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Psalms 16
Marked a "Michtam," this psalm pivots on a single confession: "Apart from you I have no good thing" (v.2). It then reaches for the vocabulary of a land allotment — portion, cup, lot, boundary lines, inheritance (vv.5-6) — to say that God himself is the estate David has been given. From security in life it presses toward security past death: "you will not leave my soul in Sheol" and will not let "your holy one see corruption" (v.10), ending on "the path of life" and "pleasures forever more" (v.11).
- 1
Preserve me, God, for I take refuge in you.
- 2
My soul, you have said to the LORD, “You are my Lord. Apart from you I have no good thing.”
- 3
As for the saints who are in the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.
- 4
Their sorrows shall be multiplied who give gifts to another god. Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, nor take their names on my lips.
- 5
The LORD assigned my portion and my cup. You made my lot secure.
- 6
The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Yes, I have a good inheritance.
- 7
I will bless the LORD, who has given me counsel. Yes, my heart instructs me in the night seasons.
- 8
I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
- 9
Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices. My body shall also dwell in safety.
- 10
For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption.
- 11
You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever more.
God as inheritance
The middle section borrows the language of Israel's tribal land grants. Where Levi received no territory but the LORD as their share, David applies that image to himself: the "lines have fallen" in pleasant places (v.6).
That logic carries the hope of verse 10. Because God is the portion and is kept "always before me" (v.8), the body too can rest "in safety" — a confidence the New Testament later reads as pointing beyond the grave.
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