ChristadelphianBooksOnline
George Booker
Psalms Studies - Book 1

Psalm 16

1. Theme

From start to finish this psalm speaks of dependence upon God. How it teaches the need for the saint in Christ to live every hour of his life as in the sight of his Maker! It makes an impressive contrast with the attitude of “the wicked” (Saul) in the next psalm.

The superscription Michtam signifies to cut, engrave (Jer. 2:22), or write (Exod. 17:14) — and hence to cause to remember. The six Michtam psalms are thus memorial psalms, of a very personal nature, having the hope of resurrection as a common theme (16:10,11; 56:13; 57:3; 58:10,11; 59:16; 60:5,12).

2. Historical setting

This is not easy to identify. Most probably the reference is to the time when David at last emerged from his earlier troubles, and rejoiced in being able to establish the worship of the Lord on mount Zion (2 Sam. 6).

2.	LXX and other versions read: I have said, which reads very easily, and saves the insertion of italics. William Kay reads the last phrase thus: Thou hast no need of my goodness, i.e. of the sacrifices he has brought: 2 Sam. 6:13,17,22. Another solution to the difficulty here is to read vv. 2c, 3 (AV) as God’s reply to vv. 1, 2ab.
3.	The saints....the excellent in whom is all my delight. These were the people of Israel who shared David’s religious enthusiasm that day: 2 Sam. 6:18,19. And David’s delight was God’s delight also: v. 14. The phrase is almost identical with Isa. 62:4, where God’s “delight” in Zion and her people is mirrored in good king Hezekiah’s delight in his bride Hephzibah.
4.	Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god. There is some difficulty about this verse inasmuch as the lure of false worship scarcely crops up at all in the life of David. The greatness and guidance of God filled his entire horizon. Then why these insistent contrasts? (Is the “other god” Mammon, perhaps? Matt. 6:24. Consider Paul’s allusion to this verse in 1 Tim. 6:10.)
5.	The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance. Note the parallel phrases: my lot, lines, heritage. Deut. 32:9 has the same idea in reverse. 2 Sam. 6:19 has the same word: portion.
6.	Lines, in the sense of demarcation lines: Josh. 17:5,14; 19:9. This is appropriate to the firm establishment of a wide empire, as indicated in 2 Sam. 8:2 (s.w.).
7.	I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel. A marked contrast with Psa. 13:2. Compare 32:8.
	My reins. An indirect allusion to the girdle of the high priest — worn about the reins — and the counsel of Urim and Thummim contained therein (Lev. 8:7; cp. 2 Sam. 6:14)?
8.	Always. A word used often for the daily sacrifice.
	I shall not be moved. The early days of David’s reign had not been without crisis; there were foes on every side: 2 Sam. 8.
9.	My glory. A metonym for tongue or voice; i.e. that which gives glory to God (Psa. 30:12; 108:1). It is so used by Peter in Acts 2:26, when quoting this verse.
10.	For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. With reference to David these phrases need to be qualified with a “not now, not yet”. Read thus, the words are very appropriate to the sickness which laid David low at this time: Psa. 30, notes.
	My soul. Simply a more emphatic way of saying me, as in 59:3; 35:1,3; Jer. 18:20.
	Thine Holy One. So speaks David the “priest”: Deut. 33:8; 2 Sam. 6:14.
11.	The path of life: Exod. 13:21.
	In thy presence is fulness of joy: 2 Sam. 6 again, and also 7:18.

3. Messianic reference

Verses 1-4 do not read easily or obviously as a prophecy of Messiah, but who can miss the force of vv. 5-11? Why this difference?

1.	In thee do I put my trust. Justification by faith for Messiah as well as for those in him.
2.	It is difficult to believe that the LXX reading (Par. 2) refers to Jesus. If vv. 2c,3 are the Father’s reply to v. 2ab, the emphasis is on Christ as a sacrifice for sins, for the benefit of “the saints....in whom is all my delight”. Thus, My goodness is not to thee (only), but (also) to the saints.
4.	Another god is in italics here. Instead, read another salvation, and this verse describes perfectly the Judaistic confidence in the Mosaic law and offerings.
	RV reads: exchange the Lord for another, as the Jews exchanged Jesus for Barabbas.
5.	LXX: Thou art the restorer of my inheritance. After Christ’s resurrection did the disciples put v. 10 alongside these words and infer that their Master would now “restore again the kingdom to Israel” (Acts 1:8)?
6.	Lines is used here as boundary lines of an inheritance. In John 2:15, s.w. = cords of a whip, as though with reference to v. 4 here. In driving the moneychangers out of his Father’s house, Christ was asserting his own right of inheritance: he was the messenger of the Lord and of the covenant, come suddenly to his temple (Mal. 3:1)!
7.	Who hath given me counsel. Christ’s constant counsel with the Father (Mark 1:35; John 6:15). The personal fellowship with the Father, constantly emphasized in John’s gospel (5:19,20; 8:28; 12:49; 14:10). All this, of course, uniquely qualifies Jesus to be the Wonderful Counsellor of his people (Isa. 9:6,7; Mic. 4:9).
8.	Always is not strictly true regarding David, but marvellously true of Jesus; hence Peter’s inclusion of this verse in his quotation in Acts 2:25-28: it serves to reinforce his v. 24: “because it was not possible that he should be holden” by the grave.
	He is at my right hand. Contrast 110:1, also quoted (about the Ascension) in Acts 2:34. The apparent contradiction is readily resolved by reading v. 8 here (God at Christ’s right hand) with reference to Jesus on trial; and 110:1 (Christ at God’s right hand) with reference to Jesus ascended to heavenly glory.
	My flesh shall rest (i.e. tabernacle) in hope. ‘In hope of resurrection’, seems to be the obvious idea. But “hope” is a word strongly associated with hope of children (Ruth 1:12,13; Rom. 4:18; 1 Pet. 1:3), so there may be here a hint of Jesus as the Firstborn from the dead, the first of a new generation. Isa. 53:8,10: “Who shall declare his generation?....He shall see his seed....”
10.	My soul in hell (Sheol). Clearly used by Peter in Acts 2:27,31; and by Paul in 13:35 as meaning ‘my body in the grave, in death’. Compare Num. 9:6, where ‘dead body’ is *nephesh.* The parallelism in this verse supports this meaning.
	Holy One. A title suggesting divinity: cp. Isa. 1:4; 10:17; Hos. 11:9; Hab. 1:12; etc. According to RV, RSV, NEB, and NIV, it was conferred upon Jesus by Peter in John 6:69, in recognition of his Messiahship. (The only other time in the gospels that this title was given to Jesus was by the demoniac in the synagogue: Mark 1:24.)
	To see corruption. This certainly implies resurrection before the physical corruption of the body could set in (John 11:39). But there is more. The superb accuracy of the prophetic phrase shows up here. Through centuries, burial custom in Palestine was to practice multiple burials in large tombs with many side-chambers; then, after long years, some of these chambers would be partially cleared to allow for yet more burials. But Jesus was buried in Joseph’s “own new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid” (John 19:41). So there was no suggestion of decay about that tomb whatsoever. In his resurrection Jesus did not so much as see corruption.
11.	The path of life. This is his resurrection. Also, “the way of the tree of life”, the only way, for those in him (Gen. 3:24; cp. John 14:6).
	In thy presence is fulness of joy. One of the few prophecies of the ascension: cp. Rev. 5:5-7. For presence, see 17:15.
	At thy right hand. Christ’s intercessory work: Psa. 110:1,4; and also his authority to open the Book of Life, hence....
	Pleasures for evermore: Rev. 5:9,10; Also, Isa. 53:10.

There are several allusions to Hebrews 12 in these last few verses:

	Psalm 16		Hebrews 12
8.	I have set the Lord always before me	2.	Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith
11.	In thy presence is fulness of joy	2.	Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross
11.	At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore	2.	Is set down on the right hand of the throne of God
8.	I shall not be moved	3.	Consider him who endured....lest ye be wearied and faint

In a couple of cases the analogy is exact; in the others the language of the psalms seems to be adapted to the special use of the writer to the Hebrews.

4. Other details

There still remains the further personal study of this psalm with reference to those in Christ. It begins with trust, and ends with exultant conviction.

2.	RSV has: I have no good apart from Thee. Similarly treated in NIV.
3.	To the saints. Holy ones: applied to angels (Dan. 8:13), to God (Psa. 71:22; Isa. 43:3; 2 Kings 19:22), and to men (Psa. 34:9; 106:16).
	In the earth indicates that these saints are men.
	In whom is all my delight. Compare Isa. 53:10,11: “He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.”
4.	Their sorrows shall be multiplied. An echo of the original judgment upon the woman Eve: “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow” (Gen. 3:16). The “other god” which she sought was herself, elevated to the status of the Elohim!
5,6.	The words portion, inheritance, lot, lines, and heritage all suggest the special Levitical allotments in the midst of Israel: Num. 18:20; Deut. 10:8,9; 18:1. The priests and Levites were given no regular inheritance like the other tribes, because God was their portion.
8.	He is at my right hand. Protection and help: Psa. 109:31; 121:5; Isa. 41:13; 45:1; John 16:32.
	I shall not be moved. Psa. 15:5.
10.	Neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Christ was like the manna that came down from heaven (John 6:35,41, 48,50,51,58), preserved from corruption in God’s presence (Exod. 16:32-24; Heb. 9:4).
11.	“In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death” (Prov. 12:28).
	At thy right hand should be in thy right hand (RV), i.e. in the hand that dispenses blessings and gifts (Gen. 48:14-20; Prov. 3:16).