[0:00] Good morning, everyone. A warm welcome to church this Easter Sunday morning, and a special! welcome to those who are visiting with us today. Tea and coffee at the end of the service as usual.
[0:12] And if you're able to join with us, please do so. The Sunday school for today, with it being a holiday still and a kind of half-family-ish type service, we've got the young ones going out to Sunday school, the primary school ones going out to Sunday school after the second praise, but the secondary school kids will stay in for today, just for your information. Evening service taken by myself, God willing, and at the close of the service, YF will meet, and that will be half-past seven to half-past eight. YF also take note that there's a big YF this Friday, 25th of April, in Stornoway, Stuart. Joyce Peggy will give you details on that. Prayer meeting on Wednesday at half-past seven, and Cammie will take that meeting this week. I'm expecting to be in Edinburgh for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday for meetings. There'll be a men's breakfast on Saturday also from nine till ten. If you want more information about that, speak to Anthony or Richard, and I have been given confirmation it won't be a continental breakfast. There'll be no fruit, there'll be no cereal flakes, no granola. It will be deep fried, it'll be grilled, something along that line. So, men, please be encouraged to come along this Saturday morning.
[1:44] Deacon's Court will not be happening this Thursday, that's been postponed. And it's with sadness that we learned of the passing of Kathy Campbell on Thursday of last week.
[1:56] Kathy, who I can still see in my mind's eyes sitting over on my left, was a bright, faithful Christian lady who was with us for many years before going to stay with her family, her daughter in Loch Inver.
[2:12] And although the details aren't yet completely confirmed, it's highly likely that the funeral will take place here on Friday at 11. And there'll be a wake, a worship the night before Thursday at the church here at eight o'clock. So, as we remember Kathy Campbell with thanksgiving and fondness, let's remember the family and pray for them at this time.
[2:38] I want to begin this morning by reading a few verses from Matthew chapter 28.
[2:52] Matthew chapter 28, which takes us right to the message of Easter Sunday, the message of resurrection. Matthew 28 and verse 1, and it says, Now after the Sabbath toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
[3:14] And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.
[3:29] And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the woman, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified.
[3:42] He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead.
[3:57] And we remember, we rejoice in the fact today that Jesus, our Savior, our Lord, he has risen from the dead.
[4:09] And he promises resurrection life, eternal life to all who believe. And we're going to sing now to God's praise. We'll sing as we reflect on the wonder of that truth.
[4:22] Mission Praise 52, God sent his Son. They called him Jesus. He came to love, heal, and forgive. He lived and died to buy my pardon. An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.
[4:37] He lived and died to buy my pardon.
[5:07] To buy my pardon. An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.
[5:18] Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone.
[5:31] Because I know, I know, I know he holds the future. And life is worth the living just because he lives.
[5:45] Much sweet to hold, a newborn baby. And feel the pride and joy he gives.
[5:59] But greater still, the calm assurance. This child can face on certain days. Because he lives, because he lives.
[6:14] Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone.
[6:25] Because I know, I know, I know he holds the future. And life is worth the living just because he lives.
[6:39] And then one day, I'll cross the river. I'll fight my strife. I'll fight my strife. No more with me.
[6:51] And then I'll stand. Gives way to victory. I'll see the lives of glory. And I know, I know he lives.
[7:03] Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone.
[7:14] Because I know, I know he holds the future. I know, I know he holds the future.
[7:25] And life is worth the living just because he lives. Let's close our eyes, let's bow our heads, and let's draw near to God in fear.
[7:50] So let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this, your day. And we thank you for the wonder of the truths that we've been reading and singing of.
[8:04] We thank you, Father, for the greatest gift that was ever given. The gift of sending your Son, the Lord Jesus, into this world. And we thank you, Lord Jesus, for coming into this world.
[8:17] We thank you for living and for dying for us. And we thank you that as we come back once more this morning to the cross, and remember all that was done there, we thank you that the cross is a place where we see our pardon being purchased.
[8:39] We thank you that on the cross, Jesus took our sins into his body on the tree. And we thank you that as we confess our sin, we are given the promise that you are faithful and just, and you will forgive us.
[8:56] You will purify us from all unrighteousness. We thank you that we thank you that death could not hold the Lord Jesus.
[9:16] We thank you that Jesus lives. We thank you, Holy Spirit, for raising him from the dead and for showing us that truth, for opening our eyes to see this, for giving us the desire this morning to come into this place and to hear the message once more, which may be very familiar to us, but we pray that it would not be without impact.
[9:40] We ask that we would be once more amazed by the love that would send Christ to the cross and the power that would raise Jesus from the dead.
[9:52] We thank you that he promised that if we believe in him, we too shall live. And we thank you that we live knowing that you are our Savior and that you are our Lord.
[10:04] We thank you as we sang that because Jesus lives, we can face tomorrow and we can face every tomorrow without fear, because you are the God who has promised to be with us in life, and you are the God who has promised to be with us in death, and you are the God who has promised to carry us through death into life that is everlasting if we are trusting in you.
[10:33] We thank you for the comfort that that brings today, and especially as we think of those who have passed through death, as we think about Kathy Campbell, as we remember her with such fondness.
[10:48] We thank you, Lord, that she was one who so clearly trusted the Lord Jesus to be her Shepherd, her Savior. And so we thank you that we, although we grieve today as a congregation, we do not grieve as those who have no hope.
[11:06] We thank you that we have a sure and certain hope in Christ. We thank you that there is everlasting life, that there is the promise of pleasures evermore for those who are in Jesus.
[11:22] And so as we remember, Kathy, we pray for our family, and we ask, Lord, that you would comfort them, and that you would cause them to be looking to the Lord Jesus on this day and over these days as we prepare for a funeral service.
[11:43] And we pray for all who grieve. We're conscious of many who have lost loved ones in past weeks and months and years. And yet we thank you that the message of Easter is one where we remember that those who die in Christ, they go to be with the Lord.
[12:06] And even today, as we sing praises to the Lord Jesus, in a sense we join our voices with the voices of heaven, as we together lift up the name of the Lord Jesus.
[12:19] So comfort those who grieve, we pray. We pray also for those who are struggling today because we are conscious that this world is a place that can be difficult.
[12:31] We often do fear, but we thank you that when we have Jesus with us, we don't need to fear. And so we pray for those who are struggling, for those who are sick.
[12:43] We think of Cathy Ann, Kylis in hospital in Glasgow, as she waits for surgery this week. And we ask, Lord, that she would know your peace and your protection.
[12:55] We pray that your hand would be upon her and that you would take her safely through this week. And we pray for all of the family as they perhaps feel anxiety, as they wait for operations and procedures to happen.
[13:09] We pray for all others, Lord, who are in hospital, some who are at home, some who may be with us and who are struggling with infirmity and with sickness, with illness.
[13:22] We ask, Lord, that your hand of healing would be upon each one and that you would cause them and that you would cause each one of us to be looking in faith to the Lord Jesus.
[13:34] We pray for those today who are healthy and who are well provided for in terms of the things of this world, but who have no thought of their souls, who have no sense of the Easter message affecting them in any way.
[13:51] And we ask, Lord, that you would awaken their souls and that they and we would have a soul thirst, which we know is quenched only in coming to Jesus.
[14:02] So receive us, Lord Jesus, as we come. Bless us, Father, as we seek to worship and lead us in the power of the Holy Spirit, we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen.
[14:14] Boys and girls, would you like to come over, please? All I'm saying is there are Easter, there are some chocolate eggs, but they will only be given out to those who come.
[14:30] Well, there's more coming than usual this morning. Stuart, stay in the chair.
[14:46] How are you all today? Good, good. So it's the Easter weekend, isn't it? It's the Easter weekend and I've brought in a couple of things that we maybe see, maybe we see a lot of, we certainly see some of these things at Easter.
[15:03] The first thing is this. Did anybody have one of these for breakfast this morning? Can you tell me what they are?
[15:16] Ah, Fraser. Hot cross buns. And these aren't any hot cross buns. These are some seriously scrumptious chocolate and salted caramel hot cross buns.
[15:29] As yet unopened. But you can only buy hot cross buns at Easter. Don't think you can buy them at any other time of year.
[15:41] So, can you tell me, what do the hot cross buns remind us of? Why do we have hot cross buns at Easter time?
[15:52] Fraser, I'll ask you again. See, you're the only one brave enough to put your hand up. The cross.
[16:03] It's exactly right. We see. Can you see on there? You can see very clearly the cross. And whose cross do we remember at Easter? Finley?
[16:16] Jesus' cross. And why did Jesus go to the cross? Finley? To take away our sin. And that's something that we remember.
[16:27] We remember it all the time. But we remember it especially Easter, don't we? Good Friday is a day where we think very specially about how Jesus went to the cross and he died.
[16:40] To take away our sin. Second thing I'm going to show you. is this.
[16:52] Can you see what that is? What's that? Joseph, what's that?
[17:03] What's that? I had to wait. But yes, I got there.
[17:14] An egg. And, uh... This egg's not just any kind of egg. Because... Can you see anything different about this egg?
[17:30] Do you want to look a bit more closely? Mostly? I think it's been decorated by an artist. And, uh...
[17:43] Have you... Have any of you... Have any of you decorated any of your eggs? Why do we... Why do we hard boil eggs and draw on them? Johnny? Yeah.
[17:56] Well, that's the message behind us. You're one step ahead of me. But we get eggs, don't we? And we hard boil them. And then we get our pens out. This one's not very... Not very well decorated.
[18:08] Just looks a bit like Phil Foden. With some glasses on. But, uh... You can get colours and you could decorate your eggs any kind of way. And then what do you do with your eggs? Once you've decorated them and hard boiled them.
[18:21] Pardon? You roll them down a hill. And why do you roll them down a hill? Shawnee! You've told me already. It reminds us of the fact that the stone... That was at the...
[18:34] The mouth of Jesus' tomb. Where Jesus' body was laid. It rolled away. So when the ladies... As we were reading there... They came to find the body of Jesus. They came to see where he lay.
[18:47] And they got to the place where he was laid. They were expecting to see a huge stone. And they were saying to each other... How are we going to move this? But when they got there... The stone had rolled away.
[18:59] And so the eggs... That we decorate... We roll them down the hill. Maybe I'll roll this one down the hill. On the way to church... This evening. But it reminds us of the fact that the...
[19:11] The stone was rolled away. The stone was rolled away. And the last thing... Well... The last thing... Is that. What's that?
[19:23] You tell me. It's an Easter egg. And what's it made of? Chocolate. Have any of you had any Easter eggs yet?
[19:36] Yeah? Yeah? It's made of chocolate. And tell me... What's in the middle of this Easter egg? What's in the middle of this Easter egg?
[19:52] Really? Nothing. That's exactly right. Nothing. Nothing. And see, when the disciples went...
[20:05] Into the place where Jesus' body had been laid... And they went looking for Jesus... What did they find inside of the tomb? Nothing.
[20:17] Because Jesus wasn't there. Where was Jesus? Finally? He was alive. He was alive. He was alive. He is alive.
[20:30] Because he had risen from the dead. And he promises... That if we believe in him... Even though one day...
[20:43] We die... He promises... He promises... That if we believe in him... We too... Will rise from the dead... And have everlasting life. So boys and girls...
[20:56] As you're having your hot cross buns... Remember the cross. Remember how much Jesus loved you. That he went to the cross to... To take your sin away. And as you're rolling your eggs down the hill...
[21:11] Remember the stone that had rolled away? And as you have your... Easter eggs this afternoon... You all got Easter eggs this afternoon? When you crack into it...
[21:23] And you find nothing inside... That Jesus wasn't inside the tomb. He was... From the dead. Let's pray.
[21:37] Heavenly Father... We thank you. We thank you that you love us. We thank you Father... That you sent your son Jesus... Into this world... To die for our sin. And we thank you that he rose from the dead.
[21:50] And we thank you that he promises... Eternal life... Resurrection life... To everyone who believes... To everyone who comes to Jesus. So give us faith...
[22:01] We pray to believe... And help every one of us... To come to the Lord Jesus... And to trust him. And we ask all this... In Jesus name... And for Jesus sake...
[22:12] Amen. One last thing... Some Easter eggs in here... Would anybody like one?
[22:24] We'll come and get... Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray.
[22:48] You all got?
[23:02] Shawnee? You all got? That's one more thing just to see. Everlasting life.
[23:16] Who else has not got? Anyone got? Finley, have you got? You do have, yeah, good. Everlasting life. All the good things that God has for us, he will give to us, but he tells us to come to him.
[23:30] And if we come, he promises that we can even taste and see that he is good. So, we're going to sing now, and we're going to sing mission praise, mission praise on the screen.
[23:46] And it's a short chorus that we sing in Sunday school sometimes. He is Lord, he is Lord. He is risen from the dead, and he is Lord. Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
[24:00] But we're going to sing that the first time, and then the second time we're going to sing it, we're going to sing, He's my Lord. Are you listening? He's my Lord, he's my Lord, he's risen from the dead, and he's my Lord.
[24:13] Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus is my Lord. So we'll sing this through twice, and we'll just change the words a little bit in the second verse, okay? He is Lord, He is Lord He is risen from the dead He is Lord Every knee shall bow Every tongue confess That Jesus Christ is Lord He's my Lord He's my Lord He is risen from the dead
[25:16] And He's my Lord Every knee shall bow Every tongue confess That Jesus Christ is Lord Okay boys and girls, if you head through to Sunday school now, remember to pray for them as they go.
[25:40] Oh, Alistair's here.
[25:58] Angus Alistair. Angus Alistair. It's good to see Angus Alistair here today for the first time, I think. If we could turn in our Bibles, please, to Psalm 16.
[26:17] Psalm 16. Psalm 16.
[26:39] And we'll read the whole of this psalm. The title on the ESV is, You Will Not Abandon My Soul. And it's described as a miktam of David.
[26:54] Nobody really knows what a miktam means. It's probably a musical term, but the commentators are just guessing. And it begins verse 1.
[27:04] Preserve me, O Lord, preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, you are my Lord. I have no good apart from you.
[27:15] As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those who run after another God shall multiply. Their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.
[27:30] The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup. You hold my lot. The lions have fallen for me in pleasant places. Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
[27:42] I bless the Lord who gives me counsel. In the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
[27:55] Therefore, my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices. My flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol or let your Holy One see corruption.
[28:11] You make known to me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
[28:27] Amen. And may God bless that reading of his word to us. We're going to sing again to God's praise. We'll sing the last two stanzas of that psalm. That psalm where in the last two stanzas we are pointed forward to the Easter story.
[28:44] Because my soul and grave to dwell shall not be left by thee. Nor wilt thou give thine Holy One corruption to see. Thou wilt me show the path of life.
[28:54] Of joys there is full store. Before thy face at thy right hand are pleasures evermore. These two stanzas of Psalm 16. We sing in Gaelic and we remain seated to sing in Gaelic.
[29:14] Thank you.
[29:44] Please pray for us, voy if you pray for us, Please pray for us, Please pray for us, Please pray for us, Let voy voy voy voy!
[30:31] voy! voy! voy! voy! voy! voy! voy! voy! voy singing!
[30:56] At voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy Oh, my God.
[31:56] Oh, my God. If I could encourage you to turn back, please, to Psalm 16.
[32:22] And as we go there, we'll pray. Let's pray. Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word, and we pray that as we turn to your word now, that you would help us, that you would give us understanding, illuminate our minds, touch our hearts, unblock our ears, and help us, we pray, to hear your voice, to know your presence, and to be given faith, to respond to the message of the gospel, to the message of the life and the death and the resurrection of Jesus.
[33:03] We pray, Lord, for the Sunday school, for the wee ones who've gone out, and we ask that you would be at work in their hearts as the simple message of Easter is broken down for them.
[33:20] Help them to see. Help them to see. Help them to understand. And help them, as we pray week on week, to believe in the Lord Jesus, to take the Lord Jesus to be their Savior and their Lord.
[33:33] Lord, we thank you that as the little ones were brought to Jesus 2,000 plus years ago, that he took them to himself and rebuked anybody that got in the way of their coming to him.
[33:51] And we pray that we would do nothing or say nothing, that we get in the way of the young ones trusting the Lord Jesus, but we pray that they would see him, that they would come to him, and that they would find the salvation that is promised to those who come with that childlike faith.
[34:08] And we pray for the wee ones in the crest as well, who don't yet have understanding. But we pray that even in the earliest of their experiences, that they may know your presence, and that they may grow up knowing constantly the love of the Lord.
[34:29] And we thank you, especially for Angus Alistair and for him being with us for the first time today. And we ask that you would bless him, and that he would grow up knowing you, walking with you, and that he would walk with you all the days of his life.
[34:44] We pray for him and for Scott and for Fiona and for Lily and for Katie. Bless them as a family, and we thank you for bringing them to this place at this time. Guide them and lead them as they continue to seek your will.
[34:58] So we ask now, Lord, that you would go before us, help us as we come to your word. Give us that sense of expectation that you will speak into our lives.
[35:09] And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Some of the little children, I expect probably some of the bigger children who are here also, like an Easter egg hunt.
[35:30] How does an Easter egg hunt work? Well, it's not that hard to figure out. Chocolate eggs are hidden in a house, or maybe in a garden, some area, and the children of whatever age the children might be, they have to try and find them.
[35:51] I know some families even do this. I won't divulge, but I heard a story even this week about a very grown-up family where they were having an Easter egg hunt.
[36:02] And one of the Easter eggs from last year is still concealed. The place was never disclosed. So there's a chocolate egg hiding out there somewhere. But that's the Easter egg hunt.
[36:13] You search for these chocolate eggs, and every time you find them, you get to enjoy them. But the whole thing that makes the search a search is that the Easter eggs are sometimes hidden away in the most unexpected places.
[36:30] Now, what is the message of Easter all about? What is the message that's at the heart of Easter? Well, it's the message of resurrection. It's the message of the resurrection of Jesus.
[36:47] And Psalm 16 maybe is not the place that you would expect to find the message of Easter, but it's here, which is why we read it.
[36:58] It's a psalm of David. It was written round about a thousand years, probably a little over a thousand years before Christ.
[37:11] And yet, it is a psalm of David. And I want to think, yes, about the Easter message, but not to rip it out of the context of the psalm.
[37:22] We need to look at the whole psalm. So what does David do in this psalm? Well, he does three things. The first thing he does is he professes his faith in God.
[37:35] The second thing he does, although perhaps he doesn't quite know he's doing it, is he points us forward to Jesus. And the third thing he does, or God does through him, is he promises eternal life through Jesus to those who believe.
[37:55] So we'll look at the psalm under these headings. And the first heading we have is profession of faith. David, in the first part of the psalm, he professes his faith is in God.
[38:07] Now, Flora and Maria, actually just a few weeks ago, they professed their faith in God. They met with the elders, and they told us about how they were trusting in God.
[38:26] And then they showed us that they were trusting in God as they came forward on Communion Sunday and they took the bread and they took the wine. There was an audible and there was a visible profession of faith on their part.
[38:40] And David makes a profession of faith in the psalm. The first part of the psalm, if you've got it open in front of you, you'll find it helpful. The first part of the psalm is like a testimony.
[38:55] David tells us that he is trusting the Lord and he tells us that in various different ways. And I want to, although it's not the full list, I want to look at four professions of faith that David makes in the psalm.
[39:10] He says four things. He says, first of all, God is my refuge. Verse 1. Preserve me, O God, says David, for in you I take refuge.
[39:26] Now, for any who may be wondering, who was David? Well, David was, he was king. And so David, David has armies at his disposal.
[39:43] David has a whole civil service of officials who are just waiting for his instruction. David has money, a huge treasury. David has weapons.
[39:58] David was the most powerful man in that place at that time. But David knew that if he was to be kept safe, if he was to be preserved in this world and forever, it wasn't his armies, it wasn't his money, it wasn't his body armor, it wasn't his body guards that would be able to keep him safe.
[40:31] Only God could preserve him. Only God could keep him safe. And so he says, as he professes his faith, he says, first of all, God, I'm trusting you to be my refuge.
[40:47] Maybe somebody here has to say that for the first time this morning. Maybe there's things that are crowding in on us, things that are causing us to feel anxiety, things that cause us to realize our own weakness.
[41:07] And we need to say with David, God, I'm trusting you. I'm trusting you to be my refuge.
[41:19] The second profession that David makes in this profession of faith is he says, God is my Lord. Verse 2, I say to the Lord, you are my Lord.
[41:32] And the word my in verse 2, such a small word, but it's such an important word. David doesn't say, you are the Lord, although that was true.
[41:46] He says, you are my Lord. And maybe somebody here has to say that today. You are my Lord.
[41:59] You know, we hear about refuge, we hear about strength, we hear about life, we hear about eternal life. But that is promised to those who can say, the Lord is my Lord.
[42:18] And so David makes that profession of faith. He's not speaking in this psalm about a faraway God. He's talking about a God who is close. David says that he is trusting the God that he knows and the God that he loves and the God who listens to and who answers his prayers.
[42:38] David has a relationship with God. And it's not a secret relationship.
[42:55] When you think about a marriage, a marriage is never secret. A healthy relationship is never secret.
[43:09] You don't say to somebody on your wedding day, I love you, but just don't tell anybody. No, you make your profession in public and you put the ring on.
[43:29] And you keep the ring on because you're not ashamed to say that you love your husband or your wife. And David is not ashamed to say, God is my Lord.
[43:44] He's my refuge. God is my refuge.
[43:54] God is my Lord, says David. The third thing David says is, God is my chosen portion. And that takes us into verse four and five.
[44:06] If we rewind three thousand years, there were many people, there were many people in David's day who were running after other gods.
[44:17] He talks about them in verse four. And what did these other gods do for these people? Well, it tells us also in verse four that these other gods, they made them sad.
[44:32] They brought them sorrows. And still today, if we're honest, there are many other gods that we are tempted to run after.
[44:48] Young people, there's the God of being popular. We get a wee bit older, we run after the God of being rich.
[45:04] At various stages in our lives, we are tempted to run after the God of success in work or in sport or wherever. There are lots of little gods that we are tempted to run after in our lives.
[45:20] And when we put these things, which are usually not bad things, but when we put these things, whether it's money or whether it's friendships or whether it's success, when we put these things before God, we make these things our little gods.
[45:42] And all they do is make us sad. Because if our God is having lots of money, we can never get enough money to be happy.
[45:57] And if our God has been popular, we can never get enough likes to feel popular enough. And the second somebody gives us a thumbs down, everything crashes in.
[46:12] You know, if our God is business success, then we're hugely encouraged when things are going well. But the first time we make a loss, the first time somebody posts a bad review on our website, everything crashes in and we're sorrowful, we feel sad.
[46:30] sad. That's what little gods do. They promise us happiness, they just make us feel sad. And David says, I'm not going to run after other gods.
[46:45] I won't even take their names on my lips, verse 4, he says, because the Lord is my chosen portion. portion. Have you ever said that?
[47:02] The Lord is my chosen portion. Not a shed load of money, not a huge measure of success, not a big house and a shiny car, but the Lord.
[47:23] That's who I'm choosing. He is my portion. He's my chosen portion. You know, God won't force us to choose him.
[47:38] He tells us that he loves us in the Bible. He shows us the extent to which he loves us as he sends his son into the world to die to be our Savior and our soul satisfy her.
[47:52] And he calls us to come to him. And then he says, what will you choose? Will you choose the Lord who will save you and satisfy you?
[48:11] Or will you choose other gods who will make you sad in this world? and who will make you sad forever? David says, God is my chosen portion.
[48:27] He is my Lord. He is my refuge. And he is my counsel. It's the last thing David says in this profession of faith. In verse 7, David talks about the Lord who gives me counsel.
[48:39] And the word for counsel means one who will give good advice and sound guidance. God willing, I will go tomorrow to the mainland, to Edinburgh and to Glasgow.
[48:55] And there's a few places that I have to go tomorrow and I don't know how to get there. So what will I do? Well, I'll take out the phone and I'll open up the maps and I'll plug in the postcode.
[49:09] and the phone, I think, will give me some good counsel. It will direct me on the right way to go.
[49:21] And David says in this psalm, the Lord does that for me. In terms of the big things of life and the details of life, he says the Lord is the one who gives me counsel.
[49:35] And think about it, David is king. David has a team of counselors who are trying to give him advice on military strategy and economics and politics and all these things.
[49:56] And yet, David says, the most important counsel, the counsel that I need to instruct me, verse 7, the counsel that I need to keep me steady so that I won't be shaken, verse 8, is from the Lord.
[50:17] So, it's very clear to see and to hear that David's faith is in God. It's a personal faith, and yet it's not a private faith.
[50:33] He professes his faith, and he tells us that his faith is in God. And through this, Sam, he asks us, or God, through David, asks us, is your faith in God?
[50:50] Is he your refuge going forward into tomorrow and next week and next month and all these things that we can't see? What's ahead?
[51:00] God? Is he your refuge? David says, I hope so, because he's the only one who can keep you safe.
[51:13] He's the only one who can preserve your soul for time and for eternity. David says, is he your Lord? Is he the God that you know and have a relationship with?
[51:25] Or is the extent of your relationship with God an hour in church on Sunday? It's not a relationship, that's just a ritual. It's a religious practice.
[51:39] No life there. Is he your chosen portion, says David? Is he the one who satisfies your soul, or are you looking for satisfaction in a thousand other places that can never satisfy you?
[51:56] Does he your counsel? do you open the Bible? Do you get on your knees to pray, seeking counsel from the God who knows the future, who knows the way, and who promises to show us the way if we will ask him?
[52:20] David professes his faith in God, and because his faith is in God, he is glad, that he rejoices, and he feels secure, verse 9.
[52:40] how good to be able to know gladness of heart.
[52:54] There's not enough gladness of heart in this world. Maybe there's not enough gladness of heart in this room. How good to know that we can have gladness of heart, that we can have steady joy, that we can have security, now and forever.
[53:18] That's what's offered to us. That's what's promised to us if we trust in the Lord. And so David says, I'm trusting in the Lord.
[53:29] I'm professing my faith. What about you? The second thing David does, more quickly, is he points us forward to Jesus. Because yes, this is a psalm of David.
[53:43] It's about David's life. It's not disconnected from his life. It's about David's life, it's about David's faith, but it's about more than David, because David is pointing us forward to Jesus.
[53:55] in verse 10, there is that little word for. And that little word in verse 10, for, it's a connecting word.
[54:11] It's connecting us with everything that's gone before. David says, for you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your Holy One see corruption.
[54:23] So David, in verse 9, he's just spoken about having a glad heart. He's just spoken about his whole being rejoicing. He's just spoken about his flesh dwelling secure.
[54:34] And we can ask the question of David, how can you be so confident that you've got these things? How can you be so confident that God will give you this gladness and this joy and this security?
[54:51] And the answer to that question is because of Jesus. If David's gladness and joy and security was dependent upon David's own performance, his own religious rightness, he would be done for.
[55:15] Because David was far from perfect. David had made mistakes, mistakes, and David was going to make huge mistakes in this life.
[55:27] David would sin badly. And we have the full record of that in the Bible. But David's salvation, his security, his joy, his gladness would come through Jesus.
[55:40] And so it's Jesus that we're seeing in verse 10. God's salvation. How do we know that? There's a couple of clues. One is vocabulary, and two is history.
[55:55] So first of all, in terms of the vocabulary, look at the words that David uses going through this psalm. If you scan through verses 1 to verse 9, David uses the words, my and I, if I've counted correctly, he uses either my, he uses either my or I, 23 times.
[56:21] In just nine verses, 23 times he says either my or I. And so this is all very personal. It's almost with Psalm 16 like he's opened up a page in his diary, and he's sharing with us something that's really personal.
[56:38] But then as he moves, from verse 9 into verse 10, David stops speaking about my, and he talks about you.
[56:52] He talks about your Holy One. So why this change in vocabulary? Well, it's because the Holy Spirit, as he inspires David to write, he's pointing us to someone else.
[57:15] He's pointing us to someone who would come a thousand years after David, and that someone is Jesus. for the literal people who like to study the words of the text, even in the vocabulary, we have a pointer forward to Jesus, the Holy One.
[57:43] But the second clue, which maybe is more convincing, is history. because we're reading this psalm now, and it's 3,000 years old.
[57:58] And in verse 10, David is talking about someone who would not see corruption. That's the phrase that you can see that's used in verse 10.
[58:10] He's talking about someone who will not see corruption. In other words, he's talking about someone who would not stay dead. But history tells us that David died.
[58:27] And his body was buried. And his body decayed. David's body did see corruption.
[58:39] So this is not about David. And in Acts chapter 2, which we'll revisit tonight, Peter is preaching a sermon about Jesus.
[58:51] And Peter quotes this verse in Psalm 16, and he tells us that this verse is an Easter verse. Peter tells us in that famous sermon on Pentecost Day that this verse from Psalm 16 is about the resurrection of Jesus.
[59:10] So let me just give you two verses from that sermon. Peter, as he stands up in front of this vast crowd, he says, Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried.
[59:27] And his tomb is with us to this day. Peter's pointing to the place where David's body was laid. He says, We know what his body is. His corrupted body. David foresaw, David foresaw, in verse 31 of Acts chapter 2, he says, He foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
[60:00] this Jesus God raised up, and of that, says Peter, we are all witnesses. So, Psalm 16, written over a thousand years before Jesus, is pointing us to Jesus.
[60:26] It's giving us the trailer, it's giving us the preview, of the Easter story. So, having read the preview to the Easter story, in Psalm 16, let's now go to Luke chapter 23, and let's read the Easter story, another eyewitness account.
[60:47] Luke chapter 23. chapter 1, chapter 1, chapter 1, chapter 1, chapter 1, chapter 1, chapter 1, and if you're scanning down through that chapter, you can see from verse 44 to verse 49, you have the account there of the death of Jesus.
[61:22] Jesus dies. Why does he die? Well, we heard the children telling us why he died. He died to pay the wages of our sin. He died to take our sin away.
[61:35] And in Luke chapter 23, and at verse 50 to 56, we have the account that Jesus is buried. Why was he buried? Well, so that we would know that he was really dead.
[61:47] So that we would know that our sins are really paid for. And then at Luke chapter 24, and at verse 1, we have the account of the resurrection.
[61:58] And Luke says, But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared, and they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
[62:14] But when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.
[62:26] And as they were frightened, and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.
[62:41] Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee, the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and on the third day rise.
[62:51] and they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
[63:07] And this morning, you and I are part of all the rest. the message of the resurrection of Jesus was taken by these women back to the eleven, and then the message of the resurrection was told from the eleven to all the rest.
[63:32] and we are part of all the rest. The message of Easter, the message of the death and resurrection has been preserved in Scripture, passed down through the ages, and it's been told to us.
[63:55] So, today, still, we, through Psalm 16, and through Luke chapter 23, are being pointed to Jesus.
[64:10] I hope we'll look to him. I know you're being pointed a thousand other places, as am I. I know every time we pick up our phones, we'll be pointed to this place and that place and the next place.
[64:26] But this morning, God has ordained that you would sit here as I would stand here and that together we would be pointed to Jesus. And we would be called to put our faith and profess that our faith is in Jesus.
[64:51] profession of faith, a pointer to Jesus, and finally and briefly, there's the promise of resurrection life.
[65:09] And so David finishes by answering the question of so what? God? And maybe there's somebody, maybe there's a few sitting here this morning and that's the question you're asking.
[65:23] So what? So what? What's this got to do with me? Why should I wake up? Why should I pay attention? Maybe you've heard the message of Easter again this year, you're thinking.
[65:40] Again, I've heard about the cross. Same message, I've heard it before. Again, I've heard about the resurrection on Easter Sunday. I've heard it all before.
[65:51] Maybe that's what you're thinking. You wouldn't speak it out, but maybe in your mind that's what you're thinking. What's this really got to do with me? So what? And David answers the question of so what?
[66:08] David says in verse 11 of Psalm 16, you make known to me the path of life.
[66:25] So think about this. David, who at this point in time, a thousand years before Christ, not understanding very much of what he's been led to write, David says to the Lord in this Psalm and this prayer, you make known to me the path of life.
[66:54] Now, David can only see the path of life in low definition. It's only a very bloody picture that he has. but for you, and for me, for those who are living 2,025 years after Jesus, for those who have read both the prophecy in Psalm 16 and the fulfillment in the Gospels, we have in high definition the path of life made known to us.
[67:42] This morning, God has made known to you and to me the path of life, and it's through Jesus. Jesus.
[67:52] So, if we want to know life, abundant life, where we have joy, and we have gladness, and we have security, and we have stability, then we've been told this morning, we need to stop chasing after little gods.
[68:20] We need to come to Jesus. now none but Christ can satisfy no other name for me. There's love and life and lasting joy, Lord Jesus found in thee.
[68:32] And if you and I want to know life that is eternal, life that is beyond the grave, we need to come to Jesus.
[68:45] He is the way. He is the truth. He is the life. If we want to be in the presence of God, says David, where there is fullness of joy, if we want to experience heaven, where there are pleasures forevermore, we need to listen to David, and look to and believe in, and profess that our faith is in Jesus.
[69:19] he died on the cross to take our sin away, if we will confess it and give it to him. He rose from the dead because death could not hold him.
[69:36] And he lives. And because he lives, he promises that we too shall live forever.
[69:49] if we believe in him. This is the message of Easter.
[70:04] The promise of resurrection life for those whose faith is in Christ.
[70:14] will we believe? Will we take hold of this gift that was purchased at great price, but is offered freely to us?
[70:33] We'll pray. heavenly father, we thank you for the gift of eternal life.
[70:47] We think of the words of Jesus in John chapter 10 where he says, the thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I have come to give life, life in all abundance.
[71:04] And we thank you that it's a free gift, that the price has been paid, the cross is the place where we see that the work of salvation is done, it is finished.
[71:18] And we thank you that as we reflect on these truths on Easter Sunday morning, we are once more brought back to that place where we see the open tomb, the place where the grave clothes have been folded and put away, the place that Jesus burst out of in resurrection life.
[71:50] And we thank you that that life that he has is offered to us. If we will simply believe, if we will turn away from all the little gods that we confess we take into our lives, if we will turn away from all the fingers that point us to every other place and look in faith to Jesus.
[72:20] We pray that somebody here may even do that for the first time today and may taste the life that Jesus offers.
[72:33] And we ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen. we sing to conclude the praise, mission praise number 1105, a resurrection hymn, it's called See What a Morning Gloriously Bright, with the dawning of hope in Jerusalem.
[72:56] See what a morning glories and bright with the dawning of hope in Jerusalem.
[73:18] Oh, that their rain goes too, filled with life as the angels announced, Christ is risen.
[73:31] Seek a salvation blood, brought in love, born in pain, paid in sacrifice. Fulfilled in Christ the blood, for He lives, Christ is risen from the dead.
[73:49] heaven. Seek a healing, where is He laid, past and sorrow, she turns from the empty tomb.
[74:07] Here's the voice speaking, calling her name, it's the master, the Lord, grace to life again. The voice, that's fun to hear, speaking lies, staring low, bringing peace to us.
[74:28] Well, suddenly, our ears, falling head, Christ is risen from the dead. on with the father, ancient of days, through the spirit, who rose with certainty, honor and blessing, glory and praise to the King, and the power authority.
[75:06] And we are raised with Him, death is dead, love is one, Christ is conquered, and we shall reign with Him, for He lives, Christ is risen from the dead.
[75:24] And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of God the Holy Spirit, be with us all, now and forevermore.
[75:37] Amen.