... Set the Lord Always Before Me
A Sermon on Psalm 16:8
Originally preached Jan. 1, 1956
Scripture
8I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Sermon Description
What is the secret to a life of spiritual longevity? How did saints of old overcome the daily battle of temptation and trouble? In this sermon on Psalm 16:8 titled “… Set the Lord Always Before Me,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones expounds on this psalm of David to share this secret. It is the daily decision to actively set the Lord always before oneself. This daily spiritual discipline enables the Christian to face the uncertainty of the future without fear as one considers who the Lord is and who they are to Him. Dr. Lloyd-Jones encourages with a gracious reminder that there are two things the Christian can do to “set the Lord before us.” First, they must make an active decision to consciously remind themselves of God. It is an act of determination to think on the Lord and what He has done; otherwise their lives will be swept into busyness and God becomes secondary in thoughts and affections. Secondly, after one sets their hearts steadfastly on seeking the presence of God, they turn to the means of communion with God. Christians seek Him through prayer and reading Scripture. They are the means of communing with God on days when one feels like seeking Him as well as the days their hearts feel cold and distant from Him. Find encouragement from Dr. Lloyd-Jones’s preaching on David’s resolute desire to battle temptation and find comfort in setting the Lord always before him.
Sermon Breakdown
- The psalmist tells us how he faces the future in Psalm 16:8. He kept the Lord always before him.
- This verse shows us the secret of the life of David and the life of Jesus. They lived with God always before them.
- We must determine and decide to live this way. We must exercise our willpower and be rigid with ourselves.
- There is a divine initiative in the Christian life, but we must also initiate things through God's enabling. We can't be passive.
- Setting the Lord before us means training ourselves in the art of recollection - consciously reminding ourselves of God and our relationship to Him.
- Setting the Lord before us means reading the Bible, praying, and reading biographies of godly people.
- We must do this even when we don't feel like it and make it a daily habit. Don't do it only when in trouble.
- We should do this because God is the Lord, we are always before Him, and we will stand before Him in judgment.
- It is a privilege to walk in fellowship with God and set Him always before us.
- Setting the Lord before us brings comfort in temptation, trials, sickness, and even death. He will be with us.
- We can face the future without fear because God does not change. We must abide in Him.
Old Testament
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.