Psa 16:13-19 “If Thou Wilt Enter Into Life, Keep the Commandments”, Part 3

Psa 116:13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.
Psa 116:14 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.
Psa 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
Psa 116:16 O LORD, truly Iam thy servant; I am thy servant,and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.
Psa 116:17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.
Psa 116:18 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people,
Psa 116:19 In the courts of the LORD’S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.

This week we will look at the last seven verses of our study, where the focus of the Psalm is on what it means to dedicate our lives unto the LORD.

We’ve been discussing throughout this Psalm how it requires God’s mercy and power working in our lives to be able to “enter into life” and “keep the commandments”, and so when we read in Micah 6:8 where God shows us what is good and what He requires of us, we can understood that in order to be dedicated to those things that are required of us, it will take the miracle of having God’s holy spirit in us making it possible for us to truly be dedicated by doing what is just loving mercy and walking humbly with our God.

Mic 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, whatis good; andwhat doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Pro 3:3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:

Mat 23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted [Joh 3:30].

The only time the word “dedication” is mentioned in the new covenant is in John 10:22, and if we look at this verse and the surrounding verses, it becomes very clear that the “feast of dedication at Jerusalem” cannot be spiritually fulfilled without Christ in us as our hope of glory, our dedicated and faithful Shepherd who is working a great work in the lives of those who have been predetermined from the foundation of the world to be those dedicated servants of God of whom he will lose none.

Joh 10:22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.

Joh 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
Joh 10:15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Joh 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
Joh 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
Joh 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
Joh 10:19 There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings.
Joh 10:20 And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?
Joh 10:21 Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?
Joh 10:22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.
Joh 10:23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.
Joh 10:24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
Joh 10:25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
Joh 10:26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Joh 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

Christ and His Father are one, and Christ was created with a spirit that was dedicated to his Father and always did those things which were pleasing to Him from the beginning.

Joh 8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone;for I do always those things that please him [Luk 12:32].

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Joh 1:4 In him was life ; and the life was the light of men. [Mat 19:17, Mat 5:14]

Mat 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

With these verses that discuss the dedicated mind of Christ in mind, let’s see what Christ encountered at “the feast of dedication…at Jerusalem”.

Joh 10:22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.

Joh 10:23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch. 
Joh 10:24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly [Mar 8:27-30, Mat 16:15-17].
Joh 10:25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. [dedicated]
Joh 10:26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: [dedicated]
Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life [Joh 17:3]; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. [telling us of Christ’s dedication to those who are given to overcome in this age]
Joh 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. [a declaration from Christ of God’s faithfulness of His unfailing power and dedication]
Joh 10:30 I and my Father are one. [both working together and dedicated to God’s workmanship which we are]

The context of these verses encourages us to see that our Father and Christ are the Ones who are dedicated to us, and as we read on, we will see the coldness of man’s heart toward his Creator and the reason why this dedication was in the “winter” when nothing happens spiritually within us (Mat 24:20).

Joh 10:31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
Joh 10:32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
Joh 10:33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
Joh 10:34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
Joh 10:35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Joh 10:36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world [1Jn 2:16, 1Jn 4:3, Col 1:27], Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? [Joh 20:21, 1Jn 3:1].

Christ is being accused of being blasphemous, and reminding his enemies that He was sent into the world and because we are sent as Christ was sent, we are also hated of all men and considered blasphemous. These words are written for us and help us understand what being “sanctified” in Christ produces in our lives.

The spirit of anti-Christ denies that Christ comes in the flesh [sent into the world], both as the babe who was born of a virgin, and the spirit of anti-Christ denies that Christ has entered into our flesh (Col 1:27). Christ came in the flesh, and that miraculous physical event of Christ being born as the only begotten of the Father (Joh 1:18) is the starting point in Christ’s flesh of the earnest relationship of being born again which a man must experience to see the kingdom of God (Eph 1:14, Joh 3:3). The fullness of that relationship which Christ had with His Father in his flesh, and each of our relationships with Christ while in our flesh, will go on to perfection on the third day (Luk 13:32). These are some of the verses which the carnal fox denies in the earth, denying Christ and His Christ .

Rev 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eyeshall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

Rev 20:6 Blessed and holyis he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

The Jews in this story (Joh 10:22-36) who needed to hear Christ plainly tell them that he was the Christ, represent our unbelief and inability to be dedicated to God to do the works which require the faith of Christ in us (Eph 2:8). We know our Father and Christ through this relationship of faith which empowers us so that we can believe and do even greater works than Christ today (Joh 14:12). We become dedicated through Christ, through the fiery trials, through the process of judgment which brings us unto perfection on the third day (Luk 13:32).

Joh 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Luk 13:32 And he said unto them,Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

Those verses we read in John 10:22-38 are simply a witness of what the world must come to believe and experience prior to truly knowing God and Jesus Christ (Joh 17:3). We can know Jesus and yet not have a relationship with him, because it has not yet been given to us to believe and know “At that day” that Christ is in us (Joh 14:20). When our faith is tried, however, through the judgment which is upon the house of God, we come to know God, because our flesh is being put off through those fiery trials and the will of God is therefore able to be accomplished, as opposed to living out the rest of our lives chasing our own desires. That is the only way we can be dedicated to God and be received of Him with the end result being that we become Christ’s family (1Pe 4:12, Act 14:22).

1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1Pe 4:2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgethevery son whom he receiveth.

Mat 12:50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

When we identify a tree by the fruit, we also must consider the source of that growth in order “that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him”, and this is what Christ was telling the Jews at that time. They were not able to receive Christ’s words and went on in this chapter to want to kill him for what he had declared. However, He said these things for our sakes today.

Joh 10:37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
Joh 10:38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.

If we are blessed to present ourselves unto God as that dedicated sacrifice spoken of in Romans 12:1-2, it will be because of the mercies of God that this is possible as we are dragged to His Son (Joh 6:44) and look to him as the author and finisher of our faith (Heb 12:1-2).

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Psa 116:13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.

Saying to the LORD “I will take the cup of salvation” must be accompanied with the words “and call upon the name of the LORD”, otherwise we are still reflecting the immature state which Peter demonstrated when “Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee [I will take the cup of salvation]. Likewise also said all the disciples”.

Mat 26:35 Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.

Initially we deny Christ by not thinking that we have any cup to drink, and then we deny Christ by telling him that we have power within our ownselves to drink that cup. Both points of view are wrong, and it takes such severe trials in our flesh to finally say from our hearts, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Rom 7:24).

Peter’s lesson and all the disciples’ lesson is our lesson which was written to remind us that flesh naturally denies Christ and that it is only by the grace and faith which God grants us that we can overcome in this age. The symbolic event of Peter denying Christ three times before the cock crowed twice reminds us of this very point; that there is none righteous. Yet we can take great comfort in this story, because in it we learn that Christ will not deny himself, and despite ourselves and Peter’s self and all the disciples who were called and chosen, they will, we will, overcome in this life through our LORD! King David also was sacrificed in that regard to show us that we are the man as well.

Mat 26:34 Jesus said unto him,Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

2Ti 2:13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself. [Mar 10:39]

2Sa 12:7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

2Sa 12:10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

Psa 116:14 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.

Paying our “vows unto the LORD” is another way of saying we are dedicated to the LORD’S service, and that service is within the body of Christ or “in the presence of all his people”.

Our marriage covenant to Christ, our vow toward Him, is something that we can’t honour in our own flesh, and yet Christ in us makes it possible for us to be a faithful witness of His truth, even prophesying that the bride will be made ready. We pay our vows today by dying daily as we live a dedicated life of service which God makes possible through Christ.

Rev 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Psa 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

It is the precious trial of our faith which brings about “the death of his saints” that God is working in the body of Christ today.

We are in that house of mourning because it is our day of judgment today, and we are dying daily, and that is the precious process which God has ordained for His children who are being saved in this life while in the flesh.

1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth [1Co 9:25], though it be tried with fire [1Pe 4:12], might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

1Co 9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now theydo it to obtaina corruptible crown [gold that perisheth ]; but we an incorruptible (2Ti 4:8).

2Ti 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness [but we an incorruptible], which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give meat that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Ecc 7:1 A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.
Ecc 7:2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.

Psa 116:16 O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.

David, in type and shadow, is saying what we hope and declare the LORD is showing us “At that day”, that we are who we are as a result of having this hope of glory within us. “Thy servants” is twice mentioned as a witness that it is Christ who is that servant within us who also “hast loosed my bonds”.

Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Psa 107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;< Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Joh 13:14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.

The servant of God does not strive, because we are “the son of thine handmaid^H519” and that handmaid represents Jerusalem above which is free. We are free because we are bond or slaves to Christ.

H519 ‘amah aw-maw’: Apparently a primitive word; a maidservant or female slave: – (hand) bondmaid (-woman,) maid (-servant).

2Ti 2:24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
2Ti 2:25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;

Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

In other words, we don’t spiritually sweat because of the liberty that Christ’s spirit brings us. Christ’s body is being put through its paces as Christ works in that body both to will and to do of our Father’s good pleasure which is filling up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ for his body’s sake the church.

Eze 44:17 And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.
Eze 44:18 They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat.

Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

2Co 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Psa 116:17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.
Psa 116:18 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people,
Psa 116:19 In the courts of the LORD’S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.

Twice now the Psalmist declares “I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people” (verses 14 and 18) to witness that it is Christ in us who makes our living sacrifice possible and acceptable before God.

Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

To be “In the courts of the LORD’S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem” should be our chief desire, not forsaking the assembling of the brethren (Heb 10:25), but coming together to “praise ye the LORD” for the wonderful works that he is doing unto the sons of men.

Psa 27:4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.

Psa 107:31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

We are gathered together in the LORD and raised in heavenly places together to “offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving“, giving thanks to God for His mercy toward us, as he makes it possible for us to bind mercy and truth continually around our hearts, through Christ. 

Heb 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Pro 3:3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:

It is in these heavenly places above where we find ourselves seated in Christ (Eph 2:6), that we will learn the truth and be granted the power to fulfill.

Mat 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.