Psa 16:9 | KingComments | STEP | The word “therefore” indicates a conclusion based on the foregoing ( ). David has acknowledged God as his sovereign Lord, Adonai, and resorted to Him ( ). While rejecting all idolatry, he experienced the goodness of God ( ). “Therefore” his heart is glad and his glory rejoices (cf. ; ). His “heart” is the center of his existence. From there his life is governed. His heart is in constant fellowship with God. The word “glory” has the meaning of all the value of his inner being, all his feelings for God. He also feels secure as far as his “flesh” is concerned. “My heart”, “my glory”, and “my flesh” constitute the whole man, as the New Testament speaks of “spirit and soul and body” ( ). Peter, in his speech in Acts 2, quotes this verse as Scripture proof for the resurrection of Christ ( ). This is not a concoction of the authors of this commentary, but it is the commentary of Scripture, inspired by the Holy Spirit, on what is contained in this psalm. That is why it is necessary to quote the verses from Acts 2 here. David writes this psalm ten centuries earlier than the time of Peter’s speech. He writes in the I-form. Yet he cannot write about himself. After all, he has died, been buried, and, when Peter quotes this scripture, still has not risen. David, then, is here a prophet writing about Another, the Lord Jesus. No one but the Lord Jesus went His way without for a moment taking His eye off God, His Father. He always saw God, His Father, before Him. Also, He always knew Him beside Him ( ). His fellowship with His God gave Him joy in His heart, which He expressed with His mouth, even in the time of His rejection ( ). Through His fellowship with His God, He had hope with regard to rest for His body. He knew that He would die the sinner’s death, but He faced that death with the Father before and beside Him, looking forward to the joy that would come afterwards ( ). He knew that God would not abandon His soul to Sheol ( ). By Sheol is not meant the grave. By a grave we mean a place in which the body of a dead person is laid. The Hebrew word sheol does not refer to the body, but to the soul. Sheol is the place where the souls of the dead go immediately after death, the realm of the dead. In Peter’s quote, taken from the Septuagint – the Greek translation of the Old Testament – we read the word hades , the Greek translation of sheol ( ). Next, the quote says that God will not “abandon” Christ’s soul to Hades, i.e. to the realm of the dead. Christ was “the Holy One” of God Who lived in perfect faithfulness to the covenant as God’s godly man to His glory. He suffered the pains of death in His soul in the three hours of darkness on the cross under God’s judgment for all who believe in Him. After His death, His soul went to paradise ( ). Every unbeliever will suffer in Hades and finally eternally in hell. After Christ died, He was laid in a tomb, but His body did not “undergo decay”. That is, His body was not affected by the decay of death. Even in His death, He was “the Holy One” of God. Therefore, after a short stay in the tomb – “a short time” ( ) – He was raised. As a result of His work, the New Testament believer knows that his spirit and soul are with the Lord immediately after his death ( ; ), while his body is in the grave. His body will again emerge from the grave at the coming of the Lord Jesus for His own, but renewed, and be united with his spirit and soul ( ; ). After hearing Christ speak in the quotation of His death and the special preservation therein by God, we next hear how He speaks of life and joy ( ). Here He speaks of His resurrection. This is life and joy after He has passed through death. After the resurrection, ways of life are opened and revealed. Life in the resurrection is a life of joy, it is life with the eye fixed on the face of God. In the spiritual sense, this applies today to every believer who keeps his eye fixed on Christ. Such a person always walks on the way of life, even though it may lead through death. This path of life is made known by God to the Lord Jesus and thereby to His own. The path of life is always the path through death. God raises from the dead. He is the origin of that path, for He is life, He is the living God, life is only in Him. It is not so much the path that leads to life as the path on which life is enjoyed. It is the path marked by life (cf. ). Life in the full sense of the word and joy belong together. On the path of life is “fullness of joy” because it is a path in the “presence” of God, indicating His constant presence. Only on that path, only in a life of fellowship with Him, there is fullness of joy. This is the case both in this life and in the life after this life. This is also the case with the “pleasures” that are in His “right hand”. They are there “forever”. By “pleasures” is meant a vast array of pleasant things that will gladden our hearts again and again, without interruption. There is not a moment when this is not so. Both in the present and in the future, He is able – the right hand speaks of power – to give those pleasures to all who are associated with Him in the world of resurrection. His presence and His right hand represent His Person and His deeds, what He gives and what He does.

‏ Psalms 16:9

The Path of Life

The word “therefore” indicates a conclusion based on the foregoing (Psa 16:9). David has acknowledged God as his sovereign Lord, Adonai, and resorted to Him (Psa 16:1-2). While rejecting all idolatry, he experienced the goodness of God (Psa 16:3-8).

“Therefore” his heart is glad and his glory rejoices (cf. Lk 10:21; Heb 12:2). His “heart” is the center of his existence. From there his life is governed. His heart is in constant fellowship with God. The word “glory” has the meaning of all the value of his inner being, all his feelings for God. He also feels secure as far as his “flesh” is concerned. “My heart”, “my glory”, and “my flesh” constitute the whole man, as the New Testament speaks of “spirit and soul and body” (1Thes 5:23).

Peter, in his speech in Acts 2, quotes this verse as Scripture proof for the resurrection of Christ (Acts 2:25-31). This is not a concoction of the authors of this commentary, but it is the commentary of Scripture, inspired by the Holy Spirit, on what is contained in this psalm. That is why it is necessary to quote the verses from Acts 2 here.

David writes this psalm ten centuries earlier than the time of Peter’s speech. He writes in the I-form. Yet he cannot write about himself. After all, he has died, been buried, and, when Peter quotes this scripture, still has not risen. David, then, is here a prophet writing about Another, the Lord Jesus.

No one but the Lord Jesus went His way without for a moment taking His eye off God, His Father. He always saw God, His Father, before Him. Also, He always knew Him beside Him (Jn 8:29). His fellowship with His God gave Him joy in His heart, which He expressed with His mouth, even in the time of His rejection (Mt 11:25).

Through His fellowship with His God, He had hope with regard to rest for His body. He knew that He would die the sinner’s death, but He faced that death with the Father before and beside Him, looking forward to the joy that would come afterwards (Heb 12:2).

He knew that God would not abandon His soul to Sheol (Psa 16:10). By Sheol is not meant the grave. By a grave we mean a place in which the body of a dead person is laid. The Hebrew word sheol does not refer to the body, but to the soul. Sheol is the place where the souls of the dead go immediately after death, the realm of the dead. In Peter’s quote, taken from the Septuagint – the Greek translation of the Old Testament – we read the word hades, the Greek translation of sheol (Acts 2:27).

Next, the quote says that God will not “abandon” Christ’s soul to Hades, i.e. to the realm of the dead. Christ was “the Holy One” of God Who lived in perfect faithfulness to the covenant as God’s godly man to His glory. He suffered the pains of death in His soul in the three hours of darkness on the cross under God’s judgment for all who believe in Him. After His death, His soul went to paradise (Lk 23:43). Every unbeliever will suffer in Hades and finally eternally in hell.

After Christ died, He was laid in a tomb, but His body did not “undergo decay”. That is, His body was not affected by the decay of death. Even in His death, He was “the Holy One” of God. Therefore, after a short stay in the tomb – “a short time” (Heb 2:9) – He was raised. As a result of His work, the New Testament believer knows that his spirit and soul are with the Lord immediately after his death (2Cor 5:8; Phil 1:23), while his body is in the grave. His body will again emerge from the grave at the coming of the Lord Jesus for His own, but renewed, and be united with his spirit and soul (1Thes 4:16; 1Cor 15:52).

After hearing Christ speak in the quotation of His death and the special preservation therein by God, we next hear how He speaks of life and joy (Psa 16:11). Here He speaks of His resurrection. This is life and joy after He has passed through death. After the resurrection, ways of life are opened and revealed. Life in the resurrection is a life of joy, it is life with the eye fixed on the face of God. In the spiritual sense, this applies today to every believer who keeps his eye fixed on Christ. Such a person always walks on the way of life, even though it may lead through death.

This path of life is made known by God to the Lord Jesus and thereby to His own. The path of life is always the path through death. God raises from the dead. He is the origin of that path, for He is life, He is the living God, life is only in Him. It is not so much the path that leads to life as the path on which life is enjoyed. It is the path marked by life (cf. Psa 25:9-10).

Life in the full sense of the word and joy belong together. On the path of life is “fullness of joy” because it is a path in the “presence” of God, indicating His constant presence. Only on that path, only in a life of fellowship with Him, there is fullness of joy. This is the case both in this life and in the life after this life.

This is also the case with the “pleasures” that are in His “right hand”. They are there “forever”. By “pleasures” is meant a vast array of pleasant things that will gladden our hearts again and again, without interruption. There is not a moment when this is not so. Both in the present and in the future, He is able – the right hand speaks of power – to give those pleasures to all who are associated with Him in the world of resurrection. His presence and His right hand represent His Person and His deeds, what He gives and what He does.