Psalms 16:7 NIVUK
[7] I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. https://bible.com/bible/113/psa.16.7.NIVUK
Athletes who succeed often have surprising secrets that helped them to win – many of them are even legitimate; some of them become illegitimate if they provide an unfair advantage.
That’s why authorities routinely check on drugs and clothing and shoes to ensure that the competition is all about who is the best, and not who is the best equipped.
But at his breakout Olympic Games in 2008, where he won gold in both the hundred metres and two hundred metres, the Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt had a very unusual secret:
Chicken nuggets.
You see, Usain felt that he couldn’t trust the local food. He wanted to avoid any stomach problems before he raced. So he stuck with food that he knew and recognised: McDonald’s chicken nuggets. And so, with a seemingly unhealthy temporary diet, Usain demolished the opposition and won gold.
When we are facing troubles and hardships, we start to look around for anything that will help us through it. King David did not have a trouble-free life. That much is certain. Here in Psalm 16, David shares his five secrets to making it out the other side of times of suffering and hardship.
And for some of us, his secrets might appear quite unusual.
The first thing we see is that it is a matter of What We Say, in verses 1-3:
Psalms 16:1-3 NIVUK
[1] Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge. [2] I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.’ [3] I say of the holy people who are in the land, ‘They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.’
Here David states that he has taken refuge in the Lord. He would be a man who was familiar with the idea of a refuge. In the mountains there were sheep pens where livestock could take refuge at night and be safe from wild animals. In the great cities such as Jerusalem, there were strongholds and places of refuge where people went when the city was under attack.
In verse 1, David sees God as that refuge; God as his stronghold; God as his high tower.
That is a common concept in the Psalms:
Psalms 61:1-3 NIVUK
[1] Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. [2] From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. [3] For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.
Psalms 62:1-2 NIVUK
[1] Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. [2] Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I shall never be shaken.
Psalms 59:9 NIVUK
[9] You are my strength, I watch for you; you, God, are my fortress. https://bible.com/bible/113/psa.59.9.NIVUK
It is from that refuge that David says two things:
Number One, to God, that he has no gods thing apart from God. God is his number one – literally.
Number Two, that he delights in the holy people in the land. In other words, not in the cunning and sly people and the material gain they might bring.
David here provides us with the survival tips right there: take refuge in God, make God number one and delight in His people.
But how does this work?
Taking refuge in God works because there us no other refuge that can match Him: He is the strongest; He is the greatest. Trusting in anyone else to deliver us through our times of trouble is folly and will likely fail.
Making God number one in our lives loosens our grip on things that should not be number one, as Jesis explained:
Matthew 6:33-34 NIVUK
[33] But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. [34] Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
That means that we are unafraid to lose them provided we keep Jesus:
Philippians 4:11-13 NIVUK
[11] I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. [12] I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. [13] I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Making God’s holy people our delight saves us from the negative peer pressure and influence from those who do not share His values. It also provides us with a group of people on whom we can lean for support when we need them.
They is why we see this:
Romans 12:15 NIVUK
[15] Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. https://bible.com/bible/113/rom.12.15.NIVUK
2 Corinthians 8:14-15 NIVUK
[14] At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, [15] as it is written: ‘The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.’ https://bible.com/bible/113/2co.8.14-15.NIVUK
Fellowship with like-minded people makes us stronger, as King Solomon noted:
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NIVUK
[9] Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labour: [10] if either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no-one to help them up. [11] Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? [12] Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Lone wolf Christians are easily picked off like prey in the wilderness. But Christians who stay together are hard to pick off. They support and strengthen each other.
This is why it is not good for us to be alone.
This is why spending time with like-minded Christians makes us stronger.
But strength and resilience in hard times is not just a case of what we say, it is also a case of Who We Worship:
Psalms 16:4 NIVUK
[4] Those 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. https://bible.com/bible/113/psa.16.4.NIVUK
The Hebrew here is quite interesting. The word used for ‘run’ carries with it the idea of being hasty, impetuous or anxious. We can imagine someone in trouble running to their false god for rescue.
In other words, David here is referring to those who run to something else instead of God.
That provokes a very big question for us: what do we turn to when trouble comes? What is our first port of call in the storms of life? Is it to alcohol? Drugs? Sex? Fantasies? Escapism?
Those who have the Lord as their refuge go to Him first, not once every other option as been exhausted.
The ‘libations of blood’ are sacrifices made up worship to idols. These were not just animals.
In some cases, human sacrifices were used. These were even documented in many verses in the Bible.
Some of them also involved acts of self-harm and mutilation, normally as an act of fevered desperation or hysteria. Elijah encountered such behaviour on Mount Carmel, when he faced off against the prophets of Baal:
1 Kings 18:28 NIVUK
[28] So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed.
People nowadays do this out of a desire for control and an act of desperation when they can no longer cope with their situation.
David states clearly that he won’t do this.
Why, apart from the obvious?
The reason is simple, but profound:
These idols cannot help.
Psalms 115:2-8 NIVUK
[2] Why do the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’ [3] Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. [4] But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. [5] They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. [6] They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell. [7] They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats. [8] Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.
They are utterly useless.
The reality is that nothing and no-one we could go to instead of God will be any use in our situation. Only God is our stronghold. Only God is our refuge.
So we should run to Him – and run to Him first.
Apart from what we say and who we worship, it is also a case of Who Satisfies Us.
Psalms 16:5-6 NIVUK
[5] Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. [6] The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.
There is nothing that undermines our inner strength and resilience quicker that dissatisfaction and a negative, complaining spirit.
On the other hand, there is nothing that strengthens it more than being satisfied with what we have.
As Solomon said:
Ecclesiastes 5:18 NIVUK
[18] This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labour under the sun during the few days of life God has given them – for this is their lot.
And in a more upbeat fashion, the Apostle Paul:
1 Timothy 6:6-8 NIVUK
[6] But godliness with contentment is great gain. [7] For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. [8] But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
Philippians 4:12-13 NIVUK
[12] I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. [13] I can do all this through him who gives me strength. https://bible.com/bible/113/php.4.12-13.NIVUK
David here mentions five pictures of a satisfied life that were very common among the ancient Israelites:
· Portion – which refers to a measure or allotment of food. The Hebrew word for this is ‘mana’, which reminds us of the following verse that was said about the Israelites gathering manna for the first time:
Exodus 16:18 NIVUK
[18] And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.
So the sense of this picture is that David has enough to eat.
· Cup. This a picture that David has enough to drink – certainly not a given in a land on the edge of great Middle Eastern deserts.
· Lot. This is nothing to do with gambling. Instead, the drawing of lots or the casting of the Urin and Thumim were often used to make decisions to settle disputes and allocate property. What David is saying is that the seeming randomness of life has been directed by God in his favour.
· Boundary lines. When Israel entered the Promised Land, it was divided up by lot between the tribes and families. This allotment should not be changed, as the law said:
Deuteronomy 19:14 NIVUK
[14] Do not move your neighbour’s boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess. https://bible.com/bible/113/deu.19.14.NIVUK
David is saying that he – and his family – have received good land from the Lord.
· Inheritance. This is a picture taken up in great detail in Galatians 3:23-4:7. Peter also has this to say about it:
1 Peter 1:3-5 NIVUK
[3] Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, [4] and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, [5] who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
An inheritance is something we don’t necessarily receive now, but will receive later. That makes it the perfect picture of God’s promises, and how we often have to wait on then being fulfilled.
So these five pictures refer how we are – or, at least, ought to be, satisfied with that God has done for us now and will do in the future.
That then leaves us with something very challenging to think about. While some of our suffering is external – caused by things that are not under our control, some of it is internal and caused by our perception of the situation we find ourselves in.
Things might not be great for us how, but our attitude towards them can make them a lot worse.
This song of resilience in trouble points to a very interesting fact, that we can affect our response to it and we can make things much easier for ourselves by rejecting the absolute folly of comparing our situation with other people and simply being satisfied with what we have and where we are.
The Israelites give us a spectacular warning about this. God was providing incredible miracles for them: manna and water in the lifeless desert. Yet they were not happy. They missed the rich foods (although not the slavery) of their previous life in Egypt.
But there is never any future in nostalgia.
There is no looking forward when you live your life in the rear view mirror. Look what happened to them:
1 Corinthians 10:10-12 NIV
[10] And do not grumble, as some of them did – and were killed by the destroying angel. [11] These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. [12] So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
Having a negative attitude towards where you are right now can have a seriously negative impact on your future.
Not to mention your present.
So we have seen that our resilience – our inner strength in times of trouble – depends on what we say, who we worship and who satisfies us.
It also depends on Who we Follow:
And I don’t just mean this in a social media sense – although or would certainly do us no harm ro cleanse our feed of those who seek to drag us down to their level.
What I mean is this:
Psalms 16:7-8 NIVUK
[7] I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. [8] I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. https://bible.com/bible/113/psa.16.7-8.NIVUK
These two verses contain some very specific insights on what this means.
We should firstly listen to the Lord. We should receive His counsel. We should receive His advice and guidance.
Where do we find them?
In the Bible.
Imagine a conversation that I'm sure is played out in many families:
‘You all don’t like me. You never speak to me on the telephone.’
‘Well, we try to, but you never take our calls.’
If you want to hear from God and receive His counsel, above and beyond everything else, you must seek it in His Word.
Where else would you find it?
A key part of this is what happens at night.
David says his heart instructs him. The modern term for that is ‘self-talk’. This does not mean that David was mad. What it means that, when the night was at its darkest, the Biblical truths he had learned and placed in his heart were repeated and encouraged and counselled him.
In effect, David was preaching to himself.
Regulating our self-talk is a key skill to strengthen our resilience.
Think about it for a second. What happens when things start to go wrong? Are you hit with a huge wave of crippling self-doubt? How about condemning thoughts? Or vicious, horrible put-downs about your ability to endure and succeed?
Let me tell you a secret that has changed my life: you can silence those thoughts.
You can stop them pushing you onto a death spiral of distress, decay and anxiety.
It can be done.
I know it can be done.
Because I have done it.
And it begins by filling your heart with the Bible, memorising verses that help you when you are stressed, and repeating them in your head when stress comes again.
It begins by you taking control of the situation and being your own preacher.
This causes the heart to stop beating so fast, the pulse to stop racing, the palms to stop sweating and the thoughts to calm down.
This helps you to consider clearly how you can get yourself out of the situation you are in.
And it begins with setting up your heart to be able to counsel you.
So if you want to being your nightmares to an end in the darkest of nights, let as much of the light of the Word of God into your heart as possible.
As well as listening to the Lord, we also need to learn from the Lord. We need to keep our eyes on Him, read the Gospels – the stories about Him. We need to learn how He coped with the hard times He faced.
We also need to explore the character of God as explained in both Old and New Testaments.
We need to fill our vision with His might and glory and power and grace and love.
There is a very telling verse on what went wrong when Peter was walking on the water before Jesus:
Matthew 14:30 NIVUK
[30] But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’
Peter’s big issue was that he took his eyes off Jesus and turned his gaze to the storm. And when he saw the storm, he feared that it was greater than Jesus.
That is what made him afraid.
The antidote for fear for us is to do the opposite to what Peter did: to take our eyes off the storm and to set our gaze on Jesus. Only then will we realise how all-sufficient He is, how all-powerful He is and how wonderful He is.
When we realise these beautiful truths, He will seem greater than us and the storm will seem smaller.
Lastly, we should stay close to the Lord.
This isn’t just about following.
Sometimes, after we have been on holiday, we notice on Facebook that someone has seen our photos and gone to the exact same place as us, often as long as a year or two later.
They have followed us. But not closely.
Look at what David said. He said the Lord is at his right hand. This means that he is standing next to the Lord. The right hand side was also considered as a picture of strength and might. The fact the Lord is standing there illustrates this verse:
Jeremiah 17:5-8 NIVUK
[5] This is what the Lord says: ‘Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. [6] That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no-one lives. [7] ‘But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. [8] They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.’ https://bible.com/bible/113/jer.17.5-8.NIVUK
The picture of the Lord being at David’s right hand is a picture of his strength being in the Lord, his coming from the Lord, his trust being in the Lord, and it is because of these that David is victorious against the hard times he faces.
These three elements of listening to the Lord, learning from the Lord and staying close to the Lord are what make Christians resilient and strong to face each struggle.
That’s all well and good. However, if we get this right – if we pay careful attention to what we say, who we worship, who satisfies us and who we will follow, what happens?
David tells us:
Psalms 16:9-11 NIVUK
[9] Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, [10] because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. [11] 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.
These are quite some verses.
So important are they for New Testament thinking that they are quoted twice in Acts by two different people: Peter (Acts 2:25-28) and Paul (Acts 13:35).
And yet there us a twist here.
At first glance, David appears to be talking about himself. Yet he can’t be, as Peter points out:
Acts 2:29-32 NIVUK
[29] ‘Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. [30] But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. [31] Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. [32] God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it.
In other words, these verses are not about David. They are, in fact, a foreshadow of David’s descendent Jesus, who was raised from the dead and did not decay.
Hallelujah!
But what does this mean for us, in the context of resilience?
Sports teams – specifically Scottish sports teams – have the habit of winning an extraordinary and unexpectedly victory over serious opposition, then playing a game
against lesser opposition and losing. It might be frustrating, but it certainly keeps our sport interesting.
Jesus is not like that. He has conquered death (2 Timothy 1:9-10). Death is our greatest foe – the one we think is out to get us and which we believe we cannot defeat. Oscar Wilde provided the well-known quip that ‘Death is the ultimate statistic – one out of one people die’.
Yet Jesus has conquered death. Jesus has defeated death.
There is no enemy left to conquer.
Our role in this is to accept this victory, to live in the shadow of this victory, and to not allow lesser enemies to trip us up.
These verses are a promise: a promise that, since death is defeated, then so are our lesser temptations and trials and struggles.
And because of this, we have an eternal hope that can never spoil or fade (1 Peter 1:2-5).
These days there is an entire wellness industry dedicated to things like certain shakes or pills or meditation or yoga or grossly overpriced retreats.
But the sad reality is that most of it is useless. A huge con. Nothing but snake oil. At the very best, time spent out of our troubles can give us a fresh perspective. However, walk in the fresh air will get you that for free.
Resilience in God, however, is so much more than that. It is the ultimate in wellness. It not only guides you to find solutions to your problems and fresh perspectives, it also gives us the hope we need to keep going, even against all the odds from a human viewpoint.
King David did not have everything easy. Unlike most kings or Queens, nothing was handed to him on a plate. Even from the very start of his journey to the throne, he faced enormous opposition.
That is why his Psalms are so very precious.
This is a Psalm that lets us see into his mind to see the inner workings of his resilience. He shares the five secrets on which his resilience depends:
· What we say, both about God and about our fellow believers
· Who we worship, that is, who is number one in our life
· Who satisfies us, because if we seek satisfaction elsewhere then we will be disappointed
· Who we follow – who commands our obedience and guides our self-talk
· What happens – in that if we follow the right path for the previous four, we will experience victory in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.
There are so many adverts nowadays, on social media especially, that tell you how to ‘get ripped in 30 days’ or increase your muscle tone and get fit.
These might be important, but nothing is more important than getting spiritually strong – than being able to withstand all the nonsense life throws at you.
In this Psalm, David tells us how.
I was walking through my town on my way to a supermarket one day when I noticed a sign that initially took me aback. It was a simple sign that told people not to climb into dumpsters.
My first thought was, ‘What kind of fool needs to be told not to climb into a receptacle used to contain garbage?’
But then it struck me: drunk people and people high as kites on drugs are not normally known for their capability to reason. Perhaps someone living on the streets might also be tempted to shelter there. Or perhaps some teenager might do it for a dare.
Of course, the results for doing so can – and for other people, have been – fatal.
If the refuse collectors don’t see you, you could find yourself thrown into the back of a trash-compacting refuse vehicle, from which you are unlikely to emerge alive.
But the very fact that the signs exist tells you that some people are either desperate or bone-headed enough to try it.
The shelter from the storms of life is in this Psalm. The safe place is in the dead of night is in this Psalm. If you run from it and take shelter anywhere else, you are doing the equivalent of taking shelter in a dumpster.
And it will do you no good to shake your fist to heaven as life’s trash pours relentlessly over your head.
Because you chose this. By not taking shelter with Jesus Christ, you chose this.
But for those of us who are taking shelter in Jesus Christ, even our heart – the centre of our self-talk – counsels us in times of stress and darkness.
So I would think that the choice is clear.
And I would hope that the choice for you is Jesus Christ.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank You for these inspired words. Remove me from the stressful spirals and catastrophisation. Take away from me the stress and the anxiety. I don’t want them anymore. I want to put my hope in You. I want to trust You. Amen.
Questions
1. What words in this Psalm give us an indication that David was having a tough time?
2. How does he cope with it? What are the five questions on which our resilience depends?
3. How can we change our self-talk so that our heart counsels us in dark times? How will you do it?
Kommentarer