Our Good and God's Delight (Part 1 of 2)

If you'll open your Bibles to Psalm 16, we will be looking at the entire Psalm this morning. Beginning in verse 1:

Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in you. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

The Skeptic's Doubt and Our Ultimate Hope

There was a skeptic who doubted Christianity because he didn't see the Bible's claims in the world around him. It wasn't just miracles; it was things like God protecting his people, despite all the bad things they experience. You may have met such skeptics, or felt your own inner skeptic arise: Where is God in my suffering? What is he doing?

Psalm 16 makes incredible claims that are hard to believe. Our goal this morning is to see how it answers the external skeptic and our internal unbelief. It gives not just hope, but ultimate hope in Jesus Christ. To see this, we must grasp three truths. The first: where our good is found.

Where Our Good Is Found: In the Lord Alone

David starts by telling God to preserve him because he has taken refuge in God. In verse 2: “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” Without the Lord, David has no good. This is striking because David is king, with every luxury. Yet like Moses, who left Egypt's riches for the desert, David says he has nothing good apart from the Lord.

David takes pleasure in what God does in his life. Everything God does is good to him. He knows God is powerful to preserve him, so he commands it—not begging, but demanding as one who has taken refuge. This is a fallen creature commanding God, because God's protection is the right response to those who hide in him.

But how do you hide in God? As fallen sinners, we don't want to, and we can't. Romans 3:11 says, “There is none who seeks God.” Yet Colossians 3:3 tells Christians, “You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” How? Through Jesus Christ's work. We were dead in sins; the solution is to die to that old life and be raised with Christ. Hiding in God means the old rebel dies: fornicators become virgins, liars honest, abusers merciful. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.”

The Christian endures trials, not escaping them, but going through with new life in Christ. God unites us to Jesus, who died our death. Where Christ is, we are.

David may not fully understand this as we do, but he knows without God, no good. The emphasis in Psalm 16 falls on “my Lord.” Because God is Lord, David is confident God preserves him and is his only good. God's sovereignty is crucial for enduring suffering.

Verse 5: “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.” The Lord is David's delicious portion, his inheritance, controlling his destiny. God's sovereign determinism works all for good, even in pain. At funerals, people find comfort in God's control, even in death.

Job, attacked by Satan, refused his wife's advice to curse God: “Shall we receive good from God, and not trouble?” We don't call evil good; we recognize God's actions as satisfying because he is our only good. God allows bad things so we see we have nothing good apart from him—thus, we have the greatest good.

Valuing God's People as a Test of Treasuring God

When you see God as your only good, it changes what you value. Verse 3 gives a litmus test: “As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.” David delights in believers because they bear the Lord's excellent name—like Psalm 8:9, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

This isn't because saints are perfect, but because they bear God's name. Bearing his name means living as believers, despite sin. It changes your disposition toward God's people—you delight in them. I hope you come to church not out of duty, but to love those who bear Christ's name.

Valuing God's people demonstrates salvation. In Hebrews 6:10, true faith shows in “the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.” Jesus embodies this: he came from heaven, endured abuse and death, to redeem sinners because he loves the Father's will. He is the ultimate singer of this psalm, delighting in those the Father gave him.

Yet Jesus prayed to be saved from death (Hebrews 5:7) and was heard—yet suffered and died. He learned obedience through suffering. This forms James 1:2-4: “Count it all joy... when you meet trials... that you may be perfect and complete.” And Hebrews 12:2: Jesus “for the joy set before him endured the cross.” Suffering is evidence of God's purifying work, making us like Christ.

Where Our Good Is Lost: Chasing Other Gods

Verse 4: “The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.” There is no hope turning to non-gods for comfort. Your joy or sorrow connects to whether you seek refuge in God or chase idols. Blessings come to trusters; curses to rebels. Chasing false gods multiplies sorrows.

We don't bow to golden statues, yet Ezekiel condemns elders for taking idols into their hearts—their imaginations.