Psalm 16

 A Michtam of David.

¹Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust.

²O my soul, you have said to the Lord,

“You are my Lord,

My goodness is nothing apart from You.”

³As for the saints who are on the earth,

“They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.”

⁴Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god;

Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer,

Nor take up their names on my lips.

⁵O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;

You maintain my lot.

⁶The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;

Yes, I have a good inheritance.

⁷I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;

My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.

⁸I have set the Lord always before me;

Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

⁹Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;

My flesh also will rest in hope.

¹⁰For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,

Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

¹¹You will show me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Preamble: To begin this Psalm is Messianic, it is quoted by the Apostle Peter in Acts 2:25-28 where he cites verses 8-11 from it in his declaration of the Risen Christ! The Apostle Paul also cites from this Psalm in Acts 13:35. Now there are some commentary's like Believers Bible Commentary who see not just that section, but this entire Psalm as Messianic, which is a valid assertion. For once again there are two parallel themes running through this entire Psalm given through David, describing not only himself but also our Lord.

Commentary

Vs. 1 “Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust.”

How many saints (i.e., believers) down through the ages have also cried out to God with that very same cry? God Himself only knows. For that is the cry of everyone who believes in God and holds fast to His Word, that He would keep and preserve them for His heavenly Kingdom. Now the Name of God used here is El, the Omnipotent One, our Preserver. Notice too the link between trusting God and asking Him to preserve one. Thus, not God plus…, but God alone is where our trust and hope must always be.

Vs. 2 O my soul, you have said to the Lord,

“You are my Lord,

My goodness is nothing apart from You.”

In crying out to the Lord for help there is an acknowledgment that one’s own goodness is nothing apart from Him. For no one stands approved before Him based on one’s own deeds or merits. God’s help then does not come to us because we are somehow good enough, but only because He is Good enough!

Vs. 3 As for the saints who are on the earth,

“They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.”

The saints on earth are God’s people, His chosen ones in every generation. Everyone then who believes in Him through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ is one of His saints. These then are the people whom we love, and have our affections and desires and longings to do good for. For just as the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has His delight in all of His people, so He has given this desire to us all as well (1 John 5:1-2).

Vs. 4 “Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god;

Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer,

Nor take up their names on my lips.”

In taking our stand with God and His people, we are steadfastly set against all forms of idolatry, all forms of false worship, will have no place amongst us. For their “worship” is evil, and is only to worship demons not God (1 Cor. 10:19-22; 1 Tim. 4:1-3). Therefore, in remaining loyal to the One true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent we will not acknowledge, nor mention any other “god”. Nor will we acknowledge nor practice any of their their "religious" rites and rituals. Therefore we will not give them any place in our worship and service of God . For the Scripture is clear, those who do and pursue their demonic idolatrous practices, or embrace their false worship practices and ideas about God are only hastening their own sorrows, which again is something we will not do, nor partake with them in!

Vs. 5 “O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;

You maintain my lot.”

The Lord alone then is our portion, He is my inheritance, my cup from which I drink His living waters daily, for He alone maintains and sustains me.

Vs. 6 “The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;

Yes, I have a good inheritance.”

Indeed, all that comes to us from Him is most pleasant, Yes by Him I have a good inheritance, which I will not forsake for anyone or anything! 

Vs. 7 “I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;

My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.”

Not just the Lord, and not just David, but every believer will bless the Lord for His exceedingly wise counsels! Counsels that have kept us from every evil and false way, counsels that have preserved and restored us when we lost our way! Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ is our Counselor, and by His Word He instructs us and guides us, even in the night seasons when we are kept awake by all of our problems and troubles our hearts return to His Word and its truths for our guidance, comfort, and consolation.

Vs. 8 “I have set the Lord always before me;

Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.”

 

Verses eight through eleven are unmistakably the Lord Jesus Christ’s own declaration. That said, the truths contained within them also belong to us who believe in Him. And in this the Lord is always at our right hand, (therefore access Him continually through prayer), for He will not allow anyone to snatch us away from Him (consider John 10:27-30). Therefore though we are shaken we shall not be moved from Him! 

Vs. 9 “Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;

My flesh also will rest in hope.”

Therefore my heart too is glad, and my glory rejoices, because my flesh will rest in hope of His resurrecting me along with everyone who believes in Him from the grave. This then is the cry of our Lord and Savior. For having set the Lord always before Him, Jesus is glad and His glory rejoices, because even in death His Glory will remain (vs. 10). He then can confidently assert that His flesh will rest in hope, that even before He was crucified, Jesus knew that He would Rise from the dead on the third day. Now because of the Lord Jesus Christ’s Resurrection from the dead, everyone who believes in Him can also rest in hope, that is go to their deaths in hope of likewise rising from the dead.

Vs. 10 “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,

Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.”

Here then is the Lord Jesus Christ’s most confident assertion that God our Father would not abandon Him, not even in death, that His flesh would not even see corruption in the grave! Now as to Sheol, in the O.T. this was the grave (or better) the state of the dead, where one’s soul was separated from one’s body, thus here Jesus is boldly saying that even in death He would not be separated from His Father, and in further saying that God will not allow His Holy One to see corruption, this passage is clearly not referring to David, but is boldly foretelling of Christ’s own incorruption and Resurrection from the dead. Therefore, it is Scripturally impossible to deny the Resurrection from the dead, of both the Lord Jesus Christ’s and our own (Acts 2:29-32, 13:36-40; Heb. 13:20 etc.). For just as the Lord Jesus Christ has Risen from dead, so shall everyone be raised who believes in Him, who has died when He returns, i.e., His Second Coming (Matt. 24:30-31; 1 Cor. 15:22-23; 1 Thess. 5:13-18; 2 Thess. 2:1-4 etc.).

Vs. 11 “You will show me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

In a finial victorious declaration, David foresees the Lord showing him the path of life, and thus of His bringing him (and us all who believe in Him) to new and everlasting life, where both he and us all who believe in Him will forever be in His Presence, forever experiencing His fullness of joy, where we will be forever at His right hand where there are pleasure forever more! Yes the Lord Jesus Christ by His Crucifixion death, Resurrection the dead, and then Accession back to God the Father in heaven has paved the way for us all. Therefore what are you waiting for call upon the Lord Jesus Christ and receive remission of all your sins and new and everlasting life! 

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson.