Did you know that God calls us, who are his, to do good because we believe in God? As the Bible shows, it would be detrimental for one to claim that they believe in God, yet their life is rife with evil (Acts 5:1-11). This should serve to remind us that we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good (Ephesians 2:10). We aren’t meant to be merely hearers of the word but also doers (James 1:22). However, what if it was about more than just doing good?
At our church, as we had been doing a sermon series on the book of Amos, Amos 5 brought something to my attention. Amos told the Israelites to seek God so that they could live (Amos 5:5-6). In the same chapter, he told them to seek good and not evil so that they could live (Amos 5:14). On the surface, he is simply telling them that because they have sought God, they should live in a way that emulates that. But what if Amos meant more? It appears that Amos was equating seeking God with seeking good. We may wonder why the prophet did this. Is it possible that Amos was equating God and good because they were the same thing? David answers our question in Psalm 16:1-2 where he says that he has no good apart from God.
Using Psalm 16, I hope to expound on how God, being our only good, grants us every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus.
Delight in His Saints (Psalm 16:3)
The first of the many spiritual blessings is how, in God, through Christ, we are united with fellow saints. The Church is a group of misfits united in Christ. You get this succinctly painted when you look at Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Paul highlights how both masters and slaves can sit on the same pew because God is our good (Ephesians 6:4-9). It is for the same reason that we have also been given the unity of the Spirit as a gift in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3). We are not working for unity. We have already been granted unity because we are God’s children. Therefore, as David shows, delight in fellow saints is intrinsic to those who see God as their only good.
In 1 John, Apostle John writes about how our love for fellow saints exemplifies our love for God (1 John 4:7-12). He continued to say that if they don’t love others, they don’t know God (1 John 4:8). Loving others well can sometimes be challenging because we are still in the flesh. However, God still commands us to love because he knows we can do it.
From the moment God becomes our good, he gives us the ability to delight in the excellent ones steadfastly. Acts 9 begins with Paul persecuting Christians. However, it ends with the same Christians saving him from Jews who wanted him dead (Acts 9:23-25). Another example is how the Jews readily accepted the Gentiles once it was confirmed that they were brothers (Acts 11:18). If you struggle with loving others, it just might be because you’re relying on your strength. Therefore, why not trust in God to gift you with love for his people?
A Hatred for Sin and The World (Psalm 16:4-5)
David continues by showing that once God is our good, our old ways of life are no longer appealing. As Jesus said in Mark 2:21-22, the old and the new can’t work together. Once God becomes your all (Psalm 16:5), you will no longer have any love left for the world (Psalm 16:4). Instead, you will be filled with genuine sorrow because of worldly pursuits. This is because, with time, you will understand, just like the psalmist, that the sorrows that await those looking to other gods increase (Psalm 16:4).
Once in Christ, Christians slowly come to terms with the weight of the sin they bore when they were not in Christ. As Paul wrote to the Ephesians, unbelievers have no hope and are entirely separated from God (Ephesians 2:11-13). Knowing this, a true believer will want to have no part in worldly ways again. Instead, they will strive to entrust themselves to their only good, the one who keeps them together (Psalm 16:5). Additionally, hatred for sin will grow in them as they grow in God. They will strive for holiness, without which they won’t see God, realizing that they have been bought with a price (Hebrews 12:14, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
God, Our Portion (Psalm 16:5)
We were once a people at enmity with God. However, with God as our good, the dividing wall of hostility is severed. God becomes what we choose (Psalm 16:5). Our goal as Christians is to do everything for his glory, which is for our good. Compare that to who you were before. Two chapters before Psalm 16, the Psalmist says that no one is seeking after God (Psalm 14:2-3). That all of us have purposefully turned aside from him and are corrupt. None of us sought to do any good. Now, the reverse is true. In Christ, Yahweh has become our chosen portion. We willingly entrust our lives to him because he is our lot—the one through whom we live, move, and have our being (Acts 17:28).
A Beautiful Inheritance (Psalm 16:6, 9)
After having God as our portion, we become his children with the right to call him Father (Romans 8:15). Therefore, as his children, we have an inheritance in him (Romans 8:16-17). The inheritance, which is life with Christ, has been guaranteed for us and sealed in the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14). As the psalmist intimates, our quality of life, even on this side of eternity, improves once God becomes our good. This doesn’t mean that there will be no more suffering. Instead, we can conclude that our lives are eternally better because we are in the Lord.
Since we have eternal life as our inheritance, we can rest knowing that we will dwell securely (Psalm 16:9). We will never have any reason to worry, for he is our stronghold (Psalm 18:2). When our savior says that those who are his he will never cast out he means it. Therefore, fear not what mortal man can do to you (Psalm 118:6). Instead, as the psalmist states, our posture should be one of gladness and joy.
Unshaken, for He is our Counselor (Psalm 16:7-8)
Once God becomes our good, we gain the counsel of the one who works everything by that same counsel (Ephesians 1:11). For this reason, nothing is ever out of place. As the psalmist proclaims, may it be our joy to infuse our hearts (the core of our being) with the Lord’s counsel. Ways of infusing our hearts with counsel from the Lord are through his word, prayer and through the gift of one anothering (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Hebrews 10:24-25).
Since we have rested in the Lord, we can never be shaken as a result. No matter what may be thrown at us, we will only become stronger, knowing that the Lord will always be at our right hand.
Eternal Life through Christ (Psalm 16:10-11)
Since we know that our savior is alive in heaven for all eternity, then more than the psalmist, we rest knowing our souls won’t be abandoned to Sheol. With Hosea, we can confidently taunt death, for through Christ we have been ransomed from death (Hosea 13:14). As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, there is no gospel if Christ didn’t rise from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:17-19). Since we are sure that he was resurrected, we look forward to the day when our faith shall be made sight (Romans 8:18-25). We yearn for the day that our mourning will be no more and our tears will be wiped away (Revelation 21:4).
In Christ, we not only have the path of life but also the path that will lead to eternal life. We won’t see corruption, for in Jesus we have been made holy (Hebrews 10:14). Now we look forward to the day we will be presented pure and blameless before Yahweh (Jude 24-25). From there, henceforth, we will have unending joys and pleasures.
Do you consider God your good? If not, I pray that this article on Psalm 16 has pointed you to reasons why you should. If you would like to, please click this resource and reach out to us for further guidance. May the Lord bring you to your knees in surrender, declaring, “God is my good; I have no good besides him.”