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341. Pleasures Forevermore

Psalm 16, Acts 2:25-35
Key Verse: "You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."
Psalm 16:11

What a difference in the meaning of this Psalm depending upon who is speaking it.  When we see it as a poem or hymn written by David, the man after God's own heart, we see it as a testimony, by a man, of God's faithfulness through some difficult times.  David says, "I have set the Lord always before me.  Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken."  (Ps. 16:8)  We can understand David in human terms because we ourselves are human and need the reassurance that the Lord is with us and guiding us.

Peter, however, gives this Psalm a whole new meaning when he applies it to Jesus. Jesus can relate to our human frailty and dependence on God, but Peter calls us to look deeper and ascribe these words to Jesus directly as applying to Jesus' own situation.

We see snippets of Psalms mentioned throughout Jesus' ministry and beyond. His disciples, including Paul often quoted from the Psalms because they add so much richness to our understanding of Christ. Even if an entire Psalm was not quoted, the whole quote wasn't usually necessary because just mentioning the Psalm would trigger, for the Jewish listener, the recollection of the entire Psalm. We do the same today. Often, just one line from a song will jog our memory and we go round singing the entire song for the rest of the day. Peter's audience would be very familiar with the Psalms because the Psalms were their hymnal.  When Peter refers to Psalm 16, it isn't necessary for him to go line by line through the entire Psalm to promote understanding. Many of his listeners had "aha!" moments as Peter continued to Speak.

Since we aren't probably as familiar with the Psalm as Peter's audience, perhaps a few lines emphasized will help us to further our understanding of why this Psalm was so appropriate as well. Peter himself highlights the end of the Psalm when he quotes: "I saw the Lord always before Me.  Because He is at My right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore My heart is glad and My tongue rejoices; My body will also live in hope, because You will not abandon Me to the grave, nor will you let Your Holy One see decay. You have made known to Me the paths of life; You will fill Me with joy in your presence."  (Ps. 16:8-11 & Acts 2:25B-28)  Peter points out that this Psalm makes more sense applied to Jesus because, unlike David who did die and whose body has experienced decay, Jesus rose from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of the Father in Glory.

However, let's consider a little more.  Psalm 16:3 says, "As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all My delight." It is those who recognize Jesus for who He is and come to Him that brings Him joy. It was all worth it for those who come to Him.

"Lord, you have assigned Me my portion and my cup." (Sp. 16:5) Remember the cup, in the garden, that the Father would not take away for our sake?  "The boundary lines are set for Me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance." Have you ever considered yourself to be Jesus' "delightful inheritance?" It is in Ephesians 1:18 that we are called his inheritance, where is says, "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people." HIS glorious inheritance is US! And it was a delightful prospect for Jesus. We know because the writer of Hebrews says, "For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of God the Father."  (Heb. 12:2B) 

Yes, certainly sitting at God's right hand brings Jesus joy, but winning the prize of those who believe is joy to Him as well. Surely, it was Peter's new explanation that helped to bring the response that, as we shall see, he received on that day. May we enjoy that same response as we share with our listeners, in our day.

Hymn: "Holy Spirit"  

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