Hello, you're listening to Let the Bible Speak. Let the Bible Speak is the radio ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church. Stephen Pollock is the pastor of Free Presbyterian Church of Malvern, Pennsylvania. The church is located at the junction of 401 and Mallon Road. Thank you for joining us today as Dr. Pollock opens the Word of God and lets the Bible speak. Turn to the Psalm 16. The Word of God says, Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust. O my soul, and I have said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord. My goodness extendeth not to thee, but to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent in whom is all my delight. Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another God. Their drink-offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance. And of my cup thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places. Yea, I have a goodly heritage. I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel. My reigns also instruct me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. And therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth. My flesh also shall rest and hope, for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life, and my presence is fullness of joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures. Amen. This is the word of the Lord. And again, maybe a blessing to your souls tonight. The psalmist here is speaking in the first person of his own experience. And yet at the same time, he is speaking as a prophet, as a prophet of Christ Jesus. The Psalm predicts the Lord's resurrection. You see this psalm quoted extensively in Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost. He says in Acts chapter 2 and the verse number 29, "'Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David. He is both dead and buried. His sepulcher is with us unto this day, therefore being a prophet.'" And so Peter, filled with the Spirit of God speaking under direct inspiration, shows us that David in the psalm is speaking prophetically of his greater son, the one that is yet to come. And so the Sermon of Peter continues, "...knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him," and that is David, "...that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He seeing this before speck of the resurrection of Christ, that," and he now quotes verse number 10, "...his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses." We have clearly proof in the Scriptures this psalm is a messianic psalm. It's pointing us to the realities of Jesus Christ, the one who came, lived, and died, and rose again from the grave. Peter makes it clear, the one predicted here prophetically in Psalm 16 is none other than Jesus of Nazareth. It is Jesus himself who is the fulfillment of the Psalm 16. Now verse 9, of Psalm 16 is also quoted in Acts chapter 2. Verse 9 says, This is some of this language of Christ resting in hope that again helps us to understand some of the language of this psalm. To rest here is using a language that speaks of putting down a tent. So not building a permanent structure with brick and mortar, but rather putting a tent up as a temporary place for sojourn. And you think of camping, there's very few people who stay in a campsite for a long time, it's of a short duration. And so Christ on his death rested his soul in hope. His body was laid in the grave, my flesh also shall rest in hope. That is to say, his body tented. He had a temporary sojourn in the tomb. The scribe is resting in hope. In hope of what? Well, of course, in hope of the resurrection. Hence, Acts 2's quotation of verse number 10, So it is a wonderful messianic psalm. And so my burden as we're working through these Psalms one by one and preaching one message per Psalm, I do want to leave devotionals to your hearts that really encourage your faith in God and your faithfulness in God's work. And to do that tonight, I want to point out how we get a really an incredible insight into the heart of Jesus. as he accomplishes redemption. I want to look particularly at verses eight and nine, where the psalmist says, speaking as the Lord himself, prophetically, I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Verses one through seven really highlight the psalmist wrestling with trust in this world. He puts his heart before God, he recognizes the Lord is his portion, his goodly heritage. He's blessing the Lord for his counsel. And so verse one, preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust. He's acknowledging again that in the difficulties of a fallen world, God has been good to him. God has blessed him, but yet he still needs that preserving grace of the Lord. And so verse 8 then comes and presents to us really a text about endurance in faith. It is prophetic of Christ Jesus. How did Christ endure? Well, we know from Hebrews chapter 12, he endured for the joy that was set before him. He endured for the eternal prospect of being in the Father's presence. And so that's verse number 11, isn't it? In the presence of God is fullness of joy. At God's right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Hebrews 12 says, Christ endured for the joy set before him. Psalm 16 verse 11, the joy of the Lord in the Lord's presence is there. And so if verse 10 refers to resurrection and verse 11 to joy and pleasure, you're seeing that Christ endured in this world with the prospect of the glory of resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God. And so what you're seeing here, I believe, is an insight into the heart of Christ in his enduring. If we're seeing the psalm, as we should do messianically, that it's pointing to his resurrection, then the previous verses are pointing to the Lord's endurance unto death with the hope of resurrection. He rests his flesh in the grave in hope of resurrection. But what is it that moves him? endure? How does the Savior, as the God-man, endure? How does he persevere and press on? And of course, remember in Hebrews chapter 12, the endurance of Christ, looking unto Jesus, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. Christ's endurance is presented to us as a model and an encouragement for our endurance, that we would run with patience or endurance the rest of the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. You know the verses. And so I thought when I was reflecting upon this psalm, that as this year will come to a close and we approach the end of this year, it is good to remind ourselves what is required if we are to endure in the new year. How do we keep on keeping on despite the challenges and the difficulties that will come in a new year in the will of God? And it will not be easy being a believer in the coming year, it never is. There are always things that present us with challenges and difficulties, problems without and within, in our lives, in our churches, in all of these things, it is sometimes hard to keep on keeping on. So what do we learn from Christ's endurance or from Christ's determination? Because it really is endurance couched in words of determination. Verse number eight, I shall not be moved. So what is it that enables this Lord to endure? Let me point out to begin with his determination as it is stated. Christ testifies of his own determination to keep on keeping on. Verse number eight, I shall not be moved. The sense of that may in your minds initially speak of someone or something that is stationary. So it's fixed, not moved in that sense. But the word itself has a sense of something not being shaken or not being blown off course. It's a steadfast endurance in a right path that perhaps adverse weather or something else is not blowing the vessel on the sea off course. There's a determination to keep on in the straight way. That's the idea. It's not being knocked off course in that sense. not shaken, not blown off the direction. You have the same idea in Psalm 125, they that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed. And so yes, there you do have a sense of stability and permanence. And so the word has got a breadth of meaning. It's permanent, stable, but also in the same pathway. And of course, in the Savior's life, we see the steadfastness of our Savior. He lives in his humanity by faith and by resolute obedience. Jesus said unto them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. And so you see it perhaps most clearly in Luke chapter nine, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. So you ask the question, well, what is the Lord's resolute determination? What is his resolute endurance? Well, it is in the command of his Father. Well, when you analyze the New Testament Scriptures, what does it look like for Christ to endure? It is to obey the Father all the way to the cross. He's obedient unto death, without wavering, without being knocked off course. He shall not be moved in his determination to do the will of God. And so that's what's involved in a new year. What does Christ-like endurance look like in 2025? Well, it looks like an accurate knowledge of the will of God and submission to the will of God. That's what endurance involves in our lives. We've got to know what God's will is for us, and we must do it humbly and submissively. Not with a spirit that would resist it, but rather a spirit of humble submission and the determination that no matter how difficult it is, we will keep on doing the will of God in our families, in our church life, in your workplace. Whatever the case may be, whatever challenge may come upon you, you're gonna say, this is the word of God, and I'm gonna walk in this book. That's what Christ shows us here. That's what Christ-like endurance looks like. What does the Bible tell me to do? What does the Bible tell me to do in my home life as a father, a mother, as a child? What does it tell me to do as a church member, as an elder, pastor, whatever the case may be? What does the Word tell me to do? And I'm going to do it by the will, or I'm going to do it by the grace of God. That's the determination stated here. But secondly, I want you to think about his determination supported. Because the Lord here gives us details, again, insights into his heart prophetically, as to how as the God-man he endures in his humanity. Somebody says, I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. There are details here as to how the Savior endures. He puts it in these clauses, because I shall not be. I have set the Lord always before me. There's factors in the background, isn't there, that undergird the determination to not be moved. Here, we've got to be careful. We are clearly referring to the human nature of Christ at this point. Of course, it is in his humanity that he goes to the grave. It is in his humanity that his flesh rests in hope. And so it is in the Lord's humanity that we find the Lord walking by faith. It's one of the key proofs, by the way, of the union of the two natures, but those natures not being mixed or merged. The human nature rests upon the assistance that he receives from the Spirit of God. We see that in his infilling, and he works and labors in the power of the Holy Spirit. But look at this in this text. He refers to his dependence upon the Father's presence. I have set the Lord always before me. It speaks of a decision. It speaks of a decision to keep the Lord always before his eyes. It's an active thing. In Psalm 16, I have set, Acts 2, I foresaw both the tenses, in both places the tenses is active. It's a decision on the Savior's part to keep the Father always before His eyes. And He does it always, doesn't He? Christ actively sought to engage, put it this way, in an active remembrance of His Father's presence. He encouraged himself in the Father's presence. He strengthened himself in the knowledge that the Father was with him. I'm not making this up hypothetically. We have the language of Isaiah 42, So it's like the Savior rests upon the promises of the Old Testament Scripture. He's got Isaiah 42 verse 1 to cling on to. The Father is with me, and because he's with me, I'm gonna keep him always before me at all times. It's hard to endure in seasons of afflictions. When afflictions come, we might easily get knocked off course and be moved. Our remembering of God's presence is absolutely vital. You consider Job. And you know what James says about Job. Remember, you've heard of the patience, the endurance of Job. Well, Job hits a critical point in his experience in the 23rd chapter. Turn back there briefly. And you'll see in the Job chapter 23, the crisis that really comes upon Job. He says in verse 1, Then Job answered and said, Even today is my complaint bitter. My stroke is heavier than my groaning. And yet in verse 11, he says, My foot hath held his steps. His way have I kept and not declined. I was not moved. And what is it that encourages him? Well, if you go back to verse number eight, there's a challenge in his experience by faith. And so you might read that initially and say, Job believes that God's not with him. But what Job is saying here is, God is with me, but I can't perceive it. He's recognizing that God is on the right hand, but hiding. that God is working on the left hand, though he cannot see him. The language is all about his inability to perceive the presence of God, not to doubt that presence. So he gets to verse number 10, but he knoweth the way that I take. And the word know there is to see intimately. He knows that God is seeing him personally. Though he cannot see God, God can see him. And he strengthens himself in the belief of God's presence, even though he questions what that looks like at this time. There's times that recur in the believer's experience that they cannot perceive the presence of God, but they rest upon the promise of God. You've said you will not leave me nor forsake me. And so the promise of God strengthens the faith, even though the perception of the soul struggles to see the hand of God. So Job's endurance here as he continues, he knoweth the way that I take, my foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept and not declined. His ability to endure an affliction is in the confidence of the presence of God. The same is true in Christian ministry and service. The disciples are given an impossible task, go out and convert the world. My disciples of every nation go into all the world, and by the way, they're gonna try to kill you. and they're gonna rob you and persecute you and seek to destroy you. So why would you do such an impossible task with such adverse circumstances only if the Savior says, lo, I am with you always? Or you think of just living in this world, this world of all that brings into experience, not just afflictions, not just a challenge of service, but the hardships that come just in the ordinary affairs of life. or encouraged, let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have, for he has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. It's the assurance of God's presence that enables us to keep on keeping on, even though the way may be difficult. And so Christ says, I have set the Lord always before me. As believers, we must do the same. Remembering the Lord is with us. But of course, not only does the Christ refer to the Lord's presence, he refers to the Lord's presence that is with power. Because he is at my right hand. The right hand used in the poetic scriptures refers to power. You have that across in the Psalm 110. Again, some of the language there, just one illustration is elsewhere as well. Psalm 110, you see this reference to the right hand, but in connection with power it is in the Psalm of Melchizedek. In the verse number 5 says this, "...the Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath." It is the Lord of the right hand that gives the power upon the messianic king. to rule and to reign. And so Christ here is saying, I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. He's resting upon the power that God gives. Now you turn across to Isaiah 50. Isaiah 50 is one of those, again, really very clear messianic prophecies of the servant of Jehovah. And in Isaiah 50, You have the language of verse number seven. For the Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded, therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. These are words of endurance from the one who, as it says in verse number six, his back has been given to the smiters, and his cheeks to them that pluck of his hair, and yet he's going to endure in such hardships. But what does it say? Verse seven, the Lord God will help me. Here's the Savior, in his humanity, resting upon the help that he receives from the Lord himself. That as the God-man, he's depending upon the strength that comes from the Most High. Of course, this is our only hope of enduring—enduring in the awareness that the Father will give us help. Spurgeon's checkbook of faith in August the 8th is based upon the text of Isaiah 50 and the verse number seven, the Lord God will help me. And it refers, and Spurgeon says this, that the Savior was confident in divine support and trusted in Jehovah. And then Spurgeon continues this, oh my soul, thy sorrows are as the small dust of the balance compared to the Lord's. Canst thou not believe that the Lord God will help thee? and arguing from the greater to the lesser that if the God of heaven strengthened the Savior, so he can strengthen you. And so he says this, "'In this day's labors or trials,' says Spurgeon, "'the Lord God will help me, go forth boldly. "'Set your face like a flint, and resolve that no faintness "'or shamefacedness shall come near you. "'If God helps, who can hinder?' If ye are sure of omnipotent aid, what can be too heavy for you? Begin the day joyously, and let no sheer doubt come between thee and the eternal sunshine. He's making the point, the parallel here, that the Lord is able to help you. Take that promise as the God of heaven helps the Savior, so the God of heaven can help you. And so Christ's endurance is supported by the truths of God's presence and God's power. And those truths are for us also today. Well, finally, let's just note the song of the Lord's endurance. We've seen the statement and the support. The song is here, verse number nine. Therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth. Therefore, as the Savior lives in the conscious awareness of the presence of God, there is joy in his heart and rejoicing from his mouth. The heart here, the center of personality is glad. The same word is used when it's quoted in Acts 2. It's used in Luke 15. It is meek that we should make merry and be glad for this thy brother is dead and alive. There's a tremendous overflowing of joy in the Savior, in the awareness of the Father's presence and power. It fills the Savior in his humanity with joy. His heart is glad and his glory rejoiceth. We have the inspired interpretation of this. In Acts chapter 2 it says, Our tongue is the glory for humanity. And so it's used that way in several Psalms. You look at the Psalm 30. to the end that my glory may sing," verse 12, to the end that my glory may sing praise to thee and not be silent. The glory, the tongue can sing praise unto God and not be silent. So as it says in Psalm 108, oh God, my heart is fixed. I will sing and give praise even with my glory. In Acts 2, it is the glory, it's the tongue that is the glory here in Psalm 16 and the verse number nine. The tongue is our glory. Again, it is not appropriate. The tongue of the saint is used for sin and for righteousness, that's what James says, not for cursing and for blessing. It's a terrible thing when the tongue is misused by the child of God. The tongue is the glory that exalts our humanity and allows us to give voice to your mind and praise that comes from our hearts. That's the mouth that speaks. speaks from a heart that is glad, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, the heart is glad, and the glory rejoiceth. So let me just connect things here. We're following Christ's method of endurance. We're looking at the lessons we learn from the endurance of our Savior as He endures, obeys to the cross, and then is risen the third day. What do we learn from this endurance? Well, He is not moved. He resolves and is determined to press on in the knowledge of God's powerful presence. And such knowledge produces praise for God. So what's the lesson? A Christ-like endurance is marked by joy and fulsome praise. Again, there are some times that in the presence of the child of God, There is a verbal determination, you know, I shall not be moved, but there is the absence of real spiritual joy. Those who are enduring in a Christ-like fashion will do so knowing the Lord's presence is with them, and thus they will do so with joy and praise in the courts of God. Oh, for a deeper sense of the Christ purchased presence of the Lord in our lives, that we would know more of this joy No more is there awareness of the Lord's presence. And therefore, our endurance and our determination would not be grudging, but glad. Christ-like endurance comes in the climate of joy. We can face a new year with its challenges, with the knowledge the Lord is with his people, and he's with them with power, giving us the grace to encounter whatever comes. to serve and live for the glory of His name. Thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode of Let the Bible Speak from Malvern Free Presbyterian Church. If you'd like more information about the gospel or the church, please call 610-993-3170 or email malvernfpc at yahoo.com. We extend an invitation to all to join us as we worship the Lord each week. You will be made very welcome. The church is situated at 80 Mallon Road, Malvern, Pennsylvania, at the junction of 401 and Mallon Road. We meet for worship on the Lord's Day at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. A Bible study and prayer meeting is also held on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. We preach Christ Crucified.