This is a Psalm About Joy: The Bible has lots to say about Joy Used some 158 Times God Himself is to be the Object of Our Joy: Ps 43:4 Isa 61:10a

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1 Psalm 16 This is a Psalm About Joy: Although the word Joy appears only once in this Psalm, it doesn t take away the fact that Joy is at the root of this Psalm and it doesn t diminish from its power of instruction. In this Psalm we have before us the components of joy, its make-up, what it s made of and how we may enjoy it. Some of the words in this Psalm, Gladness, Rejoicing, Pleasure, these words and more just simply help describe true spiritual Joy. I believe we struggle with Joy, in part because of the culture in which we live, that it is so pleasure oriented, and its striving for happiness. I also believe our personalities and upbringing greatly influences our understanding and experience of Joy. But ultimately true Joy has nothing to do with all of that because Joy is Spiritual and comes only from an intimate relationship with Christ. The Bible has lots to say about Joy Used some 158 Times God Himself is to be the Object of Our Joy: Ps 43:4 Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; Isa 61:10a I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God.. In Old Testament: The idea of joy is expressed by a wealth of synonymous and terms that cannot easily be differentiated. To: Leap, Spring or Spin Around, Pleasure, Rejoice, Exult In the New Testament: Joy is the gospel. It is the appropriate response of man to the "good tidings of great joy" which constitute the gospel. Jesus Says Our Joy Comes From Him: John 17:13 But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. John 16:22 Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. In Everything We Do Joy Has a Part.Joy One of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit: Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Joy in the Holy Spirit: Rom 14:17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Joy in the Faith: Phil 1:25 And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, Joy in Hope: Rom 12:12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; Joy in Fellowship: Rom 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Joy Commanded: Phil 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Joy to be Permanent and Full: John 15:11 "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. 1

2 Joy is not something we can manufacture in ourselves, but is a by-product of fellowship with God. Joy is not dependent on circumstance as we will see, nor is it momentary. It is the deep abiding of Christ in our lives, His presence, that goes well past our feelings, emotions or circumstance. Let me throw something out at you to think about, to illustrate a point... The parable of two sons, One the prodigal, One who is faithful. The prodigal thinks of what he doesn t have and if he gets what he wants (his inheritance) he would experience Joy and the fullness of life; this is always the promise of sin and of self seeking, and self promotion. However as we discover in the story he doesn t experience any fulfillment or true Joy, until he figures out that he has nothing. The faithful son What he thought he had (faithful service) was really nothing, there was no joy, and all he thought he possessed, had become a bitter experience. Luke 15:17-19 Luke 15:28-30 Both had lost their way Both had lost their Joy. True spiritual Joy doesn t involve what we have or don t have. Or what we think we have or don t have. For I believe as our Psalm will bear me out, that true Joy is a result of being in the Lord s presence, a result of a relationship with God. Joy is repeatedly shown to be the natural outcome of fellowship with God. Joy is the expression of the heart and satisfaction of the Soul Joy is what is left when everything is taken away. It is God Himself. This True Spiritual Joy is Unspeakable.. 1 Peter 1:8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, We will see in our Psalm, the Lord s deep desire and interest for us to experience Him and its resulting consequence of Joy. In this Psalm we see It is God Himself who creates an awesome environment in order for Joy to grow and flourish in our lives and that He also creates and uses circumstances to produce the desired Joy He has for His Children. It is God Who 1. Preserves Us Vs 1 2. Makes Us Excellent and Delightful to Himself and Others Vs3 3. Is Our Inheritance and Portion Vs5 4. Maintains Us Vs5 5. Makes Our Boundaries Pleasant Vs6 6. Gives Council and Instruction Vs7 7. Makes Us Secure Vs8 8. Makes Our Heart Glad, Rejoicing, and at Rest Vs9 9. Ensures That We Won t See Decay Vs Gives Us Path of Life Vs Brings Us Into His Presence Vs Gives Eternal Pleasure Vs11 2

3 Our Part, Our Response That We Might Experience True Spiritual Joy. 1. I Will Put my Trust in Him Vs1 (Personal Faith) 2. I Will Admit My Own Un-Righteousness Vs2 (Personal Sin) 3. I Will Delight In God s People Vs3 (Public Worship) 4. I Will Not Worship Anything Other Than God Vs4 (Personal Fidelity) 5. I Will Look to God for Satisfaction Vs5 (Personal Devotion) 6. I Will Look to God for My Protection Vs5 (Personal Safety) 7. I Will Bless the Lord Vs7 (Personal Worship) 8. I Will Be Teachable Vs7 (Personal Study) 9. I Will Set the Lord Before Me Vs8 (Personal Meditation) 10. I Will Place Him at My Right Hand Vs8 (Personal Everyday Activities) 11. I Will Be Obedient Vs8 (Personal Discipline) 12. I Will Rest in Hope Vs9 (Personal Confidence) Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust. [Preserve Me] It Appears that he might be in imminent danger. Don t think it strange. How we, kick and scream when faced with this situation. We hate it when we find ourselves in this situation, but it is the very means, vehicle by which God uses to bring a full expression of His joy in our lives. James 1:2-3 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. [I Will Trust] I will exercise my personal faith 2 O my soul, you have said to the LORD, "You are my Lord, My goodness is nothing apart from You." [My Lord] The acknowledgment of God and placing Him in His rightful place in his life. [My Goodness is Nothing] I will admit my own unrighteousness I will now acknowledge my own weakness and sin My goodness is nothing except in you; I have no source of goodness of any kind, no hope, life, safety, salvation but in you 3 As for the saints who are on the earth, "They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight." [My Delight] [Excellent Ones] I will join with others in public worship. I will delight in God s people I will find my Joy in fellowship with them. The Psalmist and we need to find our identity with God s people the excellent ones, ones in which you could follow and emulate. What ruins this but our petty jealousies, our fleshly desires that are outside of God. What the Psalmist is declaring is that he has nothing except God in heaven and on earth those who are the friends of God. 3

4 4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god; Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, Nor take up their names on my lips. What a stark contrast here in this verse.very Powerful. The sorrows of the wicked / the Joys of the saved. Joy, Glory, Gladness, Rest, Pleasures all of these are in stark contrast to the sorrows of those who walk contrary to God, and will always be the result of worshipping anything other than God. Temporary happiness, Yes / True Joy, No Jonah 2:8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. [I Will Not] The Psalmist here declares what he won t do, he says I will maintain my personal fidelity to the Lord. I Won t Worship Anything Other Than God.. Ps 1:1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 5 O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. [My Portion] I will look to God for my satisfaction; I will exercise my personal devotion to Him. My share, my part, my cup, is God Himself. (The Levites) [My Cup] Can be translated. My highest joy.that which refreshes. The cup that I drink-that brings Joy, refreshing, and sustains me-is the Lord. I find comfort, refreshment, Joy, in him alone and in no other cup. [Maintain] I will look to God for my protection, He is my personal protection. God protects and keeps what He has given to us. He is the portion of his soul; he is the source of all he has; and God will maintain and preserve all that pertains to God s provision for him. He is the good shepherd; no one can snatch you from His all powerful hand and you cannot escape His ever watchful eye. 6 The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance. [Lines] My boundaries are the best and are pleasant, the best of the land. [Good Inheritance] Heb 9:15 1 Peter 1:3-4 7 I will bless the LORD who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. [I Will Bless] I will bless the Lord in personal worship [Instructs] I will be teachable in my personal study [Night Seasons] Even-in the dark. Notice the word seasons. God s council sets the stage for instruction even when it s dark and we can t see our way. WHAT A PROMISE. Ps 139:11-12 If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall on me," Even the night shall be light about me; 12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You. 8 I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. [Set] Firm. I will maintain my personal mediation of God and His Word. [Right Hand] I will include God in my everyday activities The place of honor, and strength is "at His hand;" that is, he is near us. [Moved] Safe. To Stand, I will be obedient to His Word 4

5 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. [Therefore] Because of all these things The Result My Heart, My Speech and my Body are affected. I m Glad, Rejoicing and Resting, in Faith, Hope and Love, with Trust and Confidence in the Almighty. [Rest] I will have personal confidence in my God. The work of Joy complete bringing rest and hope with it. 10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. Of Course a Prophesy of Christ s Resurrection. This Verse Quoted by Peter and Paul in (Acts 2:22-28 Acts 13:28) [Leave] [To see] That is, to experience; to be acquainted with. Here it means that he would not "experience" corruption The thought simply is, that it would not be "left" there; it would not be suffered to "remain" there. Useless Decay. ---Barnes--- God had plans for His Son and His children.. 11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Here we have not only been kept from death and meaningless decay, but we have been brought to the path of full rich abundant life. The lie of the devil is to tell us that the difficult things that happen to us don t have any value for our lives, that God didn t care and let it happen, you let it happen, or somebody else is to blame, but he whole thing is a waste of pain, suffering and heartache. [Presence] Lit. With your Face or Face to Face. Job 19:25-27 For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; 26 And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God, 27 Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! [Is Fullness of Joy] Not partial joy; not imperfect joy; but PURE joy, full, satisfying, unclouded, unmingled with anything that would diminish its fullness or its brightness; joy that will not be diminished. John 16:24 Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. [Pleasures Forevermore] On this earth and in this flesh our capacity for pain is almost unlimited and pleasure is temporal 5

6 Notice the progression: The path leads to His presence, from His presence we end up at His right hand, from His right hand to pleasures for evermore. Christian joy is no surface happiness that knows no gloom, but is the result of triumphant faith over adverse and trying circumstances, which instead of hindering joy, actually enhance it and develop it. Acts 5:40-42 and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. 42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. Acts 16:23-25 And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. 24 Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. God wants to bring about a full expression of His Joy in our lives and He uses suffering and trials to do it. Only God can do that. John 16:20 Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy LISTEN: Joy is The story of the 3 Hebrew boys thrown into the fire, but in the fire they find God. Dan 3:24-25 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, "Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?" They answered and said to the king, "True, O king." 25 "Look!" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." It s what cannot be burned, their Circumstance was a fierce fire, yet their Environment is in the presence of the Son of God. Free and full of Joy. Joy is.. The story of Job when all is removed through trial and all that is left is God himself. Job 42:5 "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. 6

7 Joy is The story of Mary at the tomb. Everything lost, yet standing in the presence of the Lord. Joy is The story of Christ facing the cross and experiencing the full weight of man s sin all that He has is stripped away, He has surrendered the exercise of all His power and authority, He emptied Himself, even physically His clothes are stripped away from Him. He looked past all of His present suffering, because all of it was coming to an end and He looked at what was going to remain.. Being in the presence of His father, bringing many sons to glory. Heb 12:1-2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Joy is. 2 Cor 8:2 that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. 1 Thess 1:6 And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, Col 1:11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 1 Peter 4:13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. Ps 51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice. 7

8 Joy is that one candle that is lit when all other lights are extinguished. The advantage of the fires of sorrow does not lie in the things which they consume, but in the things which they cannot consume. The sweetest of all the uses of adversity is to show me the joy, which it cannot take away. What is the benefit of our furnace or affection? Precisely the limit of its power, and what it could not do. Why was Jesus God s well beloved? Because He was a man of sorrows? No, but because all His sorrows could not quench His Joy. ---George Matheson--- Neh 8:10 Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." Oh Believer Listen to Our Savior the Captain of Our Salvation. John 16:19 Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. Only Christ could take the symbol of pain and make it a symbol of hope. Questions for Reflection/Application: 1. What do you find joy in? Do you find joy in your Lord? 2. What is your reaction to this statement derived from the Westminster Catechism? Man s chief end is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. 3. So much of the time we can put on a happy face acting like everything is fine when in fact we are dealing with hurts and disappointments in our lives. How does being transparent with each other about our pain and relying on our Lord lead to true joy? 8