The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 16:1-6

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

Grounds of the prayer for preservation.

This psalm is golden in thought, feeling, and expression. The substance of it is comprised in the first verse: "May God preserve him who has no other refuge in which he can hide but him!" The subject up to the end of the sixth verse may be called—Grounds of the prayer for preservation.

I. HE HAS TAKEN GOD FOR HIS SUPREME GOOD. (Psalms 16:2, "I said to Jehovah, Thou art my Lord; beside thee I have no good.") The "good" here in contrast with the "sorrows" in Psalms 16:4. "Whom have I in heaven but thee," etc.? It is the answer of the soul to, "Thou shalt have no other gods but me." "Thou, O Lord, art my Portion, my Help, my Joy, my All in all."

II. HE DELIGHTS IN THE FELLOWSHIP OF ALL THE GOOD. (Psalms 16:3.) He trusts God in company with the best and noblest in the land. If they trust and serve, it is my privilege also. That is one thought. Another is—I love the holy and the excellent who reflect most of God; not the worldly rich and great and powerful. The saints and only they are the excellent to him, even as they are to God. He is one with God. in this—he is wholly on God's side; therefore, he says, save me from impending danger.

III. HE ABHORS APOSTATES AND THEIR IDOLS. (Psalms 16:4.) He will be loyal, and refuse all participation in the fellowship or the rites of the surrounding idolaters. Even the names of the false gods he refuses to take upon his lips. Philosophy, and luxury, and commerce, and wisdom in government, and the glories of conquest, combined to recommend the seductive idolatries of Philistia, Phoenicia, Syria, Assyria, Egypt. But he regarded them all with righteous scorn. We have need of a strong and simple trust in God, and sympathy with the good, to be able to repudiate the idolatries that ever surround us—the worship of wealth, success, fashion.

IV. HE POSSESSES ALL THINGS IN GOD. (Psalms 16:5, Psalms 16:6.) The Lord is the Portion of mine inheritance—an allusion to the division of the land among the tribes. And this was preserved to him by the protecting power of God. God was also his meat and drink (equivalent to "cup"). "The lines," etc.—in allusion to the ancient custom of marking out plots of land by measuring-lines. He had a goodly heritage. "What must not he possess who possesses the Possessor of all?" "All things are yours, for ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's."—S.

More for Psalms 16:1-6

Continue with other commentaries and DiscipleDeck content connected to this verse, chapter, or topic.

Other commentaries

Matthew Henry on Psalms 16:1-11Psalms 16:1-11 · Matthew Henry Concise CommentaryDavid flees to God's protection, with cheerful, believing confidence. Those who have avowed that the Lord is their Lord, should often put themselves in mind of what they have done, take the comfort of it, and live up to…The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 16:1-11Psalms 16:1-11 · The Pulpit CommentaryEXPOSITION THE sixteenth psalm is so far connected with the fifteenth that it is exclusively concerned, like the fifteenth, with the truly righteous man. It "depicts the true Israelite as rejoicing in God as the highest…The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 16:1Psalms 16:1 · The Pulpit CommentaryPreserve me, O God; i.e. keep me, guard me—protect me both in body and soul. It does not appear that the writer is threatened by any special danger. He simply calls upon God to continue his protecting care. For in thee…The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 16:1-11Psalms 16:1-11 · The Pulpit CommentaryOnce thine, ever thine: the song of a saint, the vision of a seer. This psalm yields many texts for instructive discourse; but it is not on any of them that we propose now to dwell, but on the psalm as a whole. It is on…The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 16:1-11Psalms 16:1-11 · The Pulpit CommentaryLife-long convictions. Happy the man who holds to his faith in God through all changes and chances of this mortal life! Religion to him is a reality. He speaks of what he knows. He commends what he has proved to be good…

commentaryMatthew Henry on Psalms 16:1-11David flees to God's protection, with cheerful, believing confidence. Those who have avowed that the Lord is their Lord, should often put themselves in mind of what they have done, take the comfort of it, and live up to…Matthew Henry commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 16:1-11Once thine, ever thine: the song of a saint, the vision of a seer. This psalm yields many texts for instructive discourse; but it is not on any of them that we propose now to dwell, but on the psalm as a whole. It is on…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 16:1-11Life-long convictions. Happy the man who holds to his faith in God through all changes and chances of this mortal life! Religion to him is a reality. He speaks of what he knows. He commends what he has proved to be good…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 16:1-11EXPOSITION THE sixteenth psalm is so far connected with the fifteenth that it is exclusively concerned, like the fifteenth, with the truly righteous man. It "depicts the true Israelite as rejoicing in God as the highest…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 16:1Preserve me, O God; i.e. keep me, guard me—protect me both in body and soul. It does not appear that the writer is threatened by any special danger. He simply calls upon God to continue his protecting care. For in thee…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 16:2O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord. The ordinary Hebrew text, אָמַרְתְּ, "thou hast said," requires the insertion of "O my soul," or something similar. But if we read אמרתי with a large number of manuscripts, with…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 16:3But to the saints that are in the earth; rather, it is for the saints. It (i.e. my prosperity) is granted me for the advantage of the saints that are in the land; i.e. of all the true Israelites. "I hold it in trust for…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 16:4Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god. This is the only note of sadness in the entire psalm, and it is inserted to add force by contrast to the joyous outburst in Psalms 16:5. If men would not…Joseph S. Exell and contributors