Lechem Panim #51 ”The Surrendered Ones” (Psalm 16) Pastor Cameron Ury

We will be continuing today our study of Psalm 16. In it the Psalmist calls to the Lord…

Psalm 16 (ESV) A Miktam of David— 1 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. 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. 5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. 6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. 7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. 8 I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. 10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. 11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

You know, I have been to many bookstores in my lifetime. My section is usually the smallest that they have: Christianity and Theology. Those sections are often dwarfed by another section: the self-help section. And every one of the books in that section is meant to help you achieve excellence in some area of your life. Now I am sure that there are a lot of good books there; some of which are needed. But here in Psalm 16 the excellent ones are those who have done two things. First, they have dis-attached themselves from all other gods and sources of fulfillment and have attached themselves to worship of Yahweh. And that is something we are called to do as well, as we empty our hands of other things in order to embrace Jesus, Yeshua. Jesus’ name (Yeshua) literally means “Yahweh Saves”. And so Jesus is the embodiment of God’s salvation for us. And it is only when we attach ourselves to Him that we have life. But in order to do that we must forsake all other so-called gods, which can be anything that separates us from Him. Paul writes in…

1 Corinthians 10:14-16 (ESV)-- 14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

Those Who Handle The Sacred-- I love what Terry Laughlin says on this passage. He says that [In 1 Corinthians 10:16 the apostle Paul reminds the Corinthian believers about the truths of being under the blood of Christ. He wanted to relay an authoritative message that said if man has eaten the bread in remembrance of the Body of Christ and drunk the wine in remembrance of His Blood, he cannot then fill his heart and life of wickedness.

There was a splendid statue that was done of Jesus Christ by Thorwaldsen. After he had carved it, he was offered a great deal of money to fashion a statue of Venus. His answer was this, "The hand that carved the form of Christ can never carve the form of a heathen goddess."

{And Terry Laughlin points out that} What was true in Corinth at the time of the Apostle Paul's ministry is also true for today. The Christian who has handled the sacred things of Christ cannot soil his soul with things that God calls wickedness. He cannot use the talents, spiritual gifts or possessions that the Lord has given him for personal gain, nor for this world's system of operating, nor surrender them to Satan's control and expect blessings. The child of God who knows that He is in Christ walks a life exemplifying that the work of redemption in his life was for the glory of God. God's plan and the Lord's willingness to redeem fallen mankind now enables the sinner who was once bound by sin the freedom to choose a new life that is God- and Christ-centered. Christians have "Jesus Christ, who gave Himself... to redeem [them] from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good." (Titus 2:14) The King James Bible says Jesus is "purifying unto Himself a peculiar people..." of whom He has a special interest, literally "His treasured people.”]

A Fading Away-- If you truly experience the Lordship of Christ in your life, there will be a fading away of the earthly pattern of doing life. “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.” In your embracing Christ, have you let go of the old idols you used to place your hope in and forsook them, letting them fade away from your life? If you haven’t done that, you need to if you ever truly want to experience God’s life and His salvation.

Evil: The Wrong Place or The Wrong Time-- And guess what; we are not just to let go of evil things, but even some good things. The Psalmist has just said to God, “Besides You, no good.” And in saying that, he is revealing to us that (as one scholar I read put it): [it is possible there are some good things in this world that Yahweh created that are not good. That is, they are not good for me. Why is this so? Because it is possible to use something out of God’s will. {And} What the text is implying is that evil is simply good misused. So the psalmist says, “I have come to the place where I will let You decide what is good for me.” Evil is simply good in the wrong place or at the wrong time. It is not an eternal entity independent of the good gods as it is in most of the religions of the Ancient New East. {He says} even the snake of Genesis 3, which many interpreters equate with Satan, the accuser, in Job is nothing more than a creature of God. Yahweh created everything that exists, so if you find something or someone acting contrary to God’s will, it is not because there is an independent evil force over against the creator God and in eternal conflict with Him. {Rather, he says} In the Old Testament, if something exists, no matter whether it is good or evil, God made it. But the reality is that evil is something that was originally good. {And this scholar says} You can apply this truth in many ways. It is an old adage in the study of anthropology that two people doing the same thing may not be doing the same thing. One may be carrying out the most sacred expression of love, while the other may be performing a brutal rape. So the psalmist is here saying, “I have learned that even if it is good in itself, if it is not part of Your will for me, then it isn’t good for me. It was good when it came from Your hand, but if it is not a part of Your will for me, then it is not good for me. And I will let You make a decision on that.”]

Will He Decide?-- You know, ever single one of us has had to make tough decisions, sometimes choosing between two or more things that may have all been good; what career path to pursue, what job to take, which person to marry, what church to become a part of. And sometimes God allows us some leeway in those choices. But the heart of what it means to live a Christian life and to abide in this thing we call sanctification is this: Will I allow Yahweh to be Lord, and will I allow Him to decide what is good for me? Verse 3 describes the people who submit to the Lordship of Yahweh. It says…

Psalm 16:3-4 (ESV)-- 3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. {But then there is a second group of people. Verse 4 says…} 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.

The qedoshim-- Now here the Psalmist differentiates between two groups. And the first group is the qedoshim, the holy ones. And we will talk more about them next week. But they are the ones who are set apart to God. Now the second group are those who “hasten after another,” ’aher. Now one scholar I read pointed out something very interesting here. He said: [All of our translations say, “The sorrows will increase of those who run after other gods,” but the term “gods” is not found in the Hebrew. The Hebrew simply says, “run after another.” To be sure, the next part of the verse makes it very clear that the writer is ultimately addressing the question of idolatry. But {he says} I am grateful the text here does not specify other “gods.” Your sorrows will increase if you run after anything that is out of the will of God.…Sorrows will increase for those who run after anything other than the will of Yahweh and His sovereign purposes and His sovereign control. He {(the Psalmist)} says, “I will not be a part of those that make their sacrifices to anything other than to Yahweh, that pour out their lives [their blood] for anything other than Yahweh, or that take up their names.” {And then this scholar said something very interesting. He said:} As you know, a person’s language reveals a great deal about that person. If you let me listen to you long enough, I can tell what is in your heart. So, the psalmist says, the very nouns I use, or don’t use, will tell you what my commitments are. My language will reflect the fact that I have set Yahweh always before my face. He is the one whom I seek, and He is the one whom I want to serve.]

[COMMITMENT VS. SURRENDER-- …there is an account of a conversation between the late Adrian Rogers and Rev Josef Tson, the Romanian pastor, author, and president of the Romanian Missionary Society who survived years of persecution and exile under cruel Communist rule. Rogers asked Dr Tson for his perception of American Christianity. Josef said the key word in American Christianity is commitment. This is not good. "As a matter of fact, the word commitment did not come into great usage in the English language until about the 1960s. In Romania we do not even have a word to translate the English word commitment. If you were to use commitment in your message tonight, I would not have a proper word to translate it with. When a new word comes into usage, it generally pushes an old word out. I began to study and found the old word that commitment replaced - the word surrender.” What is the difference between commitment and surrender? “When you make a commitment, you are still in control, no matter how noble the thing you commit to. One can commit to pray, to study the Bible, to give his money, or to commit to automobile payments, or to lose weight. Whatever he chooses to do, he commits to. But surrender is different. If someone holds a gun and asks you to lift your hands in the air as a token of surrender, you don’t tell that person what you are committed to. You simply surrender and do as you are told… Americans love commitment because they are still in control. But the key word is surrender. We are to be slaves to the Lord Jesus Christ.”]

“To Will One Thing”-- And you know, that is often where we as Christians falls short. We want God’s will, but we also want our own. But this pattern of living is in keeping with the second group of people; [the second group of people in the world {(the Psalmist describes)} are those whose motivation is divided, whose motivation is not single. Soren Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher-theologian, said that purity of heart is to will one thing. That describes the psalmist’s heart when he says at the opening of this psalm, “I said to the Lord [Yahweh], ‘You are my Lord.’”] Have you surrendered to Christ as your Lord and Savior; truly surrendered with ALL of your heart?

Today, give Him your whole heart. Let the Lord have His way in you. And you will have life, and have it to full; and you will dwell in peace and security in He who is the source of all goodness. Give your all to Him today. Amen.