Psalm 16. All right. Verse 1, it says, Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust. O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord. My goodness extendeth not to thee. But to the saints that are in the earth, 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. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth. My flesh also shall rest in 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. In thy presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. As we approach this psalm, again it is a psalm of David. From what I can find, there's not much information regarding when the psalm is written. But regardless of when it is written, it is a psalm for preservation. It is a psalm of rejoicing for the help of God. It is a psalm that is David's exclamation of excitement about being in the hands We live in a world that desires to tear us down, to destroy us, to take us away from the things of God. But I'm glad if I'm saved tonight I have the ability to rest in His ability. The first thing you notice here is the preservation of the saints in the first three verses of the psalm here. It says, Preserve me, O God, for in Thee do I put my trust. He deals there with the different aspect of being in Christ. There's not much that is secure in our world today. Not much is sound, if I can put it that way. It changes all the time. You wake up tomorrow, it's going to be another headline about something disastrous. If you ever watch the news, and I don't know if you do, I don't watch a lot of it. It just helps with my blood pressure. But every time I see it, it always says, breaking news. There's always something new coming down the road. There's always something to tear you down. The devil would desire to get in your life and destroy what the Lord has done. David understands this. David has spent a lot of time running from the things that would desire to destroy him. He spent a lot of time running from Saul. He spent a lot of time running from Absalom. He has spent time around the enemy and he understands where his preservation comes from. It's not in the world, it's not in what the world can give, it's not in what the world can do. My preservation this evening is found in a holy God that loves me and that has bought me with a price. He paid the ultimate price for me. Preserve me, O God, for in Thee do I put my trust. Then you notice the punishment of the sinners there in verse 4. He doesn't spend a lot of time. This is one psalm that he does not spend a lot of time dealing with the problems that surround. But it says, 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." What he's letting us know there is that the problems of the lost will only multiply as time goes along. There is no hope for them that do not know God. The only hope they ever have is coming to His knowledge. to get saved, to be born again. It's the only thing that will ever make a difference in your life and in my life. It's the only thing that will ever be able to sustain you and I. And David here says that God is not interested in those that are serving other gods. He's not interested in those that are dealing out there and the different gods that exist. He says He shall not entertain those things. He's not going to bother with those things. There's a punishment for the sinners. He says their sorrows shall be multiplied. In the world we live today it would almost seem like those that are going away from God have it better than those that do go for God. But the ultimate day of reckoning is coming and there will be a day to where their sorrows are multiplied. There's going to be a day that those that reject God, those that walk away from God, will stand in judgment before a holy God, and He will look at their life, and if the blood of Christ is not applied, He will say those words, Depart from Me. And their sorrows will be multiplied. God is Not interested in other gods. But then the vast majority of the psalm tonight, and where we'll spend the most of our time, is from verse 5 down to the end of the psalm here, dealing with the thought of the portion of the Savior. The portion of the Savior. He says in verse 5, 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 season. I have set the Lord always before me, because He is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth. My flesh also shall rest in 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. In thy presence is the fullness of joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. In the last few verses of Psalm 16, David begins to exclaim to you and I about the goodness of being in the family of God. He's saying that the Lord is my portion. I want you to understand tonight that if you are a born-again believer, if you are saved tonight, that you have an advocate, you have Something much bigger than this world could ever offer. We talked about it this morning. You have a well that will never run dry, that will help in times of trouble. You've got somebody that is in your corner no matter what's going on. No matter what the world does, no matter what the family does, no matter what the government does. I've got a God that will help me and sustain me. And nothing can take me away from my God. He talks about it over in the book of Romans. He says, who shall separate us from the love of God. And he says there's not one single thing for the believer that will ever be able to pluck them out of the hands of God. What a joy to know tonight that I am secure. This world can fall apart. But I'm secure because He is my portion. David understood. David again had spent time in places that we would not deem as pleasant. He spent time in the cave of Adullam. He spent time in the wilderness. He spent time around the enemy's camp. And he understands that there is a God in heaven that has provided for his every need. There's a God that loves him above all else. and that cares for him. He says, I don't have to fret when I lay down at night. I don't have to fret when I wake up in the morning. I don't have to fret in the middle of this next week. I don't have to worry about those things because the Lord is my portion. The Lord is my helper. He's my preservation. He's what sustains me. He's what keeps me. He's what brings me to where I need to be. You know, if you're saved, you don't have to try to figure things out. You don't have to try to be good enough. You don't have to try to prop up, primp up, dress up. It ain't about religious ceremonies. It's about a righteous King and His ability to work in me and work through me. It's about His ability to sustain. It's about His ability to be able to protect and provide and do all of the things that we stand in need of. He's what gives me the choices in life. He's what gives me the direction in life that I need to go. He says there in verse 7, I will bless the Lord who hath given me counsel. I have set the Lord, in verse 8, always before me, because He is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Verse 9, he goes in, he begins to rejoice once again, therefore my heart is glad. My glory rejoices, my flesh also shall rest in hope. He says, I can be happy, I can rejoice in what the Lord has done. I can rejoice no matter what comes. I can rejoice in a God that loves me. I can rejoice in a God that has desired closeness with me. I can rejoice in a God that would desire to provide. He's not interested in playing games. He loves us tonight. He is my portion. The Psalms talks about that many times throughout Scripture, throughout the book of Psalms. You'll see it in different ones. In Psalm 23, He begins to tell us about how He provides for us in the presence of our enemies and He anoints our head with oil and He leads us under the path that we need to go. He takes us through the valley of the shadow of death. He brings us beside the still waters. He takes us to the green pastures. Our Father knows exactly what we need. And He's good at getting us where we need to be. I like what He says there in verse 10. 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. Look at what it says, in thy presence is fullness of joy, and at thy right hand are pleasures forevermore. You want a life that is fulfilled? You want a life that goes somewhere? No, I'm not talking about by the world standards. By the world standards, those of us that come to church and believe in God and serve a risen Savior and are born again, we're crazy. The Bible says they're going to think of us as peculiar. I know I'm strange. Sometimes I just show a little more how strange I am than people probably want to know. But my God loves me. And I can come into the house of God and I can know. I can find the fullness of life. I can be fulfilled. in life. I don't have to go to the world to find fulfillment. The world can't do anything but empty. You can look for fulfillment everywhere you want to and it will never be found outside the help of God. It will never be found outside the presence of the Father. He says at His right hand, He says, there are pleasures forevermore. It's a joy tonight to know the goodness of God. It is a joy tonight to know the presence of God and what He's able to do in us. I wonder what would happen. I've been guilty of this many times in life. of trying to find fulfillment everywhere but where it's actually found. I find fulfillment, I go to the mountain to find fulfillment. I go hunting, I go fishing to find fulfillment in life. But the only fulfillment that's ever made a difference is the fulfillment I found in Christ. And there's joy in that place. There's joy in His presence. I don't have to try it again, I said it earlier. I don't have to jump through a bunch of hoops. I don't have to try to do everything just right. No, I've got a God that's just right. And He'll get me where I need to be if I'm willing to follow Him. He'll do in me what He desires and I have found, believe it or not, The most joy you'll ever find in life is doing exactly what he asks. That's the only place in life you will ever truly find fulfillment is in the middle of the will of God. David in Psalm 16 is exclaiming that at the end of the psalm. He says he is the fullness and in his presence is the joy of the Lord. So many times we try to fake our joy, fake our fulfillment. But the reality is we can't do that. We have no ability to do that. Oh, we can put on for a little while, but eventually it'll come to us to where we can't hide it anymore. try to do it on our own anymore. I like what it says, thou will show me the path of life in thy presence is the fullness of joy and at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. It's a challenge for us tonight as we get ready to close up Where is it that I'm looking for the fullness of life? Am I looking for it out there or am I looking for it where it will be found? I'm glad that He is a God that can bring fulfillment. This world is searching for something to fulfill them. They're empty. But I'm glad I've got a God that He's able to preserve me. And He is my portion. He is my help. He is what sustains me tonight. Father, I believe that's a distance for today. Thank You for the time in Your Word. Thank You for those that are here. Lord, I pray that you do a work in each heart and each life, whatever needs to be done. Lord, we sure love you and we thank you for this time together. In Jesus' name, amen. Does anybody got anything on their heart before we dismiss?