Psalm 16:11 : Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

In resurrection, the Lord Jesus was shown “the path of life”, and in His glorious ascension and exaltation to the highest place of heaven, He was exalted at God’s right hand, a place of “fulness of joy”, literally ‘satisfaction of joys (plural)’, a place where “there are pleasures for evermore”.  When God desires to emphasise something, He puts it in the plural; here in v11 it is ‘joys’ (plural) and “pleasures” (plural); i.e. superlative and indescribable joys and pleasures.  This is what the Lord looked forward to in John 17:5, “And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was”; the place of exaltation in heaven beside the Father, before the face of His Father.

So, if the Lord looked forward to this, so also do believers in Him.  Praise God for those words of the Saviour in John 14v3 “And if I go … I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also”.  Where has He gone?  To the Father’s right hand, before the face of His Father, to where there is fullness of joy, to where there are pleasures for evermore.  We do not therefore look to this world for joys and pleasures; all that this world has is “the pleasures of sin for a season” (Hebrews 11:25).  But we look for our Saviour; He is coming again, to take us to the place of eternal joys and eternal pleasures.  Revelation 22:20 “Even so, come, Lord Jesus”.

 <<Read more from “Christ in Psalm 16″>>

Psalm 16:10 : For Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell (Sheol); neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption.

We can see this verse as the words of the Saviour to His Father, even as He dismisses His Spirit on the cross and goes into death, “For Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell; neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption”.  He knows He will be preserved. He will be raised out of death; for His trust is in the Holy God of heaven.  He can speak of Himself as “Thine Holy One”; His sinlessness and holiness demanded that death could not hold Him; says Peter “Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be holden of it.” (Acts 2:24).  Thus, His Soul was not left in Sheol, His body did not see corruption in death, He was the perfectly incorruptible Man who was raised out from the dead on the 3^rd day.

We can appreciate the pre-eminence of the Lord Jesus in that in death and resurrection He uniquely saw no corruption.  1^st Corinthians 15 teaches much about the truth of resurrection in relation to the Lord Jesus and for believers in Him.  While there is corruption in death for the believer, the passage reveals the wonderful character of the believer’s resurrection body, answering the question “How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?” (v35).

The first specific point in the passage in relation to the character of the believer’s body in resurrection is “It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption” (v42).  Corruption is simply a moving away from an original condition.  How true of our present earthly bodies, from the very moment we are born there is a moving away, there is degeneration and disintegration.  For some tissues and organs the process is seen microscopically to begin even in utero, before birth.  The ageing process is a consequence of this corruptible state, and it becomes so much more apparent and advanced immediately after death with rapid tissue decomposition.  But when the Lord Jesus comes again, the raised and changed bodies of believers will be “in incorruption”, i.e. they will never move away from that pristine state of glory, there will be no degeneration or disintegration for the endless ages of eternity.

<<Read more from “Christ in Psalm 16″>>

Psalm 16:9 : Therefore My heart is glad, and My glory rejoiceth: My flesh also shall rest in hope.

This verse speaks of joy and gladness, and it speaks of resting in hope.  In what context?  Given the next verse, which tells us of His resurrection, the whole of v9 is in view of His death.  The Lord Jesus was a real Man, His humanity was real, He was tripartite in His being, Soul & Spirit & Body. Here in v9, we have each part of the Lord in view of His death; as to His Soul “My heart is glad”; as to His Spirit “My glory rejoiceth”, and as to His Body “My flesh also shall rest in hope”, ‘shall dwell in security’ is the idea.

It tells us of the peace, joy and rest the Lord Jesus had, even as men plotted His destruction, for He had that quiet confidence in His God, that He would be bodily raised out of death.  Thus He could “rest in hope”, and just commit Himself to the safe-keeping of the Father.  He thus commended His holy Body to the Father’s keeping, just as He commended His Spirit, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit” (Luke 23:46); in death, the Lord Jesus was the perfectly confident Man.

We can appreciate the quiet confidence of Simeon, as he lifted up the infant Child Jesus in the temple.  It had been revealed to him “that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:26).  We presume he was an elderly man, knowing that he was close to the end of his natural life, and now that he had seen the Christ of God, death was imminent for him.  But we see how he was able to “rest in hope”, because of his trust in the Saviour; “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation” (Luke 2:29-30).  There will always be a peaceful departure out of this world for those whose trust is in the Saviour.

What is the secret of joy and gladness for us?  Surely it is to be trusting in our God, and to rest in the hope we have in our Saviour.  God has saved us, and His purpose is to eternally bless us, and nothing that men can do will thwart that purpose.  We wait expectantly for the coming again of the Lord, but should we have to pass into death, we can “rest in hope”, knowing that to be absent from the body is to be immediately present with the Lord, knowing that when He comes again “the dead in Christ shall rise first” (1^st Thess 4:16), and knowing that Christ is the Firstfruits in resurrection, and we will be part of that harvest to follow, “afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming” (1^st Cor 15:23).

 <<Read more from “Christ in Psalm 16″>>

Psalm 16:8 : I have set the LORD always before Me: because He is at My right hand, I shall not be moved.

Here we have the consistent character of the life of the Lord Jesus, in the perfection of His Manhood, and how He lived down here, with the Lord, His God & Father, “always” before Him, at His right hand.  So we are caused to appreciate the fellowship, the unbroken communion between the Son and the Father.  What ever existed in eternity, continued unbroken in His earthly path.  Like an Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22:6 and 8, “they went both of them together”.  The Lord Jesus moved in His earthly pathway, with the consciousness of the Father before Him, at His right hand, looking to the Father for guidance and strength, looking to the One in whom He trusted, the One He honoured and glorified, the One He obeyed.

His desire was to do the will of His Father; “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34).  He was clear that He was working with His Father; “My Father worketh hitherto, and I also work” (John 5:17). He was conscious of walking in complete unity with His Father; “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30).  He resolutely set the Lord, His God & Father, always before Him in His life and service.

In Mark 10, we have the chapter of “the way” (3x), going to the place of sacrifice; v32 “And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them (the disciples): and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid”.  Consider this scene; the Lord with His disciples moving in the way up to Jerusalem, and the disciples know the danger that lies ahead, hence their fear and amazement, and the Lord tells them all that will take place at Jerusalem.  Yet, He is leading them in the way, He goes before them, and they follow Him.  That is what Mark 10 gives us.  But now factor in Psalm 16:8, “I have set the LORD always before Me”; i.e. now we see a fuller picture, in front of Christ, in faith He sees the Lord, His God & Father, and He follows in obedience, and the disciples follow Him in wonder and amazement.

What did that consciousness of the presence of the LORD give to the Lord Jesus in His path of service?  “I shall not be moved”; it gave Him absolute steadfastness, it gave Him resolve, it gave Him strength to go on.  It enabled Him to say to His disciples in Mark 10v33 “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem”.  It enabled Him to say in Luke 12:50 “I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!”  It enabled Him to say in John 12:27 “Now is My Soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour”.  It enabled Him to say in the garden, “Not My will, but Thy will be done”.  This is the language of the perfectly resolute Man.

He was not moved from that pathway He trod in faithfulness to His God which led to Calvary.  We need to be very careful when speaking about the Lord, not to use words that suggest He was shrinking from Calvary.  He was not moved.  Not for a single moment did the Lord Jesus ever have any thoughts other than to go to Calvary.  He was “the Lamb verily foreordained before the foundation of the world” (1 Peter1:20) and as such He was manifested for us.

There is application for us; if we do not want to be moved out of the pathway of faithful Christian testimony down here, we need to have the LORD always before us.  We need to live our lives in the conscious presence of God and the Lord, and in constancy of trust in Him.  To know that He is at our right hand, with us and helping us, and then we shall not be moved from the pathway of dependence upon Him.

This is what Paul experienced in the prison cell, Phil 4:4-5 “Rejoice in the Lord always … the Lord is at hand”, literally ‘the Lord is near, at my elbow’.  Paul had the joy of the presence of the Lord with him in that prison.  Again, when standing before Nero, 2 Tim 4:16-17 “At my first defence, no man stood with me … Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me”.  Paul had the Lord before him, standing at his right hand, and he was strengthened, he was given resolve, he was not moved, “And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom” (2 Tim 4:18).

<<Read more from “Christ in Psalm 16″>>

 Psalm 16:7 : I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.

In v7, the godly believer is brought to a note of praise, in appreciation of the truth of v5-6, “I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel”.  Worship issues forth from a heart which is full of appreciation for all that God has blessed us with and given to us.

When we think of the phrase “who hath given me counsel”, we are again caused to think of our Lord Jesus.  Where did He go for instruction and counsel every day in His life here on earth?  Isaiah 50:4-5 “The Lord GOD hath given Me the tongue of the learned (the instructed One), that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth Mine ear to hear as the learned. The Lord GOD hath opened Mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back”.  These lovely verses tell us the Lord not only was exercised every morning to be in the presence of His God, and to hear instruction from His God, but He then was not rebellious to the instruction He received.

Where then does the godly believer go for counsel?  There is no shortage of ideas and counsel in our world, but that is all man’s wisdom.  We need divine wisdom, we need divine counsel, and we only get that from the Word of God, for the Bible must be our only authority.  The only way God instructs us today is through the scriptures of truth.  And when we do receive His counsel, we must not be rebellious, we must move in obedience to all that God reveals to us in His precious Word.

Then further, “my reins also instruct me in the night seasons”.  How applicable to our Lord in His earthly pathway, as we think of His night seasons, those prayer vigils on the Galilean hills, when He continued all night in prayer to His God.  The reins, His innermost being, always responded to the divine instruction He received.  For us too, “the night seasons” can be times of quiet meditation, when we enjoy the things of God, and when we can receive instruction from the Lord.

<<Read more from “Christ in Psalm 16″>>

Psalm 16:6 : The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage

The godly believer, moving as a pilgrim in this world, will recognise all that God is doing for him, and in appreciation of the blessings of his God, will surely acknowledge, “The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage”.

We perhaps think of this verse particularly in terms of the physical; the idea of “the lot” in v5 and “the lines” here in v6 relate back to the days of Joshua, when the promised land was divided up, a lot for each different tribe of the children of Israel, divided up by lines.  We certainly should be thankful to God that we live in a country such as Canada where we are not being hounded and persecuted, at least not presently, because of our faith in Christ and our desire to bear testimony for Him.  We certainly are thankful that we were not born or are living in a country where the preaching of the gospel never takes place.  We can appreciate that “The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places”.

But also in the spiritual context, we can all say as believers in the Lord Jesus, that spiritually, “The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places”.  We enjoy a settled peace spiritually, we know real spiritual contentment, as we bask in all the blessings God has bestowed upon us.

As we would meditate upon all that is ours in Christ, we are brought to say “yea, I have a goodly heritage”.  Those of us who were privileged to be born into a home of believers, brought up hearing the gospel, taken to assembly gatherings, found under the sound of the good Word of God from an early age, we ought to appreciate what a goodly spiritual heritage we have been given.

There are many who have that kind of upbringing, yet they have turned away to the empty things of this world, and are nowhere now as far as the things of God are concerned.  No doubt we can all think of those who had the same “goodly heritage” as we had, they listened to the same teaching, but they have not “continued stedfastly”, and they gave it all up.  We must not despise our goodly spiritual heritage.  Timothy was one who had a goodly spiritual heritage, from a child he knew the scriptures, he was under the godly direction of a faithful mother and grandmother.  Says Paul to Timothy, “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, knowing of whom thou hast learned them” (2 Tim 3:14).

<<Read more from “Christ in Psalm 16″>>

 Psalm 16:5 : The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: Thou maintainest my lot.

The godly believer who takes the path of the pilgrim will find their portion and all their satisfaction (their cup) in the things of their God.  Here again, we have a verse entirely consistent with the character of our Saviour in His pilgrim life here below, for He found all His satisfaction in His God and the things of God.  “I delight to do Thy pleasure, O my God” (Psalm 40:8, Newberry margin).  “I do always those things that please Him” (John 8:21).

There is doubtless a reference here to the inheritance of the priestly tribe of Levi (Numbers 18).  All the other tribes had land apportioned to them, but for the Levites, the Lord was their portion.  God says to the Levites, “Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part (portion) and thine inheritance among the children of Israel” (Num 18:20).  The Lord Jesus was the true Levite, and He found all His portion and satisfaction in the things of His God.  It was the Father’s work and the Father’s purpose that urgently and entirely preoccupied His life; “I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work” (John 9:4).  We think of the perfect satisfaction He can express when in prayer to the Father He says “I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do” (John 17:4).

We should recognise that this is David, the king of Israel, speaking these words.  He had his kingdom, his palaces, his land and all His servants.  Yet, David recognises that greater than all these material things, is all that he has secured spiritually in his God.  Do we appreciate that in Christ is all that will truly satisfy.  Do we not sometimes sing ‘Now none but Christ can satisfy’?  Where do we find our satisfaction?  Can we honestly say, “The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup”?  Is the cup of my life filled with the things of the Lord?  It was true of the apostle Paul; “For to me to live is Christ” (Phil 1:21).  Paul is saying that if you were to take away Christ from his life, there would be nothing left of any consequence.  Are we there; is Christ everything to us?  Is there anything in this world that is more important to any of us, or that has a greater claim upon our hearts and desires?  We can all challenge our hearts in respect of these things.

<<Read more from “Christ in Psalm 16″>>

Psalm 16:4 : 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.

Here is a solemn warning for those who go after “another god”.  The goodness of the one true God brings infinite and eternal blessing, but for those who reject God’s goodness, and pursue false gods, “Their sorrows shall be multiplied”.  The language of v4 implies that such engage in religious ceremonies and ritual practices, but it is all rejected and hated by God, and He will not take up their names on His lips by way of blessing.  All He will ever have to say to those who reject the one true God, His Son the only Saviour and the finished saving work of Christ upon the cross is “Depart from Me, all ye workers of iniquity” (Luke 13:27).

The Lord Jesus, as a Man in this world, was perfectly separated in His devotion, exclusively giving Himself to the true things of His Father.  We hear Him say at the age of 12, Luke 2:49 “I must be about My Father’s business”.  As the Father looked down from heaven and observed His Son, He was pleased to take up His Son’s Name upon His lips, and testify to the delight He found in the Person of His beloved Son.  We have already thought of this at His baptism, and we hear it again on the mount of transfiguration; Peter says “For He received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (2 Peter 1:17).  The Father was ever delighting in the Son who had kept Himself separate from all the failure of Israel, and was pleased to bear testimony to His Son in such a way.

Likewise the godly believer, moving as a pilgrim in this world, will keep separate from all forms of idolatry that is practiced by unbelieving men.  “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21).  How important it is that, as the saints (holy ones) of God, we keep ourselves utterly separate from anything not of God, from anything that might take God’s place in our lives, for anything that we love and give ourselves to, is an idol.  This is a separation that all who are the saints of God must practice, if we are going to be pleasing to our God.

<<Read more from “Christ in Psalm 16″>>