If you open your Bibles to Psalm 16, we're going to look at that precious Psalm this morning. I want to tell you as we open up a story of two brothers. One brother, his name was Lye, and his other brother was named Truth. And they looked similar because they're brothers. Lye was the type of guy that he'll say whatever he has to say to get what he wants. He'll Be dishonest if he has to. He'll lack integrity. Whatever he wants, he gets because he knows how to manipulate and that's what he does. That's lie. Hard to trust a man like that. And then you have truth. Truth cuts it to you straight. He tells you what it is. He doesn't paint pictures. He just tells you this is the way it is. He's a man that you can trust. Now these brothers loved competition. and they always competed against each other. And the sport that they loved to compete the most in was basketball. So they would go down to the gym on a regular weekly timetable, and they would play one-on-one. Why? He would do anything he had to to win. If he fouled, he'd say, I didn't do anything wrong. Truth, truth was straight. If he did foul, they would call it. So truth is a guy that you can trust. Well, they went down one time, and they were playing, and He played a hard game and Lye pulled it out. He beat his brother. So he went into the showers first to shower off. Truth stayed behind to pick up all the stuff in the gym and put things away. By the time Truth got done, he went into the shower and he noticed that as he got there, his brother Lye was coming out of the shower. So Truth jumped into the shower. Lye dried himself off and he looked over and he saw Truth's clothes. He said, you know what, I'm going to try something. He put on Truth's clothes and he went out. So Truth got out of the shower and looked over and noticed, where's my clothes? But he noticed Lai's clothes were lying there and he said, I am not putting those on because I'm not going to compromise. So Truth ran out looking for his brother and he saw his brother dressed in his clothes and his crowd is all around him, loving him. And so Truth looked and pointed fingers and said, no, no, that's Lai. I'm the Truth. That's Lai. And the people just laughed at truth. They said, there's a lie again. Can't trust anything he says. And the moral of the story is that people will always choose a well-dressed lie to the naked truth. And we see that in mankind. Because the well-dressed lie that man has fallen, that Satan used from the very beginning with Eve, is that God doesn't want you to have fun. God does not want you to be joyful. God is miserable, so He wants to make you miserable. It's basically what He told Eve. And what did Eve do? She fell for the well-dressed lie. See, we live in a world that is antagonistic against God. I think we can all agree with that. And so He always gets bad press, doesn't He? He's always misrepresented. God doesn't want you to have fun. God is holding back. He doesn't want you happy. And it's been that way ever since. You can find genuine satisfaction by fulfilling your fleshly desires. Following God is gloomy. Sin will bring you pleasure. However, the fact is, at times, sin may bring short-term pleasure, but it always brings long-term misery and pain. I know because I lived it many years ago before I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ. I looked at Christians as they're weird. Why would they want to live that way? How can that possibly be fun? And so I pursued the desires of the flesh thinking that it would give me joy. But you know what? I lived with a lot of misery. I lived very sadly. But the truth is that we were created for lasting joy, and this joy can only be found in God Himself. The Westminster Catechism begins, what is the chief end of man? The answer? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever. And as of late, John Piper sort of tweaked that a little bit, and I believe right, when he said, the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. See, this is why we were created. This is our chief end. C.S. Lewis argues in many of his writings that contrary to what many people think, the Bible consistently appeals to our desire for lasting pleasure. God doesn't want us miserable. But Lewis also said that this pleasure is not found in drink and sex and ambition, but in knowing and following Jesus Christ. That's what the Bible tells us all the way through. We have this invitation to come, and enjoy God's presence. Psalm 34 8, great invitation. Oh taste and see that the Lord is good. This is an invitation to enjoy God. Come into His presence and have delight. See this morning I want us to look at Psalm 16. Because it deals with experiencing joy and pleasure in God. That's why it ends with one of my favorite verses, a very profound verse in verse 11. In your presence is fullness of joy, in your right hand there are pleasures forever. See, that's God's desire for us. But it's found not only here in the Old Testament, but it's found everywhere. And this was Jesus' mission. In fact, in Matthew 13 verse 44, Jesus told us an incredible parable, a one verse parable. He said, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again. And from joy over it, notice that's the key phrase, from joy over it, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Note that he willingly sells everything in exchange for that treasure. Why? Because that treasure gives him joy. It's worth it. And when we come to Psalm 16, Psalm 16 in a sense is saying what the parable is saying, only in greater detail. And so the main thrust of Psalm 16 is basically this, when God is our supreme treasure, we experience ultimate joy and pleasure. That's what Psalm 16 is all about. This is what David argued in this Psalm, and this is what Jesus said in that parable. When God is our supreme treasure, we experience ultimate joy and pleasure. And this joy can be experienced now and will be ours increasingly for all eternity. Why? Because it is not determined by our circumstances. Contrary to what many people think, there can be joy and genuine pleasure though the world and the circumstances appear hopeless and they appear gloomy. Think about Paul when he wrote the book of Philippians. He was in prison. And he even said he doesn't know if he's going to get out. He may end up being executed. And yet in every chapter in the book of Philippians, he emphasizes rejoice. And again, I say rejoice. Here's a man who's facing death in prison, falsely accused, and he's telling people who are free to rejoice. See, it's not determined by circumstances. We live in a world that appears out of control, And even a world that's full of darkness appears that wickedness is increasing, the economy is falling apart, taxes rising, deficit destroying our future, war, hatred. I mean, you look at all of that and it'll drive anybody to misery. But this psalm tells us we can have ultimate joy and delight even in this mess. tells us how this can be our reality today. And that's what I want us to do this morning. Let's look at Psalm 16 and see how can this be a reality to us. Now this Psalm breaks down into two sections. It's very neat. Verses 1 through 6 and then verses 7 through 11. Talking about how we can experience this joy. So let's look at the first section. Verses 1 through 6. We see here that we are to make the Lord your supreme treasure. Make the Lord your supreme treasure. And He tells us how in two ways. First, Make the Lord your refuge and ultimate good. Make the Lord your refuge and ultimate good. Notice how He opens up this psalm. It's with a petition. Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You. We don't know what He wants to be preserved from. He doesn't give us the details of what's going on. And I believe this is a good thing, because the reality is that we always, we always need God's protection, regardless of what we're experiencing. We instinctively try to protect ourselves from harm and dangers, don't we? When there's harm and there's dangers, we want to protect ourselves. We want to put up those defenses. And that's a good thing. But the bottom line is that God is our protector regardless what measures we take. He's the one that protects us. And that's what David is saying here. He prays for continued protection and expresses his trust in God to keep him safe. So he cries out for God to keep him and hold on to him. Basically saying, don't let go of me. Keep me close. And we need to pray this every day, especially in this world. See, God has saved us from His wrath, and we praise Him for that. But oh, how desperately we need His grace to help us persevere each and every day. Then after this petition, David transitions from petition to declaring and delighting what God is for him. Notice what he does. He says, preserve me, O God. That's the first part. That's the petition. Look at the second part. For in you I take refuge. Note the word for. It gives us the reason. Right? And so David is seeking God's protection because he takes refuge in God. In other words, what David is saying is, I turn to you for safety above all other ways of being safe. You are the safest refuge for me. That's what David is praying here. He's looking only to God for protection and preservation. This is how he treasures God. He treasures God by making Him his refuge. Now, David does this because he intimately knows God. Notice in verse one and two, he uses three different names for God. In verse one, he uses the name El. It's shortened form for Elohim. You've heard the name before. It refers to God as the omnipotent one, all-powerful one, God of infinite strength. So David takes refuge in the God of infinite strength. Let me ask you, can you find a better refuge than the one who has infinite strength? So David's saying, protect me, all-powerful God, because I take refuge in you. That's how he knows his God. It's all powerful. In verse 2, David addresses God by two other names. We have LORD in all caps. That's Yahweh or Jehovah. It was used in the Old Testament when God told Moses he's the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He's the God of the Exodus. It's the personal name that God gave to Moses when Moses said, whom shall I say sent me? And God said, I am sent you. You tell them I am that I am. That's his name. And so it refers to the independent, self-sufficient, self-existent God. God does not need anybody or anything. He is existent in and of himself. He's the only one that way. That's what Yahweh points to. And so David takes refuge in this one who is self-sufficient, self-existent. He is the faithful covenant-keeping God. He is trustworthy. And then the third name he uses is Lord, not in caps, right? That's Adonai. This name refers to master, the one who reigns over all. In other words, he is saying he is the sovereign king. He is the sovereign master. So he rejoices in God's sovereign rule over his life. And so for David then, this omnipotent, faithful, sovereign God is his refuge. And in this, he rejoices. And because of this, notice the second part of verse two, because of this God, he is his greatest good. God is his greatest good. I have no good besides you. In other words, what he is saying is, God, you are my treasure. You are my only treasure. So let me ask you, can you truly affirm that in your heart? Lord, I have no other good in my life besides you. When the all-powerful, faithful, sovereign God is your Lord, you begin to experience Him as your only good. For David, there's no good for him above God or apart from God. All other goods are good because they give him more of God. That's his point. See, there are goods we experience in this life, but if we do not taste God in any of those goods, those goods are not good anymore. They become distractions. And so David says, I have no good apart from you. It means that regardless what it is, it is not good if there's none of God in it. If we do not experience God and the good gifts that He gives us, then those good gifts become idols. They become distractions. When God gives us good gifts, it's so that it would draw our hearts to Him, to worship Him and to praise Him. But the reality is too often we get so caught up with the gift that we forget God. And thus that good gift no longer is good, because it gets in the way of who God is for our hearts. The psalmist said in Psalm 73 verse 28, but as for me, the nearness of God is my good. I have made the Lord God my refuge. See, that's David's heart. That's David's heart. For David, God is his highest good. God is his supreme treasure or everything else. And I believe that this is what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. This is what it means to be a genuine Christian. that Jesus Christ would be our treasure, and this treasure far surpasses anything that this world can produce. Because of the deeply profound worth of this treasure, you will forsake all things in order to gain it, in order to keep it. It is the only true good that brings satisfaction, and joy, and delight. And when we do this, we become like Paul, In Philippians chapter 3 verse 7 through 8, notice what he says, But whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish, so that I may gain Christ. Notice, everything he considers as rubbish in comparison to his ultimate treasure, Jesus Christ. Do you see life that way? Sam Storms expressed it this way. He said, everything without God is pathetically inferior to God without everything. In other words, you could have everything this world could offer you and not have God. And he said, that's pathetically inferior to if you had God and had nothing else. C.S. Lewis said, he who has God and everything else has no more than he who has God only. It's a powerful statement. Because see, typically what we do is we compare ourselves to other people, what they have, how they live. He has this kind of car, they dress this way, they have that house, this, that, and everything else. And so we sort of compare. But what I love about this statement, it is true. Listen, If you don't have anything but you have God, you have everything you need. You have the greatest treasure. You can have everything and have God. Still, God is greater than everything you have. He's your ultimate treasure. And so before God, if He's our treasure, it doesn't matter what you possess. It doesn't matter what you have. Because God is the ultimate treasure. And what I love about God as my ultimate treasure, it doesn't cost me a dime. He is my treasure. That's what David is emphasizing here. Oh, how I pray that this would be true of us. That apart from God, no other good can compare. Then verse three, David continues with this thought of God as his highest good. Because God is his highest good, David enjoys being with those who see God this way. Notice in verse three, as for the saints who are in the earth, they are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight. God's people are His delight. Why? Because God is their delight. If God is not their delight, if God is not at the center of their lives, then David does not delight in them. Godless people, people who strive for the things of this world, don't give Him delight in their godless ways. Those who treasure God live for God. They exalt God. They are the majestic ones. These are the ones that David delights in. These are the ones that he delights to be with. Now, a point of clarification here. This does not mean that we exclude unbelievers. No, we need to be with them to show them that God is the greatest treasure. We need to live in such a way that they know God is our treasure, and that He's the one who gives me security. He's the one who gives me joy and delight in this life, not the things of this world. So He's not saying we exclude ourselves, but what He is saying is that He delights in those who delight in God. And so, we need to put God at the center of all our relationships. We should delight in the company of God's saints, growing together in holiness and love, as together we find joy in God. Listen, Sunday mornings should be the most exciting time of the week for all of us. I love Sunday mornings. I look for it. That's why I hate Mondays, because I've got to wait another seven days. It's not because I've got to go back to work. I love Sundays. I love coming together with all of you. I was about to say y'all, I'm not from the South. All of you. that we can worship and praise God together and grow together as we study, as we hear God's Word preached. That's what we should look forward to. I believe it's critical for us. If God is not their delight, and David doesn't want to be with them, it should be for us as well. Then in verse 4, he puts it negatively, just to emphasize it. After considering the saints, David reflects on those who do not turn to God, but they turn to idols. Notice verse 4. The sorrows of those who are bartered for another God will be multiplied. I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, nor will I take their names upon my lips. See, the idea here is that these people have forsaken the true and living God. They go after idols. In other words, they trust in other things. There's other things that they look to, to find pleasure, to find joy, to find delight. And by the way, this is the only note of sadness in this psalm, verse 4. There are those who constantly seek after the next gimmick, after the next toy or the next whatever to find joy, to find delight, to find excitement. Whatever it may be, the new electronic thing, whatever it is, they look to that and say, oh, I need that, oh, I want that, oh, it'd be great to have that. This world is full of them. New gods are constantly invented and too often we fall for them. without realizing it because it's so subtle. See, we choose other gods when we find another good or delight or treasure apart from God. If there are things that we think on, if there are things we lust after, if there are things we desire more than God, that's an idol. If we are living and striving to gain something apart from God, that's an idol. It's a false god. I know how subtle it is, because many times when we're striving for these things, we don't even realize we're striving for it. That's why this is so dangerous. And what's critical here is to know what happens when we choose another God. Sorrows are multiplied. Distress and anguish comes upon them. They will seek relief, but they won't find it. And so the sorrows increase. This is why there are so many people in this world who have so much, and yet are very unhappy, very frustrated, and dissatisfied. I remember back when I was in seminary, I worked downtown at an office building, just as a security guard. And I met some of the wealthiest people you could ever imagine. There were oil companies and all kinds of companies there, people worth billions of dollars. And I could tell you they were some of the most miserable people I ever met. They had so much, and they were empty. I've heard them even say, you know, I have so much, I just don't know what I need next for delight, for satisfaction, for hope. How sad, how sad. See, God will work against them and not bless them, because God cannot honor the worship of other gods. So we need to search our hearts, and we have to be honest with ourselves. Are we completely satisfied with God, or are we still searching for that so-called delight, that next treasure that gives us contentment? See, God will not accept that we would accept Him as a treasure, one of many treasures. Yes, I have God as my treasure, but I also treasure these other things. God doesn't accept that. God is not in competition here. He shares His glory with no one. And so ask yourself, God, help me to see the truth. Am I satisfied with you? And David's response to the temptation of another God is that he will not participate in it. He won't even take their names upon his lips. Do not listen to them that what they do is great. Their gods do not deserve our attention. See, these are not the ones we should be looking to. And we are tempted every day with other gods and other treasures. How do we respond to them? Isn't it amazing who people talk about? We talk about movie stars or athletic people, all kinds of different people. And it's okay to talk about them because it's accepting. But join the crowd and start talking about Jesus Christ, and what happens? You're weird. You're strange. Don't take their names upon our lips. Let God be the treasure. May He satisfy our souls so that we talk about Him, not about these other gods. See, these are so subtle that many times we don't even consider them, and we end up participating with them and don't even realize it. And so David says that those who do this will have multiplied sorrows. So we are to make the Lord our supreme treasure. And we do this first by making Him our refuge and ultimate good. Secondly, we make the Lord our present and eternal inheritance, in verse 5 and 6. Now, when you read verse 5 and 6, you have to remember here that the language that is used is similar to the language in the Old Testament that's used of dividing the land of Canaan when they went into the Promised Land, and they had to divide that whole land between the 12 tribes. The land was portioned out by lot. And David says here that the Lord supports our lot. Notice, the Lord is the portion of my inheritance in my cup. You support my lot. So the Lord supports his lot. Now, we have to understand something here. Lot for us is not a reference to a piece of property. Okay? A lot refers to our situation or circumstance in life. And that's what David is referring to. You've heard people say our lot in life. It's the circumstances that we have, the circumstances that we're in. And he is saying that it is God who controls and sets up the circumstances in our lives. These things do not just happen by chance. They don't happen by accidents. There's no such thing as coincidence. Please understand, our God governs everything in our lives. And David trusts in the Lord for this stability. He doesn't worry about what will happen in the future because God controls it all. God is his lot. God is our lot. He's the one that governs everything. Now what's interesting here is that when the land was portioned out, there was one tribe who didn't receive land, and that was the tribe of Levi. God explains the reason why in Numbers 18 and verse 20. He says, You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor own any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel. Interesting. They don't get any land. But they get God. You know, when I used to teach at the college and we come across this passage, it never fails. I always had at least one or two students that would say, wait a minute, that's unfair. Why don't they get some land like everybody else? And my response was simple. Let me ask you something. What would you rather own? A piece of land? Or would you rather have God himself as your inheritance? What would you rather have? In reality, what's unfair is that the 12 tribes, the other 12 tribes got land, Levi got God. See, too often we focus so much on this world and treasure the things of this world, that we forget what we truly have. So here in this psalm, David is applying this to himself, stating that the Lord has been allotted to him as his portion. And because God is his portion, he needs no other. So David is saying that the Lord is his law. The Lord is his good. so that all that the Lord does is good. And David trusts in that. David continues by stating that he has a beautiful inheritance there in verse six. That phrase there, my heritage is beautiful to me, can actually be translated beautiful inheritance. And note that the word there, the lines, this refers to the boundaries that were set up with the dividing of the land. For David, they are the borders. They are the boundaries that God has appointed for him in life. See, we all have borders. We all have boundaries in life that God has set up for each and every one of us. And thus David is saying, the lines, the borders of my life that God has given me, they are beautiful. They are wonderful. They are satisfying. God is His inheritance. And he's a beautiful inheritance. So David is satisfied with God's dealings with him. Let me ask you something. Are you satisfied with how God is dealing with you in your life? Are you the type of person that grumbles and complains? Are you satisfied with God's dealings in your life? Now, before we move on to the next section, verses 7 through 11, I want us to step back and look at verses 1 through 6 as a whole, because it's very important here to see how it fits together. When you look at verse 2 and 3, he states that God is his refuge, God is his Lord, God is his good. And then in verse 5 and 6, he says the same thing in a different way, when he states that the Lord when the Lord is his lot, and he has the portion of his inheritance and his cup. So verses 2 and 3, he says one thing. Verse 5 and 6, he says the exact same thing. And it is significant that right in the middle is verse 4, where David talks about not going after other gods. The reason why I say it's significant is because it is emphatic, that it's insane to go after other gods since the Lord is so perfect. And so I believe this is what David was referring to in Psalm 1 when he cried out to God to preserve him. He's asking God to preserve him not only from physical danger, that's a good thing, but more importantly, he's asking God to preserve him from going after other gods because it's so easy to do. Because of the danger and the multiplied sorrows and the subtlety of these gods, David cries out, protect me from falling for these gods. That's why he mentioned multiplied sorrows. Why would anyone want to go there? Yet people go there every day. David knows that this is a genuine and very serious danger. And so this is a prayer that we should all be praying daily because we are surrounded by these distractions. And they are so subtle, many times we don't see it. It's a real danger. It's one of our greatest battles every day to have God as our good, our treasure, and not be drawn by other things and not be distracted with other things for good and delight. This is one of Satan's tools. to distract us. See, the world is constantly offering us other things, saying, this is better, that's better. And they're even good things. Very real, very dangerous. Because those good things can be idols when they get in the way of us and God. And many times that happens, we don't see it. We don't see it. This is why we have to cry out, preserve me, O God, from this. See, what do we do when we are in serious danger? We pray. Nobody has to twist your arm and say, you better pray about this. If you're in danger, you cry out to God. I've seen it. If you have ill health, what do you do? You pray. You cry out to God and you ask others to pray for you. And you ask others to continue to help you through it. So when we are in real danger, physical danger, it's not a problem. You don't have to be reminded to pray. But I believe that the danger here of being distracted from God is a greater danger than any physical danger. And yet how often do we pray, Oh God, protect me from these distractions. Preserve me. Don't allow my mind to wander off. May you be my treasure today, every moment of this day. It's a real danger because it's so subtle. And we fall for it and we don't even realize it. So we're to make the Lord our supreme treasure by making Him our refuge and ultimate good, and by making Him our present and eternal inheritance. Secondly, when God is your supreme treasure, when the Lord is that treasure for you, you will be satisfied with present and eternal pleasures in Him, in verses 7 through 11. This is the result when verses 1 through 6 is your life. First, you enjoy His guidance and protection, verse 7 and 8. I will bless the Lord who has counseled me. Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night. I have set the Lord continually before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken." So David says that God is the one who counsels and instructs him. And because of this, David praises him. I will bless the Lord. Now, the Hebrew word for mind here refers to the innermost personal life. So he's talking about the deep inside part of him. And the word night is plural, meaning night after night, or during the watches of the night. So when David lies down at night, he is thinking and meditating on the Lord deep down inside. When he had those sleepless nights, where he just could not fall asleep, or he would wake up in the middle of the nights, he would think on the Lord. It was during these times that he would meditate, that God would instruct him and counsel him. So David is saying that God has taught him all about himself as he meditated through those nights. When you treasure God and you treasure His Word in your heart, you receive that kind of instruction as you meditate. And it's instruction that will sustain you through all of life. So at night, when you lay your head down, what are you thinking on? What does your heart tell you? What are you meditating on? When you have a rough night and you're awake at 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock in the morning, what does your heart tell you? What are you thinking on? Does God tell you at 3 o'clock in the morning that God sustains you in life? See, we need to so treasure God that this is what happens to us when we are awake at 2, 3, 4 o'clock in the morning. And if we treasure Him this way, and we meditate on Him, we will hear from Him as we think on Him. Some of the greatest thoughts I've ever had about Him were at 3 in the morning when I can't fall asleep and I'm thinking about Him, and I'm meditating, I'm thinking on His Word, I've memorized something, and all of a sudden it just hits me like, I've never seen that before. Whoa! That's God instructing me at night. I wish I did it more often. Then I wouldn't get any sleep. Verse 8. David talks about God's protection. David states that he keeps God before him and at his right hand. So God is before him, God is at his right hand. Keep God before him. David is declaring that he keeps God constantly at the forefront all day long. That's his thoughts. And David states, I constantly fix my mind on the Lord. This is a constant moment by moment walk in continual presence of God. John Calvin comments on this. He says, The meaning, therefore, is that David kept his mind so intently fixed upon the providence of God as to be fully persuaded that whenever any difficulty or distress should befall him, God would be always at hand to assist him. David then reckons himself secure against all dangers and promises himself certain safety, because with the eyes of faith he beholds God as present with him. and know how we need this in our lives. This is where we find security. This is where we find the peace and joy and hope. Keep God before you. May He be at the front constantly. And being at the right hand means that one is in an honored position. So to keep God at His right hand, He is saying that God has special honor in His life. Does God have that kind of honor in your life? See, for David it means that God is present, near to help, close to me, he says, ready to protect and to save. That's David's hope. And so God's presence provides security to David. That's why he believes he can't be defeated, because God is present. God brings him comfort. This is why David could say in another passage, Psalm 46.1, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. See, that's the security you and I can have right now. when He becomes our treasure, when we make Him the treasure of our lives. So throughout the day, you keep God constantly before you. How do you do that? By consciously thinking on Him, preaching His Word to yourself. I would encourage you, take a verse, memorize it and meditate on it all day long. When you sit in the car at a red light, what better thing to do than to memorize and meditate on who He is? When you lay your head down at night, think on Him. And you keep Him at your right hand by cherishing and honoring Him. That's how we are to live daily in His Word. And this world makes it very, very difficult because of its countless distractions vying for our attention. And this is why we have to cry out, Oh God, preserve me from these distractions so that you will be before me and at my right hand throughout the day. Thus we enjoy God's guidance and protection. So when the Lord is your supreme treasure, you enjoy His guidance and protection. Secondly, When God is your supreme treasure, the Lord secures your future and gives you everlasting joy. See that in verses 9 through 11. Notice in verse 9, therefore my heart is glad. I call this the therefore of joy. Therefore my heart is glad. When you live this way, you experience gladness and joy. And note the three words here. heart, glory, and flesh. These are not meant to show different parts of David's being. These three words are ways of speaking about himself as a whole. So he's talking about his total being, the entirety of who he is. So his total being, inward and outward, has gladness and joy in the guidance and the security of God. So when we make God our treasure, come what may, we can lift up our heart, we can lift up our voices and sing in joy. because He is our treasure. And verse 10 is important because it helps us understand how this is done. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will you allow your Holy One to undergo decay. Please understand, David was not talking about himself here in this verse, because David did die, and his body did decay in the grave. So here David wrote of Jesus Christ, he wrote prophetically. And we know this because Peter in Acts chapter 2 verse 22 through 36, and Paul, in Acts chapter 13, 35-37, cite this passage, and they make it clear that they were not fulfilled in David, but they were fulfilled in Jesus Christ Himself. See, Jesus Christ came into this world to take our sin upon Him. God, by His grace, took our guilt, my guilt and your guilt, and placed it on Christ to bear the omnipotent wrath of God, so we would not have to. And Jesus Christ did die. And He was buried in the tomb. But He didn't remain there. He rose again. And this is critical. This is important. Because if Jesus Christ did not rise, then He would have decayed. And thus there's no hope for us. We're still dead in our sins. But we know that when Jesus died and was put in the grave, His body did not see corruption. Why? Because Jesus Christ is risen. He conquered death. That means that God's promises of eternal joy, that God's promises of pleasures in his presence are secure for those who trust in Jesus Christ and make him the treasure of their lives. So Jesus Christ is the subject of verse 10, not David. But I want you to see a secondary fulfillment for David and for us here in verse 10. The point is, although he will die, the Lord is not going to permit David to suffer eternal alienation from the Lord. And that's true for you and I. He's not going to suffer eternal separation. As I was studying this, I came across this Hebrew scholar who wrote upon these words, undergo decay. And he said this, to undergo decay is a metaphor for total isolation and abandonment from God's presence. So when it says that he will not allow us to undergo decay, he is saying we will not be permanently separated, permanently alienated from God. That's good news. That's great news. And so David had this hope beyond the grave to enjoy fullness of joy and eternal pleasures in God's presence. That was his hope. That's your hope today. That's my hope today. If we've trusted in Jesus Christ and know Him as our supreme treasure, we have these eternal pleasures. Our resurrection is guaranteed because of His resurrection. And this is the amazing cause of great joy. So with that unshakable confidence, David now turns to verse 11 to that great therefore of joy again back in verse 9, but only now it's exponentially increased. Look what he says. You'll make known to me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever. One of my favorite verses. See here David reaches the climax. God makes known to him the path of life, and in God's presence is fullness of joy and pleasures forever. Please, please do not miss this or make this a passing thought. Note what is ours today, right now. This is not something we just look forward to. It is real today for those of us who know Jesus Christ. Fullness of joy is complete, perfect joy. So let me ask you, is there anything fuller than full? No. No. Pleasures forever points to an inexhaustible store which may be drawn upon constantly forever. Think about it. Is there anything longer than forever? No. Not at all. And know how we have to let this reality overwhelm us. Please understand. Please let this sink in. This is not a pipe dream. This is reality. We have this today, and it is ours for all eternity. And when we get there, it gets even better. This world cannot offer you anything that can compare to this. As one pastor said, Fullness means completely satisfying, and forever means those pleasures never stop. I love that. Joy and pleasure will increase forever and ever in the very presence of God. I've said it before, and I will repeat it again. God reveals Himself to us, and the more that He reveals Himself, the greater our joy. The more we see of God, the more that the joy and the pleasure increases. So when we get to heaven, we are going to be overwhelmed at what we see when we look at God, when we see Jesus Christ. Isn't it interesting that all the visions that we have of heaven in scripture, when somebody gets taken to heaven, what's the first thing they see? Glory of God. And they're overwhelmed and stunned by what they see. And the more that God reveals Himself to us, the greater this joy is going to be. Now, God is infinite and God is eternal. So how long is it going to take God to reveal Himself to us? All eternity. When we go to heaven, it's not a one thing, that's it, He shows us and we're done, and heaven is boring. No, every moment that we are in heaven, God reveals more and more and more of Himself. And the more that we see, the more we are overwhelmed by what we see, and we're stunned, and we praise and worship Him. Because God continually reveals more and more of Himself. And the greater will our joy be. And it never ends. So 10,000 years in eternity, when you think you've seen it all, God says, we haven't even begun. We just scratched the surface. I've got so much more to show you of who I am. That's eternal pleasures. That's joy forever. That's fullness of joy. That's heaven. But please understand, We do not have to wait to experience this joy and pleasure. In God's presence is this joy and pleasure, and thus in Christ we can experience this joy forever. There are hours an hour in Christ who's at the right hand of the Father. As we keep Him before us and at our right hand, we can experience that kind of excitement, that kind of joy, that kind of delight. It's not just in the future. And see, this world offers many different pleasures, but none of them can satisfy. We know this because of what Scripture tells us. Remember back in the book of Ecclesiastes, we have Solomon, right? The wealthiest man in history. He had everything that this world could possibly provide. He literally had everything. And what was his ultimate conclusion? It is all empty. It is all vain. Money, education, writing of books, many wives and concubines, architectural genius, and on and on the list goes. He tried everything, and his conclusion, all is vanity. It's all empty. In fact, it wasn't just empty, but look at his life. He had multiplied sorrows. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes at that time. See, what should strike us deeply about this is that these are the things that the world strives for and many Christians have fallen for today. They strive for the same thing because they're distractions. And that's what Satan gives us. These do not provide the joy and pleasure that only God can give. If God is not your supreme treasure, you will come up empty in life continually. Your life will continually be a mess. In a world full of darkness, in a world like ours today, there's very little to rejoice in. So how do we take hold of this reality of Psalm 16? I believe the key is Jesus Christ is prophesied in verse 10. He did rise. His flesh did not see corruption unless we can trust in these promises. So like David in this psalm, we have to set Jesus before us and to our right hand as our deepest treasure. And cry out to God, O God, preserve me from the distractions. There's so many, I don't even see the distractions. Preserve me, protect me from these distractions. Make Jesus your ultimate treasure. May He be the driving force of your life. I came across this story told of King George VI of England. He was a born-again believer who, before his ascension to the throne, he used to visit a small Brethren assembly in London to enjoy the weekly Bible readings. But after he became king, he had to discontinue this practice, but he remained a devout believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in the course of his duties, King George went to Canada and his official visit took him to British Columbia. And it was thought by the officials, the other Canadian officials, that King George might like to meet a native-born Indian chief. So the one chosen for the honor was a well-known and influential Indian known as Chief Whitefeather. Chief Whitefeather was told to sing something for the king, and they assumed that he would sing something of a war song, an Indian war song, because that's what they felt that he would do, that's what they enjoy. But the chief was a Christian, had something else in mind for the king. So you can picture the surprise of the officials when Chief Whitefeather began to sing. And he sang this song. I'd rather have Jesus than silver and gold. I'd rather be His than have riches untold. I'd rather have Jesus than houses or land I'd rather be held by his nail-pierced hand than to be the king of a vast domain or be held in sin's dread sway. I'd rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today." The officials were stunned. They were left speechless. They didn't know what to say and they were worried. What's King George going to do next? They didn't have to wait long. The king went over, took Chief Whitefeather by the hand and said, I'd rather have Jesus too. I'd rather have Jesus too. So let me ask you, can you say the same thing? That in the midst of everything that this world distracts us with, everything that this world offers, can you say, I'd rather have Jesus than anything else? Is he your deepest treasure? And only you could answer, and I would encourage you, pray and ask God, oh God, help me to be honest with myself. Is he that deepest treasure? If he is, And you'll pray as David prayed daily. Oh God, preserve me, protect me against the distractions of this world, for this world is filled with many idols. And you will strive to keep them before you and at your right hand as your true treasure, so that when you do wake up at three o'clock in the morning, you can't fall asleep, He's on your mind, He's in your heart. Pray for it. Now some of you may be here and you don't know who Jesus Christ is or you know about Him, but a lot of this is foreign to you. I want to encourage you, if you have any questions about that, come and see me up front. We have some people here I would love for you to know who Jesus Christ is. If you've never trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you've never repented, I would encourage you, make today the day so you can begin to find Jesus Christ as your treasure and you can begin to experience what it means to have treasure forevermore, to have pleasure, to have joy. But if you are a believer today, oh how I encourage you and pray that you would make Jesus your treasure and you would fight with every ounce of your being throughout the day to keep Jesus Christ at the forefront. That He would be your treasure, not what this world has to offer. And that as you do, you find greater delight, greater joy, greater excitement. Do you get excited about Jesus Christ as your treasure? You should. You should. So I want to encourage you. Pray, Oh God, preserve me. Protect me against the distractions of this world. Because they're very easy to fall into. Let's pray. Father, I thank You for Your precious Word, and the warnings You give, and the promises You give. Lord, I thank You that Christ came and died and rose again. He didn't decay. And God, we thank You that in Him we can experience this joy. Lord, help us today. Help us tomorrow and throughout this week. Help us to keep Christ as our treasure, every moment of every day. This world is filled with distractions, O God, and too often we're blinded to them and we easily fall prey. So as David prayed, Lord, we cry out, O God, preserve us, keep us from falling into this trap. Work in us that Christ would be our treasure every moment of every day, so that our joy would be in Him, that all the goods we have would be good because they direct us to You. And Father, for those who are here this morning who do not know You, You know their hearts. Oh Lord, I pray that this psalm, that Your Word would so penetrate their hearts, God, that they would not leave here until they know Jesus Christ. Lord, I praise you and thank you for the privilege of coming together with my brothers and sisters here to praise you and to worship you, to find that time just to delight in you. Thank you for it. Now, God, as we are dismissed, keep us safe physically, but more importantly, keep us safe spiritually. Come, our treasure. Show yourself powerful, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.