Psalms 16

This Psalm is a joyous profession of faith and hope, springing from the sense of a living fellowship with Jehovah. The danger, if special danger there was, which prompted the prayer of Psa 16:1, lies entirely in the background. The Psalmist’s whole soul is possessed and kindled by the thought that Jehovah is his highest good. It has been suggested that the Psalm was written by David during his outlaw life. He had been banished from his share in the inheritance of Jehovah, and exposed to the danger of apostasy (1 Samuel 26:19, R.V. marg.). In this hour of trial he triumphs in the thought that Jehovah Himself is the portion of his inheritance, a fairer portion than the goodliest fields and vineyards which could have fallen to his lot (Psalms 16:5-6); and he energetically repudiates the idea of yielding to the temptation to serve another god (Psalms 16:4). There are many links of connexion (see Introd. to Psalms 17) between this Psalm and Psalms 17, and they may with good reason be assigned to the same author. As Psalms 17 may with much probability be referred to the time of David’s persecution by Saul, the presumption in favour of the Davidic authorship of Psalms 16 is strengthened. Many critics however refer both Psalms to a much later period. Ewald groups together 17, 16, 49 (in this order), and on the ground of language and contents places them in the Exile. If, as is often assumed to be the case, Psalms 16:9-11 and Psalms 17:15 explicitly declare the Psalmist’s belief in a resurrection and a future life of blessedness, in sharp contrast to such passages as Psalms 6:5, Psalms 30:9, Psalms 88:10-12, these Psalms could hardly be placed earlier than the Exile. Delitzsch indeed, while admitting that the doctrine of a Resurrection does not appear in pre-exilic times as a truth of revelation, asks why it should not appear in Davidic Psalms as ‘a bold postulate of faith.’ But if the line of interpretation adopted below is correct, the Psalmist’s thoughts are to be viewed from a different stand-point altogether. “His antithesis is not this world and the next, but life with God and life without God.” (Cheyne.) The Psalm falls into three divisions. i. The Psalmist grounds his prayer for protection on his relation to Jehovah, Who alone is the source of happiness. His delight is in the society of the faithful; with apostates he will have no fellowship (Psalms 16:1-4). ii. The thought that Jehovah is his sole good, the source of all his weal, is taken up and developed (Psalms 16:5-8). iii. Secure in this faith he anticipates a life of true felicity in unbroken fellowship with Jehovah (Psalms 16:9-11). For a valuable exposition of this Psalm by Prof. W. Robertson Smith see The Expositor, 1876, Vol. iv. pp. 341 ff. On the title Michtam see Introd. p. xx.

Psalms 16:1-2

1, 2. The Psalmist’s prayer and profession of faith.

Psalms 16:2

2. The Massoretic Text reads thou (fem.) hast said, assuming that the poet holds colloquy with himself, and addresses his soul, as in Psalms 42:5; Lamentations 3:24 (a passage evidently based on this psalm). So the Targum. But an ellipse of O my soul cannot be grammatically justified; and R.V. is certainly right in reading I have said, with LXX, Vulg., Syr., Jer. Cp. Psalms 31:14; Psalms 91:2; Psalms 140:6. my Lord] The confession of Jehovah’s servant (cp. Psalms 35:23), in contrast to the self-asserting independence of Psa 12:4. R.V. marg. the Lord is possible, but less satisfactory. my goodness extendeth not to thee] Render with R.V., I have no good beyond thee. “Not merely is God the source of all his weal, but everything which he recognises as a true good, God actually contains within Himself” (Robertson Smith). Cp. Psalms 73:25. The P.B.V. my goods are nothing unto thee (cp. Psalms 50:9 ff.) follows LXX and Vulg., τῶνἀγαθῶνμουοὐχρείανἔχεις: bonorum meorum non eges.

Psalms 16:3-4

3, 4. The Psalmist’s society.

Psalms 16:4

4. Their sorrows] This, and not their idols (Targ. Symm. Jer.), is the right rendering. Cp. Psalms 32:10; 1 Timothy 6:10. that hasten after another god] The Heb. cannot be so rendered. Rightly R.V., that exchange the Lord for another god. Cp. Psalms 106:20; and the exact parallel in Jeremiah 2:11. Less probable is R.V. marg., give gifts for; for though the verb is used of giving a dowry for a wife (Exodus 22:16), and marriage is a common figure for the relationship between God and His people, the wife in this figure always represents the people. Their drink offerings of blood] Variously explained of libations accompanying human sacrifices, or libations of blood offered in idolatrous rituals instead of oil and wine, or libations offered with blood-stained hands and therefore abominable (Isaiah 1:15; Isaiah 59:3); but probably meaning that their libations are as detestable as though they were composed of blood. Cp. Isaiah 66:3. nor take up &c.] R.V., nor take their names upon my lips. Not the idolaters’ names, but the names of their gods, which are the expression of their religion. “In Semitic antiquity the very name of a god included a predication of his power, dignity, or virtues; so that even to utter such names as Baal and Molech, that is Lord and King, was an act of homage.” (Robertson Smith.) Cp. Exodus 23:13; Hosea 2:17; Zechariah 13:2.

Psalms 16:5-6

5, 6. Jehovah is the Psalmist’s portion.

Psalms 16:6

6. The lines &c.] Portions of land measured by line and distributed by lot. The language is still figurative. Jehovah is to him as the choicest of possessions in the goodly land. (Psalms 16:11; Psalms 27:4; Psalms 90:17; Proverbs 3:17; Jeremiah 3:19.) Yea &c.] The peculiar phrase in the original expresses his conscious sense of the beauty of his heritage.

Psalms 16:7-8

7, 8. The mutual relation of the Psalmist and Jehovah.

Psalms 16:8

8. The true ‘practice of the Presence of God’ (Psalms 119:30; Psalms 18:22). The LXX has, I beheld the Lord always before my face. at my right hand] As advocate (Psalms 109:31), or champion (Psalms 110:5; Psalms 121:5). A warrior defending another person would naturally stand on his right.

Psalms 16:9-11

9–11. The blessed outcome of this fellowship is joy, confidence, progress.

Psalms 16:10

10. Once more the translation must be revised; For thou wilt not abandon my soul to Sheol; Neither wilt thou suffer thy beloved one to see the pit. Jehovah will not surrender him to the unseen world, which is like some monster gaping for its prey. He can plead, as one of Jehovah’s beloved ones (chasîd, see on Psalms 4:3, and Appendix, Note I) for the exercise of His lovingkindness (Psalms 17:7). The text (Kthîbh) has thy loved ones (plur.), but the traditional reading (Qrç) thy loved one (sing.) is supported by all the versions and required by the context. The word shachath, rendered corruption by LXX, Vulg., and Jerome, probably means the pit (R.V. marg.) i. e. the grave. ‘Pit’ must be its meaning in many passages (e.g. Psalms 7:15; Psalms 30:9; Proverbs 26:27), and may be its meaning always. Shachath might be derived from a root meaning to destray (not properly to decay), but it is unnecessary to assume that the same form has two derivations and senses. ‘To see the pit’ (Psalms 49:9) = ‘to see (i. e. experience) death,’ Psalms 89:48.

Psalms 16:11

11. Thou wilt shew me &c.] Lit. Thou wilt cause me to know (Psalms 143:8) the path of life: not only preserve me from death, but lead me onward in that fellowship with Thee which alone is worthy to be called life. See Proverbs 10:17; Proverbs 15:24; Matthew 7:14; John 17:3. ‘The path of life’ is not merely a path which leads to life, but one in which life is to be found. It is ‘the path of righteousness’ (Proverbs 12:28). ‘The way of life’ is frequently contrasted in the Book of Proverbs with ways that lead to Sheol and death. Cp. too Deuteronomy 30:15. It leads onward in the light of God’s Presence; and in that Presence is satisfying fulness of joys. Cp. Psalms 17:15; Psalms 21:6; Psalms 4:6-7; Proverbs 19:23. at thy right hand] R.V. rightly, in thy right hand, as the sole Dispenser of all lasting good. Cp. Proverbs 3:16. The world’s joys fade; God’s joys alone are eternal. Comp. Hooker’s noble words (Eccl. Pol. i. ii. 2): “Then are we happy when fully we enjoy God, as an object wherein the powers of our souls are satisfied even with everlasting delight; so that although we be men, yet by being unto God united we live as it were the life of God.” Psalms 16:8-11 were quoted by St Peter on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:25-28), and Psalms 16:10 b by St Paul at Antioch in Pisidia (Acts 13:35), as a prophecy of Christ’s resurrection. The quotation is made from the LXX., which is a free rendering of the Hebrew. St Peter shews that David’s glowing words of faith and hope (the argument will be the same if the psalm was the work of some other writer) were not fully realised in himself. He did not finally escape from death. Were his words then a mere idle dream? No!

Guided by the Holy Ghost he ‘looked forward’ to Christ. Over Him Whose fellowship with God was perfect and unbroken by sin, death could have no dominion (Acts 2:24). In His Resurrection the words first found their adequate realisation, their fulfilment. But their prophetic character does not exclude their primary reference to the Psalmist’s own faith and hope. But the question must be asked, What was the meaning which the Psalmist’s words had for himself? Does he speak of fellowship with God in this life only, or does he pierce the veil, and realise not only the possibility but the certainty of a continued life of conscious fellowship with God hereafter, and even of the resurrection of the body? It is difficult to divest the words of the associations which have gathered round them, and impartially to weigh their original meaning. On the one hand, however, it is unquestionable that similar language is used elsewhere of deliverance from temporal death, and enjoyment of fellowship with God in this life; while in other psalms we find the gloomiest anticipations of death, and the dreariest pictures of the state of the departed. On the other hand it is clear that the words admit of reference to an unending life of fellowship with God. The truth may be (as will be seen more clearly in Psalms 17) that the antithesis is not between life here and life hereafter, but between life with and life without God; and for the moment, in the overpowering sense of the blessedness of fellowship with God, death fades entirely from the Psalmist’s view. The doctrine of a future life is however involved in the Psalmist’s faith. He grounds his hope of deliverance on his relation to Jehovah; and such a relation could not be interrupted by death (Matthew 22:32). But this truth could only be apprehended gradually and through long struggles, and only fully realised when Christ “annulled death, and brought life and incorrupt ion to light through the Gospel.” (2 Timothy 1:10.) For ourselves the words must bear the fuller meaning with which Christ’s resurrection has illuminated them. To us they must speak of that ‘eternal life’ which is begun here, and is to be consummated hereafter (John 6:47; John 6:54; John 14:19).