Welcome! Today we are going to spend time remembering the Lord with the bread and the cup, and we will also have a sharing time where we can as a group talk about lessons the Lord has taught us in 2009 as well as what we look forward to in 2010. I thought we could begin this process this morning by spending a little time looking at Psalm 16. At the front of the Psalm, its says that this is a “miktam” of David. “Miktam” is an interesting word – it can be translated as “secret,” in which case this is the “secret of David.” Another meaning is “gold” and all gold symbolizes, something that doesn’t decay, or lose value, and is highly valuable – like a treasure, so we have the “treasure of David.” So what is this secret? What is this treasure?
Keep me safe, O God, for in You I take refuge. I said to the Lord, "You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing." As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight. – Psalm 16:1-3
I find so much to think about in just these three verses! Take just the first verse – as I think about the past year, a good question I can ask myself is “In what did I take refuge?” This is a good question to ask yourself as well. Being honest with yourself, did you take refuge in your money, or your job, or your wits, or your family, or your friends, or yourself? When things started to become challenging, when you experienced hardships or struggles, what did you do? In what did you take refuge? It is a sobering question. When your spirit became unsettled, how did you settle it? By distracting yourself with TV or a conversation or food or the Internet, or did you settle it in prayer? Did you settle it by spending time with God in His Word? These latter things are what it means to take refuge in God.
The longer you have been a Christian, the easier it can be to fool yourself about how you are really doing spiritually. It is so easy to read a verse, or to hear it in church, and think, “Yes, I know that verse – I have heard it so many times it is almost memorized! It is a good, comforting verse” – when in reality your life doesn’t resemble or follow that verse at all. We are all guilty of this – we each have our blind spots. For me, as I have thought about some of the trials I have gone through this year, I can think of some where the Lord really was my comfort, but I can think of more where I mostly faced things on my own, where I simply worried, or remained unsettled, rather than seeking the Lord as my refuge in the storm.
Along these lines, I was recently struck by something in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew: a little pesky word “Therefore.” You all know the verse that says not to worry about your life, you know, the one that goes on to talk about the birds of the air and how our heavenly Father feeds them? But now listen to it in context:
"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. – Matt. 6:24-25
I realize most Bibles have section headings between verse 24 and verse 25, but that section heading is not there; that word “Therefore” ties the two passages together. Serving money instead of God is closely connected with worrying about your life. Worrying about your life is closely connected with serving money instead of serving God. Get it? So how did you do with regards to “Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge”?
Verse 2 continues along this theme by saying, “You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing.” Again this is a verse we are quick to agree with when we hear it, because we know it sounds very mature and spiritual. But do we really live as if this is true?
You may ask, “How would this affect how I live?” Well, one analogy that came to me involves gifts of clothing or jewelry you receive from your loved ones, such as family you don’t see very often. Have you ever chosen to wear something in such company that you rarely wear because they bought it for you and you want them to see you wearing it? There is nothing wrong with doing this – I believe it is a kind and loving thing to do. But what about the Lord? Do you even have some idea of what He has given you? Your personality, your abilities, your talents, your material blessings – what does it mean to “wear” them in front of the Lord? At a minimum I think it means that you are spending time with the Lord, thanking Him for these things. This to me is Thankfulness 101. I’m not even talking about Thankfulness 201, where you thank Him for the things that don’t look like blessings – I’ll never forget how Corrie Ten Boom in The Hiding Place thanked God for the countless biting fleas in her living quarters – she felt led to thank God for them even before she saw they did have a benefit after all – you’ll have to read the book to learn what that benefit was; I’m not going to tell you.
But I love the way the psalmist words this – he is not just thanking God for the gifts, but He is thanking God for being Who He Is, the One who brings everything that is good into his life. I guess this is Thankfulness 301. How often (or how rarely) were we spending time with God at this level, or are we more like the 9 lepers who, after being healed, didn’t even come back to Jesus at all?
And how I love verse 3: As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight. Now some may see a kind of contradiction between this verse and what comes before it; I have just praised the psalmist for focusing not on the gifts, but on the giver; yet here in verse 3, it seems like he is focusing on the gifts (the saints who are in the land) again. But I don’t find a contradiction here – only a glorious truth: people are not gifts, but something much more.
Now, when we talk about the fellowship of believers, it is important to note that we are not just talking about people with similar interests spending time together. If that is all you are looking for, maybe you will find something better in a bar – if you can find a bar like the one in the old TV show Cheers. That’s not what true Christian fellowship is about – it’s only a pale reflection of something that can be infinitely greater.
What is that “something”? It is a soul in Christ communicating with another soul in Christ. It’s not just our interests that are similar; we are of the same Spirit – and I mean that quite literally. We will look at this more in depth in the coming weeks in our series on the Holy Spirit, but for now, understand that there is a special kind of fellowship, a supernatural fellowship, that can happen when believers come together to talk about good, godly things of the Lord. David calls it a delight – that is exactly the word for it! The love we have for Christ is inflamed when we experience this godly, Spirit-driven fellowship with one another. We see Christ in us when we do this, and it is a delight. But it takes effort – effort to be together, effort, when we are together, to not just “hang out” – although there is nothing wrong with hanging out – but to also encourage one another in the Lord, to pray together, to praise together, just to love one another in the Lord. Not that we do this for outside reasons, but John says this is so powerful, that when we do this, the whole world will know that we are of the Lord. The world will know us by the love we have one for another. So as you reflect on the past year, have you made an effort to do this? Not just on Sunday morning, but at other times? As I have reflected on this past year, I realize that I could have done it more, and I plan to do it more in the coming year.
I said that believers are not just gifts, but something much more. That also applies to unbelievers.
The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips. – Psalm 16:4
What strikes about this verse is not so much the statement that the psalmist will not follow the ways of the lost; it is the statement that for the lost, there is sorrow, and it is an always increasing sorrow. As I think about this verse, I am struck to think about those I know, some whom I very much consider my friends, who don’t know the Lord. Their sorrows will only increase. How can this not have an impression on us? How much have you prayed for the unbelievers whom you count as friends or family? Have you invited them to church? Do you feel compassion for them? They are lost, like sheep without a shepherd. The joys of communion with God, of fellowship with the saints, of finding peace in God, freedom from worry – these are unknown to them. In our modern world, what are their “libations of blood”? Self-effort, superstitions, hope in circumstances or events or people – all things that are destined to disappoint. If we are truly their friends, how can this not grieve us? That we would remain spiritually minded in the coming year and in prayer and action reach out to them in Christ!
Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. – Psalm 16:5-7
Here I think about how David really learned the reality of this truth – he had been anointed king, yet twice he had to flee for his life, leaving behind his worldly “portion,” his worldly “lot” – when Saul tried to kill him and when Absalom tried to take over the kingdom. I don’t know when exactly this Psalm was written, but I think this certainly qualifies as a “miktam” of David – I don’t think he is not talking about things on this Earth, do you?
David has a better inheritance than land, or animals, or other stuff. His inheritance is what he praises: the Lord Himself, who is with him, who counsels him, who even speaks to him through his heart in the middle of the night, when everyone else is asleep.
As a matter of what is true, certainly this holds for us as well. What is our inheritance? We are the Lord’s – He has purchased us with His blood; we are His forever, and He loves us. Nothing can snatch us from His hand. What a “miktam”! What a secret! What treasure!
But do we live like this is true, not just on Sunday morning but through the rest of the week? As we go through hardships, are our eyes on the situation or on our eternal inheritance? Do we seek counsel from the Lord, or from the world? Do we live like the 21st century version of widows and orphans, fearing for our future, or do we live like those betrothed to God, which is what we are? Again, this is a good time to reflect on these things as 2009 comes to an end and we enter 2010.
I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. – Psalm 16:8-10
And here we see in the middle of this Psalm the real “miktam” – the real secret, which God supernaturally revealed at least the basics of to David: There is Someone called the Holy One – and God will not let Him see decay. This is Jesus – God allowed Him to die, not only did He allow it, but He instructed Jesus, His Son, fully man and fully God, to do it, to pay for the sins of you and me. Jesus went to the cross, willingly, obeying His Father, and then after experiencing physical as well as emotional and spiritual anguish we can only imagine, paid for the sins of all mankind, experiencing the full wrath of God the Father. And then He gave up His spirit and died. But God would not let Him see decay. After three days He rose from the dead, a “firstfruit” for us. Although we too will die (unless Christ returns before this happens), and although, if we do die, our physical bodies will see decay, God will not abandon us to the grave, because of Jesus.
The Psalm ends with this:
You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand. – Psalm 16:11
These precious truths are echoed in the New Testament. One of these occurs in Acts 13, where Paul speaks to the people of Pisidian Antioch. Listen to his words:
"Brothers, children of Abraham, and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have Him executed. – Acts 2:26-28
When they had carried out all that was written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead, and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now His witnesses to our people. – Acts 2:29-31
"We tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers He has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: "'You are my Son; today I have become your Father.' – Acts 2:32-33
The fact that God raised Him from the dead, never to decay, is stated in these words: "'I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.' So it is stated elsewhere: "'You will not let your Holy One see decay.' – Acts 2:34-35
"For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed. But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay. – Acts 2:36-37
"Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through Him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses. – Acts 2:38-39
Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you: "'Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.'" – Acts 2:40-41
It is almost too wonderful to believe, isn’t it? I hope the wonder of it never leaves you. These verses are also used in Acts 2, in Peter’s speech right after the Holy Spirit comes like tongues of fire to the disciples in Jerusalem. Here is part of what Peter said:
"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know. This Man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. But God raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him. – Acts 2:22-24
David said about Him: "'I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence.' – Acts 2:25-28
"Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was not abandoned to the grave, nor did His body see decay. – Acts 2:29-31
God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, "'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet."' – Acts 2:32-35
"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." – Acts 2:36
And so, it is this Jesus, both Lord, and Christ, Messiah, the secret treasure, the “miktam” of David, that we remember today with the bread and the cup. We remember Him as He asked us to remember Him – with the juice as a symbol of His blood, poured out for us, and with the bread, broken, as a symbol of His body which was broken for us. He did it because He loved us, and He did it so that God could forgive us. Let us worship Him and remember Him now.
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