Psalm 16

Today's post is an examination of Psalm 16, written by David. The Psalm points us toward the Messiah and His gracious life and sacrifice. 

                                                                

                                                            Psalm 16

What is a Miktam? Henry says that this Psalm is golden, more treasured than other Psalms because the Psalm points directly toward the Messiah. He, Christ, is the true treasure to be found in the Old Testament field.

Verses 1-7 David appeals to God directly to keep him safe. Why does he feel the need to seek God’s protection? How does this request of God mirror Christ’s request at Gethsemane? David is continually re-committing himself to His God. Henry says everything within us should be committed to seeking God and His way for our lives. It is so easy to go ahead and do, then ask for God’s blessing and guidance on our efforts. Truly trusting God means trusting through everything, the beginning, middle and end of work and trials.

If we are to take on the Lord’s countenance, we must do good and be good. Without the goodness of God in our lives, we can never be truly happy. We will run down every rabbit hole of trying to be like Christ when He asks us to trust Him with our lives. The solid underpinning of faith that says He is in control and knows best, prepares us for all the coming storms of life.

Since our goodness comes from God, we are to share that goodness with “the saints”. Who are the saints? Why do we share the gift of goodness with others? Because when Christ died and resurrected, it was not a benefit to God, rather it was a means for sinners to stand before a Holy and Righteous God. We must remember that nothing we do can be seen as a “favor” for Him.

Verse 4- Who is David referring to? It is easy to chase after other gods (little g) than to keep ourselves focused on the one true God. A real problem of worshiping other gods is that we intuitively know they aren’t enough so we seek other gods to fill in what is missing. This traps us into chasing more and more things that won’t satisfy. Notice that David points out that others will drink the “blood” of whatever god they are chasing. We know our perfect sacrifice drank the cup we should have drunk. His blood covered our sin and is sufficient for all our needs. We are secure that Christ is enough.

Verse 6- David is pointing to a time when we will stand before a righteous God without any hope other than the perfecting work of Jesus. The boundary line are fixed and consequently we can return to that pleasant place, where Paul says we return to our first love. Why do we struggle returning back to that place where we completely surrendered all like the old hymn says? What is our delightful inheritance? What can we desire, or treasure better than God? David had the distractions of family, a kingdom, and armies to lead but the Psalms are full of examples of where he retreats to whenever the pressures of the world were too much.

What are we to make of the idea that God counsels David in verse 7? What does it mean to have God as our portion? Henry talks about the idea that if we were left to our own means we would follow our eyes into trouble and evil that abound around us. The fact God enlightened us with his Holy Spirit is a blessing we many times forget. If we truly choose God as our portion, then He is all we need. This is so counter to the world than demands more and more. Christ demonstrated this complete resting in God’s sufficiency by following His Father’s exacting demands to defeat death and sin by dying on a cross.

 

Verses 8-11

These verses were quoted by Peter during his Penacostal sermon that led 3000 to the new church. David is not only appealing to God for mercy from this world but also, he shows faith that God will bring him to life in eternity. What has shaken your world lately? Did it block your view of God who is close at hand?

Verses 9-10 David refers to body being glad, rejoicing and resting. Why did he associated these different parts with these active states of being? Heart=glad, rejoice=tongue and body=rest. Henry says these verses point to the resurrection of the coming Christ and his transformation from death to life without any corruption. Like every other aspect of Christ’s life his death and resurrection went according to His Father’s plan.

Verse 11 David acknowledges God’s leading by showing him the path of life He has for him. Though joy and fulfillment are parceled out incompletely in this life we have an assurance that “eternal pleasures” are waiting in Eternity. We will have to give up this earthly body in order to claim our eternal reward. We must wrap our minds around the idea that Christ fulfillment was not complete until he died on the cross and rose from the grave. He didn’t bypass the difficult task before him. His glory and fulfillment came because he perfectly satisfied a just and Holy God. If he didn’t shrink from the assignment given to him, we too must search for God’s will, discover what He would have us do and continually remind ourselves that we can walk closely with God, in this world and the next.