It Starts Small

David draws a strong contrast between those who honor God, versus those who dishonor God. The ones who acknowledge their need for the Lord, see God as their security. He is the ultimate source of good in their lives. This leads those who love God to love God’s people. Godly people also resist associating themselves with idolatry and evil. Those who reject the one true God can expect an increasing pile of sorrows.

¹ Protect me, God, for I take refuge in you.
² I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have nothing good besides you.”
³ As for the holy people who are in the land,
they are the noble ones.
All my delight is in them.

Psalm 16:1-3

Protect me, O God, for in You I put my trust: It seems that David wrote this psalm from a time of trouble, because he asked for preservation, knew that he would not be moved (Psalm 16:8), and had confidence in some kind of resurrection (Psalm 16:10). Yet the tone of this psalm is not despair or complaint; it is settled joy. Despite his trouble, David had a praising confidence in his God.

You are my Lord: This is what David’s soul had said to the LORD. David happily said that Yahweh (LORD) was his master (Lord). David knew how to speak to his own soul.

Why, my soul, are you so dejected?
Why are you in such turmoil?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him,
my Savior and my God.

Psalm 42:5

Why, my soul, are you so dejected?
Why are you in such turmoil?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him,
my Savior and my God.

Psalm 43:5

It is a good thing to speak good things to our own soul.

My goodness is nothing apart from You: David knew that his very best – all of his goodness – was nothing apart from God.

It was nothing when it came to making David righteous before God; he needed God to bring His righteousness to David.

It was nothing because David’s goodness was itself a gift of God; therefore apart from Him, it was nothing.

It was nothing because David’s goodness, as precious as it was, was of small value without his relationship with God.

As for the saints who are on the earth: David proclaimed regarding God’s people on this earth, “they are the noble ones. All my delight is in them.” David delighted in the people of God, despite all their fa ilings, scandals, and embarrassments.This is an obvious failing for many followers of Jesus Christ today. They are so negative about the people of God that they find themselves unable to see any excellence in God’s people, unable to delight in them.

⁴ The sorrows of those who take another god
for themselves will multiply;
I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood,
and I will not speak their names with my lips.

⁵ Lord, you are my portion
and my cup of blessing;
you hold my future.
⁶ The boundary lines have fallen for me
in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

Psalm 16:4-6

Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god: David understood that those who served other gods found many sorrows in life.Da vid knew that his life, lived for God, was not an easy one. He experienced many hardships because he remained faithful to God. He also knew that life lived for another god was even more difficult.

⁶⁶ From that moment many of his disciples turned back and no longer accompanied him. ⁶⁷ So Jesus said to the Twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?”

⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

John 6:66-69
(Bold for emphasis)

It was the attitude of Peter when he said “Lord, to whom shall we go?”

Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer: David allowed his knowledge of the futility of pagan beliefs to affect his behavior. Therefore, he would not follow the pagans in their vain practices. Many heathens sacrificed to their idols (that is, to devils) with man’s blood, against all laws of humanity and piety. The priests of Baal offered their own blood to their false god; some Roman Catholics and Muslims also whip themselves to blood, offering their blood to their twisted conception of God.

O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot: After stating that there was nothing found in the pagan gods, David explained the good he received from Yahweh.

You are the portion of my inheritance: David was the youngest son in a family with many sons. He could expect no inheritance from his family; yet he took joy and comfort in the fact that God was the portion of his inheritance, and he knew that he had a good inheritance. The lines that marked out his inheritance had fallen to him in pleasant places.

In an Old Testament context, a “portion” was symbolic of what people today may call “fate,” or “destiny,” except it was not considered as random or impersonal as those modern words might suggest. All things were seen as subject to God’s will; that which a person experienced in life was the “portion” assigned by God. Israel’s tribes were each destined to inherit a certain part of the Promised Land, other than the Levites, whose “portion” was their priesthood under God. These inheritances were each a “portion” of Canaan. David celebrates that God’s grace has resulted in his relationship with the Lord. This, along with God’s influence over David’s conscience, gives him confidence (Psalm 16:5–8).iii. You maintain my lot: This described the portion of David’s inheritance. David was confident that God would maintain what He had first given to him.

This attitude did not come easily or always to David. He complained to Saul in 1 Samuel 26:19: 

Now, may my lord the king please hear the words of his servant: If it is the Lord who has incited you against me, then may he accept an offering. But if it is people, may they be cursed in the presence of the Lord, for today they have banished me from sharing in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, ‘Go and worship other gods.’

Yet here in this psalm, he comes back to the conclusion that the LORD is his inheritance and will maintain his lot.

⁷ I will bless the Lord who counsels me—
even at night when my thoughts trouble me.
⁸ I always let the Lord guide me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.

Psalm 16:7-8

I will bless the Lord who counsels me: The false gods of the nations could never give counsel the way the LORD gave it to David. When David needed guidance, God gave it to him, and therefore David praised God.

even at night when my thoughts trouble me: David’s heart was instructed first by God and His Word, and therefore his heart could also instruct him in the ways of God. This is an example of the benefits that come from the transformation of thinking spoken of in Romans 12:1-2:

Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. ² Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Romans 12:1-2

I always let the Lord guide me: This speaks of a decision David made to put God first in his life. He determined that God would always be his focus, his perspective. In the ultimate sense, only Jesus did this perfectly. He was always in the intimate presence of His Father.

Because he is at my right hand,I will not be shaken: This was the plain result of David’s decision to put God first. There was a standing and security in David’s life that would not have otherwise existed.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad
and my whole being rejoices;
my body also rests securely.
¹⁰ For you will not abandon me to Sheol;
you will not allow your faithful one to see decay.
¹¹ You reveal the path of life to me;
in your presence is abundant joy;
at your right hand are eternal pleasures.

Psalm 16:9-11

9 Therefore my heart is gladand my whole being rejoices: David continued to describe the benefits of his decision to set the LORD always before him (Psalm 16:8). This decision brought a gladness and a glory to David’s life. For those who do not live out a true commitment to God, it is easy for them to think of what such a commitment costs them. This is not entirely bad, because this kind of decision to set the LORD always before one’s self does have a cost, and the cost should be counted and appreciated. It may cost certain pleasures, popularity, anonymity, family relationships, life goals, career choices, financial priorities, and so forth.

Yet David also tells us some of the benefits of such a life decision: my whole being rejoices;my body also rests securely. There was happiness and a glory David knew by this life commitment that he would not have known otherwise. David could maturely understand both the costs and the benefits, and sing a song of praise about his life decision.

For you will not abandon me to Sheol: David described a further benefit of his life decision to set the LORD always before him. It was the confidence of God’s care and blessing in the life beyond. David had the settled hope (a confidence, not a simple wish) that God would not leave his soul in the grave (Sheol), but that his life would continue on in the presence of God.

This statement is a wonderful declaration of trust in some sort of resurrection and afterlife. Yet, Psalms contains both such confident statements and other more doubtful words about the life beyond. This cloudy understanding of the afterlife in the Old Testament does not surprise the reader of the New Testament, who knows that Jesus Christ brought life and immortality to light.

you will not allow your faithful one to see decay: Wonderfully David spoke beyond himself. In one sense David was indeed the faithful one of God, whose soul would not be left in the grave. Yet in a greater and more literal sense, only Jesus Christ fulfills this in His resurrection. This was perceived by Peter on the Day of Pentecost, who said that these words went beyond David who was obviously dead, buried in a grave, and whose body had long ago decayed into dust.

²⁵ For David says of him:

I saw the Lord ever before me;
because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
²⁶ Therefore my heart is glad
and my tongue rejoices.
Moreover, my flesh will rest in hope,
²⁷ because you will not abandon me in Hades
or allow your holy one to see decay.
²⁸ You have revealed the paths of life to me;
you will fill me with gladness
in your presence.

²⁹ “Brothers and sisters, I can confidently speak to you about the patriarch David: He is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. ³⁰ Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on his throne. ³¹ Seeing what was to come, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah: He was not abandoned in Hades, and his flesh did not experience decay.

Acts 2:25-31

In quoting and applying this passage from Psalm 16 to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, Peter showed an inspired understanding of the work of Jesus on the cross. He understood that because Jesus bore our sin without becoming a sinner, He remained the faithful one, even in His death. Since it is incomprehensible that God’s faithful one should be bound by death, the resurrection was absolutely inevitable. As Peter said: It was not possible that He should be held by death (Acts 2:24).

You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy: With these words David seemed to understand that the benefits of this life commitment to God were received in both this life, and the life beyond.

You reveal the path of life to me: the path is something enjoyed by the believer both now, and in eternity. God gives us eternal life to enjoy as a present gift, extending into eternity.

in your presence is abundant joy: This was a joy David could experience now (in the context of his previously mentioned gladness and rejoicing), but also ultimately receive when in the more immediate presence of God. Peter also quoted these lines in his message on the Day of Pentecost. They show that instead of being punished for His glorious work on the cross, Jesus was rewarded, as prophetically described in this psalm.

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore: David had full confidence that his life with God – both now and forevermore – would be marked by the highest and best pleasures. This is life lived above shallow entertainments and excitements.

The conclusion of this psalm is especially wonderful when we consider how it began. When we go back to the first verse, we remember that this life of gladness and rejoicing and fullness of joy is not a problem-free life. It is a life that may be challenged and face attack on many levels. Yet in that a life commitment to God has been made and is enjoyed, it is a secure, happy, blessed life.

David’s words here speak of contentment. He is content with what God has given him. A mark of our age – especially with the Baby Boom generation and perhaps even more with those following – is discontentment, boredom, and restlessness. The generation with short attention spans, the constant need for excitement and adrenaline rushes, and 24-hour-a-day entertainment, needs to know by experience what David knew.

Even in the face of death, David is willing to trust God and celebrate His goodness. As much as David trusts God to see him through earthly dangers, he knows his ultimate security is in eternity. David rejects the idea that he will be “abandoned” in death or merely allowed to rot away. Looking forward to eternity adds to the believer’s courage and confidence in all things.