Categories: Psalms

Psalm 16

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You Will Not Abandon My Soul

A Miktam of David.

16   Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
  I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
    I have no good apart from you.”
  As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
    in whom is all my delight.
  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 on my lips.
  The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;
    you hold my lot.
  The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
  I bless the LORD who gives me counsel;
    in the night also my heart instructs me.
  I have set the LORD always before me;
    because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
  Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
    my flesh also dwells secure.
  For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
    or let your holy one see corruption.
  You make known to me the path of life;
    in your presence there is fullness of joy;
    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

(ESV)

Psalm 16 Commentary

by Brad Boyles

Inheritance is something that’s found extensively in Scripture. David writes of this inheritance in verse 5.

The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot.

Psalm 16:5

The phrase “my inheritance” refers to the Promised Land in this context. God had generously supplied His people with a land inheritance in Deuteronomy. The Levites did not receive a share of the land. Their inheritance was the Lord. David would have been familiar with this topic because he had received an ancestral inheritance of this land. As a king, he would have gained even more. However, the verse here focuses more closely on the inheritance of the Levites. David understood that his relationship with God was the greatest inheritance he could ever have.

God was his portion, cup, lot, and boundary. Consider what this means. An inheritance is not something that is casually given to any random person. It’s passed down from a father to a son based on the relationship. The purpose is to supply the son with a way to generate wealth and sustain his family. It provides livelihood and a future. David knew that his livelihood and future were not dependent on material possession, but on God.

What does this mean for us today?

also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:11-12 NASB

Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

Colossians 3:23-24 NASB

For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Hebrews 9:15 NASB

Our inheritance as believers is reserved in heaven. Though we receive many blessings from God here on earth, our true inheritance and home is found in heaven with Jesus. As His children by faith, this promise is eternally secure!

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