Great Prayers of the Old Testament
Part 13: How to Face the Future
Psalm 16:1-11
Sermon by Rick Crandall
(Prepared December 28, 2024)
BACKGROUND:
*We have been studying some of the great prayers in the Old Testament. And today's Scripture is King David's prayer in Psalm 16. But first, think about who wrote the Bible. The best answer is the Holy Spirit of God. We must realize that God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is and always has been a miracle working God. And if you are holding a Bible in your hands today, you are holding one of His greatest miracles of all.
*The Bible is a one-of-a-kind, miraculous book because it was written by the Holy Spirit of God. And yes, God used men to help get the job done, but those men were all moved by the Holy Spirit to say exactly what God wanted them to say. For example, 2 Samuel 23:1-2 says, "Now these are the last words of David. Thus says David the son of Jesse; thus says the man raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel: 'The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue.'"
*About 500 years later, Zechariah the prophet was speaking to some of the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem after 70 years of captivity in Babylon. Their return followed a terrible time of invasion, suffering, death, and the destruction of Jerusalem, including the LORD's Temple built by Solomon. But the LORD allowed this to happen because those hardhearted Jews had turned away from Him to worship the demonic idols of the surrounding people.
*And in Zechariah 7:12-13, thus said the LORD of Hosts about those hardhearted Jews: "Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the LORD OF HOSTS HAD SENT BY HIS SPIRIT THROUGH THE FORMER PROPHETS. Thus great wrath came from the LORD of hosts. Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so they called out and I would not listen,'' says the LORD of hosts.
*Then, after 500 more years in the book of Acts, both Peter and Paul also showed us who wrote the Bible. Their statements are great supports at the beginning and end of Acts to confirm that the Bible is the Word of God. In Acts 1:16, we hear Peter say, "Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, WHICH THE HOLY SPIRIT SPOKE before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus." Then in Acts 28:25 Paul said, "THE HOLY SPIRIT SPOKE rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers."
*That's why 2 Peter 1:20-21 tells us we should know "this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."
*And that's why there is a divine oneness to this Book even though it was written through a wide variety of men. Lewis Chafer explained that "it was written over a period of at least 1,600 years by as many as 40 different authors. They differed in language, culture, background and experience. Nevertheless, the Bible, like no other composite book in the world, is one book.
*Among the authors of the 66 books in the Bible are kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, a doctor, statesmen, scholars, poets, and plowmen of such diverse backgrounds that one could hardly expect their writings to form any continuity. . . Obviously the Bible had a divine Editor, the Holy Spirit of God, who guided the writers so that all they wrote in perfect harmony." (1)
*The result was a perfect blend of divine and human thought. But there were also many mysteries, especially when it concerned the coming of the future Messiah. So the first verses in Psalm 16 certainly apply to King David. But the last verses were not fulfilled until the resurrection of Jesus Christ a thousand years later. The great news for us today is that this 3,000-year-old Scripture gives us clear guidance on how to face our own future. Please think about this as we read Psalm 16:1-11.
MESSAGE:
*Most people are thinking about the future right now. One reason is because New Year's Day is almost here, and we are hoping to see some positive changes in 2025. But we know that many people will also go through times of terrible heartache. One family we know lost their 29-year-old son a few weeks ago. He went on a morning jog, and was killed by a hit-and-run driver. We also know two women whose mothers passed away, just before Christmas.
*And this time last year I never would have guessed that I would have a stroke on August 3. It was a small vessel stroke in my brain stem that paralyzed me on the left side. I was in the hospital 27 days. Thank the Lord, there was a wonderful neurologist there. She was the only doctor in the hospital able to find my problem. And not long ago one of my therapists said, "That Lady saved your life!" Praise the LORD! I am still going to therapy three times a week, and walking very slowly with a cane, but continue to improve.
*Five weeks after I got out of the hospital we got some more terrible news. My wife Mary went in for a routine procedure on her upper GI. Unfortunately, the doctor found a 4-centimeter cancerous tumor in her esophagus. She has had 2 of 4 chemo treatments, and is scheduled for surgery MD Anderson on February the 11th, and then another 4 chemo treatments.
*At the same time we are amazed at how many ways God has shown up through answered prayers, kind friends, healthcare workers, and even strangers. We have been showered with all kinds of help, and many reminders of the Lord's love for us. We have bad days for sure, but are also aware of God's canopy of love and protection over us.
*How are we going to face the future? How are you going to face the future? Let’s look into David's prayer, and see how God wants us to face it.
1. FIRST: GOD WANTS US TO FACE THE FUTURE WITH A POSITIVE ATTITUDE.
*We need to remember that our attitude can make an incredible difference in life. Chuck Swindoll once explained it this way: "The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me is more important: than facts, than the past, than education, than money. Our attitude is more important than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do, than appearances, than giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home.
*The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one thing we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes. And our attitude will make a huge difference in life." (2)
*In Psalm 16, King David shows us the worst attitude anyone can ever have: Rejecting the true and living God to follow after the false demonic gods of this world. David talked about this kind of people in vs. 4 where he said, "Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god; Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, Nor take up their names on my lips."
*A Christ-rejecting attitude is the worst attitude anybody can ever have in life. But what’s the right attitude for the future? It’s an attitude of depending on the Lord, an attitude of trusting in our God! And that’s the attitude King David had in vs. 1, when he prayed this short prayer: "Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust." David knew that we ought to trust in the Lord, because He is worthy of our trust!
*So, the right attitude is depending on God. But it is also an attitude of humble devotion. And that is what David had in vs. 2-3 where he said, "O my soul, you have said to the LORD, "'You are my Lord, My goodness is nothing apart from You,' and to the saints who are on the earth, 'They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.'''
*This is the attitude that says: "God, I have no goodness, except the goodness that comes from You! And my goodness can’t hold a candle to You. But Lord, whatever goodness I have, I am delighted to use it to be a blessing to the family of God."
*Matthew Henry put it this way: "David devotes himself to the honor of God in the service of the saints. Those that have taken the LORD for their Lord must, like Him, be good and do good; we do not expect happiness without goodness. And whatever good there is in us, or is done by us, we must humbly acknowledge that it extends not to God; so that we cannot pretend to merit anything by it. God is infinitely above us, and happy without us. And whatever good we do it is all from Him; so that we are indebted to Him, not He to us." (3)
*I also love what Pastor Rodney Buchanan said about Christians having a positive attitude. Rodney said, "The reason I am an optimist is because I serve a God who is in control. I often think about the early church and the culture in which it not only survived, but thrived.
*Most early Christians lived within the bounds of the Roman Empire where there were persecutions. It was literally a national sport to throw the Christians to the lions as cheering crowds watched them be torn apart. The Roman roads were often lined with crosses on which Christians hung, because they would not denounce Christ. Not only was abortion acceptable, a father could kill his child at any age.
*The government was completely hostile toward Christianity and anyone who was a follower of Christ. And yet it was during this time of enormous opposition that the church grew from just 120 believers to untold thousands." (4)
*Church: Our God is supreme! It doesn't matter how much opposition there is, God is in control, and he will have His way. So, we can see more great victories for the Lord and His church. But we must reach out and speak the truth about Jesus Christ. We need to make sure that everyone hears the Gospel.
2. GOD WANT US TO FACE THE FUTURE WITH A POSITIVE ATTITUDE, BUT ALSO WITH HEAVENLY HOPE.
*God wants us to face the future with hope, and we can, because He cares for us! David surely saw the Lord's care in his life, and he wrote about it in vs. 5-6. There David said: "You, O LORD, are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance."
*When David talked about our "inheritance," he was talking about all we have, and all we are in the Lord. God has marked off some wonderful boundaries for us in vs. 6, some truly pleasant places. And it ties in to what Jesus tells His followers in John 14:1-3. There the Lord said:
1. "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.
2. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also."
*If nobody else cared for us, the Lord would still care. He cares enough us to give us an everlasting home and hope in Heaven. Paul reminds us of this truth in Ephesians 2:12-13, where he describes our lives before we trusted in Jesus as our Lord and Savior:
12. . . at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
13. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ.
*Believers: Without Jesus, we had no hope. And I care enough about you to tell you that if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are without hope right now. But Jesus Christ can give you real hope. And Jesus will give you real hope, if you will trust in Him. But what is real hope?
*Pastor James Chandler helped us understand with a story from his early childhood. One Thanksgiving James was asked to say the family prayer at the big meal. And in that prayer he said, "Dear God, I sure hope the Oakland Raiders make it to the Super Bowl!" James remembers that prayer, because he found out real fast that it "wasn’t really appropriate." And James said, "As I grew, I also learned that real hope is not the kind of hope I mentioned in my prayer. Real hope is not a wish, but confidence in a certainty." (5)
*I like that definition: "Real hope is confidence in a certainty." Real hope, godly hope, biblical hope, is joyful confidence in something that is certain. That is the kind of hope Paul was talking about above. It's confidence in the certainty of everything we gain when we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior: The forgiveness of our sins, a place in the family of God, future perfection, a perfect home forever in Heaven, and much more.
*We can face the future with hope, because God cares for us. And we can face the future with hope, mostly because of the cross. Verses 8-10 point us to the cross, because they are a great prophecy about the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
8. I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
9. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.
10. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
*David was not speaking of himself in these verses. A thousand years before Jesus was born, the Holy Spirit of God put the Lord's own words into David's mind. And there are two places in the New Testament where this prophecy is mentioned. The first is in Acts 2:23-32, when Peter was preaching on the day of Pentecost, and the second was in Acts 13:32-39, when Paul was preaching on his first missionary journey.
*If we have received the Risen Christ as our Lord and Savior, if we have trusted in Him. then we can face the future with the greatest possible hope!
*A few years ago, I looked up the most expensive homes for sale in California. You could get a 20 bedroom, 23 bath, 28,660 square foot home in Beverly Hills for 165 million dollars. The estimated payment was only $841,345 per month.
*If that's a little more than you want to spend, here's an even better deal: You could get another home in Beverly Hills. This one had 18 bedrooms, 25 bathrooms, and 20,570 square feet, and the asking price was only 125 million dollars. That was only $635,000 per month. (6)
*I'm sure those are amazing homes, but they can't begin to compare to the home Jesus is preparing for us in Heaven! And all the money on earth couldn't buy our home in Heaven! The only thing that could pay for our heavenly homes was the precious blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
*But our homes in Heaven will be among the least of our delights. Without a doubt, our greatest delight in Heaven will be living forever in the presence of our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ! And we will see our God in all of His glory!
*In March of 2007, I got to visit with a Christian lady named Jewel Ingram. We met in a hospital waiting room, while Jewel's niece was having surgery. That day, Miss Jewel told me about a wonderful experience she had in the hospital in the summer of 2006.
*Mrs. Ingram coded when she was in the hospital, and almost died. She told me that she actually got to the edge of Heaven and saw a vast multitude of people singing. She said that the music was the most amazing, beautiful music she had ever heard. And before she was resuscitated, Jewel saw a large, beautiful white horse. She looked to see who was on it, but the light around Him was so bright that she could not see His face.
*It must have been Jesus. But since it wasn't her time, Jewel couldn't see His face clearly. But she did get a glimpse of the matchless glory of God. Jewel got a taste of the glory we will enjoy forever!
3. GOD WANT US TO FACE THE FUTURE WITH HEAVENLY HOPE, AND WITH GOD'S GUIDANCE.
*David could strongly testify that he had received guidance from God. And that's what he did in vs. 7. There David said, "I will bless the LORD who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons."
*The word picture for "bless" there is bowing down before God in loving adoration. It's the same word Job used after losing most of his possessions and all of his children. He fell on the ground, worshiped God and said, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:21)
*In Psalm 34:1-3 David also said: "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together."
*But why did David receive guidance from God? One of the main reasons why is because he had the habit of seeking God's guidance. That’s what David is telling us in vs. 8 where he said, "I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved."
*When David says, "I have set the LORD always before me," he is consciously recognizing the presence of the Lord in his life, and the Lord’s ability to lead him in the right direction. That’s why in vs. 7, he was praising the Lord, and even getting God's guidance at night.
*David received guidance from God, because he had the habit of seeking God's guidance, but mostly because God wants to give us His guidance. That's why in vs. 11 David could boldly tell God, "You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
*The same God who guided David wants to direct our paths too! So in Proverbs 3:5-6, the Word of God tells us to "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." The Lord wants to give us His guidance. Mostly it comes from the Bible which is literally the Word of God. But God can also guide us with conviction from His Holy Spirit, through godly advice from Christian friends, through a sermon we hear in church, a song we hear on the radio, even sometimes through dreams, and many other ways. The ultimate goal is to make us more like Jesus every day.
*In 1995, Christianity Today told the story of some Christian natives in the Amazon region of Peru. These tribal groups of the Bora people had only known Christ for one generation. Before that, they were fearful, aggressive, demon worshippers. Almost all of their contacts with outsiders were violent. They were even known to be cannibals.
*But many of the Bora were transformed by Jesus Christ. The men began to treat their wives and children much better. And yes, these believers had problems like Christians anywhere. But more than most people, they appreciated the difference that Jesus had made in their lives.
*Once an atheist anthropologist visited the Bora people, and he started criticizing the missionaries. He said, "Christianity is for the white man. -- You people should go back to your old religion and your old ways."
*One of the Bora church leaders who remembered the old ways looked at that man and replied: "Yes, -- And if we did, you'd be the first one in the pot!" (7)
CONCLUSION:
*But that man wasn't thrown in the pot, because the Bora were living in obedience to the Lord. That's the way God wants us to live!
*Let's ask for God's help. And if you have never received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, call on the Lord to save you as we go back to God in prayer. That is the best possible way that we can face the future. Then face the future with a great attitude, with great hope, and with great guidance from God.
(1) Sources:
-Adapted from SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY - VOLUME ONE by Lewis Sperry Chafer - Victor Books, Wheaton, Illinois - Copyright 1988 - "Continuity of the Bible" - pp. 52-53
-BELIEVER'S BIBLE COMMENTARY by William MacDonald - Edited by Arthur Farstad - Thomas Nelson Publishers - Nashville - Copyright 1995 - "ZECHARIAH- Introduction" - Downloaded to e-Sword by Rick Meyers - Copyright 2021
(2) Quotation by Charles Swindoll adapted from SermonCentral sermon "The Impact of Attitude" by Brian Mavis
(3) Adapted from MATTHEW HENRY'S CONCISE COMMENTARY ON THE WHOLE BIBLE - Originally written in 1706 - Psalm 16 - https://www.christianity.com/bible/commentary/matthew-henry-concise/psalm/16
(4) Adapted from SermonCentral sermon "Why I Am an Optimist" by Rodney Buchanan - Psalm 46:1-7 - Nov 23, 2003
(5) Sermon Central illustration contributed by James Chandler
(6) https://www.zillow.com/ca/luxury-homes/
(7) SermonCentral illustration contributed by Harold Miller - Source: "Christianity Today" - Oct 2, 1995 - p. 29 - www.ctlibrary.com/ct/1995/october2/5tb026.html
