PSALM SIXTEEN quoted in ACTS

Psalm 16 Quoted in Acts 2:25-28  .........from the AMPLIFIED BIBLE
25.....I saw the Lord constantly before me,for He is at my right hand
that I may not be shaken or overthrown or cast down
( from my secure state )
26  Therefore  my heart rejoiced, and my tongue exulted exceedingly;
 moreover my flesh also will rest in hope..
27  For You will not abandon my soul, leaving it helpless in Hades,
nor let Your Holy One know decay or see destruction.
28  You have made known to me the ways of life:
You will enrapture me diffusing my soul with joy
with and in Your presence.

PSALM SIXTEEN Verse 8 to 11

Psalm 16:8-11  New Living Translation Second Edition
8 I know  the LORD is always with me
   I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
9 No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety.
10 For you will not leave my soul among the dead
     or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.
11 You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence
     and the pleasures of living with you  forever.

First believers in Jesus Christ and believing Christians today can make the words of psalm 16 verses 8 to  11   their own testimony...an expression of their own spiritual experience:
and in doing so we ourselves are proof and fulfillment of the resurrection of Jesus our Lord.

PSALM SIXTEEN Verses 9, 10, 11.

Verse 9 & 10 from the Coverdale version.

9 I have set God always before me:
for he is on my right hand, therefore I shall not fall.
10 Wherefore my heart was Glad and my glory rejoiced
my flesh also shall rest in hope.

Sometimes the presence of the Lord shines out of the face of those who love him .
Walking with faith that God is with us........is a spiritual thing which effects the physical,
(my flesh shall rest in hope)
The life of a believer is touching the spiritual and the physical.

Verse 11b from the NIV
You will fill me with joy in your presence, with
eternal pleasures at your right hand.

These words express the joy and security experienced by the believer who has knowledge of the presence of the Lord along life's way.
A ringing confession of confidence in the Lord
which we can make in gratitude and faith.

PSALM FIFTEEN VERSE ONE AND TWO

The Coverdale version from the Book of Common Prayer

Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle: or who shall rest upon thy holy hill ?

Even he, that leadeth an uncorrupt life; and doeth the thing which is right

and speaketh the truth from his heart.

The Christlike behaviour described in Psalm15:1&2 is the Gold standard

by which to examine our own attitudes and actions.

Always speaking the truth from the heart is of course Christlike,

and so is always doing what is right.

If, before God in prayer, we can review what we were doing this morning and find that we have been totally Christlike, that would have met the gold standard set in Psalm 15 v1&2.

PSALM THIRTEEN VERSE SIX.......SONG

Psalm 13 verse 6   NIV.
I will sing to the LORD
for He has been good to me.

The Vulgate,  The Septuagint and the Orthodox Study Bible  (SAAS)
have another line;-

I will sing to the name of the LORD most high.

The psalmist is not just ticking all the right boxes here.
It's more like a football crowd.....with a great roar...singing their team to victory !
The massed choirs of heaven and the assembled people of God 
are united in this song !

PSALM THIRTEEN VERSE FIVE, LOVE

We rely on God,s unfailing love.
The Hebrew word "hesed"  indicates;-
that God is loyal to us,
that God is faithful to us,
that God shows mercy, tenderness and compassion to us,
that God,s enduring steadfast love for us is real and true,
and that we will be able to accept and enter more fully into God,s faithful love for us...........................
in prayer times, in quiet moments and in all the moments of our lives when we recognize His presence.

PSALM THIRTEEN VERSE FIVE, TRUST

But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.

Verse 5 expresses a strong gift of faith which the psalmist exuberantly proclaims.
Sometimes a long relationship builds trust.
A believer who enjoys an ongoing personal relationship with the risen Lord,
grows in the knowledge of the Lord.
A believers image of the Lord is vital. A faulty image of God hinders our relationship with Him. The more we come to have a true image of God the better our relationship will be.

PSALM THIRTEEN VERSE FOUR

My enemy will say, "I have overcome him and my foes rejoice when I fall"

When as believers, we come to a realization of our own powerlessness , we need to turn to God to ask for grace to be enlightened and to be given a bigger picture of what we are anxious about.
If we start by praying for all men, we might see the cause of our own anxiety in the context of God's will for all men.
If we let "Our Father" take us by the hand for a while, we will soon start to get some vision of His way for ourselves and the sea of people around us.
Beyond our present trials and difficulties ,
God,s purpose is marching on. Hold on to that. 

PSALM THIRTEEN VERSE THREE

Psalm 13 verse 3  NIV
Look on me and answer, O LORD my God
     Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;

Look...Answer me  .It is imperative that the Lord answers the psalmist !
The psalmist needs to be enlightened internally !

...or I will sleep in death.         The dire consequences of not receiving clear discernment
 could mean that the psalmist would be overcome by his enemies.
The psalmist has cast himself on God's protection and provision.

PSALM THIRTEEN VERSE ONE

Psalm 13 verse 1    New International Version  ( the NIV )
How long, O Lord ?  Will you forget me for ever ?
How long will you hide your face from me?


  Christian converts of The Rev James Chalmers, missionary of the London Missionary Society
in New Guinea in the 1860,s enjoyed religious freedom for over a hundred years . Today amid burning churches, ransacked seminaries and violent persecution their descendants are praying "How long, O Lord"
Christians in many other countries are not free to practice their faith publicly , but whether the persecution lasts months years or generations we are alive to turn to God , we are free to turn to God in prayer.
Psalm 13 verse 1 is an expression of the faith and hope which we might secretly pray under persecution. The same verse reminds those of us who are free to take advantage of our own freedom.
Sharing our faith and hope freely should be our desire; and leading others to freedom our goal.
If we examine our own motivation before the Lord in Prayer, we will surely find ways to express our faith and hope in everyday life. 

PSALM TEN Verse 17 and 18 NJB

......you grant them a hearing

      to give judgement for the orphaned and exploited  .

Those who defend what is wholesome are vindicated sooner or later

          Jesus himself was jeered and mocked.

          Mary whitehouse was jeered and mocked.......by a media which proved to be populated by child molesters,  deviants , and perverts, but now their guilt has been exposed on television  and 

Mrs Whitehouse has been vindicated. The secret activity of the exploiters is made public from east to west.

          The one true God is the God of justice and those who refer regularly to Him and follow His way should not have too many skeletons in their cupboard.

PSALM TEN Verse 17

the Coverdale version from the Book of Common Prayer
          Break thou the power of the ungodly and malicious:
          take away his ungodliness, and thou shalt find none.

Those who attempt to put  1st Timothy Ch2 v1 into practice could use this verse.

1st Timothy Ch2v1 ;
          First I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be offered for all men. NAB

We believe that God,s will is without reservation the very best for ourselves and for all men,
so for all men we might pray;
          Break thou the power of the ungodly and malicious;
          please take away their ungodliness until you can find none ! 

PSALM 10 Verse 16

from THE COVERDALE VERSION from the BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER ;
........the poor committeth himself unto thee ;
        for thou art the helper of the friendless.

The poor, those in need, especially those in dire need, cry out to God.
God is the helper of the poor...therefore helping the poor is a godly thing to do.
That can be done out of a sense of duty, but to care for people with concern and affection is Christlike.
It is always good to examine our motives honestly before the Lord, and to ask for enabling grace..

Verse 14 in the REVISED ENGLISH BIBLE
          The haples victim commits himself to you
          in you the fatherless finds a helper.

PALM TEN Verse 8 to 10

Psalm 10 :8 to 10 uses words like lurking, ambushing, watching, and ensnaring   about the wicked who are involved in trapping and taking violent advantage of the poor and the innocent.
In nations of every level of development, the poor and the vulnerable are entrapped into financial and social arrangements which they can't easily get out of , which makes them seriously disadvantaged.
The wicked search out the vulnerable in order to take advantage of them. Great numbers of people are entrapped in what is virtually slave labour and even human trafficking . People are entrapped by debt, by drugs, by unfair contracts, by unfair changes of legislation or rules set then changed by governments and financial institutions. The wicked seek political and financial authority to overpower whole communities !
Christian discernment lies in recognizing the entrapped situation: Whether believers are called to advise those in debt or dependency, or called to teach young Christians to have discernment in life choices and in the decisions which have to be made in everyday life.
The poor and the innocent were once  supported to some degree by the influence of trustworthy respectable people in authority , in schools and churches, in local government and in the media; where the highest moral and spiritual values were expected and could be relied upon.
In nations where moral values are mocked and spiritual values strongly contested, every believer needs a mature  understanding of the teaching of Jesus Christ and an ongoing personal relationship with him in the body of Christ.

PSALM TEN Paul Quotes Verse Seven.

Paul quotes this verse (from the Septaugint) in Romans 3:14  ESV

   Their mouth is full of curses    and bitterness

Paul is teaching that both Greeks and Jews are under sin
Romans 3:10+11    as it is written
             no one understands ( in Psalm 10v5   "your judgements are beyond their grasp")
             no one seeks God  (in Psalm 10 v4    " the wicked do not seek God")

For Christian discernment , not understanding and not seeking are indicators not of godlyness
but of  " the wicked and the ungodly "

PSALM TEN Verse 7

Psalm 10 verse 7  GNB
Their speech is filled with curses, lies and threats;
   they are quick to speak hateful, evil words.

This verse is a gift to discerning Christians who review their  day with the LORD.
Wishing anything but the best for anyone  is not good. How often do you have to do that to make it a curse ? We have to examine our own attitudes ..not to justify them but to bring them before God to whom we are answerable.
When you hear the words " ..if you don't......you are listening to a threat !
If the label says "healthy food" and it isn't   ...that's a lie !
Christians need to be forearmed with the truth
We need to know God's perspective in our own lives.
And we need to have "godless people " unmasked so we know who to trust.

PSALM TEN Verse 5 and 6

Psalm 10 verse 5 and 6  REB
5 Their ways are always devious ; your judgements are beyond their grasp.
   and they scoff at all their adversaries.
6 Because they escape misfortune they think they will never be shaken.

Advertisements pander to the ungodly "don't let the tax man get your money"
It is not seen as a virtue to make provision for the underprivileged
or to pay their own share of taxes.
Because they have always got away with it , national and international business uses devious schemes to avoid their moral duty before man and God.
People need to know who to respect, who to support, who to trust, who to give their brand loyalty to .

PALM TEN Verse 4

Psalm 10 verse 4  REB
The wicked in their pride do not seek God;
there is no place for God in any of their schemes

Members of the UK parliament who claimed excessive expenses said that they had not broken the rules.
For them it was all right to get away with as much as they dared. They did not feel constrained by any moral force or that they are answerable before God.

If they had referred their choices to God in prayer ( an examen or an examination of conscience) they would have realized that before God , they are not men of good repute , or men of no repute, but
men if disrepute . i.e. the wicked ..the ungodly.

PSALM TEN Verse 3

THE COVERDALE VERSION from the BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER.

verse 3  For the ungodly hath made boast of his own heart's desire
            and speaketh good of the covetous, whom God abhorreth.

Do any of these phrases sound familiar ?
      If you win ,what will you spend it on?
      Don,t apply for this job unless you are motivated by money!
      Top of the range job incentives.

The Christian needs discernment to asses his own goals.
The hearts desire of the ungodly is at the expense of others
and is predictably selfish.

Every Christian student who leaves home to go for further education
should be fully competent to apply discernment to all the choices and
decisions he will be asked to make in the coming years.

PSALM TEN Verse 2

ESV  verse 2
In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor:
    let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.

Believers need to be able to identify  "the wicked" ( in some versions " the ungodly")
As a shopkeeper needs to be able to identify shoplifters,
the believer needs discernment because "the wicked" take advantage of the innocent.
The believer also needs to be able to discern tendencies and activities in his own life
which would draw him away from God instead of drawing closer to God.

While it is the duty of national government and local government to ensure justice,
those who care,i.e.  believers...would naturally bring the oppressed before God in prayer.

We also pray for the conversion of the "rogue traders" ....the " pay day loan sharks"...
and those who make a living by imposing on the vulnerable on the telephone.