2022: Aspiring in Bleak Times
(Psalm 16)
1. Some people observe New Year’s traditions, others do not. Joey Adams shares his blessing for the New Year with us: “May all your troubles last as long as your resolutions.”
2. Someone defined a New Year’s resolution as “something that goes in one year and out the other.” But some people do keep a resolution. For example, I made a resolution to watch more TV about 3 years ago. We were down to one hour a week. Now we are probably approaching 6-7. One thing I never watch is football.
3. As in many homes on New Year's Day, Janet and Nigel, a happily married couple, faced the annual conflict of which was more important: the football match on television, or the lunch itself. Hoping to keep the peace Nigel ate lunch with the rest of the family, and even lingered for some pleasant after-lunch chat before retiring to the lounge to turn on the television. Some minutes later, Janet looked in to see how he was. She smiled, kissed him on the cheek and asked what the score was.
Nigel told her it was half time and that the score was still 0-0. 'See?' Janet said happily, 'You didn't miss a thing.' [funny-jokes.com, edited]
4. We are not easing into a new year this year. With COVID raging and new, more contagious variant, we enter the year with a dark cloud over our heads. But for the believer, we look higher than the dark clouds. We look all the way to God’s throne. We view life from a different angle, and everything is reframed to be viewed through the eye of faith.
Psalm 16 addresses this reframing, this change in perspective.
Main Idea: The New Year is an opportunity not only for us to improve our physical health, it is also an opportunity for us to develop our spiritual health and thus experience His joy between and around the gloom.
I. Goal One: I Will REAFFIRM My Identification with My God and His People (1-4).
A. I will take REFUGE in the Lord through prayer.
1. Most of us need to hone our refuge skills.
2. The picture this brings to mind is a cleft in the rock.
3. Webster defines a cleft as, “... a space or opening made by or as if by splitting : FISSURE... a usually V-shaped indented formation : a hollow between ridges or protuberances...”
4. Exodus 33:21-23 And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”
5. It is prayer and faith that puts us into that cleft.
6. Philippians 4:4-7, Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
7. This does not mean that we do not watch out for ourselves. Nor does it mean we deny our emotions or the reality of bad situations. We find a shelter in the storm, not an escape from the storm.
8. Proverbs 22:3, “The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.”
9. You might say, “I don’t have to drive carefully; when God is ready to take me, he will take me.” The truth is that God takes our stupidity into account.
B. I will recognize that GOODNESS comes ultimately from God.
1. The idea of “good” here is not necessarily moral good alone, but also good things. God is the only ultimate source of good things, any blessings we have.
2. James 1:17 may be a Midrash on this, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
C. I will align myself with a godly PEER group as my “how to live life” group.
• We have a number of different peer groups, if you think about it.
• Some peers based on shared interests: sports, arts, music, neighbors, etc.
• But we need to have a strong Christian peer group to support our walk...
• Matthews Levi’s peers were exclusively the ungodly
• Jesus associated with the ungodly, but had the 12 as spiritual peers...
II. Goal Two: I Will CULTIVATE Contentment and Freely Enjoy Life (5-6).
A. I will view my blessings as ALLOTMENTS from God.
1. God Himself the greatest allotment meted out to we who know Him
2. I will cultivate the habit of giving thanks and blessing his Name
B. I will ENJOY what God has given me and practice CONTENTMENT.
1. Being content, happy, positive: this should be our norm.
2. God has portioned out many blessings for us, yet we are tempted to negate them through focusing on things we want, but do not have.
3. This is why covetousness downgrades the quality of our lives.
C. I will view appreciating life’s good things as bringing GLORY to God.
1. Religious legalism that requires us to justify everything we do for some sort of constructive purpose dampens this important teaching.
2. We glorify God when we appreciate the person he has blessed us with in marriage, when we smell the roses, when we look at a sunset or savor a beautiful melody. This idea is all but lost.
3. Genesis 2:9a, “And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.”
4. Christians should have a lust for life, a spirit of joy and freedom within God’s boundaries rather than being bound and allowed an occasional dispensation for wholesome recreation or fun…
5. 2 Timothy 6:17b, “God...richly provides us with everything to enjoy.”
6. This does not contradict the Scriptures that tell us to take up our cross and follow Jesus.... the Scriptures complement one another and are integrated into the whole, they do not trump one another.
III. Goal Three: I Will LEARN to Listen to God’s Voice (7-8).
A. I will seek God’s COUNSEL (7a).
Derek Kidner writes of God’s guidance, “…on God’s side it is counsel rather than coercion, and on man’s side the kind of heart-searching that may drive away sleep.”
We have the duty to read, ponder, and study His Word. His Spirit takes that Word and its principles, and helps us apply it to particular situations.
B I will seek His WISDOM and use it as my thinking system (7b).
1. The word for “instructs” implies chastening, meaning we stop denying reality and face what actually is…
2. Two theologies out there: the Martha theology and the Mary theology
C. I will seek to put the Lord FIRST above life’s other draws (8).
• When we prioritize God, we are not easily shaken (8b).
• The Christian life is not a lazy river where you take what comes, but is, rather a course set by priorities.
• For God to be at our “right hand” means he is ready to help us
IV. Goal Four: I Will REJOICE in God Now – and Live in Anticipation of What is to Come (9-11).
A. I will remember that it is God Who makes my heart GLAD (9).
B. I will remind myself that God will not abandon me to the GRAVE (10).
1. Prophetic of Jesus’ Resurrection (Acts 2:25-27)
2. Jesus was not abandoned to the grave; in him, we too are delivered…
3. Our God resurrects the dead: unique to Judaism and Christianity
C. I will anticipate an increase in JOY as I draw near to God (11).
• Biblical Christianity is joy-filled; a lack of joy signifies a problem
• Drawing near to the true God in a true way increases joy
CONCLUSION
Seeking God’s face in 2022 is not a tedious task, but the source of joy.
The world doesn’t need to seek phony joy that we manufacture; people need to see the real deal, for genuine joy is a precious commodity here on earth.
How about this goal for 2022: let the joy of the Lord break out in our lives?
