Well, I love living on the border because I love that we don't speak English or Spanish, really. We just speak some hybrid version of Spanglish. And so you pick up phrases whether you want to or not, in Spanish. And one of my favorite phrases in Spanish is I comida encasa. Now, somebody shout out the literal meaning of icomida and casa somebody. Yeah, there's food in the house. We have. Or. Or we have food at home, right? So if. If you're out and your mom tells you I come here, what is she. What. Why would she tell you that? Somebody tell me. Because you want McDonald's. That's right. Because you want McDonald's. Right? You see McDonald's, you'll point at it and your mom will say something like, I come here, right? Or. Or I love El Paso shows from media because I've seen a bunch of these. These things where your. The mom will say, ah, we have, you know, we have McDonald's at home. And then it flashes to home, and it's like a baloney sandwich, you know? And then there's like the caption, McDonald's at home. You know, can we get chick fil A. We have chick Fil a at home, and then you go home. It's like Dino nuggets, right? And it's funny because it plays on the fact that. That usually what you have at home is not as good as what you could have out there, right? Like Dino Nuggets are not Chick Fil a, right? A bologna sandwich is not a delicious Big Mac or whatever your favorite burger is. It's not the same. And it's led to it. It. It shows that. That we, as especially Americans, believe that when it comes to the good life, the good life is not what we have at home. The good life is out there somewhere. If we only could convince our mom to stop for it.
And in our passage today, we're talking about the good life, the blessed life. But this passage, I love it because it flips the script on where we find the good life. It flips the script on where we find blessing. And this passage says that blessing and good life is not found out there somewhere in the world, but it is found right here. It's found in the Lord's presence. It's found in. In the Lord's people. It is found at home. And so the. The big idea today is just simple. The good life is not found out there, but in the Lord's house.
Now, it lays out in verses one and two, a countercultural kind of view of life for us. Look at verses 1 and 2. With me preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. Now, pause there, because many of the psalms are concerned with this idea of refuge. And there are many psalms that talk about the dangers out there and how difficult it is out there. And. And in contrast, God's, you know, house, God's presence are seen as a place of refuge. But we can often get the impression perhaps that, okay, the refuge that God provides is just kind of a. A bare, rocky cave that we duck into during a big storm and ride out the storm. But you don't want to live there, right? You don't want to live in the cave. You're just in there for a minute, and then you re. Emerge. Not so. Look at verse two. I say to the Lord, you are my Lord. I have no good apart from you.
Now, this is a radical statement because we are tempted to think of refuge as, okay, it is a necessary difficulty to jump into a cave. That's not what Psalm 16 is saying. Psalm 16 is saying, in fact, that the refuge of the Lord is a good, beautiful, amazing place to be. Look how radical this is. The psalmist says, I have no good apart from you. Now, that is radical in a number of ways. Often today, people who are spiritual or who perhaps are sort of generally morally conservative or consider themselves culturally Christian, they're willing to say God is a good thing in life. God is one of the good things in life. But that's not what the psalmist saying. The psalmist is saying that there is no good apart from God. Now, what does that mean? Well, first, it means that God is the giver of all that is truly good, and he is the one that makes all good things good. He is the, you could say it this way, the animating force behind everything good, the good behind all that is good.
Now, one of the themes of Psalm 1 is that a Psalm Book 1, rather, is that each book of the Psalms is sort of a soundtrack to different parts of the Old Testament. And Psalm Book one is the creational psalms, in many sense, the establishment of God's kingdom Psalms. And so you could say that Psalm 1 is the soundtrack to the book of Genesis.
And do you remember how Genesis begins? Genesis begins with God making, for example, day and night. And he saw it and he said that it was. It was good, right? Then he throws the stars up into the sky, and he says that that is good, right? And he makes the trees and the fields and the mountains and all that we see around us. And he says that it is what. It is good. That refrain, it is good. It is good. It is good helps us see that all that exists in the world that is truly good is good because it is made from the hands of a good God. It is good because he is good.
6 · Draws the inverse theological implication: not only is God the source of all good, but without God, nothing retains its goodness
So that's the first part of the Psalm, verse 2. But second, this phrase, I have no good apart from you. It also means that without God, nothing is good. Without him, nothing else is truly good.
7 · Illustrates the insufficiency of worldly goods apart from God through Augustine's pre-conversion experience—a man who possessed education, status, sex, and wealth yet remained restless until he found God
So let me give you an example from history. From church history. Many people know Augustine of Hippo or St. Augustine, as some people know him. And often people get the impression that, okay, Christian people, they're people that become Christian because they kind of are just down on their luck and they need something. You know, it's just like, man, I ran out of. Of life. And, you know, I'm. I'm down on my luck. And I, you know, I'm. I'm on the wrong end of a country song. My dog is dead, my truck is gone, My wife has left me. And so let me turn to the Lord and see what he's got. Augustine is the opposite of that. Augustine lived earlier in church history, and before his conversion, he had Everything. He was highly educated. He used that to, to gain a high social standing. He became a well regarded rhetoric and wisdom teacher in an era that loved those in many ways, those were the rock stars of his time. He also had all kinds of lustful passions that he indulged freely. So he had status, he had education, he had sex, he had money. There was just one problem. He wasn't happy. And he tried for a time going, okay, well, I need to add God a little bit into my life. He can be a good thing among the other good things in my life. And it did not work. Eventually he was powerfully, profoundly converted and his life was turned upside down. And he, looking back on that, says this, this famous line that I think sums up Psalm 16, verse 2. Well, he says this about God. Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee.
8 · Synthesizes the Augustine illustration into a doctrinal statement: possessing created goods without possessing God leaves the heart restless because created goods derive their goodness from God himself
The meaning that, that you could have money, you could have sex, you could have power, you could have stand, you could have all this stuff. But there is going to be an underlying restlessness in your heart if you don't have the Lord. Why? Because you could have all the other things that reflect the goodness of God, but if you don't have the good God behind them, you have nothing.
9 · Directly addresses non-Christians and nominal Christians, diagnosing their restlessness as rooted in treating God as one good among many rather than the foundational good
So, friend, let me ask you this. Have you gone out into the world chasing the good life? Maybe you're chasing gifts that God has given, like money or romance or materialism or stuff, and you find yourself still restless. Well, Psalm 16. If you are not in Christ, if you're not a Christian, or you maybe think you're a Christian, but to you, God is just a good thing among the other good things in your life. No, God is not good until he is the good in your life. Until he is your Savior and your Lord, until he is the thing around which you build your life and turn your life over to. Your heart's always going to be restless. This is an invitation to you to find your rest, though in the good behind all the goods.
10 · Addresses Christians tempted to view God's household as inferior to worldly offerings, rebuking the assumption that Christian blessing is merely a knockoff version of worldly goods rather than the superior reality
And for us as Christians, maybe you're in Christ. Well, we are tempted, aren't we, to begin to go, okay, yeah, yeah. When the Lord says, no, no, we have good at home. You, you almost hear it like, ay comi den casa. Like, ah, great. It's like, you know, they have cool music out there. Oh, we have cool music too, bro. And you're like, salty. The singing songbook is not what I was thinking about. They have cool rappers, we have salty mom. That's what we can start to think. And this, this text is saying, no, no, no, you don't understand at all. Everything that is good is good because of the Lord. And unless you have the Lord, you don't have anything. And so it invites us, it calls us home.
11 · Signals the sermon's two-part structure: the goodness of life with God in the present and the greater goodness awaiting believers in the future
And it's going to help us with two things today. It's going to show us that we have a good today and a better tomorrow. A good today and a better tomorrow.
12 · Transitions into the 'good today' section by contrasting natural dispositions (optimistic vs
Now, when it comes to today, well, I got to tell you this. I have three sons, and one of them wakes up every day going, awesome. What do we have today? Like, he just kind of comes down the stairs, like, thumbs up. I have another son that comes down the stairs. What do we have today? He's just skeptical. He's just like, okay, great, right? You just. Maybe. Maybe you're one of those. Okay, but here is what Psalm 16 does. It turns all of us into what do we have today? Thumbs up Christians. Not because we just have a sunny disposition, but because we are rooted and grounded in. In true realities that make every day a good day.
13 · Exposits Psalm 16:3-4, identifying the first reason today is good: membership among God's people
So what are those realities? Well, first one is in verses three and four. It's not what you think. I guarantee you if you think, okay, what's exhibit A for why today is a good day? It's not going to be this verse 3 and 4. As for the saints in the the land, they are the excellent one in whom is all my delight. And it contrasts them in verse four with the wicked who are out looking for good in following other gods and doing other things. And so the first gift that God has given his people, the first gift that the psalmist rejoices in isn't a new purchase. It's not a new car. It's actually the people of God. Psalmist is saying, today is a good day because I am counted among the saints of God, among the people of. Of God.
14 · Addresses the cultural disdain for the church by clarifying the meaning of 'saints'—not morally perfect people but those set apart by God and progressively transformed to reflect him
Now, the reason that that is so surprising is in our culture today, the people of God often, well, they get a bad rap, don't they? To be sure, there are terrible examples of. Of broken people in churches. There are broken leaders in churches, there are broken systems in churches. And often our culture loves to amplify and broadcast those failures and places of brokenness widely. And they get a lot of clicks. But the psalmist sees God's people differently. The psalmist sees God's people as holy and excellent and, dare I say, delightful. The psalmist uses this word saints, and saints means set apart to be holy. Now, it doesn't mean that they are perfectly holy, yet it doesn't mean that saints never sin against one another. Rather it means that they have been set apart by God to be his people. They are being changed by God and as they are being changed, they more and more reflect and resemble their God.
15 · Illustrates the 'delightfulness' of God's people through concrete examples from Cross of Grace Church: hospital visits, hospitality to singles, mentorship, financial generosity for missions, and volunteer service as spiritual grandparents
Now, just this week, just this week, I just want to give you an average week at Cross of Grace and, and helping you see this because it's not as though I, as a pastor, I'm like, man, every week I'm just like, man, these people, what are they even doing? No, as a pastor, I get a front row seat to see the delightful, excellent, amazing nature of the saints. This is an average week at Cross of Grace. Just this last week, okay, I heard about saints checking in on someone in the hospital, making sure they, they're okay, making sure their spouse is okay, not related to them, no blood relation at all. Just doing it because they're part of the people of God. I heard about families inviting a single person over to be part of their family because the, the person doesn't have family in town. And that is beautiful. I've seen older sisters in the faith coming alongside younger sisters in the faith that need encouragement or mentorship or help. I've seen people being generous with other saints. In fact, just recently I learned that, that in Todd Peterson's work in India, some, some brothers have given very generous financial gifts without Todd asking for help with this Christian work, establishing a Christian school and God willing seminary in India. Right? He doesn't have like a pitch deck, he doesn't have a slide, he doesn't have a website. People just are like, I hear what you're doing. I want to be part of that. Just last week I, I met somebody new to the church that was signing up for kids ministry because she said, I heard the pitch and I want to be a spiritual grandma to kids in kids ministry that don't have a spiritual grandma. Right? That is beautiful, isn't it, saints? It's delightful. It is excellent.
16 · Extends the illustration to the church's 'Dunk Your Dad' event, highlighting fathers creating memories for all children—including those without Christian fathers—as a snapshot of the church's delightfulness
And I think we want to see with the eyes of the psalmist and with the eyes of the Lord. And look, let me challenge us today. Do you see the people of God as a chore to be endured or a delight to be rejoiced over? To say, man, not every one of these people is going to be my best friend. And I'm sure some of us are going to get on one another's nerves, but these people are amazing. These people are delightful. These people are excellent. This look, just yesterday, I mean, Friday, rather, we're at the dunk tank. One small example, their dads just sitting in there getting Dunked over and over by kids, delighting to dunk them, creating a memory for these kids forever. And some of the kids in line don't have a Christian dad involved in their life. They didn't have anybody to bring to dunk your dad. But there is a dad there getting dunked because this is the people of God.
17 · Applies the exposition and illustrations to the congregation's self-understanding, inviting them to rejoice in their membership among God's people
Why is today a good day, brothers and sisters? Because we are among the saints of the Lord, and they are glorious in his sight.
18 · Exposits Psalm 16:5-6, drawing on Promised Land allotment imagery to establish that God's providential ordering of one's life (boundaries, allocations) should produce contentment rather than envy
Second reason, today is a good day because everyday life is good life in the house of God. Look at verses 5 and 6. The Lord is my chosen portion, and my cup is you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. Now, this echoes back to language about the Promised Land and entering into the Promised Land and how the Promised Land was divided up. And the psalmist is going, as it were, to his piece of land, his piece of life that the Lord has given to him. And he is saying, this life that I have, this life that I have is beautiful. Where the Lord has drawn boundaries, they're in good places. What the Lord has seen fit to give me, it is more than enough to enjoy. One commentator says of this text. This song promotes contentment with all the arrangements of one's life, right? Think of where you live, think of your kids, schooling, think of your spouse, think of your car, think of what you eat. All of this promotes contentment with all the arrangements of one's life, seeing them as providentially ordered. Just as the allocation of God's people's land was, God's people need the help of such songs to form this kind of faith. Knowing God's providential government is often mysterious to man. Meaning this psalm is saying, look at what God has given you and delight in it. See the good in it, count the blessings in it.
19 · Illustrates the temptation to discontentment through a hypothetical Israelite who initially rejoices in his land allotment but gradually falls into envy and comparison
Now, here's the problem. Okay? Here's the problem. This is not always easy. And this is not something we drift into naturally, rejoicing over the things that God has given us. It's not something we just drift into. Imagine being an Israelite, right? The first day you arrive, you get your allocation of land. You get your tribe's land, okay? And you're like, awesome. Our tribe gets this section of the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey. Awesome. I can't wait. And you show up and they're like, and this is going to be your piece of land. And you're like, amazing. I get my own land. And you're walking around with your wife and thinking, we're going to build our house here, our farms are going to be here, our kids are going to grow up playing over here and, and you enjoy it for that day and the next day and the next day and the next day you wake up and you're, you're out marking off your land and you're looking over at your neighbor's land and you're going like, you know what? Their, their land doesn't have the weird slope, ours does. You know how hard it is to work with that slope, you know, and you're like, and they are actually closer to the river. Are they going to get more rainfall? You know, and then you get back and you go into your Israelite house and you get on Israelite Zillow and you start looking up everybody's houses and you're like, did you see what our cousin got? They have a beachfront property. We get the desert. What is this? And right, you're going all over the place and you're starting to compare all the things and you're looking at your animals and you're going, this animal looks sickly, right? And you're going to, you know, you know, cattle. Israelitecattle.com and you're looking all the other cattle you could have had. You're like, that cattle is awesome. Look at that cattle. That's a Lamborghini of cattle right there. I've got like a used, beat up Geo of cattle.
20 · Convicts the congregation of the comparison trap (Zillow, Carmax, envying others' lives) and contrasts it with the psalmist's intentional practice of counting and delighting in God's gifts within his boundaries
Is this what we do, guys? What we do? We get on Zillow, we get on, you know, Carmax or whatever. We'd looking up other cars, other houses, other lives where we're at a, a place looking at our kids and our spouse and what God's given us and our job and our career and our notoriety and our gifts and our looks. And we're going, no, no, no, no, I don't like my boundary lines. I don't like these things. I don't like that. Where the psalmist, you know what the psalmist is doing? The psalmist is going intentionally to where the boundary lines are falling in his life. And intentionally what the Lord has given and saying these things are more than enough to deliver delight in. These things have been given to me by a generous God. And I'm not going to look out there to what everybody else has. I'm going to look in here to what the Lord has given me and I'm going to delight in it.
21 · Issues a concrete challenge (sticky-note exercise) to inventory God's blessings and qualifies the application (not opposed to advancement, but opposed to discontentment)
Well, friends, if we stop looking elsewhere and looked at what the Lord has given, is there not much to delight over? Like if we, if we went home and began to just put sticky notes on all the things we own, all the things the Lord has given us, we'd run out of sticky notes pretty quick. Do you see the boundaries in your life? Even as good God says, this is. This is your life. I'm saying, I'm not saying you never work to improve it or to advance your career. That's not what I'm saying. But the psalmist is saying, what the Lord has given, let us rejoice over a good people, a good everyday life.
22 · Exposits Psalm 16:7-8, identifying the third reason today is good: God himself is the psalmist's constant companion, providing counsel and presence
And then third, a good companion. Oh man. Look at verse seven. I bless the Lord who gives me counsel in the night. Also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand. I shall not be shaken.
23 · Contrasts the ancient pagan conception of distant, disinterested gods (Greek Olympus) with Israel's God, who dwells among his people and relates to them personally
Not only do we get a good people, not only do we get good everyday blessings, we get a companion that is unlike any other. I want you to see how insane this is. Because in the ancient world, gods did not have personal relationships with their people. Think of just like the Greek gods, for example. Where did the Greek gods live? Next door? No, they live on Olympus in a fancy celestial palace. That's where they live. You know where you live? Down there. Where do they live? Up there. You live down there. You got to understand, on the scope of world religions, this religion is utterly unlike anything of the ancient world. Because in Israel, God did not dwell away from his people. He dwelt among his people. And not only that, the psalmist could speak of having a personal relationship with God.
24 · Traces the biblical-theological progression of God's presence: from dwelling among Israel to incarnation in Christ to indwelling through the Spirit at Pentecost
And so the picture here is in the middle of the night, the psalm, the psalmist is pulling out the scrolls and reading God's very words or rolling over God's words in his mind as he prays to the Lord with this personal relationship. And so God wasn't way out there, up there somewhere. No, God was right here, right among his people. And not only that, oh, not only that, but we, those of us on the other side of the New Testament know that God tabernacling among his people, God's presence among his people. Well, that all came fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, who dwelt among his people, who became man among his people. And then not only that, you think, okay, can't get better than that. No better than God himself walking among his people. It gets better. Because at Pentecost, Jesus ascends and sends the Holy Spirit so that God's very presence would dwell in the hearts of his people. Oh, man. Verses seven and eight, we understand and experience Them in a way that David could only dream of.
25 · Applies the exposition of God's presence by challenging the congregation to recognize the privilege of personal knowledge of God—not mere intellectual knowledge but relational intimacy
Do you see what a gift this is? That you can know God personally, not know about God, not see God from a distance, but know him personally.
26 · Summarizes the cosmological framework of ancient worldviews (three-plane cosmology) and contrasts it with Psalm 16's radical claim that God collapses the distance by dwelling with his people
So the ancient world, right, had three planes of existence. The human plane, the underworld, and the celestial plane. And it's like, this is our plane, this is God's plane. And do you see what Psalm 16 is doing? It's saying, nope, God has come down. He dwells among us. It's amazing.
27 · Synthesizes the three 'good today' realities (good people, good blessings, good companion) into a climactic invitation to rejoice, returning to the sermon's opening metaphor ('we have blessing at home')
Do you see the privileges of today? That today you're among the people of God, Today you're gonna go home to blessings. And today the Lord himself will be your companion. So much to rejoice in. We have blessing at home, don't we? The blessing's not out there. The blessing's right here.
28 · Pivots from present blessings to future blessings, signaling the sermon's second major movement into eschatological hope
And not only that, but it gets even more better, a better tomorrow. The psalmist then turns his attention from the blessings right here today to the blessings that we will enjoy tomorrow and the tomorrow and the tomorrow after that in verses 9, 10, and 11.
29 · Exposits Psalm 16:9, highlighting the psalmist's joy and security as he faces the future
Now, first verse 9, look at what it says. Therefore my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices, right? Do you see the tenor of this psalm? Are you picking up the theme here? He is excited to be one of God's people and to dwell in his house. And what's the reason for this excitement? My flesh also dwells secure, right? He's about to look ahead into the future. But he says, okay, as I'm about to look to the future, whatever the future will hold, my flesh dwells secure.
30 · Illustrates the anxiety-inducing reality of future obligations and concerns (work, difficult conversations, medical tests) that intrude on present peace
Now here's the reality. You might today have the experience that often many other Christians do, which is you get to home and you enjoy it. You hang out, you watch a movie, you have a meal. But at some point, if you've got a job to go to tomorrow, you're going to remember tomorrow is Monday. And that report you did not turn in on Friday at 4:59 because you thought that's Monday Ricky's problem. Well, it's gonna be Monday Ricky, real quick. And here's the deal. Not only the job, but whatever your concerns are for the week. I'm gonna have to have a hard conversation with this family member. I'm going to have to have to deal with this Bill. I'm going to have to get the lab result from that test. All of those are waiting for you in the tomorrow and the tomorrows, aren't they?
31 · Connects Psalm 16:1 ('refuge') with Psalm 16:9 ('secure') to establish theological continuity: the God who provides refuge today will continue to do so in all future tomorrows
But as the psalmist turns his attention to tomorrow, what does he say? My flesh dwells secure. Now, do you notice the connection here? He started the psalm with, the Lord is my refuge, and as he looks to tomorrow, he says, my flesh dwells secure. What's the connection there? The connection is this, that the Lord that we dwell in today as our refuge will still be our refuge tomorrow and the tomorrow after that, and the tomorrow after that. It's not as though the refuge has an expiration date where the Lord comes and says, hey, you're going to actually have to vacate the refuge tomorrow. Has that ever happened to you at a restaurant where they're going to be. They're like, hey, I know you're having a great time. We're going to need to wrap this up because we need this table. I'm sorry that none of that in the Lord's house, none of that. The same refuge today will be our refuge tomorrow and every tomorrow after.
32 · Pauses the exposition to directly address the congregation, inviting them to experientially register the security just established in the theological claim
Do you, friend, feel the security of that? You feel the settledness of that?
33 · Exposits Psalm 16:10, defining Sheol (the grave/underworld) and contrasting Israel's upward resurrection hope with the ancient world's downward trajectory into the underworld
And it gets even better. Verse 10. For because you will not abandon my soul to Sheol or let your holy one see corruption. Now, you have to understand this word Sheol. It means the grave. So remember those three planes that ancient people saw the world in. So there's the earthly plane, the celestial plane, the. Then the. This plane is the underworld called the grave, or Hades or Sheol in. In the Hebrew language, right? And so they're saying this, this is the most radical thing, because even though the Old Testament believers did not have the same knowledge as us of the afterlife, they did understand some things really clearly. And one of the things they understood clearly is that when we depart this earthly plane, this is not our destination, or at least not our final destination. They. They said, look, this is so radical. Every other religion, here's what happens. You start here, and then you drop down when you die. You start here, you drop down when you die. You know what this, this is saying? You start here and then you up dwell with the Lord, right? You're going up. Not down every other religion down this religion up. You see how radical that is? You will not abandon my soul to Sheol or let your Holy One see corruption. Their hope is that the afterlife is simply a doorway to be with God where they will never be abandoned and enjoy him as their refuge forever.
34 · Establishes the christological fulfillment of Psalm 16:10 by citing Peter and Paul's use of the verse in Acts 2 and 13 to interpret Jesus's resurrection
And you know what's even more amazing about this verse? This verse in particular, both Paul and Peter quote in the book of acts, in Acts 2, and in Acts 13. And you know what they do? They take this verse and say, let me let you in on a secret. Verse 10 is not just about every believer in God. The truest and most ultimate fulfillment of verse 10 is in Jesus Christ. Because Jesus came, remember the perfect man, the true and better Israelite. And so he right as the ultimate Israelite, if you could say that in that sense, the ultimate exemplar of God's people experienced the ultimate fulfillment of verse 10. Do you remember what happened to Jesus? He's there. He dies. No, he doesn't. He's back up, right? For Jesus, the grave is nothing more than the doorway to glory. And as a result, when we on this side of the cross read verse 10, you will not abandon my soul to the grave. We see in that verse through the lens of Jesus that we will walk the same path. Jesus did that for us. The grave is nothing more than the doorway to glory.
35 · Illustrates the transformative power of eschatological hope through a personal story of pastoral counseling
Brother or sister, do you fear tomorrow? You shouldn't. Years ago I was talking to one of my pastors, Tom Wilkins, who many of you know and is expressing anxiety to him. Anxiety is a constant battle I have. And I was talking about particular health concerns that were making me anxious. And so Tom, in his, in a way only he could do, loving, sort of big brotherly care for me, asked me a question that clarified so much. I was expressing fear. What if this health issue turns into that health issue? You know what he asked me? He simply asked me, and then what? I was like, and then what? And then I'll have that bad thing. And he's like, okay, okay, so say that happens. And then what? And I'm getting like, mad at him. I'm like, well, and then what? I will die. Is that serious enough for you, Mr. Pastor Death? You know, that's what I'm thinking in my mind. And then he's going, okay, and then what? And all of a sudden I realize, oh, oh, and then I guess I'll live again. And he goes, and then what? Well, and then I'll never have this health issue again. And then I won't need my doctor or a referral. I won't have a deductible, right? I won't need an explanation of benefits because it'll all be gone and I'll be with the Lord forever. And gently, he asked me, what do you think? What do you think this would change if you believed it daily, right? Because what he challenged me was this. I was looking to the future. But he said, ricky, you're looking at the future and it is scary because you're not looking far enough into the future. You're not looking past the then what? Into the forever.
36 · Applies the 'and then what?' question as a pastoral tool for battling anxiety, acknowledging the real fear of death while insisting that the resurrection hope transforms death's meaning
And guys, let me just tell you, there've been so many times I have fought to hold on to that question. And then what? Because the. The trump card of this life is like, well, I'm. This is big. This is scary. And, and. And then the Christian should just go, and then what? Doesn't mean the death is not scary, doesn't mean it's not intimidating, doesn't mean that we don't lose loved ones that we long to keep with us. But at the end of it all, we say, and then what? Because the grave for us only leads to glory. He will not abandon us.
37 · Exposits Psalm 16:11, the psalm's climactic vision of eternal life in God's presence characterized by fullness of joy and everlasting pleasures
And not only that. Not only that. Look at verse 11 as we wrap this up. Look at verse 11. You make known to me the path of life. In your presence, there is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forever. Right? The psalmist looks into the future to the forevermore. Do you know what he sees in the Forevermore? He sees joy, life and pleasure.
38 · Critiques the weak eschatology many Christians hold (boring heaven with harps and bathrobes) and contrasts it with the robust vision of Psalm 16:11
Look, this is such a helpful paradigm shift for Christians. I think too many of us are afraid to ask, and then what when it comes to death? Because we have a sneaking suspicion that what's waiting for us up there is a bathrobe and a harp. Right? I mean, it does us no favors because we're like, oh, well, we have lots of cool stuff here. And then I guess we'll go to heaven and then just sing, you know, old hymns with grandma playing a harp forever, right? That's the picture we have. That's not verse 11.
39 · Exposits 'fullness of joy' by contrasting earthly joys that are always incomplete (missing loved ones, marred by imperfections) with the brimming, unqualified joy of God's presence
You know what verse 11 is saying? Look at these phrases. Fullness of joy. Have you ever said, man, this is great, but so and so isn't here, right? Maybe Father's Day is great, but you wish dad were here or your grandfather were here. If you ever thought, this is awesome, this day would be perfect if only that hadn't happened? It was almost perfect, except for that, right? It's like the. The. The. Our. The cup of joy gets close, but never quite fills up. This is fullness of joy. This is joy to the very brim. There's going to be no days in heaven. There will be no if only blank.
40 · Exposits 'pleasures forevermore' by contrasting earthly pleasures that always end (interrupted by responsibilities, limited by time) with the eternal continuity of pleasure in God's presence
And look at this other phrase, phrase, pleasures forever more. Have you ever experienced something amazing and then thought, I wish this didn't have to end? Happens to Jen and I all the time. We'll be hanging out with friends, having a great time, and then at some point, one of us will remember, oh, we have children we should return to. We could just keep hanging out, but we probably should Check on the children that are under our care, Right? If only this didn't have to end. If only this vacation didn't have to end. If only this day didn't have to end. If only this joy didn't have to end. One day it won't. One day it'll just keep rolling on forever. Forever. Full to the brim.
41 · Synthesizes the entire sermon's argument: the good life is not 'out there' but in God's household, both in the present (good people, good blessings, God's companionship) and in the eschatological future (perfected people, perfected blessings, perfected presence)
Friends, do you see what the psalmist is reminding us when we are tempted to look out there in the world and think, well, they have blessing out there. They have life out there. The psalmist is turning our attention back to the life that God has given us, to the amazing today, that we live among the people of God, that we experience, experience daily blessings that the Lord is with us, and that alone is enough to rejoice in. But then the psalmist says, not only that, but everything we experience today will be better tomorrow. In the forever tomorrow, the saints of God beautified, glorified forever, right? The presence of God, deeper, fuller, richer than we can imagine. The joys of this life, all of the venom and sin and sorrow sucked out of them, enjoyed forever.
42 · Final application returning to the opening metaphor, inverting it: God is not offering inferior substitutes (Dino Nuggets for McDonald's) but a superior feast (Ruth's Chris, unlimited steak)
So the psalmist is saying, brothers, sisters, don't be the kid sad when your mom says, we're not going to stop at McDonald's on the way home. Por que hay comida en casa, right? Oh, dino nuggets again, right? No, no, no. It is your dad and mom saying, son, we're not stopping at McDonald's. We're going to Ruth Chris, right? We. We are going. We are going where the stakes never end, buddy. We are going to the state line, all you can eat night, right? This is where we're going and we're. No, you dare not fill your little belly with chicken nuggets, Right? That's what Psalm 16 is saying. Just look at the table the Lord has spread in front of us and rejoice. Amen.
43 · Closing prayer gathering the sermon's themes into doxology and petition: thanksgiving for God's abundant provision, petition for strength today and hope tomorrow, intercession for non-Christians to find rest in God, and prayer that Christians would treasure present blessings rather than envying worldly goods
Would you stand and let's. Let's pray. Ah, Heavenly Father, thank you for setting this table so abundantly in front of us. Lord, we, as we end, we sing with the hymn writer that it is glorious that you provide strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. And we sing blessings all mine with 10,000 beside. Lord, I pray that you today would give us strength for today and hope for tomorrow as we behold the joy and blessing of life in the house of God. I pray for anyone here today who does not know Jesus as their Savior and Lord, that they would be welcomed into the home of God, stop looking out there for what they desire, that their restless hearts would find rest in the Lord today. And I also pray, Lord, for all of us who are tempted to look outside, to look elsewhere, to think, if only I could go on that side of the fence, I would really find blessing. Lord. Lord, help us to treasure what we have right here and right now. Lord, may we be a joyful people remembering all that we have in Christ.