A few things before we get going. One, thank you for the time away. Charles Spurgeon once said, “The bow cannot be always bent without fear of breaking.” That was from his chapter titled, “The Minister’s Fainting Fits.” So, thank you for allowing these last three months of rest for me and my family. A lot was involved to make that happen, and you all served us so well.

Second, every week our kids asked, “Is this the week we’re going back to Redeemer?” That’s not always the story when it comes to pastor’s kids. Many pastor’s kids fight bitterness against the church. But you’ve treated my kids like family. Also, last Thursday we received a generous gift you put together to bless our family. You did something for us that we could never have done for ourselves—and in that way you reflected the gospel. Thank you for your love and thoughtfulness and care.

Third, we gathered on Sundays with Christ Fellowship Bible Church, Trinity River, Rock Creek, The Fields in Arlington—all of them are praying for you regularly and hold you dear in their hearts. The unity the Lord is building between our churches is such a good gift. Lastly, halfway through the sabbatical, we went to Rich and Taylor’s adoption of Yuvi. And to walk in and see many of you there to support and celebrate with them was moving. The Lord was leading his church to do good works and bear witness to his compassion. That was a reminder to me that Jesus is the true Shepherd here.

Let’s go now to his word and let our true Shepherd lead us once again. Psalm 16 will close our “Summer in the Psalms” series. If you’re using a pew Bible, Psalm 16 is on page 453. It’s a song of David. Let’s hear the word of the Lord.

¹ Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. ² I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” ³ As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. ⁴ The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips. ⁵ The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. ⁶ The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. ⁷ I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. ⁸ I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. ⁹ Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. ¹⁰ For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. ¹¹ You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Imagine, for a moment, the pleasure of biting into a spoonful of homemade Cookies-n-Cream. Or imagine the pleasure of that fresh, earthy scent when the Spring rains open the topsoil. Or imagine enjoying a vast landscape as you summit a mountain. Or maybe it’s the pleasure of catching a foul ball at the game with dad. Or laughing till your face hurts with your dearest friends. A soft kiss from your spouse after a good evening. Cheering your baby’s first steps. Listening with wide eyes as grandpa tells another suspenseful story from his childhood.

Pleasures like these are good gifts from our Creator. Acts 14:17 says, God “did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” These pleasures are witnesses to God’s generosity. The good pleasures we experience are windows to the way the world ought to be…

But these same pleasures, like a vapor, are fleeting. Like seeing your breath on a cold morning, the pleasures last only a moment and then fade away. We want to hold on, but we can’t. Our pleasures are so often cut short—sometimes by conflict, sometimes by calamity that crushes the spirit, sometimes by a malady that robs our energy, sometimes by turmoil at work, sometimes by natural disasters, and always by death. Our pleasures don’t last because we don’t last; and we don’t last because of this stubborn problem called sin, sin we inherited from Adam.

So, we’re left wondering: “Is it all in vain? Do we laugh for no reason? Does death mean there’s no hope for lasting joy at all?” Your connection to Adam’s sin will eventually take you to the grave. But is there any hope for pleasure beyond the grave? Is there a joy that not even death can shake?

Psalm 16 offers especially good news for us. In God’s presence there is fullness of joy. At God’s right hand are pleasures forevermore. Somehow even a sinner like David has confidence that such pleasures are his even beyond the grave. How can such pleasures become yours? Psalm 16 will answer that for us. But we need to take several steps in getting there. Before we too quickly read ourselves into the “me” and the “I” of Psalm 16, we need to make sense of this Psalm in light of David. Then we need to connect it to the gospel of our Lord, and only then see how it applies to us.

God faithfully blesses his loyal king in life and in death.

So, let’s take several steps together, beginning with this one: God faithfully blesses his loyal king in life and in death. Psalm 16 is written by King David. It’s a cry for God to preserve him. But we should remember the special relationship David has with the Lord. David interacts with God in terms of the covenant God made with him.

Deuteronomy 17 and 2 Samuel 7 lay out the nature of the king’s relationship to God—or at least what the king’s relationship should be. As Israel’s representative, the king must devote himself to God’s law. You might remember this from Psalm 1—the king meditating on God’s law day and night. And by devoting himself to God’s law, he would represent God’s rule—Psalm 2. As the king was loyal, God would bless him.

No surprise, then, that we should find those very things playing out in Psalm 16. It happens twice. In verses 1-6, we find David’s loyalty followed by God’s faithfulness in life. Then in verses 7-11, we see David’s loyalty again followed by God’s faithfulness in death. Look at verses 1-4 where we get the first portrait of David’s loyalty: “Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.’ As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.”

David’s loyalty can be seen in that he takes refuge in God alone. He doesn’t depend on himself or other nations. He doesn’t depend on foreign gods. He also submits to God’s authority: “You are my Lord.” He looks to God as his treasure: “I have no good apart from you.” Compared to other things, God alone is the good he needs most.

Then we also see his loyalty in that he delights in the saints. He makes friends with those who pursue the Lord. He refuses the idolatry of others. He won’t even speak the idols’ names. Let their memory pass out of existence, is the idea.

Because of his loyalty, David then rehearses God’s covenant faithfulness to bless him in life. Verse 5, “The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup.” God himself is David’s sustenance. He adds, “You hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.” The imagery comes from when Joshua cast lots in portioning out the Promised Land. Here God casts the lot in David’s favor, so that he’s blessed with security in the Land.

The Psalm then returns to another picture of David’s loyalty. Verse 7, “I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.” Again, David’s loyalty appears in that he looks to God as his Counselor. Even in the night, the Lord’s word fills his heart. Verse 8 also says, “I have set the LORD always before me.” This stands in contrast to the idolaters, who set other things before their eyes. God is David’s chief pursuit. He goes on, “because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.” Normally, the king stands at God’s right hand; here God commits himself to the king’s right hand. God stands at David’s side. So, David will not be shaken.

But the question is this: what’s about to shake David? Why the cry “Preserve me!” to begin with? Because David will face death. Death is attempting to rattle David. People can escape lots of things. But nobody escapes death. Since Adam rebelled, death spread to all people because all sinned. Death knocks on David’s door too here.

So, what does he do? David rehearses God’s covenant faithfulness to him in life; and that reassures him that God will be faithful to him in death. Look at verses 9-10. “Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol [i.e., the place of the dead], or let your holy one see corruption.”

Now, some will say David is simply praying God protects him from death. He needs to keep reigning as king, so “Protect me from premature death.” But there are good reasons for believing that David is saying much more. In fact, this is one of the few places in the Old Testament that reveals resurrection hope. David expects to die and be buried; and in this case he’s expressing hope beyond death. The specifics of how or when, he doesn’t know fully. But he’s confident—God will be faithful in and beyond death.

I read it that way for a few reasons. For starters, he believes that God won’t forsake him in Sheol. He also believes that God won’t let his holy one see corruption. And he believes that God’s faithfulness to his holy one will lead to unending joy. Verse 11, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there’s fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” David’s hope goes in and beyond the grave to pleasures in God’s presence. So, what have we seen so far? God faithfully blesses his loyal king in life and in death. Because of the terms of his covenant, God will not forsake David even when death itself swallows him up. That’s the first step.

David is as a type anticipating a greater King.

“But wait a minute!” you say. “Wait! Wasn’t it just last week that Jordan preached on Psalm 51. David’s sin was ever before him. ‘Blot out my transgressions,’ he said. ‘I have done what is evil in your sight, [O Lord].’ What do you mean, David, when you say, ‘The Lord is always before me’? Was he before you when you took and slept with another man’s wife? Was he ‘always before you’ when you lied and then had her husband killed?” Such questions lead us to a second step: David is as a type anticipating a greater King. Relatively speaking, David was loyal. He was, as the Scriptures put it, “a man after God’s own heart.” But that doesn’t mean he was perfect.

Yet the Lord still used David as a pointer to another King who would be perfect. The way David represents the nation, the way David relates to God as Father, the way David prays and suffers and triumphs—these aspects of David’s life establish patterns that anticipate a future Son of David. But here’s the thing about types: the historical connections are similar, but the fulfillment is always greater.

So, when we read of God faithfully blessing his loyal king in life and in death, you need to note that historical pattern. That pattern establishes a prophetic trajectory that finds its fulfillment beyond David in a better King. Psalm 16 points to a King whose loyalty was far greater than David’s. In fact, there are hints in the text that his loyalty will be so great that not even death itself will be able to hold and decay his body: “you will not let your holy one see corruption.”

David knew God would raise up a future Holy One.

So, let’s take a third step now: David knew God would raise up a future Holy One. Part of God’s promise to David reads this way in 2 Samuel 7: “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you.” “David, you’re going to die. But I promise a future offspring for the forever kingdom.”

Now listen to the way Peter brings these things together in Acts 2. Acts 2:29-30. Peter is explaining the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. He then quotes Psalm 16 and interprets it like this: “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence that the patriarch David…both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.”

Did you get that? David had God’s covenant oath in mind when he wrote Psalm 16. In fact, the title David gives the king in Psalm 16 is peculiar. We’ve discussed before the Hebrew word, hesed. In English, “steadfast love”—God’s loving resolve to fulfill his covenant obligations. The Hebrew behind “holy one” in Psalm 16:10 sounds like hesed. It’s hasid. Point being, David knows that God will display his covenant loyalty most supremely in the holy one of Psalm 16:10. David’s hope beyond the grave relies on the victory of God’s holy one over the grave.

The ultimate, loyal, King to defeat death is Jesus Christ.

And that leads us to step four, which I already hinted at by reading Acts 2: the ultimate, loyal King to defeat death is Jesus Christ. This time let’s go to Acts 13. Paul quotes Psalm 16 as well; and, like Peter, he explains why Psalm 16 couldn’t refer merely to David. He says this in Acts 13:34-37, “as for the fact that [God] raised [Jesus] from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’ Therefore he says also in another psalm [Psalm 16], ‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’ For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised up did not see corruption.”

I mentioned earlier our connection to Adam’s sin. Death spread to all mankind, because all sinned. We’ve all rebelled against God. Our pleasures are temporary, because we are temporary. Death holds sinners in the grave. Death held David’s body in the grave. Conclusion? Psalm 16 couldn’t have been talking about David ultimately; the holy one had to be someone else. The disciples knew it was Jesus, because Jesus died and three days later appeared to them bodily. Death couldn’t keep his body in the grave because Jesus never shared in Adam’s sin. If Jesus’ body decayed in the grave, it would prove that he was guilty of sin—like David and like the rest of us.

But he didn’t stay dead because he was in fact righteous. The resurrection vindicates Jesus as the true Holy One. He is the holy one of Psalm 16 who wouldn’t see corruption. He was David’s only hope in life and in death; and he is our only hope in life and in death. He is the King who gives assurance in and beyond the grave that God won’t abandon us. You say, “But what about all my sin? What about the evils I have thought? What about all my wayward desires and law-breaking? Wouldn’t God be right to abandon me to the grave and after that condemnation?”

Jesus wins us forgiveness from sin, freedom from condemnation, and felicity in God’s presence.

Yes, it would. But let’s take one more step, a step Paul takes in Acts 13:38-39: Jesus wins us forgiveness from sin. Acts 13:38, “Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man [Jesus] forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.” If the resurrection vindicates Jesus as being free from all sin, then we must ask why he chose to die. The answer is that he died for us. He suffered and died for the penalty due our sins. If we identify with Jesus by faith, then God forgives our sins in Christ.

When God the Judge forgives somebody, he does more than simply pardon us. Pardoning means he frees us from the punishment. But forgiveness also extends to the removal of sin. All your wretched deeds, all your shameful acts, all your rebel passions, all that makes you guilty—God cleanses it all in Christ.

Jesus also wins us freedom from condemnation. That comes in Acts 13:39, “and by [Jesus] everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.” If you try to earn God’s favor by works, you will only experience God’s condemnation. You cannot work your way to God. We’re too plagued with sin. There is no amount of good you can do to outweigh the bad. But if you trust in Jesus—he fulfilled God’s law for you; he won your righteousness; he suffered your condemnation. And that means you will only experience God’s grace.

Even more, you will gain endless pleasures in God’s presence. We could say it this way: the end of forgiveness and freedom in Christ is felicity in God’s presence. Where did David’s hope in Psalm 16 climax? Verse 11, “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Joy, on this side of eternity, is often mixed with sorrow. Life right now is like a rose with thorns. The flower smells sweet. But these blasted thorns! One day, brothers and sisters, joy will no longer be mixed with sorrow. Joy will be unmixed and full as we see God face to face. You don’t get higher joys or better pleasures than those at God’s right hand. You can’t improve on these pleasures or add to these pleasures. The pleasures at God’s right hand are infinite because he is infinite in glory, beauty, holiness, and love.

You cannot number the pleasures. Nor will they grow old. Pleasures in God’s presence will not be like an eternity of re-runs. You will never get bored. As finite creatures, every day in heaven will be a new revelation of something more we didn’t know before or enjoy as fully as we had before. And the things we will have learned already, our capacity to enjoy them will only increase and deepen. The pleasures will never crest, nor will they regress or be diminished, giving way to what some have called “joy’s eternal increase.”

Imagine again that pleasure of laughing with friends—I mean the kind that begins with a chuckle. Then as more understanding of the hilarity ensues, the chuckle increases to a hearty cackle. Then comes the eye contact, and nobody can keep it together. The hearty cackle becomes the high-pitch, almost silent cries with tears. To the point where then knees start buckling and nobody can breathe.

Now imagine the joys of a moment like that never ceasing and only increasing with every new revelation of God’s goodness and with every moment of perfected love shared between his people. The pleasures you experience in this life might be momentary, but they are not meaningless. They are tastes/pointers of something greater that is to come for those in Christ. For those in Christ, Psalm 16 reminds us that one day, our joy will no longer be mixed with sorrow. Because of the Holy One, the rose’s thorns will disappear. Our tears will be wiped away and replaced with pleasures forevermore. Joy will be unmixed and full as we see God face to face.

All in Christ will know this joy. God’s faithfulness in life and in death is your only hope that he will not abandon your soul in Sheol. In Christ, the grave doesn’t have the last word. Because God did not abandon Jesus in the grave, he will not abandon those united to Jesus. This is our hope in life and in death.

So, when death is seeking to rattle you—from something catastrophic to something small; from persecution to a failing body; from things like a new grey hair, or a new wrinkle on the face, to another unwanted medical diagnosis. When death is seeking to rattle you, make David’s cry your own, “Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.” “You are my portion and my cup.” Pray these things for yourself.

The grave will talk smack. Diabetes and cancer and fatigue and a thousand other futilities will seek to undo you. But we can rehearse the Lord’s faithfulness in life and in death. David said these with clouded understanding. We can say them with clear revelation. Jesus is the holy one. Jesus already walked through death and came out the other side victorious for you. That means God will not abandon your soul to Sheol.

I remember when Brian Thom was battling cancer. I stopped by the house, Brian was lying on the couch. I read Psalm 16 over him: “I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.” And at that point Brian raised his hand, just waiting for the next line: “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.” And with the breath he had left that day, he said, “That’s it! Resurrection. That’s our hope.”

Is this your hope in life and in death? Do you know the pleasures at God’s right hand? Do you have a joy that not even death can shake? Beloved, in Christ, we do. The apostles experienced this, didn’t they? How many times would Paul say things like, “Things were really bad, but the Lord stood by me.” The Lord was at Paul’s right hand; Jesus doesn’t abandon his people in life and in death. And he will not abandon you.

Therefore, you too can spend your days walking “the path of life.” In Jesus, God has made known to us the path of life. Even now, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we can experience life in the presence of God. The pleasures of the age to come—we have begun to experience some of them even now. Even now we’re in the presence of his saints. You are the excellent ones—not because of anything in you but because of everything Jesus has given you. Delight yourself in one another, because the King delights in you. The church is an outcropping of his New Jerusalem.

Even now, we can drink from the river of God’s delights as the Holy Spirit works through each member of his body. Even now, we can say that we have a beautiful inheritance. In Christ, the lines have fallen for you in pleasant places. God has cast your lot and given you a wealth of riches in his kingdom. You will inherit the earth, Romans 8 says. So, the next time you take a bite of Cookies-n-Cream, the next time you enjoy the company of friends, the next time you summit that mountain or kiss your bride or hug your child or spend a day with grandpa, or whatever pleasure it is—just think, the pleasures at God’s right hand far exceed them and last forever, and Jesus won them for you by his death and resurrection.