Walking by Faith | God as our Refuge, Rest, and Joy | Psalm 16

INTRODUCTION

Walking by faith is basic to the Christian life. We are called to walk by faith and not by sight.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:7 For we live by faith, not by sight.

2 Corinthians 4:18

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

But if we are honest walking by sight comes naturally to us. We look at our circumstances, our health reports, our bank balance. We look at what we can touch, measure, explain, and control. This is how the world lives but believers are called to live differently. As Christians we are called to walk by faith.

Psalm 16
A miktam of David.

1Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.
2I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
3I say of the holy people who are in the land,
“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
4Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.
5Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
6The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
11You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

I invite you to open up your Bibles to Psalm 16. Today, we’ll look at what it means to walk by faith through the lens of Psalm 16. This morning we will look at Psalm 16 under five headings: The first 2 are about faith itself and the last three are about the fruits of faith. Then we will look at Jesus as the great illustration of Psalm 16.

Psalm 16:1-2

1Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.
2I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”

1. EXCLUSIVE DEPENDENCE

Faith is Exclusive Dependence in God

“In you I take refuge.” The meaning of the word refuge is to ‘hide oneself.’

Illustration: I can imagine most of us have distinct memories of being children and playing hide and seek. We try to find the perfect hiding place. We’ve entered into a closet or under a bed where you’re just enveloped by the things around you and completely covered and protected from your friends or your brothers and sisters who are looking for you. And that’s the kind of picture that we get here of “in you I take refuge.”

Psalm 32 mentions God is our hiding place. Taking refuge in God alone.

Psalm 16:2

2I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”

NET Bible’s translation —”You are my only source of well-being.”

We can have family, careers, IPL teams, assets. These are all good things. But however valuable they may be to us, they can never become our deepest confidence. Our confidence comes from God alone. “I have no good,” David says, “apart from you.”

Illustration: Most of the big buildings will have ladders that are used for fire escape. These ladders are escape routes out of a big building.

And in many ways when we start to have confidence of our wellbeing on our career, on our marriage, on the success of our children or on our health, and we can if not careful those escape ladders and putting our trust on something other than God.

What David says in the opening lines is that faith is exclusive dependence on God. It is saying, “I take refuge in you. You’re my hiding place. I’m grounded in you, and in you alone. I have no good apart from you.”

Reflection Question: You might ask, “How do we actually know that we have exclusive dependence upon the Lord?” And the answer is very simple, when we go through a challenge in life, trial or suffering; this reveals where our life is grounded upon. Is our life grounded upon God, who doesn’t change or is our live grounded upon those things that can change? Suffering has a way of loosening our grip on those escape ladders in our lives and tightening our grip upon the Lord himself.

1 Peter 1:7

These (trials) have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

This kind of exclusive dependence leads to the only petition in the Psalm.

Psalm 16:1
1Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.

This is the basic cry of one who walks by faith. “Keep me safe, my God.” I belong to you, Lord. Help. Lord, keep me. Lord, preserve me.” That’s the cry of David in this Psalm.

Keep me safe, my God, “God, we’ve seen your faithfulness in the sending of your son. We know that you are the God who can do everything, that nothing is impossible with you. Lord, preserve me in my life because you are my sole ground of being. You are the only source that things are okay in my life. Lord, preserve me.”

Is that our prayer? That is the prayer and the cry if someone whose exclusive dependence is on the Lord.

So that’s the first point: Faith is Exclusive Dependence in God; God as our Refuge

2. SEPARATION – Exclusive dependence on God requires a separation.

Psalm 16:3-4

3I say of the holy people who are in the land,
“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
4Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.

Which is to say that this faith, which is exclusive dependence, always requires a “no.” It always requires a separation.

When we have an exclusive dependence upon the Lord, then we will have to reject the things that God rejects: things like unforgiveness, dishonesty, greed, sexual immorality, anger and so on. All of these must be rejected in the life of faith.

Too often in our world, there is a desire to say “yes” to God without having to say “no” to anything else. Most of us want God’s blessings without repentance. In other words, we don’t want to say “no” to anything in our lives; we just want God to bless us as we are. We demand his blessing but ignore his call to repentance.

Reflection Question: Is there any habits, secret little indulgences, or idols of some kind that has crept into our hearts that we need to confess and say no to?

So these two points about faith then reveal three fruits of faith as the Psalm continues:

3. THREE FRUITS OF FAITH

a. Contentment – The fruit of contentment

Psalm 16:5-6

5Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
6The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.

The first fruit that we see of this life of faith is the fruit of contentment.

i. Key to David’s contentment – God is my portion

David erupts in celebrating the possession of God himself. “He is on my side; he is my helper,” he’ll say in other Psalms. In this Psalm, “my chosen portion and my cup.” God is always the pearl of great price, and the wise person sells everything that he or she has and goes and buys that one pearl. “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup.”

The inheritance of verse six is God himself. God is David’s beautiful inheritance. God is our treasure. And this recognition is key to a develop contentment whatever those circumstances may be.

Hebrews 10:34

You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.

Having God as our better possession, we can be content in even the most challenging of circumstances in our lives. That is a possibility for us as we walk by faith and not by sight.

ii. Key to David’s contentment – God is my lot

V5 you make my lot secure.
There is peace and contentment that comes from acknowledging that the God of the universe holds our lot, sustains our fate or our destiny. He securely holds and directs that which we in ourselves are powerless to control. And we can affirm with the Apostle Paul that this one who holds our lot is working out all things for the good of those who love him.

Reflection Question:
Is there something in your life right now that you are struggling to accept from God?
Is there a situation, a relationship, or something missing in your life that is making it hard for you to see that God is enough?

The Psalm encourages us to have a joyful perspective even in our present lot. Of course, having said that, I should always say that we can and should work for change in areas that are broken or they’re misaligned with the will of God in his kingdom, especially as God is calling us onward to be conformed more and more to the image of his son and to work for justice and mercy in the world and in our lives. But these verses present a challenge for contentment with our lives, whatever that lot may be, because our portion and our inheritance in our life is God, and that is enough in every circumstance. “You hold my lot.”

b. Confidence

Psalm 16:7-8

7I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

The second fruit of faith in verses 7-8 is confidence in God or courage.

When the psalmist says that he shall not be shaken, this isn’t because he’s so great, because he’s King David, but rather because this God on whom his life depends is the creator of the universe, the one who sustains and preserves all things, the one who redeems, and the only one who never changes or leaves or forsakes us. And he’s banking on this truth to ground him: “I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”

David in Psalm 23 says, “I will fear no evil.” There is to be courage and confidence that flows out of the life of faith because of who God is. And this kind of courage and confidence is not boastful; it’s not rooted in ourselves, but it’s humble and strong, rooted in the Lord himself.

The experience of this kind of courage and confidence in God arises out of the one who actually draws near to God’s presence.

v8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
Which is to say that we cannot ignore God or give God only token moments in our lives and expect this kind of courage and confidence to arise.

James 4:8

Come near to God and he will come near to you.

Of course, God takes the initiative; God is the one who pierces into the darkness; God becomes flesh and dwells among us. God always is the one to initiate with his people. And yet, in that initiation, he issues also an invitation to us to draw near to him.

Psalm 16 often gets compared to Psalm 73:

Psalm 73:28

But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;

Drawing near—there is this element of drawing near to the presence of the one who has already drawn near to you and to me. That undergirds the second fruit of faith in this text, which is courage or confidence in the Lord.

c. Joy

Psalm 16:9-11

9Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
11You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

God, you are the source of my gladness, life, joy, and pleasure.

John 15:11
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Joy is not rooted in the circumstances. Too often our joy is connected to everything that we see in the metrics of the world around us. But the joy of the person of faith is a joy that’s deeply rooted in what is unseen: that God himself is our treasure and our reward.

Transition: David talks about this life of faith where he has:
Exclusive Dependence on God.
He lives a separated life, says no to the things that God says no.
This leads to the fruit of: Contentment, Courage, and Joy and pleasure in life.

We can say, “This sounds great, but it doesn’t sound like me.” We can have this life of faith because, what this Psalm portrays for us is beautifully unpacked, illustrated for in the life of our King and Saviour, Jesus.

Exclusive dependence. Well, Jesus’s entire life and ministry was marked by dependence upon his Father. John 5:30 By myself I can do nothing.” That exclusive dependencies manifested on the cross. Jesus is hanging on a Roman cross, perceived by all around him as a fraud and a failure. And what does he say in that moment? He quotes Luke 23:46 (Ps. 31:5) “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” Jesus’s life was grounded upon his Father alone. There’s exclusive dependence.

Separation. What about the “no” of faith? Well, Jesus didn’t need repentance because he never sinned, but he did need to say “no.” And right after his baptism, when the Spirit descends upon him and we hear that he is the one with whom the Father is well pleased and he is his beloved Son,—he’s led by the Holy Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Those temptations were relevant, powerful, spectacular. We all face those temptations. And what does Jesus do in each case? He says, “No, no, no.” And he reaffirms his exclusive dependence upon the Father: “You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” None of these other things.

Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

So Jesus models the “no/separation” of a life of faith for us.

And then we think about the fruits—these three fruits of contentment and courage and joy.

Contentment

John 13:3-4

3Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

Jesus enacted a parable of what he would do the next day on the cross for them and for everyone. He became a servant. He knew that his lot was held by God, and that knowledge of knowing that God was his beautiful inheritance enabled Jesus then to walk into whatever the Father had asked of him, to walk into that with a contentment and a peace.

What about courage? Drawing near to the Father.

So often in Jesus’s life, we see that he spends all night in prayer to his Father. Jesus is drawing near to God and modeling for us what it looks like to come near to the God of heaven and earth: “I’ve set the lord always before me because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.” Well, how did Jesus live that out? In Gethsemane, he falls on his face; he’s sweating blood because the agony is so deep, and he cries out to his Father in prayer.

Jesus was wrestling, drawing near to God in prayer. And when then Judas and the officers of the chief priests and the Pharisees approached Jesus in the garden, he stands up with courage and says, “Whom do you seek?” And they say, “We’re looking for Jesus of Nazareth.” And instead of hiding, Jesus says, “I am he.” And they draw back. The courage that comes from one who has set the Lord always before him, and “because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken”—we see that modelled in our Lord in the life of faith that he models for us and leads for us.

What about the fruit of joy? Well, Jesus’s ministry is about joy. On the day of Pentecost Peter quotes:

Acts 2:15-28

25David said about him:
“‘I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
26Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest in hope,
27because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
you will not let your holy one see decay.
28You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.’

What David affirmed in hope in this song applies to David’s greater Son. What David affirmed in hope has become an assured reality for us in the resurrection of Jesus.

The resurrection shows us that death itself cannot bring an end to the presence of God in our lives, nor an end to the joy that we have from his presence. It’s the permanence of God’s presence that infuses Psalm 16 with its climactic crescendo at the end of life and joy and pleasure. And it’s the resurrection of Jesus that is the fulfilment of this Psalm, as Peter proclaims on Pentecost.

God is everything that we’ve ever wanted; he is our portion, and the knowledge that nothing can separate us from him, even death itself, is the knowledge that then allows for there to be true and real and lasting joy.

CONCLUSION

So we see in Jesus the one who models the life of faith that David, writes about in Psalm 16. I know that every single one of us doesn’t measure up to this exclusive dependence and saying “no” and to the contentment, courage and joy that flow out of that life. All of us are a work in progress. There’s so much room for us to repent and grow.

Church, this is the beauty of the gospel: where we fall short, Jesus has fulfilled it perfectly. He trusted the Father completely, walked in perfect obedience, and lived the life of faith without failure. He is greater than David, and in Him Psalm 16 reaches its fullest meaning. Through His death and resurrection, Christ now invites us to come to Him, to be hidden in Him, and to find our safety, rest, and joy in Him. Because we are in Christ, we are accepted by the Father, secure in His grace, and strengthened to grow in faith day-by-day.

So the Christian life is not merely trying harder; it is drawing nearer to Jesus. It is learning to say no to what God rejects and yes to the Lord Himself. It is turning from sight to faith, from self to Christ, and from fear to trust. This is the path of life to which our Lord now calls us.

Let me close with these words of Jesus, our King, this invitation.

Matthew 11:28-20

28“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

This is the invitation to each one of us from our Lord himself to walk into him more and more. Let’s pray.

God, we thank you for the invitation through your son to enter in more and more to this life of faith. Thank you that you are the security of our well-being, God. Thank you for the contentment and courage and joy that we can know as we walk by faith. For all the ways, Lord, that the world promises those things to us and that we believe and start to chase after, we ask that you would forgive us and that you would allow us to see through the lies to the truth: that you are our beautiful inheritance, the source of all contentment, all courage, all joy and life and pleasure. How we worship and praise you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.