Tag: psalm-16

A Thanksgiving with a real Flourish; Enter His gates with thanksgiving, enter His courtyards with praise; give thanks to Him, bless His Holy name. Psalm 100

Psalm 100 Authorized (King James) Version

Psalm 100

A Psalm of praise.

1 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
2 Serve the Lord with gladness:
come before his presence with singing.
3 Know ye that the Lord he is God:
it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,
and into his courts with praise:
be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting;
and his truth endureth to all generations.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Just a few small, exceedingly simple, uncomplicated commands …

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.

Serve the Lord with Gladness.

Come before His Presence with singing.

Know ye that the Lord He is God.

Enter into His gates with Thanksgiving.

Enter into His Courts with Praise.

Be thankful unto Him.

Bless His Name.

WHY?

it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting;
and his truth endureth to all generations.

Do we need anymore a better reason to ….

Not just today because it is Thanksgiving and we get to get together with our families and friends, with our church communities; go into the streets, into the homeless shelters serve those who have little to nothing in God’s Kingdom with an abundance of food, clothing, shelter, donated from our own abundance, to sit with them, eat with them, drink with them, talk with them, share a feast of plenty GOD fit for egregious sinners like us, perhaps even watch some football or some other favorite sport, or plan for a calm wild black Friday shopping blitz.

To just read and share the Word of God …

To have some time of personal and group reflection … why do I say “Thanks be to God” anyway? followed by a blessed opportunity to pray with high gratitude!

To sing with whatever great cacophony of noise our thankful hearts can muster;

Give thanks with a grateful heart,
give thanks to the Holy One;
give thanks, because he’s given
Jesus Christ, his Son.
Give thanks with a grateful heart,
give thanks to the Holy One;
give thanks, because he’s given
Jesus Christ, his Son.

And now let the weak say ‘I am strong’,
let the poor say ‘I am rich’,
because of what the Lord has done for us;
and now let the weak say ‘I am strong’,
let the poor say ‘I am rich’,
because of what the Lord has done for us.
Give thanks…

Author

Henry Smith *© Copyright 1978 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music

A Call to Thanksgiving

Psalm 100 Easy-to-Read Version

A song of thanks.

100 Earth, sing to the Lord!
2 Be happy as you serve the Lord!
    Come before him with happy songs!
3 Know that the Lord is God.
    He made us, and we belong to him.
    We are his people, the sheep he takes care of.
4 Come through the gates to his Temple giving thanks to him.
    Enter his courtyards with songs of praise.
    Honor him and bless his name.
5 The Lord is good!
    There is no end to his faithful love.
    We can trust him forever and ever!

Find it from some place deep in your soul to Sing … Thanks Be to God …

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! … Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!

Leave ‘somber’ behind…place God at the center, the forefront of your thoughts.

What do we have to lose but … sadness, tears, grief, anger, misery, loneliness?

What do we have to gain?

1 Corinthians 13 Easy-to-Read Version

Let Love Be Your Guide

13 I may speak in different languages, whether human or even of angels. But if I don’t have love, I am only a noisy bell or a ringing cymbal. 2 I may have the gift of prophecy, I may understand all secrets and know everything there is to know, and I may have faith so great that I can move mountains. But even with all this, if I don’t have love, I am nothing. 3 I may give away everything I have to help others, and I may even give my body as an offering to be burned. But I gain nothing by doing all this if I don’t have love.

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. 5 Love is not rude, it is not selfish, and it cannot be made angry easily. Love does not remember wrongs done against it. 6 Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth. 7 Love never gives up on people. It never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits.

8 Love will never end. But all those gifts will come to an end—even the gift of prophecy, the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages, and the gift of knowledge. 9 These will all end because this knowledge and these prophecies we have are not complete. 10 But when perfection comes, the things that are not complete will end.

11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, and I made plans like a child. When I became a man, I stopped those childish ways. 12 It is the same with us. Now we see God as if we are looking at a reflection in a mirror. But then, in the future, we will see him right before our eyes. Now I know only a part, but at that time I will know fully, as God has known me. 13 So these three things continue: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love.

Loving one another isn’t a simple one to five minute matter of warm, fuzzy feelings and weak knees and pounding hearts. It’s a matter of doing the right thing because that’s what Jesus would do and did. Sometimes it can even bring unpleasant results for us. Hardcore loving often calls for doing the unexpected.

As followers of Jesus, we know that love is not something we can just opt to do or not do. It’s a command from our Master, whose life showed us how to love.

If we’re ever asked why we are show­ing love, we can answer, “Because we’re disciples of someone who loves us. We do it for Jesus’ sake.”

What’s more, we can show love only by the ­power of Holy Spirit working in us.

Then we’re able, like the twelve apostles, to witness, testify to, we’re serving Christ by loving the people we interact with and serve (Matthew 14:13-21).

Loving “one another” is often challenging.

It may call us to love the strong-willed child or an aging parent or spouse angry with dementia.

At home or church it may involve loving someone who is always negative and critical.

At work it may be the coworker claiming to be indispensable while barely doing their job.

It may mean foregoing a new coat so that someone else can have one.

The “other” in our lives could be some­one we don’t even know but who comes to love Jesus because of something we did.

To whom will you show gratitude and thankfulness of Jesus’ love today?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 16 Authorized (King James) Version

Psalm 16

Michtam of David.

1 Preserve me, O God:
for in thee do I put my trust.
2 O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord,
Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;
3 but to the saints that are in the earth,
and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.
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.
5 The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup:
thou maintainest my lot.
6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places;
yea, I have a goodly heritage.

7 I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel:
my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.
8 I have set the Lord always before me:
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth:
my flesh also shall rest in hope.
10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell;
neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
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.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

https://translate.google.com/

The sorrows of those who dare to run after another god will truly multiply. Challenging situations where folks must be running to God. Psalm 16:4

Psalm 16:1-5 English Standard Version

You Will Not Abandon My Soul

A Miktam[a] of David.

16 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
    I have no good apart from you.”

3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
    in whom is all my delight.[b]

4 The sorrows of those who run after[c] another god shall multiply;
    their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
    or take their names on my lips.

5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
    you hold my lot.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

People make all kinds of choices – great, neutral, simple, easy, safe, complex, life and death, tasty (Psalm 34:8) distasteful but necessary, 100% catastrophic.  

David says, in the midst of his words about choosing to follow and come under the protection, care, benevolence of God, that many people will inexplicably  choose otherwise.  They worship, take another god or gods: little gods, or idols.  

David observes how they singe mindedly pursue idolatry and how that lifestyle never seems to take long before it reaps a multiplication of big sorrows in lives.

Sorrow is defined as:

A feeling of deep distress caused by loss, disappointment, or other misfortune suffered by oneself or others.

synonyms: sadness, unhappiness, misery, despondency, regret, depression,despair, desolation, dejection, wretchedness, gloom, dolefulness,melancholy, woe, heartache, and grief.

In the midst of ten other uplifting verses, verse 4 of Psalm 16 is the one sad one.

It does not seem to be a specific rebuke or a call to repentance for the people of God who’ll one day go or they have already gone wayward and become spiritual adulteresses, but a “just saying”, matter-of-fact, or it-is-what-it-is, truthful assessment of the sinful human race that the people of God are surrounded by.

I have not wanted to write on this verse, because it is ugly.  It is not good news.

The fact that people “choose otherwise” and “wed themselves” to another god, is greatly distasteful and repulsive to me.  It is discouraging and mind-blowing.

But, I get it, that we all need salvation and deliverance.  I was not born saved. I was 41 years old and had to be broken (left hip) down and saved and so set free.

I was deceived by my own thoughts and beliefs and my own hatred of God and in bondage to all those lustful things which draw a young man into true misery. 

Jesus saved and delivered me.  The thought of not serving him is distasteful, but I understand and have compassion for those who are deceived and in bondage.

Humans were designed for relationship with God, the one and only true God.

That relationship involves bowing and kneeling down to and coming under the reign and sovereignty of God, and receiving 24 hours a day 7 day care from God. 

From the beginning, we were created in the Image of God to worship, serve God.

We obey God and live our lives before God with one another.  

God is good and God is love, by the way.

God does not force people to come into relationship with him.  

He relentlessly loves people who have not chosen him and is kind to them.  

Yet, many people will still choose to wed themselves otherwise.  We are designed to be worshipers and serve God and to be 100% cared for by God.

The idea is we have, of our own free will chosen to be in a covenant relationship with God where we are giving fidelity to God, and we are taken care of by God.

Folks who say, “thanks but no thanks”, to God, then and now, are choosing to make themselves vulnerable to idolatry.  By choosing not to follow God, they are open to following someone else.  And who, whom you follow is your “god”.

David had to have observed the pagan religions of his geographic area, who did “drink offerings of blood”, and “spoke the names”.  

This was the popular pagan idolatry that surrounded Israel.

David, in line with the OT commands, says, “I will not do that”.

Remember the first of the 10 commandments is, “No other gods”, and the second is, “No graven images (carved idol or representation of a god used in worship)”.

Something we observe, is that if a person does not choose God, that they often choose “gods”.

It is easy to see this with people in other religions, especially ones that involve prayer and/or have statues (idols).

Sometimes, people who say they have ‘no religion’ are also choosing another god or gods.

That god or those gods are things like their self, humanism, or libertine-ism, for example.  Narcissism is a very popular religion today.  Money also gets a lot of worship time.  And money is not the root of all evil, but the love of money is.

What David is saying in this side-note in Psalm 16, verse 4; is that these other paths that people choose, are paths of deep sorrow, sadness, and grief.  

There is no happiness outside of the God of the Bible, the One God, The Creator, and His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Those outside, who have chosen others, can really only distract themselves, get “mood altered”, be in more of a distracted state of mind, and be more and more deceived, then living and becoming deceivers to others who have yet to choose.

Death, destruction, and massive heartache seems to be their only assured and chosen inheritance.

Challenging Situations Where Christians Must Run to God.

Psalm 16:4-6 The Message

4 Don’t just go shopping for a god.
    Gods are not for sale.
I swear I’ll never treat god-names
    like brand-names.

5-6 My choice is you, God, first and only.
    And now I find I’m your choice!
You set me up with a house and yard.
    And then you made me your heir!

In our greatest needs and facing our most difficult obstacles, we desperately need God. It’s urgent we run to Him and not the failing philosophies of man.

Every need we have is answered in who God is.

Here are some (far from all) of the times we need to run to our Father God.

1. Run to God When You Need Wisdom

We aren’t God, and His thoughts and ways are way beyond us (Isaiah 55:8-9).

But that does not mean we shouldn’t run to Him when we get confused, or when we desperately need His perspective for decisions or to deal with tough circumstances. 

The writer of Proverbs (3:5-8) we should not lean on our own understanding — our own wisdom — but rather we submit to God and allow Him to direct us.

The wisest place to begin that submission is in the living Scriptures, which offer every manner of guidance for many areas of Christian living (2 Timothy 3:16).

God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3 ).

Paul said we should come to God with all our requests (Philippians 4:6).

That certainly would include a plea for wisdom. James specifically encouraged believers to pray for wisdom or discernment concerning their trials (James 1:5). 

James 1:5-8 The Message

5-8 If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

When nothing makes sense, or when you struggle to understand, turn to the matchless wisdom of God.

2. Run to God When Fears Assault You

Rather than run in fear or pull inward, Christians are encouraged to press forward with God who reaches out His hand and says, “Do not fear; I will help you” (Isaiah 41:13).

When fears assault, we need courage that comes from His presence.

When afraid, we can run to and trust in Him (Psalm 56:3-4).

God is our refuge, our strength, and our hiding place until the storms of life pass by (Psalm 27:1; 46:1-3; 57:1). 

The Son of God advised His disciples concerning fear.

He told them He would supply His own supernatural peace, and then He urged, “do not be afraid” (John 14:27, 16:33).

Even when we must face horrendous circumstances, threaten to swamp us or drown, it is God’s presence and peace that carries us through. (Mark 4:35-41) 

When fears mount up and threaten to overcome you, remember the Overcomer, Jesus, who came to bring you salvation and peace.

3. Run to God When Life Seems to Fall Apart (Psalm 42)

How truthful or fake do you believe this statement is:

“It’s easier (harder) to accept God’s providence — His caring provision for us based in His sovereign control — when we’re unchallenged by struggles or loss. But when so many things seem to fall apart at the seams and we instantly, innately, fail to see something positive happen, it’s too close to impossible to see any flicker of light.”

Joni Eareckson Tada has suffered greatly as a quadriplegic and with cancer.

In Is God Really in Control? she wrote about the times we wonder what God is up to when life seems to fall apart.

“Real satisfaction comes not in understanding God’s motives,” but in our own efforts at understanding His character, in trusting His promises, and in leaning on Him and resting in Him for everything as the Sovereign who reigns over us, who always knows exactly what He is doing and always does all things well.”

When we experience pain in life that, from a human standpoint, makes us feel everything is falling apart, it’s wise to turn to, lean on, and rest in Father God.

Nothing takes God by surprise, and nothing is outside the span of His control.

All the details of our story — even those things we cannot understand this side of Heaven — are designed with His holy purposes for us and His glory in mind.

He is sovereign, loving, and good. If you are a follower of Christ, one of the Father’s purposes is to make you more like Jesus (Romans 8:28-29), and He can use anything to accomplish that, even things that confuse us or bring us pain.  

Keeping always in the forefront of our minds that God alone is in complete control will help us face your greatest troubles.

When life seems to crumble, put on sneakers, run to and take comfort in Him.

God, Our first and best choice for our closest friend

Proverbs 17:17 The Message

One Who Knows Much Says Little

17 Friends love through all kinds of weather,
    and families stick together in all kinds of trouble.

One of God’s greatest gifts to humanity is relationships. We are created for relationships; we are all designed by God to be in community with others.

We will meet many people over our lifetime.

With some, we will have no more than brief interactions in passing by, and with others we will have friendly acquaintances.

Still others will become friends, even close friends, and others will become best friends forever companions for life.

With some friends our relationships can feel as close as family, like a brother or sister, and we may love them just like family members.

These are friends who will be there in both good times and bad, triumphs and tragedies, times of joy and times of sorrow.

Did you know that, in Jesus, God is actually our closest friend?

He isn’t a passerby who merely sizes us up, or an acquaintance who enters our life from time to time. Jesus is our brother, our closest friend, who gave up his own life so that we can become the adopted children of God, members of God’s everlasting family, and coheirs in his eternal inheritance (see Romans 8:14-17).

https://hymnary.org/text/what_a_friend_we_have_in_jesus_all_our_s

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 42 The Message

42 1-3 A white-tailed deer drinks
    from the creek;
I want to drink God,
    deep drafts of God.
I’m thirsty for God-alive.
I wonder, “Will I ever make it—
    arrive and drink in God’s presence?”
I’m on a diet of tears—
    tears for breakfast, tears for supper.
All day long
    people knock at my door,
Pestering,
    “Where is this God of yours?”

4 These are the things I go over and over,
    emptying out the pockets of my life.
I was always at the head of the worshiping crowd,
    right out in front,
Leading them all,
    eager to arrive and worship,
Shouting praises, singing thanksgiving—
    celebrating, all of us, God’s feast!

5 Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
    Why are you crying the blues?
Fix my eyes on God—
    soon I’ll be praising again.
He puts a smile on my face.
    He’s my God.

6-8 When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse
    everything I know of you,
From Jordan depths to Hermon heights,
    including Mount Mizar.
Chaos calls to chaos,
    to the tune of whitewater rapids.
Your breaking surf, your thundering breakers
    crash and crush me.
Then God promises to love me all day,
    sing songs all through the night!
    My life is God’s prayer.

9-10 Sometimes I ask God, my rock-solid God,
    “Why did you let me down?
Why am I walking around in tears,
    harassed by enemies?”
They’re out for the kill, these
    tormentors with their obscenities,
Taunting day after day,
    “Where is this God of yours?”

11 Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
    Why are you crying the blues?
Fix my eyes on God—
    soon I’ll be praising again.
He puts a smile on my face.
    He’s my God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

https://translate.google.com/

Whom is it, Father, Is it I Lord? Is it my Neighbor? Is it my worst enemy? Just Who is it who can Dwell in God’s own Sanctuary, In His Tabernacle? Psalm 15

Psalm 15 Complete Jewish Bible

15 (0) A psalm of David:

(1) Adonai, who can rest in your tent?
Who can live on your holy mountain?

2 Those who live a blameless life,
who behave uprightly,
who speak truth from their hearts
3 and keep their tongues from slander;
who never do harm to others
or seek to discredit neighbors;
4 who look with scorn on the vile,
but honor those who fear Adonai;
who hold to an oath, no matter the cost;
5 who refuse usury when they lend money
and refuse a bribe to damage the innocent.

Those who do these things
never will be moved.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

“Who shall dwell on your holy hill?”

Though these questions were inspired by God, running deep through the very heart and soul of David, asked, spoken and recorded 3000 years ago, were not edited out of the canon centuries later by scholars and scribes, the questions which David poses in the first verse of this psalm are of utmost importance.

They may strike us as questions that are tied only to times of worship in ancient Israel, but as they have survived and inspired for thousands of years, in His own truth they take us to the very doorstep of heaven asking, Who will enter these gates? Who will enter the Tabernacle of the Lord, Who will rest upon His mountain?

While the answer is explained in the rest of Psalm 15, the general point is one we find throughout New Testament Scripture.

Matthew 5:1-12 Complete Jewish Bible

5 Seeing the crowds, Yeshua walked up the hill. After he sat down, his talmidim came to him, 2 and he began to speak. This is what he taught them:

3 “How blessed are the poor in spirit!
    for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

4 “How blessed are those who mourn!
    for they will be comforted.

5 “How blessed are the meek!
    for they will inherit the Land![a]

6 “How blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness!
    for they will be filled.
7 “How blessed are those who show mercy!
    for they will be shown mercy.

8 “How blessed are the pure in heart!
    for they will see God.

9 “How blessed are those who make peace!
    for they will be called sons of God.

10 “How blessed are those who are persecuted
because they pursue righteousness!
    for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

11 “How blessed you are when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of vicious lies about you because you follow me! 12 Rejoice, be glad, because your reward in heaven is great — they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.

Matthew 11:27-30 Complete Jewish Bible

27 “My Father has handed over everything to me. Indeed, no one fully knows the Son except the Father, and no one fully knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

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

Mark 2:13-17 English Standard Version

Jesus Calls Levi

13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16  And the scribes of[a] the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat[b] with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

John 17:22-26 Complete Jewish Bible

22 The glory which you have given to me, I have given to them; so that they may be one, just as we are one — 23 I united with them and you with me, so that they may be completely one, and the world thus realize that you sent me, and that you have loved them just as you have loved me.

24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am; so that they may see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 Righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these people have known that you sent me. 26 I made your name known to them, and I will continue to make it known; so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I myself may be united with them.”

In addition, The anonymous writer of Hebrews advised his readers to “strive for … the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

The Lord Jesus similarly instructed that “the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:14).

Those who stand on the holy hill of the Lord, enjoy His presence for eternity, then, are those who arrive there by the narrow way, striving after holiness.

Philippians 3:12-21 New American Standard Bible

12 Not that I have already [a]grasped it all or have already become perfect, but I press on if I may also take hold of that [b]for which I was even taken hold of by  Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies  ahead, 14 I  press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  15  Therefore, all who are [c]mature, let’s have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that to you as well; 16 however, let’s keep [d]living by that same standard to which we have attained.

17 Brothers and sisters, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. 18 For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even as I weep, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, 19  whose end is destruction, whose god is their [e]appetite, and whose  glory is in their shame, who have their minds on earthly things. 20 For our  [f]citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21 who will  transform the body of our lowly condition into  conformity with [g]His glorious body,  by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

The sad truth is that too many assume they will dwell on God’s holy hill because they once said a prayer, tithed, walked down an aisle, are a member of a church.

It is a grave mistake to think that those acts on their own will merit eternal life if they are accompanied with living a way of life which gives no evidence of our knowing Christ as Lord.

Matthew 6:1-4 Amplified Bible

Giving to the Poor and Prayer

6 “Be [very] careful not to do your [a]good deeds publicly, to be seen by men; otherwise you will have no reward [prepared and awaiting you] with your Father who is in heaven.

2 “So whenever you give to the poor and do acts of kindness, do not blow a trumpet before you [to advertise it], as the hypocrites do [like actors acting out a role] in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored  and recognized  and praised by men. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, they [already] have their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the poor and do acts of kindness, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing [give in complete secrecy], 4  so that your charitable acts will be done in secret; and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.

Reverend Charles Haddon Spurgeon once preached,

“If the man does not live differently from what he did before … his repentance needs to be repented of, and his conversion is a fiction.”[1]

1 “What Is It to Win a Soul?,” The Sword and the Trowel (December 1879), p 561.

So, who will ascend the hill of the Lord?

It is the one who “walks blamelessly,” in a way which cannot be confused with that of an unbeliever, whose life manifests the reality God has saved him or her.

It is the one whose talk is not marked by slander but who “speaks truth in his heart.”

This is someone who doesn’t merely say what is correct but says what is true, with no gap between what is said and what is lived.

The combination of reading Psalm 15 and looking honestly at ourselves will very likely be discouraging.

Only the Lord Jesus embodies the psalm’s portrayal of holiness to perfection; only He deserves to dwell on His Father’s holy hill, and only because He chose to die for His people’s sins and clothe them with His perfection are we invited, here and now, in this precise moment, in these seasons to live with Him there.

But it is good and right to let the light of God’s Word shine on our hearts and expose what is there, for it’ll move us to repentance, to gratitude to our Savior.

And those who know they will stand there because of Him will seek to be like Him. Consider your walk and your words, and pray that you would be ever more conformed to the image of Christ until you dwell with Him on God’s Holy Hill.

Dwelling in God’s Sanctuary

What is God’s sanctuary?

Probably too many of us think of it only as a church building.

In its widest, richest sense, God’s sanctuary is wherever we experience God.

It is the place where our heart is.

On Sunday, on whatever day meets to read, study, pray over God’s Word, a church building becomes a sanctuary as God’s people gather and make up the building blocks of God’s spiritual temple (2 Corinthians 6:16; 1 Peter 2:5).

There we are inspired, empowered, refreshed, strengthened for another week of work, another week of serving God—out in the sanctuary of God’s vast world.

Psalm 15 reminds us that what pleases God is not rituals but a life that seeks to live God’s way.

When we walk with God on a daily basis, we will do what is right, speak the truth, refuse to slander others, and not harm our neighbors in any way.

What’s more, we won’t be impressed by people who delight in doing wrong or act immorally, mocking God, and we will honor those who faithfully serve God.

We will keep our promises, even when it hurts. And we will help the poor and protect the innocent, taking no part in bribery, fraud, or other corruption.

When we live as the psalmist describes, we experience God’s presence.

This happens not only in church gatherings but also in our everyday activities.

Those who live God’s way are building a life that cannot be shaken—regardless of the way uninvited trials can try to shake up, shift the ground under our feet!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 16 Complete Jewish Bible

16 (0) Mikhtam. By David:

(1) Protect me, God,
for you are my refuge.
2 I said to Adonai, “You are my Lord;
I have nothing good outside of you.”
3 The holy people in the land are the ones
who are worthy of honor; all my pleasure is in them.

4 Those who run after another god
multiply their sorrows;
To such gods I will not offer
drink offerings of blood
or take their names on my lips.

5 Adonai, my assigned portion, my cup:
you safeguard my share.
6 Pleasant places were measured out for me;
I am content with my heritage.

7 I bless Adonai, my counselor;
at night my inmost being instructs me.
8 I always set Adonai before me;
with him at my right hand, I can never be moved;
9 so my heart is glad, my glory rejoices,
and my body too rests in safety;
10 for you will not abandon me to Sh’ol,
you will not let your faithful one see the Abyss.
11 You make me know the path of life;
in your presence is unbounded joy,
in your right hand eternal delight.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Our Source of Authentic Happiness: I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I will have no good apart from you.” Psalm 16

Psalm 16 Complete Jewish Bible

16 (0) Mikhtam. By David:

(1) Protect me, God,
for you are my refuge.
2 I said to Adonai, “You are my Lord;
I have nothing good outside of you.”
3 The holy people in the land are the ones
who are worthy of honor; all my pleasure is in them.

4 Those who run after another god
multiply their sorrows;
To such gods I will not offer
drink offerings of blood
or take their names on my lips.

5 Adonai, my assigned portion, my cup:
you safeguard my share.
6 Pleasant places were measured out for me;
I am content with my heritage.

7 I bless Adonai, my counselor;
at night my inmost being instructs me.
8 I always set Adonai before me;
with him at my right hand, I can never be moved;
9 so my heart is glad, my glory rejoices,
and my body too rests in safety;
10 for you will not abandon me to Sh’ol,
you will not let your faithful one see the Abyss.
11 You make me know the path of life;
in your presence is unbounded joy,
in your right hand eternal delight.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

I Will Have No Good Apart From God …

Psalm 16:1-3 New American Standard Bible 1995

The Lord the Psalmist’s Portion in Life and Deliverer in Death.

A [a]Mikhtam of David.

16 Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You.
2 [b]I said to the Lord, “You are [c]my Lord;
I have no good besides You.”
3 As for the [d]saints who are in the earth,
[e]They are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight.

What do you treasure in this life?

We all have something that brings us great delight or somewhere that just seems restful and right.

Sometimes, though, we catch a glimpse of life without those earthly pleasures.

Maybe it’s illness or even bereavement that clarifies things for us.

What kind of car you drive away from the hospital when you find out that your loved one has been diagnosed with malignant cancer doesn’t matter, does it?

The same goes for your clothes, your jewelry, your gadgets, your house—all of a sudden, they’re not nearly as important as they once seemed.

We can and should enjoy what God has graciously given us.

He “richly provides us with everything to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17). It’s not that the good things of the earth are bad. But what we have in God is so delightful, so rich, that coming to know Him is like discovering a treasure hidden in a field.

That treasure so enraptures us that in our fullness of joy, we will do whatever it takes to get that field and the abundant delights it contains (Matthew 13:44).

Matthew 13:44 New American Standard Bible 1995

Hidden Treasure

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Without the treasure we have in God, as Psalm 16 tells us, we ultimately have no other good.

When we sit down to a bowl of toast, cereal or oatmeal or whatever breakfast may be, in our minds we ought to be saying, Apart from You, Lord, I have no good thing. You’re the one that made the grain to grow. You’re the one who provides my food. 

When we get up and walk out of the door, and have health and strength to do so, who makes it possible for us to walk? When we lie on our beds at night and we can enter into the rest of the evening, who alone makes it possible?

You have no ability even to see these letters, to hold up this book, or to comprehend what you are reading apart from the enabling grace of God.

Only He can preserve and sustain us. Only God gives to us “life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25).

In the end, we will have no good apart from Him—but He has way more than enough goodness to go around. He is the source of all our treasures—and He is Himself our greater treasure.

When we see Him as He truly is, our natural response will be to make Him the center of our life, around which revolve thoughts, decisions, feelings, actions.

That is, you will say to Him, “You are my Lord,” for in His presence “there is fullness of joy,” and at His right hand are “pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).

Where else would you possibly prefer to take refuge, and what else would you treasure more than Him?

The Source of Happiness: our One pathway to God’s life

Psalm 16:7-11 Complete Jewish Bible

7 I bless Adonai, my counselor;
at night my inmost being instructs me.
8 I always set Adonai before me;
with him at my right hand, I can never be moved;
9 so my heart is glad, my glory rejoices,
and my body too rests in safety;
10 for you will not abandon me to Sh’ol,
you will not let your faithful one see the Abyss.
11 You make me know the path of life;
in your presence is unbounded joy,
in your right hand eternal delight.

God created us to enjoy the greatest of happiness: communion with him. We experience true happiness by loving God and enjoying intimacy with him.

In the presence of God there is fullness of joy.

The best gifts in life come from God.

But some people prefer to look elsewhere.

Many seek happiness in money; others, in fame and political power.

People also seek happiness in pleasures, or they follow their dreams of success, hoping to find fulfillment in their lives. But, in the end, they will only discover that those things offer only drugged fleeting. mirage and not true happiness.

Happiness is a legitimate desire.

Many people look for it eagerly every day of their lives, but they end up empty-handed.

The source of happiness is not in things or in our own selfish pursuits, but in God. The best things of this world cannot make us happy, but God can, because he created us, calls us by name, and makes us his own. We become truly happy only when we know God and love him, share Him, with all our heart and soul.

If we do not have a safe guide, it is impossibly easy to take the wrong pathways in life. And whom can we utterly trust but God to faithfully show us the way?

It’s been said that Psalm 16 is a psalm of lament. Yet by the time we finish reading it we can also come to a conclusion that it is a celebratory psalm. Just notice the ending of this psalm, “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

“The path of life” – everyone’s talking about how to find it.

Books in Walmart are filled with such title.

“Joy in your presence” – in a world so dysfunctional and empty joy is the one missing ingredient. “Eternal pleasures at Your right hand” – while earthly goods only offer temporary pleasure God-derived pleasure offers a better alternative, a more lasting fulfillment in the pursuit of His will.

Who would not want any of these?

Psalm 16 also echoes Psalm 14’s assertion that there is no one who does good.

It states, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”

This is why we teach that goodness in and of ourselves alone is never enough to earn our ticket to heaven.

We need someone outside of us to redeem us from the sin nature passed down on us.

This is where a Savior needs to come in to save us – a Savior who once proclaimed through unequivocal terms, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one can come to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

And this Savior’s name is Jesus.

Psalm 16 also contains an admonition, “Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.”

King Solomon, touted to be the wisest person who ever lived, knows this principle all too well.

He pursued various gods in his lifetime – wealth, fame, education, sex and pleasure. He held nothing back and got everything he desired. When he assessed all that he had done and achieved in life, he astonishingly concluded that apart from God everything is but an absolute futility, like chasing after the wind.

The things that truly matter most in life are few and far between.

Faith in a a living and sovereign God is foremost of them. As the psalmist David looks up to this God and affirms His mighty presence he begins to worship, “I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.”

While this psalm is considered a Messianic psalm which is ascribed to the suffering Jesus prophetically, we can say with David, “You will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.”

In God, death loses its sting. Make God your refuge and He will keep you safe and secure – not from trouble but in spite of or in the midst of it all (Psalm 16:1).

In the name of God, the Father, and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 40 Complete Jewish Bible

40 (0) For the leader. A psalm of David:

2 (1) I waited patiently for Adonai,
till he turned toward me and heard my cry.
3 (2) He brought me up from the roaring pit,
up from the muddy ooze,
and set my feet on a rock,
making my footing firm.
4 (3) He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will look on in awe
and put their trust in Adonai.

5 (4) How blessed the man who trusts in Adonai
and does not look to the arrogant
or to those who rely on things that are false.

6 (5) How much you have done, Adonai my God!
Your wonders and your thoughts toward us —
none can compare with you!
I would proclaim them, I would speak about them;
but there’s too much to tell!

7 (6) Sacrifices and grain offerings you don’t want;
burnt offerings and sin offerings you don’t demand.
Instead, you have given me open ears;
8 (7) so then I said, “Here I am! I’m coming!
In the scroll of a book it is written about me.
9 (8) Doing your will, my God, is my joy;
your Torah is in my inmost being.
10 (9) I have proclaimed what is right in the great assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, Adonai, as you know.
11 (10) I did not hide your righteousness in my heart
but declared your faithfulness and salvation;
I did not conceal your grace and truth
from the great assembly.”

12 (11) Adonai, don’t withhold your mercy from me.
Let your grace and truth preserve me always.
13 (12) For numberless evils surround me;
my iniquities engulf me — I can’t even see;
there are more of them than hairs on my head,
so that my courage fails me.
14 (13) Be pleased, Adonai, to rescue me!
Adonai, hurry and help me!
15 (14) May those who seek to sweep me away
be disgraced and humiliated together.
May those who take pleasure in doing me harm
be turned back and put to confusion.
16 (15) May those who jeer at me, “Aha! Aha!”
be aghast because of their shame.

17 (16) But may all those who seek you
be glad and take joy in you.
May those who love your salvation say always,
“Adonai is great and glorious!”

18 (17) But I am poor and needy;
may Adonai think of me.
You are my helper and rescuer;
my God, don’t delay!

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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