Psalms 16:1

The Bible says in Psalms 16:1, “Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust.” There are two circumstances in which to trust in the Lord. The first is once you realize that you are a lost sinner and in need of a Savior. Then you turn to Jesus, call on His name, and trust in Him to save your soul and forgive your sins. The second circumstance when you trust in the Lord is every day for the rest of your life. You turn to the Lord and you rely upon the Lord. You depend upon what the Lord will do for you each moment of each day. That is the life of faith, and the daily goal of your life should be to live the life of faith.

The Bible says in Psalms 16:2, “O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord; my goodness extendeth not to thee.” When David said, “my goodness extendeth not to thee,” David was saying that he knew that his own goodness could not approach unto God’s goodness. Someone who is rightly related to the Lord knows that the relationship is based upon God’s mercy to us. God is of tender mercy. He is kind. Jesus accepts us in spite of our sins.

The Bible says in Psalms 16:3, “But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.” The best people in the earth are the believers. That is one of the reasons to seek to be around believers as much as you can, and to go to a good Bible-teaching church where the believers gather together. God’s love is centered on those who have accepted His love through faith in Christ. Believers are called “excellent.”

But the unbelievers are not so excellent. The Bible says in Psalms 16:4, “Their 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.” There is only one God. In the Old Testament He was known as “Jehovah:” the eternally existent One. In the New Testament He is known as “Jesus:” the Savior. If you go after “another god,” then you are going the wrong way. Notice that it speaks of those who “hasten” after another god. That means that such a person desires greatly another god instead of the true God. That will not work. It will end in multiplied “sorrows.” One of the things that proves the Bible is true is that its teachings do work in real life and lead to happiness and blessing. One of the things that proves that Jesus is true is that those who believe in Him and follow Him become the best that they can be and discover true happiness: the happiness of knowing the Lord.

The last part of verse 4 talks about the doctrine of separation. Holiness is separation from those who do not serve the Lord. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.” When David said, “their drink-offerings of blood will I not offer,” David was saying that he would not be involved in their false religious teachings. That is very important because one of God’s primary directions for His children is to be witnesses to the truth about salvation through faith in Christ. We would not want to give the wrong impression by being involved in false religious activities. Someone might think that we agreed with that which is false. At the very end of verse 4 David also said, “nor take up their names into my lips.” Some things are so bad it is best to just not talk about them. If people have made up their minds to go the wrong way, then let them go. Forget the bad things, and remember the good things. You do not want to be talking about the bad things that some people do, or you might end up being negative. Enjoy the good things and have the best thoughts that God can give.

In the rest of the verses of this chapter we are told some of the many benefits of being a Christian. The Bible says in Psalms 16:5, “The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.” David calls the Lord “mine inheritance.” David’s personal relationship with the Lord was the most important thing that he had. Once you are saved, you can lose everything except your salvation and the presence of the Lord Jesus with you. David knew that his most important relationship was with the Lord. David also mentioned his “cup” and his “lot.” This would include everything about his life: his family and friends, his enemies, his opportunities, his challenges, his sorrows, and his material possessions. David knew that everything about his life came from God. That is faith.

The Bible says in Psalms 16:6, “The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.” Because of his faith in the Lord, David was a positive thinker. David looked on the good side of things. David looked at his life and he saw the blessings and the good things that God had done for him. Every believer should be positive like this. God is great and God is good, and goodness will follow the believer all the days of his life. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, and to them that are the called according to his purpose.” Christians are told in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

The Bible says in Psalms 16:7, “I will bless the Lord who hath given counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night season.” Another one of the great benefits of knowing Jesus as Savior is that we have access to His infinite wisdom. Once you are saved through faith in Christ, the Lord wants to guide every move that you make for the rest of your life. When you make decisions, you will need wisdom. The Lord Jesus is the source of all the wisdom that you will ever need. Make sure that you learn to call upon Him and wait upon Him. And make sure that you are a student of the Bible so that the Holy Spirit can teach you His precious Word and so that the wisdom of His Word becomes a part of your thinking. David said, “my reins also instruct me in the night season.” His “reins” speak of his inner being. Once you come to know Jesus as Savior, Christ is in you. You have the closest possible access to all of His wisdom and knowledge. The wisdom is in you: use it. David spoke of “the night season.” In other words, David spent time reflecting on the decisions that he had to make, and David spent time considering and seeking wisdom from God so that He could do God’s will.

The Bible says in Psalms 16:8, “I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” When David said, “I have set the Lord always before me,” notice the words “I have set.” In other words it was a choice that David made to always look to the Lord. And David used the word “always.” The calling to follow Christ is a life-long calling. You do not go into it thinking that you will follow Him for a while and see how things go. You determine to follow Him “always.” That is God’s will. These verses show the Lord in you, before you, and on your right hand. You will be protected and helped for the rest of your life.

The Bible says in Psalms 16:9, “Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.” This verse speaks about the present and the future. In the present “my heart is glad” because I can rejoice in the Lord and can rejoice for everything He has chosen to bring my way. Therefore, if I think the right thoughts and have faith in the Lord, I can have a happy life. Concerning the future, I can have “hope.” Hope in the Bible refers to expectancy. I know that a lot of good things are going to happen, but I just do not know when they are going to happen. The rapture and the Second Coming of Christ are among these things.

The Bible says in Psalms 16:10, “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” This is a Messianic verse and contains words that Jesus Himself must have said, and the verse is quoted in Acts 2:27. Perhaps the entire Psalm 16 are words that Jesus said as He faced the death of the cross. The word that is translated “hell” is “sheol” in Hebrew. In the Greek translation in Acts 2:27 “hell” is translated from “hades” in Greek. These two words mean “the place of the dead.” The place of the dead was divided into two: the place of paradise where believers went and the place of torment where the evil ones went: in other words, the place of the dead. The context tells us if “the place of the dead” has the meaning of paradise, or ‘the place of torment.” And so this is a verse of prophecy about the resurrection from the dead. Jesus knew that even if He died on the cross, He would not stay dead. He would be raised from the dead. We have the same future. Believers know that they will not stay dead. They will be given eternal life through Jesus Christ.

The Bible says in Psalms 16:11, “Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” “The path of life” speaks of the way that we go in life. How will you know which way to go? We need to go God’s way, and so we need His guiding hand. Only God knows the way we should go. It will be a very sad result if we fail to find God’s way and fail to enter into it. David went God’s way and thus he experienced “fullness of joy” and “pleasures for evermore.” Accept Jesus and His love for you, and you will have the same opportunity to know joy and rejoicing.

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