Psalms 16King James Version
Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust. I have set the Lord always before me. Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy. Peter quotes this at Pentecost.
A psalm of radical contentment and trust. David refuses other gods, rejects those who multiply their sorrows by chasing idols, and stakes his entire welfare on God: his lot, his inheritance, his cup, his pleasant places. The psalm moves from declaration of refuge to pleasure in the saints to nighttime counsel to the great hope: even death will not hold him. It is entirely positive in emotional register.
Fullness of joy is found not in accumulating options but in discovering that God himself is the inheritance, the portion, the pleasant boundary line.
verse: "Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope." Hope is the posture of rest, not restlessness.
Superscription: 'Michtam of David.' Michtam is a technical term whose meaning is debated: possibly 'golden' or related to a musical notation. Six other psalms carry this designation (56-60, 16). The nighttime counsel of v7 suggests a contemplative, personal setting rather than public liturgy.
David as speaker; God as the sole treasure; the saints and excellent ones as those David delights in; those who 'hasten after another god' as the warning contrast.
Peter quotes Psalm 16:8-11 at Pentecost (Acts 2:25-28) as a prophecy of Christ's resurrection: 'thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.' Paul echoes it in Acts 13:35. The final verses pushed interpretation beyond David's own experience toward an eschatological fulfillment.
For when you are exhausted by the relentless pursuit of more and want to know if there is a version of life that is actually enough. This psalm says yes, but the answer requires a specific object.
1[Michtam of David.] Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.
2O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;
3But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.
4Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.
5The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.
6The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.
7I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct 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 rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
10For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
11Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.