Shall we read together another one of our messianic psalms. Psalm sixteen. And again we'll read from verse one. Preserve me, O God, for on thee do I put my trust. O my soul, I have said unto the Lord, thou art my Lord, my goodness extendeth not to thee. But to the saints that are in the air, and to the excellence in whom is all my delight. Their sorrow shall be multiplied, but haste not for another God. There drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places, yea, I have a goodly heritage. I will bless the Lord who hath given me counsel. My reins also instruct me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices. My flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither will thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Thou will show me the path of life, in thy presence as fullness of joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. I should also like to read the passage in the New Testament. for the sixteenth psalm is quoted. In the Acts of the Apostles, chapter two, Peter uses these words, Ye men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know. Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands, have crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should beholden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand that I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope, for cause thou wilt not leave my soul in hell. Neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God hath sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loin, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He saying this before, speak of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh that see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, for we all are witnesses. This is the authority of the New Testament Scriptures for taking the sixteenth psalm of the psalm of the resurrection. We have already looked at the incarnation of the Lord Jesus, his life here on earth. in Psalm forty. And then we consider the twenty second Psalm where we find his crucifixion. Now in sequence the sixteenth Psalm brings before his resurrection from the dead. One of these great fundamentals of Christianity. And I think that it well behooves us to examine carefully what the Psalm has to say about the crucifixion of Christ and also his resurrection. and the way that the Apostle uses it in Acts chapter two. Now, looking at the psalm itself, you notice immediately that it has a beautiful title. Just with the twenty-second psalm has that title behind of the dawn. The sixteenth psalm has a title, Mitchum, of David. The word Mitchum means golden. We have a gold mine here. something that's very precious, but well repays digging. I think it was Spurgeon who called it David's precious gold and jewel. Uncertainly the gold of that land is good. Looking at the Psalm itself, one would notice immediately that the Messianic passage comes at the end in the last four verses. Verses one to seven describe the life of the Lord Jesus, on which his death and burial and resurrection is dead. The first part of the psalm brings before us five attitudes to life of our Lord. But the Messianic passage is at the end, where we get his burial, his resurrection, and his ascension to God's right hand. So let's look just for a moment at the five attitudes to life of our Lord when he was here on the earth. The first two verses explain to us his attitude to God his Father. Preserve me, O God, for only do I put my trust. O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord, I have no good beyond thee, as the revised version puts it. But the Lord here, in speaking about his father, uses three distinct terms. The first is the great basic word for God, L, E-L-L. In the Old Testament scriptures there are various names for God. But the basic word is God as a Creator. Preserve me, O Creator God, for only do I put my trust. O my soul, thou hast said unto Jehovah, the second term. The third one is, thou art my Adame. I have no good beyond age. The first speaks of God as a Creator. The second one, Jehovah, speaks of God in relationship with his people. when God created man. The term that's used there is Jehovah Elohim, created man. And where you find God in relationship with this creature, God as a redeemer, the God of compassion who spoke and entered into covenant relationship with man, the term Jehovah is used. The third word is Adame. The meaning of the word is proprietor or sovereign Lord. Now this is the attitude of the Lord Jesus to his Father. Using the three terms here, he takes a position voluntarily of subjection and dependence upon his Father here below. When we look at the New Testament scriptures, we find how this was carried into effect. We know that the relation between God the Father and God the Son was one of equality. There were equal in power and majesty, glory, and dignity. But when the Lord was here upon earth, as a man, he voluntarily took a position of subjection to the will of his father. I think that that is the meaning of the word in the gospel according to John, for he says, the father is greater than I. He voluntarily took a position of subjection and dependence upon him. So the first two verses brings before us the attitude of the Lord Jesus to his father, his attitude to God. And he says, I have no good beyond thee. His whole horizon was bounded by his attitude to his father. Now, verse three brings before us his attitude to the people of God. Again, reading the revised version. As for the saints that are in the air, they are the excellence in whom is almighty life. His attitude to his father was one of defendants, for his attitude to the people of God is one of complete delight and complacency. As for the saints, that are in the earth. They are the excellent in whom is Almighty life. There were the noble man and noble women of heaven, the aristocracy of heaven. It was this godly remnant, huge, simple souls with whom he consorted when he was here on earth, where he spent his time. His attitude to the people of God is one of complete delight and complacency. Then we find his attitude to idolatry. Their stars shall be multiplied at Hitch and after another God. Their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. The Lord, when he was here upon earth, was surrounded by Roman pagan idolatry. Places like Tiberias and Caesarea were centers of pagan idolatry. But he never went there. He consorted with the lowly and the humble of earth, places like Bethany and Bethsaida and Capernaum. that was here he found those in whom he had a life. But as far as the pagan idolatry that surrounded him when he was here upon earth, he kept himself completely free from it. He was separated from it. Then as I have a few the material things in verse five. The Lord is a portion of mine inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in present places. Here I have a goodly heritage. Speaking of material things, We find five words are used. Each one is a different meaning. His portion, his cup, his lot, the line, this word is a word that describes an architect's rule, or the line with which he measures, the ground. The lines are fallen off in the present places. The Lord Jesus, when he was here on earth, never was more than a hundred and twenty miles away from the place where he was born. In the early part of his life, his parents and he went down to Egypt, but apart from that journey to Egypt, to get away from the wrath and the revenge of Herod, he never was more than a hundred and twenty miles away from the place where he was born. Forgetting and saying the line, our fallen unto the unpleasant places, and then finally he says, I have a goodly heritage. His attitude to the material things of life was one of complete contentment. It was a humble life. He consorted with humble, modest people, and he was perfectly content in the world where God had placed him. And then finally, we get his attitude of the will of God. I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. My reins also instruct me in the night season. I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Here he is his attitude of the will of his father. On various occasions, We find them standing a whole night in prayer to God. Before he chose his disciples, the Apostles, who lead them standing a whole night in prayer. He was omnipotent, omniscient. He had all the attributes of deity. He knew what lay ahead. He knew the very thoughts of the man that he was to choose. But at the same time, he spent that time, that night in prayer to God before he chose the Apostles. So here we find his attitude to the will of God. And if we look at these five attitudes of the Lord, it gives a marvelous picture of his life here below. Now the Messianic passage starts at verse nine. He speaks of his heart, his flesh, his glory, and his soul. And he uses these words, Therefore my heart is glad, my glory rejoices, my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in Sheol, that is the place of the part of spirit. Neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. You remember at his birth the angel that spoke to Nere when he was born. She said, That holy thing, for here after his death and at his burial he's called thine holy one. The one who was born in Bethlehem, who came from God, was that holy thing. And the one who died upon Calvary's cross, who assumed responsibility for the sin of man, when he died, and when he was buried, he was called, by the holy one. While he was upon that cross, he assumed responsibility for sin. But he thanked God. But even there, he himself was on the file. He was made sin for us, that you know, saying that we might be made the righteousness of God and him. And yet at the same time he's called, I am holy one. So here we get on the count of his burial. We must never forget that the gospel that made known the man today has three clauses. The apostle describes it in First Corinthians chapter fifteen, the gospel that he preached, or that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. that is the first clause. And then he was buried. And the third clause is that he was raised again the third day, according to the scriptures. His death, his burial, and his resurrection. We often think of his death, vitally important. We often think of his resurrection. It's the keystone of the gospel. But at the same time, his burial is very important too. It is incorporated in the Gospel in first Corinthians fifteen. It's supremely beautiful to notice how it's described in the Gospel according to John. Read about two men. Nicodemus, the one who came to Jesus by night. And we read of Joseph of Arimathea. And we're told that these two men were rich men. We're told that there were just men. And we're told that there were members of the Sanhedrin. And we're read that there were seek with the Bible. They hadn't publicly made known their faith in the Lord, and yet at the same time they had believed on. But it was the burial of Christ that brought them out into the daylight, brought them out into public confession of their faith. One man provided the place, and the other man provided the perfume. We are told that Joseph of Arimathea, it was his new tomb in which the Lord was buried. But we read that Nicodemus brought a hundred-pound weight of myrrh and aloes for the burial. Often in thinking of this weight, the weight of myrrh and aloes that was brought to the tomb have often thought that the Lord Jesus must have been buried in the dead of Christ. They couldn't possibly have used all that tremendous quantity of myrrh and aloes in the folds of the grave clothes that were placed around his body. And very likely, In the tomb, they made a bed of spices in which he was buried. We read in Isaiah chapter fifty-three, They made his grave with the wicked, but he was with a rich man in his death. Probably like they underneath the cross, they dug a hole, they dug a grid. They intended to bury him there, but God had other plans for his son. And when he was buried, he was buried in a bed of spices. We read in Second Chronicles chapter sixteen concerning Isa, a good king of Judah, but when he was buried, he was buried in a bed of spices. And it was very likely that in Joseph of Arimathea's new tomb, the surplus of the Myrhenales that were placed in the foes of the garments that were placed around his body, the great cloth, that they made that dead of spices with their surplus, and he that was rich in his death. God had other purposes. in what man had. They intended to bury him like a criminal, but instead of that he was given the burial of a king. And these words bring before us so vividly his burial. Neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one, per se corruption. He hath died for our sins upon the cross, but he was given the burial of a king when he was placed in Joseph of Arimathea in the tomb. For then he was raised. On the verse eleven we read Thou wilt show me the path of life. In thy presence is fullness of joy. On thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Here we get his glorious, bodily resurrection and his attention to God's right hand. The path of life. I've often thought that the word, the path of life, described through the forty days of ministry of the Lord Jesus when he was raised from the tomb. It was in five years. First of all, in a garden, he appeared to a weeping woman, and he wiped away her tears. And then by the highway, we read that Jesus himself drew near to the two disciples as they went to a mess, and he opened up the scriptures, and he spoke unto them the things concerning himself, and believed that their hearts burned, as he discoursed with them by the way. The third place he appeared was in an upper room. and believed that Jesus himself, he stood in the midst. He showed unto them his hands on the side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then you remember how he appeared to the disciples at the lakeside in John twenty one. The man who had denied the Lord, Simon Peter, he very graciously and kindly, restores him, brings them back to himself and recommissioned him. And then upon the mountain top, just before he went back to heaven, Amid the disciples, he said, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth in his lifetime shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned. So here we find five spheres of the ministry of Christ and resurrection. The first one was in a garden, for he wiped away a woman's tears. He's a comforter. The second one, he was a companion along life's highway. And then thirdly, he's the center of his gathered people in an upper room, where he manifests himself and shows unto them his hands on his side. And then he's the confessor of his people. Peter, who had denied him, was graciously restored to himself by the seaside. And then finally, on the mountain top, he gives the great commission. He is the commissioner of his servants, as he sends them forth to preach the gospel of his grace. I think that these five spheres of ministry indicates the meaning of this little word. Thou will show me the pathway of life. In this light here below, it was the pathway of faith. But here is the pathway of life when he manifests himself during his forty days of ministry among his disciples. And then in thy presence of fullness of joy, and at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. in his life, we read of Jehovah being at his right hand, but here in his glorification and exaltation at God's right hand we read, At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. I would just like to say in closing that the resurrection of Christ is a bodily resurrection. It was the body in which he died that was raised. And that bodily resurrection of Christ is one of the foundations of our faith. First of all, it's the keystone of the gospel. Paul makes this very plain in First Corinthians chapter fifteen in verses one to three. And Peter does the same in his rich Pentecostal address when three thousand souls were brought to faith in Christ. Not only is it the keystone of the gospel, but it's the foundation for our justification. As Paul tells us in Romans chapter four on verse twenty five, he was rich for our justification. And then it is the hope of the resurrection of the believers. First Corinthians fifteen in verse twenty. He is the first verse of resurrection. On saying that he was raised, this is a glorious hope of the believers. And he can thank again that we too shall be raised. Oh, how wonderful we find these truths. How wonderfully we find them in Psalm sixteen. God bless the four of them in such a beautiful way. May God bless his word to our heart for his ministry.