibilities are done.
He needs to get us in a place where it's quiet.
In the 17th chapter and verse three it says Thou hast proved.
My heart, thou hast visited me in the night.
Thou hast tried me.
And we're familiar with that verse and Psalm 30.
Especially the latter part of the verse. Weeping may endure for a night or for a season, but joy cometh in the morning.
So it's often in the night when.
We plead with the Lord.
But we see as a result of that.
There would be a period of joy in the morning.
The next verse I have set the Lord always before me connected with the thought of preserve me, O God for and thee do I put my trust reminds us of first Peter and chapter one verse five we read who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time we are kept by the power of God and that's the only way we can be kept.
00:50:06
But he says it's through faith, so we're kept by the power of God.
In setting the correct, the right object for our faith before us, that's how we're kept. And so I have set the Lord always before me. Do you want to be kept by the power of God? Then you have to have the right object before your soul. You have to have the Lord before you.
Is that second Corinthians sub?
After four or five.
Looking for where he says that.
I've got it wrong where he says I've not attained these.
Not that I have attained so this one thing I do.
Hebrews, Philip. Philippians 3. Is that the reference?
Yeah, I'm sorry. Thank you. Yes, it's Philippians 3.
Yeah, verse 12.
Not as though I had already attained either were already perfect, but I follow after it, that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended.
And forgetting the things that are behind verse 13, pressing forward toward the mark.
Or to set the Lord before you, that's like.
Making him your goal, right?
And it is only when we set Him before us that, as the latter part of the verse says, we will not be moved.
Again, we trust. We say it with all humility and respect.
How many dear believers are being moved today? How many are being moved away?
From.
What is honoring to the Lord? Moved away from what the Word of God teaches, and Satan is very, very active today to bring us to that point where we are, shall I say, in a position where we can be moved.
It's very sad to see and again we say it could happen to anyone of us if we get away from the Lord, unless He is before us, we will easily be moved. And how easy it is to have our eye taken off the Lord, taken off what is due to Him, taken off what His word says, and then we're in a position to be moved.
David felt in his life the threat of that and we know that speaking for the moment about David, there were times in his life when he was moved. There was a time when a man by the name of name of Nabal refused to give any help and food to David when he was in rejection. And David became so upset and angry at the circumstance that his reaction to it, instead of trusting the Lord was.
Gergie on every man his sword. And had it not been for the intervention of Nabel's wife Abigail?
There would have been bloodshed on another occasion, we know when things were going rather badly for David. He said, I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul. And what does he do? He defects to the Philistines, goes over to active the king of the Philistines, and says, I'll be on your side now. Well, the Lord in his grace and in his Providence allowed that when David was ready to go to war with the Philistines against his own nation.
The Lords of the Philistines said no way, He'll turn on us eventually and fight with his own nation. No, you're not going with us, David. I believe that was the Lord's preserving care over David. But he was moved. There were times in his life and discouragement took over. And it can happen to us too, where the difficulties become so great that we are in a position to be moved. The antidote is what we have here.
I have set the Lord always before me because He is at my right hand. If I go through every circumstance in life as if the Lord were right here at my right hand, it will be a wonderful keeping power to us.
00:55:18
And this defined the Lord's own life perfectly, didn't it? There's.
Vivid example of it just before the cross at the end of John 16.
Illustrates this verse very well.
Verse 32 John 1632 Behold, the hour cometh, Yay. It is now come that you shall be scattered, every man to his own. You shall leave me alone. Why, they didn't have the Lord before them. They were thinking about their own trial and difficulty.
But he goes on, and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
It's where the Lord left it, wasn't it? It's a perfect example of all these things.
Could we add one more scripture to that Tim in the 12Th of John?
I.
We find the most awful dilemma in verse 27 of John 12.
The most awful dilemma from 1 eternity to another when here the Creator and the Sustainer of the universe has to say.
Now is my sole trouble, and what shall I say?
Father save me from this hour, but for this cause cometh came I under this hour.
And in keeping with what you presented, Tim, what answers the question?
Father, glorify thy name.
Settle the issue, didn't it?
And it'll settle many, many problems for us if we simply look up and say Father.
Glorified thy name.
I look again at those words that we.
Have in our chapter in connection with the Pleasant places.
And.
We think of all that the ward has given to us.
I think of a question that Saul put before the children of Israel.
And First Samuel, chapter 22.
In verse seven of that chapter says, Then Saul said unto his servants that stood about him.
Here now he Benjamites, will, the son of Jesse, give everyone of you fields and vineyards, and make you captains of thousands and captains of hundreds. Oh, he did not realize what was.
In the Heart of David and.
He usurped.
What belonged to David for himself? And so we know it would would have been the desire of David to bless those. But he is ascribed a wrong motive there, isn't it? But we know that God desires to bless his children.
And give each 1A portion.
And Satan would.
Come before us, just like Saul, hear and say God doesn't want to bless you. And we see that in the very lie that we have in Genesis. Satan told Adam that God had withheld something from him. And here we have Saul.
Ascribing something to David's heart that was not in his heart.
And may we ever value that which He has for us.
Now that we got down to this eighth verse, I'd just like to go back to something Brother Bill said to be in the meeting. I remember you correctly. You said that the Psalms, well, this Psalm was the Psalm, the Mick Pam of David. It was a Psalm of David where David spoke somewhat of his own experience, but the Psalm goes beyond his experience to that which could only be true of the Lord. That's what you said, and we hear that often.
01:00:04
This verse is.
One of the proofs of that, if you connect it with Acts chapter two, I think we should look at that because we often hear these things, but it's good to know why they're said. So Acts chapter 2 where Peter speaking on the day of Pentecost. He quotes these next 3 verses and beginning with this verse eight and then nine and 10. So Acts 2 is speaking in verse 22. You men of Israel hear these words.
Jesus of Nazareth, man of truth, of God, and so on.
And then verse 25.
He said for David speaketh concerning him.
I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is on or at my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. We're over. Also my flesh will rest in hope, because I will not leave my soul in hell. Neither wilt thou suffer, thine Holy One, to see corruption so very plainly. Here Peter, speaking by the Spirit of God, is saying what our brother brought before us.
That this.
Was not the case of David. David was Speaking of Christ, even if he didn't understand it, as Peter says in his first epistle, he knew that it was beyond his own experience and he spoke something prophetically. And now we're told this is about the Lord Jesus Christ. And so with the authority of the Word of God, we can come to this chapter and apply the things the way we're applying them in this meeting today.
Well, the result of all this is verse 9. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth. It's quite an expression. My glory rejoiceth. In acts that was just read to us, we find it says my tongue rejoiceth.
Those who know Hebrew, and I am no Hebrew scholar, but those who know Hebrew, tell us that the word for glory in Hebrew is the same as the word for tongue, which apparently is characteristic of the Hebrew language. Many words have multiple meanings, and that's why it could be translated tongue in the New Testament, but it is really the present rejoicing in view.
Of all that God is doing and is going to do for us.
The wonderful thing that the Lord Jesus had before him was the glory ahead.
There was glory going to come as a result of his work on the cross.
And as Tim Tim Ruga has already brought out, there was more than one reason for it. But perhaps the main reason was as we get in Hebrews chapter 12.
He was going to be able to go back to the father, having finished the work that the father gave him to do, and the joy of being able to go back and to say what he says in John 17.
I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which Thou gave us me to do.
But what was going to be the result of that? And now glorify thou me, glorify thou me with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was. And so there was going to be glory connected with all of that. And the Lord Jesus looked on to that glory and rejoiced in it. You and I can do the same. Is it our glory? In one sense, yes, because He shares it with us.
But it is a glory that He has which he gives us, isn't it? It's a glory that He shares with us.
But a glory that we will enjoy with them. And so you and I can walk through this world with glad hearts.
Yes. Are there times when we pass through difficulties? Yes, we do.
Are there times when we shed tears? Yes, we do, and there's nothing wrong with that. Are there times when the pathway is difficult? Yes. But through it all, the Lord will give us an inner joy, a gladness of heart, because there is that hope before us and we can look on to coming glory.
01:05:06
We've heard over the years, but it certainly bears repeating. You've never met a Christian at the end of their path that said they wish they hadn't followed the Lord. You'll meet plenty. Maybe you won't meet them, but there are plenty that will say, I wish I'd followed the Lord closer here. The Lord in this Psalm, he's facing certain death. He's looking onward beyond it to resurrection and beyond. And he can say, therefore, my heart is glad.
The Christian path is a happy path. He was a man of sorrows, but we can see his path was a happy path.
And he could look beyond what was just ahead of him to what would come. And resurrection he could say, my flesh shall rest in hope. His flesh would never see corruption. He was a sinless one. And his flesh would never see corruption. If we're laid in the grave, our flesh will, like David, see corruption. Nonetheless, I think we can apply it and say our flesh will rest in hope. Where is Paul today?
His soul and spirit are in the presence of the Lord. He's enjoying the Lord, but his flesh is resting in hope. He hasn't realized his hope yet. And not one of those who have passed from this scene have realized their hope yet will realize it together when the Lord comes. And resurrection. And we're caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And then our hope will be realized in resurrection, just as the Lords was.
I'm #64.
Oh, bright and blessed.
Can never fall in our long disturbance.
Roger where Yak we all?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So that might have seen our string. I'm so tired.
Our hearts are safe on it for them.
01:10:03
Shines through all.
More.
I can't like see.
I.
Oh, blessed is our voice when we.
Love God.
And our mind is here.
Our needs are restore in the end in all of our souls. So.
Oh.
Right.
For our.
Destination.
Yeah.
Yeah.