This psalm is one of nine psalms grouped together (psalms 16-24), which describe the prophetical aspect of Christ’s resurrection and His desire to live amongst us. This beautiful psalm is the song of resurrection that is sung in places of worship all around the world. John G. Lake’s bugbear was that Christianity was ‘stuck’ on the cross, never fully realizing the powerful manifestation of the ‘new life,’ which Christ facilitated by his death, burial, and resurrection. Tune in now to find out more about your resurrected life in Christ and how God made a way for us to live in victory…
Here is a complete transcript of the podcast…(below)
Welcome friend to another broadcast on the Psalms. And today we address Psalm 16. It has been titled, or rather the theme of the Psalm is the resurrection of the Messiah. Psalms 16 through 24 form another segment that belongs together. In our songbooks today, songs of themes are grouped together. This is how the Psalms are arranged in this songbook. Psalm 16 gives us the song of the resurrection. The theme of the nine Psalms from 16 through 24 is the prophecy of Christ blended with the prophecy of the faithful remnant. It touches on the life of Christ, the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, and the ascension of Christ. The resurrection of Christ is quoted from this Psalm in the New Testament on three different occasions. This Psalm is called a ‘Michtam’ of David. The word Michtam is of uncertain origin. Martin Luther translated it as a golden jewel, which I think is close to the actual meaning. Psalm 56 through 60 are also called Michtam Psalms. The messianic meaning of this Psalm is fully established by the testimony of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. For it is actually quoted when Peter addressed the crowd in Jerusalem at the day of Pentecost.
This Psalm 16 was quoted, and I tell you right now, it’s one of my favorite Psalms. It’s one of my wife’s favorite Psalms. That’s wife singular, not wives. Anyway, but I’m going to read this Psalm in totality for you. I’m going to read it from start to finish. This Psalm has been called the golden Psalm. It has also been called David’s jewel and his notable song. Spurgeon called it the Psalm of the precious secret. The occasion of the writing of this Psalm is also unclear. However, some think it pertained to when David was fleeing from Saul in the wilderness of Maon in 1st Samuel chapter 23. Saul pursued David to the point that it seemed that escape was inevitable. Then word suddenly came that the Philistines invaded the land. God thus providentially delivered David. Those circumstances seem to fit this Psalm well. The Psalm also includes a clear prophecy of the resurrection of our Lord.
As is similar in many of the other Psalms, David begins in the valley of despair, realizing the crisis he faced. That’s verses one through four. However, as he began to reflect upon the goodness of God, he began to praise the Lord. The Psalm concludes with David exalting in God’s deliverance. It is fair to say that in the narrative, David appears to be speaking of himself. Yet there are some words which allude to the coming Davidic kingdom.They find their way into David’s mouth, and we are actually viewing David prophetically speaking about the coming Christ, that is Jesus. It is fair to say that this is a very personal hymn of joy that focuses on the goodness of the Lord. The personal pronoun my is used over a dozen times. My trust, my goodness, my cup, etc. And David’s joy is expressed in words like delight, pleasant, and pleasure, and glad. David finds his delight only in the Lord and confesses that everything good in his life has come from God. This Psalm may have been written shortly after the gracious covenant given to David, or it may have been written regarding the persecution of Saul or persecution by Saul to David. But Psalm 16 is a combination of joy, praise to God, humility, and submission to the divine will of God. Let me read it for you now, and I’m reading from the King James Bible.
A michtam of David, verse one. Preserve me, O God, for in you do I put my trust. O my soul, you have said unto the Lord, you are my Lord. My goodness extends not to thee, but to the saints that are in the earth and to the excellent in whom is all my delight. Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another God. Their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup. You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places.
Yea, I have a goodly heritage. I will bless the Lord who has 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 rejoices. My flesh also shall rest in hope for you will not leave my soul in hell. Neither will you suffer your holy one to see corruption. You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Friend, David starts out by declaring his trust in the living God. The trust of the soul, the mind, will and emotions. Trusting God with all aspects of our life. Now again, we have to delineate between God and the devil. Not everything that comes down the pipe is from God. We don’t thank God for cancer, for poverty, for sickness, disease, for oppression, subjugation. We’re not thanking God for those things. Now, we do give praise in all circumstances, but we’re not praising God for all circumstances. And the Calvinistic mentality down the years has presented it to us that everything comes from God and he is both our abuser and our deliverer at the same time. And friend, I want to shout out to brother Hagen at this point for making the delineation between a good God and an evil devil who is pursuing you and seeks to steal, kill, and destroy from you. And there are many people who are wrapped up in religious bondage.
They’ve come out of certain religious institutions that pretty much teach them everything comes from God. This is a lie. We have curses that are prevalent in the earth. You can read about them in Genesis. Those curses are there. Now, Christ delivered us from poverty, sickness, and spiritual death. These are the curses of the law, but we have to enforce them in the earth. They are not enforced by default per se. And although we put our trust in God, we still have to take up our authority and power. That is a very important point that I want to make, even in this psalm, which may not be pertinent to this psalm, but it was in my spirit. Then David addresses the saints that are in the earth. That’s us, friend. We are the saints. We are the holy ones of God right now. Not when we get to heaven. In the book of Leviticus, it talks about an instruction or a command, rather, that God gave to us. Be holy, for I am holy. That’s a setting apart from the profane, a setting apart of one’s character and lifestyle from the world. That, friend, is the access to true power in Christ. Israel was a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, just as the church is today. And of course, this mention in verse four of following after other gods and bringing drink offerings of blood. And of course, blood has always been used in the occult because blood has power. And of course, Leviticus 17:11 says, “for the life of the flesh is in the blood. And I’ve given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar.” It is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life, or the King James would say makes atonement for the soul. So in the occult, alternative blood, other than the blood of Christ, would be given for temporary atonement. But of course, we know that is futile because the wrath of God cannot be atoned by temporal sacrifices.
Only Christ’s blood will suffice. There is a supernatural force in blood, just as there’s a supernatural force, particularly in Christ’s blood that was shed. It brought remission of sin and propitiation of everything that it was due to us. And the enmity that God had towards mankind. But if you look at Israel, of course, their history is a litany of forsaking the covenant and going after strange gods. We are not like that. We keep God front and center. Friend, it speaks in verse five and six of the portion that was given to David. And friend, we have been given a portion of inheritance also. The physical material wealth is something that God is concerned about in this time frame. We’re not talking about the greedy gospel. We’re talking about stewarding God’s wealth and putting him first, certainly in the tithe and offerings, giving God our first fruits. Very important. If you neglect that, you will fail as a Christian because if you cannot steward the material, if you cannot steward the mere mammon in this world, how can you steward spiritual things? To possess great wealth in this world, but not have the Lord is to be poverty stricken indeed. And the wealthy elites of this world can never get enough because the soul is never satisfied.
I believe truly that only through Christ can we have contentment with wealth so that we stop pursuing it. And of course, these measuring lines, I think here in verse six, the lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places is a reference to the landmarks and lines or measuring lines that were marked off for the tribes. Their inheritance, their clans and families in Israel had specific areas that belonged to them. And David is saying here, my lines are fallen in pleasant places, meaning the Lord has been bountiful and generous in the lines that have fallen to David. And the same can be said of us. But David’s personal fellowship with the Lord was his greatest joy for sure. And this is reflected in verses seven and eight. I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. My reigns also instruct me in the night season. And let’s just talk briefly about these reigns. What are these reigns exactly? According to Easton’s Bible dictionary, the reigns are effectively the kidneys. They represent the supposed seat of the desires and affections of the heart. It’s used metaphorically for the heart. The reigns and the heart are often mentioned together in scripture as denoting the whole moral constitution of man. It comes from this Greek word, kalyia or kylia. I’m not a Greek scholar friend. I’m just reading the text here. But it refers to the heart, the inward parts, the kidneys, the reigns, the thoughts and intents of the heart, the meditations of the heart in the night season.
You could say that they are the person’s inner thoughts and motives. But notice there’s an instruction in the night season when we’re asleep in the dream life. I have had multiple dreams down the years. My wife has, even my children now are having dreams with Jesus and angels. And these are not common, of course. These are to be treasured. This is not happening every night. But occasionally there can be a vision in the night season which can guide as long as it confirms with the word of God. I will always caveat that. We don’t just, you know, accept every vision and dream we see. But sometimes I’ve seen things in my dream life that have come to pass in my actual life. They’re usually confirmations and they’re usually fore-warnings. And I’ve spoken about this in various broadcasts. But we have to pay attention to our instruction that is received from the Lord in the night season. And of course, we can get demonic attacks at night as well, which I have been subject to, certainly. If you have a ministry that is exposing dark things, there’s going to be potential for attack from the enemy. And friend, we have to walk the lifestyle. We have to walk true Christianity before men and women. We cannot be some sort of hypocrite who preaches one thing and does not seek to act like the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives. Understanding that we’re going to fail at every level because we’re human and sinful and fleshy. That’s understood. However, with the hope of the Holy Spirit, we can walk in victory. And this is the ongoing walk of Christianity, basically, which is crucifying the flesh and seeking to walk in the Spirit and the light of God. And friend, in verse 10, we have this very famous reference to the Messiah’s soul in hell.
Because you will not leave my soul in hell, neither will you suffer your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life. You shall make me full of joy with your countenance. And I’m referring there to Acts chapter two, verse 25 through 28 in the discourse where the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost referred to this Psalm 16 in various places. But the reference to leaving the Messiah’s soul in hell refers to Christ’s spirit after his death on the cross. He gave up the ghost. It says that in John 19, 30, and his spirit descended into the lower parts of the earth where he preached to the spirits in prison. He preached to the Old Testament saints that had died prior to the cross. They were the righteousness of God in Abraham’s bosom, not a place of torment in hell, but a place of containment until Christ took that train to heaven with him. And many were seen in Jerusalem. About 500 saints of old were seen in that transition from the death on the cross to the ascension. You can read about that. I think it’s in 1 Corinthians 15, if I had to guess. And I shouldn’t be guessing. I have a podcast, amen. God did not leave Christ’s soul in the underworld is the point, but raised him before his physical body could be totally corrupted in the grave. And even now there are millions of people right now in hell that are corrupted, in hellfire, receiving torment. And I do not want you to go there, friend. We can experience the fullness of God’s joy in his presence. And there are pleasures forevermore in his presence. You can only encounter them when you have a relationship with Christ Jesus.
Friend, this psalm is special to me. It is one that I’ve relied upon down the years. One I’ve reminded the Lord of when I’m pressing in to wanting to desire to feel his presence, to encounter his presence personally, and even in the dream life to receive downloads and counsel from him while we’re sleeping. Our spirit man never sleeps, friend. The Lord never sleeps. I urge you to do the same. Press into God and rely on his word.
https://carljosephministries.com/podcast/psalm-5-vengeance-is-mine/
https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/bcc/psalms-16.html
Title: Psalm 16: Resurrection of the Messiah
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