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Heart attitudes: Joy - Psalm 16:1-11

This is a sermon by Peter Birnie from the evening service on 28th July 2024.

Click here to read the bible passage. Click here to use larger text.

An audio recording of this sermon is available.

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Heart Attitudes: Joy (Psalm 16)

Intro: (Slide 1) “Clarkson’s farm; good conditions and yet animals not thriving. Very concerning, what could be wrong??? Call the Vet! (Slide 2) When the conditions are good but the growth or the health isn’t then there is real cause for concern. As we look at the heart attitude of Joy tonight (Graham Beynon’s book very helpful), what we need to acknowledge is that conditions are right for God’s people to be full of joy in him, in fact God’s people are commanded to be full of joy in him:

• Think of who he is; utterly perfect, righteous, faithful, holy, compassionate, concerned, present, powerful, the list goes on
• Think of what we are in Jesus as a result; loved, called, forgiven, justified, sanctified, transformed, united with Jesus, incredible future ahead and certain promises for right now.

Conditions for joy are good. And yet many of us, believers in Jesus Christ, we just don’t seem to be thriving, joy doesn’t seem to be growing. How concerning – what is wrong with our hearts? We need to call the doctor, we need to make an appointment with the cardiologist!

 

(Slide 3) Tonight, I want to play the part of the cardiologist’s assistant and so I have a lot of questions to ask as we try to get to the bottom of our joylessness despite Christ-won joy-nurturing conditions.

I want you to try to answer the questions honestly, and if you are a believer to talk to the Lord about them, and then be bold and share some of your answers with your brothers and sisters in Christ in the week to come so that you can pray for and encourage one another as we seek to obey God’s command to be filled with joy. The first set right now are preliminary (waiting room questions) and then after that as we work through Psalm 16 we get to the checklist that really matters.

 

(Slide 4) Preliminary questions then: How glad are you right now (scale of 1-10)? How many days this week have you rejoiced? (7? 0?) How secure are you right now? How confident do you feel about the future? Do you worry about death? As you consider your life right now, would you say it is life in all its fulness? What currently brings you pleasure (and how long does that pleasure last for)?

 

In Psalm 16 we meet a man who is an advertisement for joy and as we read his answer to those preliminary questions I think we all will want what he has got, (Slide 5)  v9-11; “Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. 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.” Here is a man with gladness, rejoicing, security, confidence, with no worries about death, with fullness of life, with pleasure that won’t run dry. Joy that honours God.

           

           1) The exclusive gate to Joy (v1-2)

(Slide 6) The only way to get to the “therefore” of verse 9 in this passage, to that right response of full joy in God that God commands and that David testifies to, is to first go through verses 1-8. Verses 1 and 2 show us that there is an exclusive gate to joy; “Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” This is the most basic truth of Christianity – if God is not your God, if you have not come to him for salvation, if there are things in your life more precious to you than coming to Jesus and following him, then you are barred from real joy.

(Slide 7) Like coming to a huge fortified wall that stretches to the horizon in either direction, there is no access to genuine joy except by coming to God himself – being able to call Jesus “My God”, understanding that without him, whatever else you may have is worth nothing. There may be many many reasons and factors that you would want to include to explain where we are as a nation right now (materially rich and secure and yet in the middle of a mental health crisis and we are empty and bereft of joy) but the fundamental explanation is this; most of our nation, from the leaders right down to Joe Bloggs next door, most of our nation is on the wrong side of this wall. They don’t take refuge in God himself, they have other things where they seek their security and salvation. And they have many things in their life that they want to try to enjoy separate from God, many gifts from God that people want to delight in disconnected from the giver himself.

And so the joy that God commands is unattainable. FACT.

(Slide 8) And so we have the first 2 diagnostic questions from the heavenly cardiologist, q1 from v1 Have you come to Jesus for Salvation? and q2 from v2 Is God first in your life? There are no more important questions to be answered than those. Jesus is the object and the source of joy – if you are not connected to Jesus then you have no access to the source, and if everything else in your life is not a means to knowing Jesus better, to loving him more, to delighting in his character to a greater extent, then something other than joy has become your object (maybe temporary happiness or comfort or entertainment – whatever it is it isn’t Jesus and so is far inferior to joy).

In fact this whole Psalm, though written by David, a man who knew lots about joy, is actually perfectly fulfilled in Jesus. In Acts 2 we see that David is actually speaking about Jesus as he writes this Psalm (in a prophetic way), pointing to the cross and the empty tomb as the gateway to eternal joy. Joy therefore is irrevocably and unbreakingly connected to Jesus. Have you come to Jesus for salvation? Is Jesus first in your life – apart from him you can have no good thing?

 

              2) The vital oxygen of Joy (v2-4)

Maybe your lack of joy has been diagnosed already in those first 2 questions (repent and believe!), but hopefully for many of us we need to go further and so we get to verses 2-4 and the vital oxygen of joy (Slide 9). V2 “I say of the holy people who are in the land, “They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.””

Maybe when you heard me say that Jesus himself is to be your joy rather than anything else, what you imagined was the call to be one of those Monks or Nuns who take themselves away from normal life, swear oaths of silence, get rid of earthly possessions and get on with being super-spiritual people by themselves. Absolutely not. Part of the oxygen of whole-hearted joy in God is a meaningful relationship with the people of God (Slide 10). United with Jesus, the source and object of joy means being united with his joy-filled redeemed people, together praising the one most worthy of praise.

(How much trouble there is in a marriage when the husband wants the wife but doesn’t care for her family, or the wife wants the husband but doesn’t care for his family – dysfunctional and it isn’t long before the cracks show). You can’t have Jesus without the saved people Jesus takes his joy in. So question 3 (Slide 11), V3 Are you a stuck-in member of a church family? If this Network service is the only one you come to or the only involvement you have with God’s people then there is a danger of you wanting Jesus in some sort of false isolation from the holy people in the land that you are to take delight in. Or, maybe you are part of one of the local churches in the Network, but you are still keeping yourself a bit on the outside, not wanting to really commit, not building godly friendships, not wanting to get too involved with all the messiness of the lives of others. If so then the cardiologist can stop asking questions – the diagnosis is clear, your joy is limited because you will not give yourself fully and wholeheartedly in love to the other people connected to Jesus.

If joy can be pictured like a fire, God’s people are like oxygen - they can build you up and help the flames of joy crackle and grow, there is something wonderful and joyful that happens as God’s people gather together united to seek his glory. But there is something else that can extinguish even the most roaring of spiritual blazes, it is something warned of again and again throughout the bible, we must beware the fire blanket of idolatry (Slide 12) v4; “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.”

What does it look like for us to have idols in our lives? Graham Beynon says this; “We must recognise that what we value, and thus take joy in, is too easily dictated by our culture … We need to beware of overvaluing unimportant things.” I think that is very useful and very challenging – often we ask the question about idols as “What has displaced God as most important in your life?” Now this is such a high bar, and we are so generous to ourselves, that the conviction that question is designed to bring just doesn’t land. We say to ourselves, “God still is most important so I am ok.” Graham’s question is better – “Where am I overvaluing unimportant things?” In the area of time, this will often mean taking time away from the oxygen rich arena of God’s people and giving it instead to things that don’t feed joy in Jesus and even smother zeal. (football instead of church, theatre instead of Life Group, grandkids???)

(Slide 13) So there is diagnostic question 4; V4 Are there idols in your life spoiling your love for and devotion to God (where are you overvaluing unimportant things)?

            3) The patterns and disciplines of Joy (v5-8)

Have you ever met a fanatic? (Slide 14) Whether it is fishing equipment, football kits, model trains, records (normally men isn’t it – women on the screen but only because the man who had collected 50,000 LPs had died and this is his family selling them!!!) How does someone get to that point of owning 50,000 records, 3000 football shirts, whole rooms devoted to trainsets, garages full of fishing rods and gadgets? They don’t wake up one day that obsessed, instead they feed their affections and desires for years until most of their life revolves around it. In these cases they feed their affections unimportant things and this is the result (funny but quite sad).

(Slide 15) In verses 5-8 David sets out the patterns and disciplines of joy – here is how we are to feed our hearts so that more and more we obediently are full of joy in God. We are to be thankful, we are to praise, and we are to build structures and routines in our lives that keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. As we feed our affections properly and healthily then our joy in the Lord will increase, and increase that will continue throughout all eternity in his presence.  

(Slide 16) “Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.” David recognises what he has in God – a full portion, a running over cup, utter security in the middle of whatever circumstances that come. The boundary lines in pleasant places (Dad and his review of life – that is what I want people to hear from me). God has been so good to me. God has been so good to you.

I have so much I don’t deserve and I have eternity with Jesus as my inheritance. Learn to be more thankful, deliberately finish your day with things to thank God for. Feed your affections so that you will grow in joy.

 

(Slide 17) “I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.” Where gratitude is a response to things God has done for you, praise is a recognition of the inherent goodness and wonder of God himself. Us British people aren’t naturally very good at praising anyone – we would far rather find the fault and grumble. Well there aren’t any faults in our holy God. But there is so much to praise him for. Even when David woke up in the middle of the night, such was his pattern and habit that it was normal for him to praise God lying there in the darkness. Feed your affections and you will grow in joy.

 

(Slide 18) Happiness and sadness, delighted celebration and deep grief, - these are unavoidable parts of life. Joy in God will deal and cope with the whole range of circumstances and emotions. Throughout everything verse 8 is key; “I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” (Slide 19) There is the finished diagnostic list of questions. Are you thankful? Do you praise? What spiritual disciplines and practical strategies keep your eyes fixed on Jesus?

 

Graham Beynon gives 4 helpful headings as we seek to leave this place and get into a joy producing rhythm in our lives;

• Teach: Pastors and Life Group leaders (Sundays and Wednesdays really matter)
• Remind: Feed your own hunger for God’s word (memorise etc) Godly friendships required.
• Sing: No better way to force grumblers towards praise!
• Pray: Want joy without prayer? “May the odds be always in your favour”!!!

 

Teach, remind, sing, pray, teach, remind, sing pray. Conditions for joy are good. What a saviour we have. What promises we stand on now. What a future we are looking forward to. Should we not respond with joy? Let’s pray.

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