The Lord is our treasure, continued

 

Yesterday, we saw that Christ is our treasure: He is our refuge, and He is the best and greatest good that we can have in this world. Today we will see other treasures from Christ.

As for the saints who are in the earth, They are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight. (Psalm 16:3)

Now, just because the Lord is our only (and highest and best) good, doesn't mean that we have to live solitary lives like hermits! What verse three really means is that even our relationships with friends should have Christ at the center. We need to put Him in the midst of our "people skills" and choose to be around other Christians. David is saying that his joy in God is actually heightened because he has delighted himself in the company of God's people. 

Haven't we seen this in our own lives? Doesn't it give us more joy, or more peace, when we have believers as our friends? This is what David is referring to. Some translations read "majestic ones," while others say "saints" or "excellent ones." Taken together, this means that David has surrounded himself with those who are set apart to God. People whose character is excellent and noble. We can delight in the company of God's saints, growing together in holiness and love as we find joy and peace in God together. Making God the basis of our friendships will result in good fellowship, accountability, and delight. 

Oil and perfume make the heart glad, So a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend. (Proverbs 27:9)

and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Now, let's look at verse four of the psalm:

The sorrows of those who have bartered for another god will be multiplied;
I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood,
Nor will I take their names upon my lips. (Psalm 16:4)

I guess as David thought about God's saints, he also thought about those who have turned their backs on God. He may have been thinking about some that he used to know who had turned aside to worship idols.  Up there, I have posted the NASB, but in other translations, instead of "bartered for" it says "run after." Kinda brings up a mental image of someone who is running away to pursue something that we know is just not good for them. And that is what happens to people who turn from worshiping God. They forsake the good, the true, the Almighty God. David says he will not take part in their pagan sacrifices, and he won't even say the names of the false gods. He is affirming that the Lord should be our exclusive object of worship.

Of course, we need to maintain relationships with unbelievers in order to reach them for Christ. We have Jesus' example to follow for that. 

And have mercy on some, who are doubting; 

 save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. (Jude 22-23)

But it's important to be careful, too -- we can't allow ourselves to be enticed to follow their false gods, or to join them in godless behavior, either. The lifestyles of unbelievers may entice us, but that pathway only makes for sorrow. We can avoid those heartaches by worshiping only the Lord.

Let's look also at verses five and six. Yet another treasure that is found in our Lord is illustrated here:

Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;

you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

surely I have a delightful inheritance. (v 5-6)

The idea of these verses is a memory of God's apportioning the land to the twelve tribes of Israel. They determined by lot the boundaries and regions which each tribe would call their own. This might seem completely random to us, and "the luck of the draw," but for the children of Israel, this was God's determining which land would be the heritage of each tribe. There was one tribe that did not receive an inheritance of land: Levi. God told Aaron:

The LORD said to Aaron, "You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them; I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites. (Numbers 18:20)

David may have been musing on this verse as he wrote; he seems to be telling all of us that having the Lord as our portion is better than any other asset we could inherit, whether land or money or any other thing. If we have the Lord, we lack nothing that would be needed for a happy life.

Let's not rest until we have made the Lord our best treasure. Let's tell Him that it's He Whom we seek. If this seems unfamiliar to us, let's ask the Spirit to open our eyes to see all of the treasure of Jesus Christ. Then, like the merchant in the parable, we will joyfully set aside everything in order to gain Him as our treasure, like the pearl of great price.