David's Testimony

Psalm 16 (7/10/16 PM)

? What have you inherited from someone? Is it meaningful to you, and why?

Tonight I want us to consider Psalm 16. It’s a Psalm that talks about an inheritance and a portion and boundary lines, but it really has SO much more for us to consider.

The Psalm starts out with a title - A miktam of David. And if you know what a miktam is, you are smarter than other bible scholars! No one really knows for sure. It might be a musical title, it might mean a psalm worth inscribing on a pillar; it might mean a “golden” psalm - one worth memorizing and remembering. We’re not sure. But let’s pray that God would speak to us through this Psalm.

Prayer - read psalm

The first thing we see in this psalm is a cry for God to keep us safe. There doesn’t seem to be any pressing or immediate danger mentioned in this psalm - so it probably isn’t mentioned from the aspect of “delivering us” from trouble; but rather the ongoing safety that God provides. Let’s remember that far too often we take for granted that God is watching over us. When something bad happens to us, then we cry out to God. But every day we should cry out thanking God for His faithful, continual watching over us.

This psalm is really a testimony of faith. David says, “in you I take refuge.” In all the problems he faced, David was able to find strength in the Lord. How did he do that? He started out from his youth doing that. When he watched the flock, and a lion or bear came, he cried out to God and God delivered him. Older years, running from God, his friend Jonathan came and helped him to find strength in God. It was a pattern of David’s life.

Throughout the scripture we see this idea that God is a rock, a refuge, a shield, a stronghold, an ever-present help, he is our song, the one in whom we delight. In the midst of threat and fear, David found security in his relationship with his God. He had “intimacy” with God. As a result of that, David was free to seek to be all that God had for him to be.

I want to look at this Psalm thinking about using our gifts in the body. Now, I’ll admit that I don’t think that David was thinking of “spiritual gifts” as he wrote this Psalm, but rather about the general concept of faithfully, joyfully serving the Lord. But I think we can take the truth here and apply it to our relationships within the body. So what do we learn?

*Ministry focuses on what God can do, not on what we can do - We see David declaring in verse 2 - “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” This was not just David’s humility, but his understanding of his total reliance upon God. This very God whom he had declared to be his rock and fortress.

We talked in SS this morning about John 15 - the vine and the branches - apart from God we can do nothing. Here again is this same idea. God is the source of all our focus on ministry. It doesn’t matter what we might attempt to do, if God is not in it, we will surely fail.

David saw God take him from a humble shepherd boy, the youngest in his family, and give the kingdom of Israel over to him. And it was not because of anything David did, but because his heart was right before God. David knew that just as God brought the kingdom, He also could take it away. That’s what he did with Saul.

As we think about using the gifts God has given to us, let’s not let it build pride in our hearts at what WE can do, but let’s remember that GOD is the one who receives the glory, for He is the one doing the work.

*The focus of ministry is building up the body, not building up ourselves. In verse 3, we see David delighting in the saints in the land. What is a “saint”? It’s not some pious person who reads the Bible by candlelight through the wee hours of the night. Rather a saint is a Christian, a believer in Christ - 1 Corinthians 1:2 tells us - “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.”

David’s delight is in the people of God. When David’s son Solomon became king, God came to him and said, Solomon, ask me for anything you want. And in 2 Chronicles 1:10 we see his reply - Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people.