The Blessings of our Hope

In Charles Dickens’ novel, Great Expectations, the main character is an orphan named Pip. He lives with his older sister and her husband, the town blacksmith, Joe Gargery. Pip’s sister treats him terribly, along with most other people. But Joe always treats him very well. He really is a sort of father to him.

Well, Pip lives through years of very poor treatment, but he grows up and becomes Joe’s apprentice. But after four years a lawyer shows up to inform Pip that he has great expectations. He’s been given a large sum of money by an anonymous someone. He can now live as a gentleman.  

Now immediately once he learns about his inheritance, Pip changes how he acts. Knowledge of the fortune he has come into immediately changes how he lives. Of course, it makes him stuck up, and he looks down on his blacksmithing trade and his master, Joe, and he leaves to live a gentleman’s life in London.

Now Psalm 16 shows us how our hope of future inheritance also changes how we act now. And before we enter into our inheritance – our hope of heaven, we essentially begin to enjoy our inheritance here on earth.

So I want to look at three of the ways our future hope transforms our present life. Here are three present blessings of our future hope.

With Christ as our hope, we can enjoy Satisfaction, direction, and protection. Those are the three blessings: Satisfaction, Direction, Protection.

Satisfaction: (verses 5-6)

The first blessing David mentions from having this God-centered hope is satisfaction. David lives a supremely satisfied life.

The Lord is my chosen portion. He uses two different words for portion here, so the idea is “the portion of my portion” God is the best of all I have.

And then He calls God his cup. The idea is David saying, God is my choice food and drink. He satisfies. “My cup of tea.” It’s an image of pleasure. A cup of wine.

And he holds David’s lot. This is a land inheritance word. God holds fast to David’s lot of land. Here’s this wonderful picture: you hold onto God as your choicest treasure, and God holds onto your inheritance. When you call God the best part of your inheritance, he keeps your inheritance secure.

It’s one thing to wholly devote yourself to Christ. To find that he is your all. To treasure him more than all the money and prestige the world could offer you. But my friend, how much greater is it to know that Christ won’t go away, and that your lot, your portion is held secure by God.

I know the women’s Bible study this week studied Colossians 3. And it says  Col 3:1-2 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Paul is saying, “set your hearts upon Christ. Seek the things that are above.” Encouraging the kind of devotion you see in verse 5 – calling God your portion, your cup.

But then Col 3:3 says “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” And that’s the idea of God holding your lot. There’s the command: set your heart’s desires on Christ and things above” but then there’s this wonderful truth that your life is already there. Your life is hidden with Christ in God.” God holds your lot. Set your hearts on Christ above, knowing that God holds your eternal life, your eternal happiness with Christ secure. He holds your lot.

Next we come to verse 6. And there he says “the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed I have a beautiful inheritance.” He returns to more language about the land. These lines refer to lines used to mark off allotments of land David says “I have a great tract of land”. He says, “I couldn’t ask for a better land. I have a beautiful inheritance.

Sometimes as a “get to know you” question my wife will ask “if you could have five houses in the world, where would they be?” It’s a fun question, you learn how people think, what they value. And inevitably you learn what they find beautiful. Because at least one of the houses is a dream house. New Zealand, or the Alps, or Hawaii, or for me the Isle of Skye in Scotland.

David says, all my inheritance is beautiful. Now I think even more than just repeating his belief that God is the chief portion of his inheritance, I think he’s saying that with God as your inheritance, everything that you have and everything you enjoy is all the more beautiful. David might say, “I’ll put my 5 houses anywhere. I don’t care. Because everything is beautiful. All I have is beautiful. Because God is my chief inheritance, the lines fall for me in pleasant places.” Everything that I have, everything that happens is bathed in the light of divine love.

He’s satisfied. He has the Lord and he has everything. He can live satisfied.

And that’s one of the Christian’s blessings. We can live satisfied. We know where we’re going. We’re going to be with Christ. And in a real sense, we’re already there now – your life is already hidden with Christ in God. And so the future blessedness of heaven can start seeping even now into your everyday life. Because you have God. You have Christ.

There’s a verse in Psalm 90 that I wish I could just make part of my soul. Psalm 90:14 “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” That’s what I want. I want to wake up and immediately be satisfied in God’s love. Imagine how that would change your day. That’s what we want to be about when we get out of bed – satisfying our souls with God’s steadfast love.

How much I wish I did this more: Just find a promise in the morning in God’s word, and dwell in it. Or take a verse like Psalm 16:5 and just think about what it means for us to have God. I have God! That would do your soul and my soul such good. To seek to live satisfied in God. But that is a blessing at your disposal. Psalm 16 is your Psalm. Satisfaction is a blessing for this life for you, Christian. Live into it.

Here’s the second blessing we begin to enjoy now.

Direction: (verse 7)

David blesses the Lord. He praises the Lord. Specifically he praises the Lord who gives him counsel.

It’s incredible – No one can be God’s counselor. God is the one king who needs no counselors. But God will be this king’s counselor. God will be David’s counselor.

We see God give David counsel in unique ways in scripture. When David was on the run he had Abiathar, a priest, with him. And David would consult the Lord in specific circumstances through the priests, and God would advise him, counsel him. So he went to save the city of Keilah because he “inquired of the Lord” and then he left Keilah because Saul was coming again, after he “inquired of the Lord.” And he inquired of Prophets like Nathan. And God gave him direction in that way.

God also gave him counsel with his word. It was the king’s responsibility to write out a copy of God’s Law and read it and meditate upon it day and night (Deut 17:18-19). In Psalm 107:11 God’s words are called God’s counsel; Psalm 119:24 says “Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.”

And this is the great blessing we have as Christians. God gives us counsel. Christians are not meant to “believe in God” and then figure out the rest of life for themselves. What’s right and wrong? What priorities do I have when making decisions?

God gives us counsel. How often do you and I come to God’s word sluggishly, just to read it. Not expecting God to say something to us. Not expecting that in your reading God has counsel for you. Yet, if we took away from scripture reading each day just one truth about God, how would that change our lives over time. God teaches and instructs us through his word.

Next David says that God’s word has so shaped him, that his heart, or even his conscience, is reinforcing this counsel in the night – in the night also my heart instructs me.

David is NOT saying that he has 2 sources of truth: God and himself. David doesn’t listen to God sometimes and “listen to his heart” at other times. No, David’s heart (lit. kidneys, but used as seat of emotions/conscience) instructs him. Either in the sense that David meditates on God’s word at night and gains instruction that way, or his heart instructs him to bless the LORD at night.

Night can naturally carry the symbolism of “dark times”. So David could be referring to “even in the darkness” his heart instructs him to think of God, praise God. Or he could be using “night” to say “at all times”. God gives counsel through his word, and as it says other places in Psalms, at night David meditates on God’s counsel and gains instruction from it.

And that is part of the blessing that the Christian enjoys. Christ reshapes us so that our own heart, which was so self-deceptive, turns us back to God. Our own conscience, once dulled by sin, calls us back to praise.

And even at night. The time of temptation and sin. When it is easy to meditate on fear, anxieties, shortcomings. When strange and evil thoughts come to mind – Jesus Christ cleanses our hearts so that they reinforce God’s word.

I just want to encourage you if night times are a struggle for you on any of these fronts: temptation, fear, anxiety, evil thoughts. Christ actually provides a way out. And he’s even equipped your heart, your conscience, your mind, with the tools to dwell on God: His promises; His perfections; The Father’s love for you; the Son’s grace shown to you; any piece of God’s word can be meditated on.

And if you’re a Christian, your desires may be faint, and clouded by cares, but you want that. You want your heart to instruct you. You want to call out to God; to praise him in the night. And that’s a blessing that you can enjoy now: You have God as your counselor and your heart is an ally in reinforcing God’s counsel.

Lastly, the third blessing we enjoy:

Protection: (verses 8-9)

David asserts in verses 8 and 9 that he enjoys the Lord’s protection. Verse 8 He sets God always before him. He again expresses his devotion to God.

Then he asserts that alongside him setting God before him, God is present with him. God is at his right hand. And he will not be shaken as a result. God’s presence results in unshakable confidence for David.

You see in David’s life that when he keeps the Lord and his ways before him, David prospers. And David is shaken when he forgets God. He falls into sin. And that is what we should be most concerned about when we’re thinking about having God always before us and not being shaken. It’s not just to enjoy warm feelings of God. Being unshaken is not about living the good life. It’s about living a humble holy life. That’s what God’s protection looks like.

Many people can convince themselves that God has never been closer to them than when they are beginning a new sin endeavour. It’s the ultimate justification for people who are going away in their sin.

My friend, if you are truly setting the Lord before you; if he is truly at your right hand so that you won’t be shaken, then your life should start looking more holy, more obedient to God’s law, not less. Jesus says “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Walking close with Christ looks like a holy life.

Next we come to verse 9. And it’s in verse 9 particularly that we see hope David’s future hope is fueling his present enjoyment of these blessings. Look at the relationship between verse 9 and 10. Verse 9 David says “Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.” His body and soul is secure now. He’s glad now. Rejoicing now. Why? Verse 10: He says because or “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol or let your holy one see corruption.”

Because he has confidence that his future holds security even  after death, he knows he’s as secure as can be before death. The Greek version of v9 that Peter quotes in Acts 2 actually says “my flesh dwells in hope.” When you know what is certainly yours, what do you have to fear? Your whole being can dwell securely, can dwell in hope.

Even your flesh. Even your physical body is secure. Not a hair can fall from your head without the will of your Father in heaven. And whatever he sends your way in this life, however your body suffers the effects of living in this fallen world, it’s all from his fatherly hand. As Paul says, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor 4:16) And one day, our outer self will be renewed too.

Do you see how that hope transforms our present life? Think for a minute how it transforms suffering. To know, in Paul’s words “this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Cor 4:17).

Think how it addresses any fears you may have? Any upcoming appointment or event that you might dread. How it addresses your fears to speak of Christ with someone who might not respond well. Your heart is glad, your whole being rejoices. Even your flesh dwells secure. You have God. You have him now. You can live satisfied in him now. He gives you counsel now. He protects you now.

Think how this Psalm affected Jesus as he was going to the cross. The comfort he had in the face of death, as he looked at the cross, to know that his flesh could dwell secure, because He would rise from the dead, and bring us with him.  Our Savior’s heart could be glad. His whole being could rejoice. Because he had perfection satisfaction in His Father, perfect direction, perfect protection.

My friend, you have Great Expectations. And your inheritance is designed so that you can enjoy the blessings of heaven now. In this life. You have satisfaction in God to enjoy. God is yours. You have God’s direction to enjoy. You have God’s protection to enjoy.