Summary: We need to get serious about God. David shows us how his life was immersed with wanting to worship the Lord and serve Him wholeheartedly. When will we get serious like this?

A Study of Psalm 16 and 17

Psalm 16 and 17

Introduction

- Psalms broken into 5 books, covered an extensive time period

- Gathered together as songs of praise & words of encouragement/warning

- We are studying book 1, Psalm 1-41 … Info: we’ll take break for Advent

- If we apply ourselves, this could be a life changing study (exp.)

- I want us, as a church, to examine if we can’t rejoice more

- We ought to be able to praise and want more of God every day

- Read Psalm 16-17 / Pray

Point 1 – Psalm 16 (Who is your God?)

v1-4

- David’s prayer begins with the best statement ever: “Keep me safe” …

-- Then a confession: “in you I take refuge” (you are my safety)

-- And a declaration: “apart from you I have no good thing” (you are my all)

- Q: Why can’t we just be happy and fruitful in what we have?

- Q: Why do we choose wallow in misery instead of God’s joy?

- Answer: We think we are in charge and fail to worship the One who is!

v3-4

- David understand that people are noble … yet they are disturbing

-- Knew people are finicky, they are easily swayed, & they are not perfect

-- In essence, they are no different than we are today – regular folks doing life

- IMP: Our desire should be to run after God (v4); b/c other gods are empty

-- Other gods provide no joy, no relief, no growth, and no safety

-- APP: This applies to our hobbies, our preferences, and our “need these”

-- Re: What we place over God is what we worship; it IS our god! (exp.)

v5-8

- Hard truth: What God provides ought to be enough for us.

-- But, it is our rebellion that continues to pressure us to think we should have more

- Want: More recognition, more money, more power, more possessions, etc.

-- David teaches us something valuable here: says, “God is my portion” (Is he?)

- God’s boundaries (v6) are put in place for our protection

-- They cause us to hold back, to stop, to listen, to look to Him for guidance

- Ex: Puppy training … amazed at how Belle looks to us for the “Ok”

-- Why? We are her portion, we are her provider, she checks in regularly!

-- CHALLENGE: We ought to be NO different in how we respond to God!

- Even when God counsels us (v7), we ought to praise Him

-- Ex: We geet so busy considering ourselves to be in charge that we miss God

-- David says, “I will keep my eyes ALWAYS on the Lord.” (v8)

-- “I will not be shaken” … I will always have confidence in who He is

- Therefore (I’ve said how I feel, so here are my next steps…)

v9

• My heart is glad

• My tongue rejoices

• My body will rest secure

Why? (v10-11)

• You will not abandon me

• You will not let me decay

• You show me how to live

• You fill me with joy and eternal security by your power/authority

- TRANS: Do you want God’s peace in your life? Try Psalm 16!

- Now, let’s see how we start living this life, through an honest man’s prayers

Point 2 – Psalm 17 (A Focused Prayer)

- David prays for 6 specific things for God to help Him with

-- When we are struggling, I believe we can learn from David’s life

- Take a look at these things and tell me … couldn’t you do this?

-- APP: Do you need to make a change in the way you are doing things?

v1-2

Slide: See Me

- Hear me, Lord, I’m crying out to you; In my plea, my heart is honest

-- Let me be justified and made right because You say so, because I live for You

v3-5

Slide: Search Me

- Please examine my life and my heart Lord, search me for wickedness

-- Let it be proven that I have lived rightfully for You; b/c I’m devoted to You

-- APP: God will search your life; will you let Him so that you can be changed?

v6-7

Slide: Show Me

- You promise to answer me when I cry out to You, so please do so now

-- I’m calling on You Lord, please show me Your love and Your compassion

-- APP: You are the One who saved me, so let me see more of You!

v8-12

Slide: Shield Me

- Protect me, Lord, as someone You care about (it’s His promise to do so)

-- Keep me safe from those who seek to destroy me and turn my life upside-down

-- Re: There are people who want David dead … his cry is for protection!

-- APP: HELP ME! PROTECT ME! SHIELD ME! (Ex: as a parent protects)

v13-14

Slide: Save Me

- “Rise up, Lord, confront them”: God, you be the warrior here; I cannot do it

-- Use Your sword to defeat the enemy, I submit to you (soldier to a commander)

-- APP: Let them know You are powerful; let them receive what they’ve earned

v15

Slide: Satisfy Me

- All I want is to see Your face; to know that you really do care about me

-- My desire: to know you and to be intimate with you (promise for eternity)

-- My hope: to be satisfied by seeing You as You allow me to

- FACT: Gratitude flows from what you’ve received … have you received Him?

- TRANS: So, what is our take-away from these two Psalms today?

Big Idea – We need to get serious about God.

- CHALLENGE: But, when are we going to get serious about God like this?

- Tuesday: Outreach to the community, great opportunity to show Christ

-- Are you praying that you’d see God in our life so we can show Him to others?

-- Are you honestly preparing to show people what God can do? Excited for it?

- Personally … if one family comes by it is a TOTAL win

-- Why? Because I will have prepared to do it and to do it well for Him

-- Because I serve Him and I want to see Him glorified … not me or this church

- However, if we aren’t seeking after God like we just saw David expound on

-- Then, how can we be prepared to show others who He is and what He’s done?

- We’ve got to get serious about Him, else, it’s time to shut the doors

- I want to see Him lifted up and glorified

- I want to see people saved and hear angels rejoice

- I want to see our lives changed because He first changed us

- Don’t you? Re-read: Psalm 16:1-2 and Psalm 17:1

- Pray

- Prayer for salvation first … then for repentance … then for examination