Keep me safe, O God, for in You I take refuge.

I said to the LORD, You are my LORD; apart from You I have no good thing. Psalm 16:1-2 Over the years I have read a number of biographies of preachers in which a comment is made by the writer of the biography about the effectiveness of the individuals sermons. Usually the comment is made that one or more of the people hearing the message became convinced during a particular sermon that they had never been a Christian. They are then motivated to give their lives to the LORD Jesus Christ at that time. Perhaps this is what is at the heart of the comments which James L. Mays makes on the 16th Psalm. Psalm 16 is a prayer of unusual proportions. It begins with a brief petition for the protection of God (vs. 1). The psalmist asks that the keeper of Israel watch over his life (Psalm 121). The petition is supported by a motive clause, a declaration that the psalmist has made the LORD his refuge. In You I take refuge is a formula for trusting ones life to the care of God. The rest of the prayer is an exposition of that trust. The psalm teaches that trust is not merely a warm feeling or a passing impulse in a time of trouble; it is a structure of acts and experiences that open ones consciousness to the LORD as the supreme reality of life. Trust is first of all the relationship that determines all else about a person. The psalmist confesses, You (YHWH) are my lord (adon). The reverse of that confession is, I am your servant (ebed). The psalmist knows himself as a person who belongs to another. As servant of the LORD, he receives the goodness that comes to him in life as coming from no other source than his LORD. Because he belongs to the LORD, he is confident that his needs will be met. Trust is monotheistic, not pluralistic. The psalmists commitment to the LORD is exclusive (vv. 3-4) (James Luther Mays, Psalms: Interpretation, A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky, 1994, p.86) This Psalm written in a time of great danger and attributed to David is a poetic, and I might add a prophetic, description of genuine godliness. At its heart it leads us into an understanding of the knowledge of the LORD. The subject of the Psalm can be described as truly godly because they genuinely know the LORD. This is a knowledge which goes beyond knowing facts and information, into the realm of a personal communion. There is a personal dimension to the knowledge of the LORD which is being described here. As the Psalm unfolds it quickly becomes apparent that our subject can only know the LORD because He is completely committed to serving Him. We are looking here at a person who is without sin. He does not run after any other competing god, ever. As a consequence He is granted a tremendous privilege. He will triumph over death. He will live eternally in joyful fellowship with His LORD.

When Peter makes reference to this Psalm in his Pentecost Day Sermon he points out that it is in fact a prophetic word from David regarding Davids promised son who will sit on the throne of the Kingdom eternally. This, Peter tells us, was fulfilled in the LORD Jesus Christ. In at least two passages in Johns Gospel Jesus is described as the One who not only knows God in the way described in Psalm 16, but that He also makes Him known to all who will put their faith in Him. In John 14:6-7, 9 we read these powerful words, Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you really knew Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him. Jesus answered, Dont you know Me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father, How can you say, Show us the Father. Then in His great High Priestly prayer in John 17:3 Jesus says this, Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. This leads us to the crucial question. Do you know God? The bible tells us that we can only know God in a personal, life transforming way if we first know the LORD Jesus Christ who makes Him known to us.