Psalm 16
breaking it down line by line
Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
Protect me. Keep me. From what? We don’t know yet.
Because I take refuge in you, preserve me.
You are my refuge.
David is hoping with all his might for God to preserve Him.
You are my safest place. (& When I am safe, I can rest.)
I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.”
I say to the LORD. When we see this word in all caps, we know this is referring to the Hebrew proper name for God: YAHWEH
You are my Lord. You are the God of Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob. The God of the Exodus. My Master. My Refuge. My Sovereign.
I have no good apart from you.
He sees God as his supreme treasure. All other good things in his life are only good because of God.
I have no good unless YOU (God) are in it.
As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.
Saints in the Land: Godly ones. Holy ones. The ones who treasure God & live for him.
Delight: All my pleasure. All my joy. He doesn’t delight in the saints instead of God or above God, but because of God.
As he contemplates all the people (the influential, the powerful), there’s only one kind of people that make him glad. — The people that treasure God.
The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon on my lips.
He continues to express a preference for God over all things.
I am so totally satisfied in God. I am sold out for Him. & He is my good. If another god comes along & offers me anything, I will not pour out any worship. I will not even give that god the honor of naming him. For any other god will only leave me with sorrows in the end.
I want none of it. I have the Lord.
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
If there was a beautiful tablescape in front of him with hundreds of delectable portions & cups filled with the finest wine. He would look & say, “this one is my chosen portion.” You can spread all the cups before me, & every imaginable taste in this world, but He’s my supreme good.
When the dice are rolled. & The straws are drawn. And the wheel is spun. What happens to me, God decided would happen. You hold my lot. He is acknowledged as Sovereign.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
Because He is Sovereign, the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. I have a beautiful inheritance.
Border lines? Boundary lines? To enclose me in pleasant place.
The Hebrew word for pleasant places is the same single word in verse 11 translated as pleasure. (In your presence are pleasures forevermore.) The lines have fallen for me in pleasures.
The border lines around me are defined. They hedge me into God as my pleasure.
This isn’t about real estate. Since God holds my lot (He’s sovereign), he circumscribes (with the boundary lines) my life. & pushes me into the center where there is fullness of joy. God himself.
I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.
God is a refuge in part by the way He counsels us.
If you find yourself in danger & God comes to you with his counsel, He’s telling you how to find refuge. His counsel is the means of Him becoming refuge for you.
God’s words are his counsel to us. His words are the path of life not death. The path of safety not destruction.
Trusting God as your counselor affects how you experience God as your refuge & as your treasure.
I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
I have set the Lord always before me.
Because He is at my right hand. I SHALL NOT BE SHAKEN. That’s an affirmation.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.
My heart is glad. My whole being rejoices. I’m confident.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.
What was he seeking preservation from? Death. Preserve me O God from death.
I don’t want to die. I want to live forever with You.
I’m confident & I am glad, because I know You will not abandon me.
He is absolutely sure that he will not be destroyed by death.
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
What begins as an aching longing (Preserve me O God.) ends with I will not be shaken. (I will be preserved. I will be kept.) & the pathway is demonstrated in what God is for us (in-between).
You are my refuge. — Safe place
You are my sovereign Lord. — You hold my lot.
You are my treasure. —You are supreme.
You are my counselor. — You can be trusted.
There’s more.
IT GOES BEYOND.
Cross References:
2 SAMUEL 7:12 (Words spoken to David by Nathan the prophet) (Old Testament)
When your days are fulfilled & you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, & I will establish his kingdom.
David knew he would die. He knew he would lay down with his fathers (Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob) & face decay. It was told to Him by God.
David also knew God would set one of his descendants upon his throne & this one would not be one of succession, but would END all succession because He & His reign would last forever.
BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!
ACTS 2:30-32 (New Testament)
“And so, because he was a prophet & knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY. “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.
David lived in the consciousness of knowing He knew he would die + knew he would be rescued. Death would not have victory over Him. He knew there would be a Messiah that would “not die”.
He didn’t know how how it would all work or come together. But he knew it related to him. All of it was connected somehow.
We now know on this side how they all fit together!!!
We know that David & all those that trusted the promise of & person of Christ are united with Him. When Christ triumphed over death, we also would triumph over death. David & us would not be left in Sheol but would enter into the path of everlasting life & treasures forevermore.
By the death & resurrection of Christ, He was the One to make all of that possible.
God will bring your body & soul through life & death into full & everlasting pleasure if God is (for you) your safest refuge & your sovereign lord & your supreme treasure & your trusted counselor. —JOHN PIPER
— If he’s not, may He become that for you.
References:
BIBLE
THIS VIDEO by John Piper
Strong’s Concordance