Embrace the Word for Monday, January 26, 2026
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Psalms 15-16, along with Psalms 17-24 form their own subunit within Book 1 of the Psalter. The emphasis of this subunit is a consideration of the righteous king. Psalm 15 and Psalm 24 parallel each other as they describe the character of the man who can enter the Lord’s presence. Psalm 16 and Psalm 23 parallel each other as they speak of the satisfaction that the Lord supplies. Psalm 17 and Psalm 22 parallel each other and conclude with a confidence in and the need for resurrection. Psalm 18 and Psalms 20-21 parallel each other as they describe the deliverance that the Lord provides. Psalm 19, the center of this subunit, celebrates the glory of the Lord and how His glory is revealed. While all of the Psalms in this subunit state that they are David’s in the superscription, only a couple furnish any other details.
Since the theme of Psalm 15 will be revisited when we take a look at its companion, Psalm 24, we will focus the remainder of this reflection on Psalm 16. The superscription for Psalm 16 reads: “A Miktam of David.” There is no clear consensus on what the term Miktam means, but it will be found in Psalms 56-60 as well. Psalm 16 is a celebration of the joy and fellowship that David realizes from the hand of the Lord. David opens by expressing a plea to the Lord: “Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge” (16:1). David’s plea is tethered to his reliance upon the Lord. Believing that his life has been sheltered by the Lord, David’s plea gives rise to his pledge: “I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you” (16:2). Using the language of a covenant relationship, David says that the Lord—YAHWEH—is his Lord, that is Master. Actually David says this not about the Lord, but to the Lord. In fact, all the rest of the Psalm is what David says to the Lord. David not only confesses his loyalty to the Lord, he also acknowledges that he does not have any good besides or without the Lord. David is stating his submission to the Lord, as well as his satisfaction in the Lord. There is nothing that David needs outside of God. Truly, this is the fullest meaning of the first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me” (See Exodus 20:3).
The fullness of David’s devotion to and delight in the Lord spills over towards the Lord’s people: “As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight” (16:3). Those like David, who submit to and are satisfied in the Lord, share a common bond. Those who love the Lord, loves those who love the Lord (See 1 John 4:11,20-21). Such a love toward those with whom we share a common love for the Lord, certainly entails a devotion to care for them, but David highlights that it also involves a delight in them. But while David’s love for the Lord immediately translates into love for the righteous; it has a reverse effect toward the wicked: “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” (16:4). While we should love those who honor God, we should have an opposite regard for idolators. Because we love God, we should scorn and despise those who are offensive to God. Certainly, there is caution to navigate through these strong statements, such as we must not operate out of self-righteous condescension, as well as we need to have compassionate hearts that seek to reach the wicked with the Gospel; but the fact remains that David discerned a difference in the nature of fellowship between the righteous and the wicked. David recognizes that all who commit idolatry increase heartache in their lives, and he repudiates their idolatrous practices even refusing to put a name to the supposed gods that they worship.
David voices his contentment or satisfaction in the Lord: “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” (16:5-6). Whereas the wicked would receive “the portion of their cup” (See Psalm 11:6) in terms of judgment, David’s cup is the blessing of being in relationship with the Lord. Using the language of Joshua’s conquest of the promised land and the allotment of territory among the tribes of Israel, David declares that the Lord is the portion of his territory, glorying in his boundary lines and the property itself. All the talk of boundaries, land, and portions are metaphorical, for David is not speaking of physical property, but his Lord. It is as though David is claiming the inheritance for Aaron and the Levitical Priests: “And the LORD said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel” (See Numbers 18:20). What David prized the most was not land and the status that property would give him, nor the prosperity and livelihood that the land could produce for him, nor the prospects that his physical allotment could insure an inheritance for his children; what David prized the most was the Lord.
David further explains his contentment and satisfaction in the Lord as he continues: “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” (16:7-8). The satisfying presence of the Lord in David’s life results in the surety of stabilizing counsel in his life. David’s mention of receiving counsel, particularly the timing of receiving such counsel, is reminiscent of Psalm 1, “in the night also my heart instructs me” (16:7). The Lord had supplied David with counsel through the Word: “his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night” (see Psalm 1:2). The Lord speaks through His Word today, as we deeply and prayerfully ponder it. Such extended time in the Word enables David to be more mindful of the Lord’s active presence with him at all time. For David, it is as though God is beside him at his right hand. Such a consciousness of God’s presence offers a sense of ever-present security. The awareness of God’s presence is its own happy reward: “Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices” (16:9a). David cannot think of anything that makes him happier in this life, then being able to walk in nearness to the Lord’s presence.
But David’s gladness over the presence of God in his life, not only exists all the days of this life, it also extends beyond the grave: “my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption” (16:9b-10). David is content in this life and confident about life after death. Sheol was the term in the Old Testament that described the place where dead bodies went to decompose. David has confidence that first of all his soul will not be left to rot in the grave. David has assurance that being a “holy one” of God, that is one deeply and durably loved by God, the grave is not the end. While notions about the resurrection from the dead are not are fully developed in the Old Testament as they will be in the New Testament, it is not true that the Old Testament has nothing to say about the resurrection. It most certainly does! Listen to Job (See Job 19:25-27). Here in Psalm 16, David is orienting us to a life that does not end in the grave, but one that speaks of a life beyond the grave: “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (16:11). David describes not the dead-end of death, but a path of life. An experience of living that is in the presence of God and characterized by a fullness of joy and forevermore pleasures. David had just previously spoke of the presence of God with him in this life using the picture that it is as if God is at his right hand (16:8). But now, to offer a contrast in understanding the experience of the presence of God in the next life, David describes being at the right hand of God (16:11). Yes, David experienced the presence of God presently, but that was also in the context of affliction and suffering, trials and tribulations. But beyond the grave, the presence of the Lord is unmixed with sin, sadness, and sorrow. Those experiences are done away with; there is just fullness of joy and forevermore pleasures in the Lord.
As we reflect on Psalm 16, we should consider how Psalm 16 was used to proclaim the Gospel in the Book of Acts. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter, concerning the resurrection of Christ, proclaimed: “For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence’” (See Acts 2:25-28, quoting Psalm 16:8-11). Notice that Peter says that David said these words, not about himself, but about Christ. Peter’s emphasis is that David saw himself as a preview of what was to be more fully realized through his promised descendant (See 2 Samuel 7:12-16). It is Jesus who is the firstfruits of the resurrection (See 1 Corinthians 15:20-23). All who are joined to Jesus through faith will share in a resurrection like Christ’s. In fact, the only surety of our resurrection unto eternal life in the presence of God, is through Jesus. David spoke of the blessings of fullness of joy and forevermore pleasures. David’s, as well as our realization of those blessings are only through Jesus.
That’s all for Embrace the Word for Monday, January 26, 2026. I look forward to being back with you for the Wednesday, January 28, 2026 episode of Embrace the Word as we take a look at Psalms 17.