PSALMS
BOOK 1
Lesson Three
HOW TO ANALYZE THIS SECTION:
Psalms 16-41 THE MAN CHRIST JESUS
Psalm 16 Taking His Place of Suffering. Jehovah Apportioning His Lot
Psalm 17 Prayer and Appeal in View of Psalm 16.
Psalm 18 Answer To The Prayer of Psalm 17, and Promise of Deliverance and Triumph.
Psalm 19 His People Acknowledging God’s Glory in Creation and Revelation
Psalm 20 Their Prayer as they see in Messiah their own Salvation.
Psalm 21 Their Exultation in Messiah’s Exaltation.
Psalm 22 The Good Shepherd in Death (John 10:11). Atonement the Basis of all Blessing
Psalm 23 The Great Shepherd in Resurrection (Heb. 13:20). Advent the Basis of all present Blessing
Psalm 24 The Chief Shepherd in Glory (1 Pet. 5:4). Advent the Basis of all-future Blessing
Psalm 25 Prayer with Reference to Ps. 16. The “Path” and the “Way” (cp. Vv. 4, 8-10, 12).
Psalm 26 Prayer with Reference to Ps. 17. Appeal to Integrity (cp. 17:1, 3, 4)
Psalm 27; Psalm 28 Prayers with Reference to Ps. 18. Answer from Jehovah, as His “Rock” and “Deliverer.”
Psalm 29 His People’s Praise for God’s Glory in Creation Cp. Ps. 19
Psalms 30,31,32,34 Their Praise as they see the Answer to Ps. 20 (Ps. 33 being the First “New Song” in the Psalter).
Psalm 34 Their Exultation in Messiah’s Exaltations. As in Ps. 21
Psalm 35, 36 Prayer and Praise with Reference to Atonement as being the Basis of all Blessing Cp. 22
Psalm 37 Instruction as to present Blessing, in view of Ps. 23.
Psalms 38, 39, 40, 41 Prayer and Praise with Reference to future Blessing. Cp. Ps. 41:12, The Divine Answer to Ps. 24:3.
Psalms 16-41, “THE MAN CHRIST JESUS.”
PSALM 16 TAKING HIS PLACE OF SUFFERING.
C-1 Psalms 16:1-7 David speaketh to Jehovah and to the saints.
C-2 Psalms 16:8-11 “David speaketh concerning” Messiah (Acts 2:25-28).
Note: we will also look at this section in the light of Hebrew understanding of the scriptures from the
Tanakh Hebrew Text Paul the Learner
BOOK ONE SECTION THREE
Psalm 16:1-7 (C-1). HIMSELF. HIS TRUST.
A. Psalms 16:1 Prayer. For preservation David
B. Psalms 16:2- My Adonai. My good to
C. Psalms 16:-2, 3 The saints. Jehovah
C. Psalms 16:4 The apostates. David
B. Psalms 16:5, 6 My portion. My heritage to
A. Psalms 16:7 Praise. For counsel Saints
The title of this Psalm is called Michtam. (Engraven).
Psalms 16:1-4
This psalm is entitled Michtam, which some translate a golden psalm, a very precious one, more to be valued by us than gold, yea, than much fine gold, because it speaks so plainly of Christ and his resurrection, who is the true treasure hidden in the field of the Old Testament. (Matthew Henry's Commentary)
This song of trust is a wholehearted profession of the joy that comes from faithfulness and loyalty. The author lived in a day when apostasy and idolatry were extensive. Against this background he contrasts his supreme happiness with the plight of those who have slipped into idolatry. His great hope amplifies his present trust in God. The psalm is ascribed to David by Peter (Acts 2:25) and by Paul (Acts 13:35-36) when they refer to its prophecy of Messiah's resurrection.
Psalms 16
16:1 The Hope of the Faithful, and the Messiah's Victory - A Michtam of David
Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust. 2 O my soul, you have said to the LORD, "You are my Lord,
My goodness is nothing apart from You." 3 As for the saints who are on the earth, "They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight." 4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god; their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, nor take up their names on my lips. 5 O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. 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; my heart also 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 glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope. 10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor 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; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. NKJV
Psalm 16:
The structure of this psalm is anomalous in that, while it opens as a typical personal petition, the rest of the psalm expresses the psalmist’s confidence in God; perhaps this serves as an extended motivation for why his petition should be heard.
16:1: The obscure term Michtam is found only here and in a cluster of Psalms (56-60); the Septuagint translates it as “a stele or pillar inscription.”
16:2: Alternately, this may be understood as the individual praying citing his earlier prayer, “I have said to the Lord…”
16:3-4: These are among the most obscure verses in the Psalter. Jewish Study Bible
Note: Blindness in part has happened unto Israel until… Paul the Learner
BOOK ONE SECTION THREE
Psalms 16
Verse 1-4. Joy in Service. Preserve me, O God. This prayer is not for deliverance from an enemy but for the continuance of the happiness he has already found. His delight is in the saints, while his trust is in God. Contrasted with this is the state of multiplied sorrows that is the lot of those who have sought other gods.
(From The Wycliffe Bible Commentary)
I. David here flies to God's protection with a cheerful believing confidence in it (v. 1): "Preserve me, O God! From the deaths, and especially from the sins, to which I am continually exposed; for in thee, and in thee only, do I put my trust."
Those that by faith commit themselves to the divine care, and submit themselves to the divine guidance, have reason to hope for the benefit of both. This is applicable to Christ, who prayed, Father, save me from this hour, and trusted in God that he would deliver him.
II. He recognizes his solemn dedication of himself to God as his God (v. 2): "O my soul! Thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord, and therefore thou mayest venture to trust him."
Shaamªreeniy (OT: 8104), keep me-preserve, sustain, this feeble humanity, now about to bear the load of that punishment due to the whole of the human race. For in thee, chaaciytiy (OT: 2620), have I hoped. No human fortitude, or animal courage, can avail in my circumstances.
These are no common sufferings; they are not of a natural kind; they are not proportioned to the strength of a human body, or the energy of a human spirit; and my immaculate humanity, which is subjected to these sufferings, must be dissolved by them, if not upheld by thee, the strong God.
It is worthy of remark, that our Lord here uses the term, 'Eel (OT: 410), which signifies the strong God, an expression remarkably suited to the frailty of that human nature, which was now entering upon its vicarious sufferings. It will be seen with what admirable propriety the Messiah varies the appellations of the Divine Being in this address, a circumstance, which no translation without paraphrase can express.
(From Adam Clarke's Commentary)
16:5-6:
With the exception of portion (literally “cup”), it is striking and unusual that all the nouns used of God refer to the land and land allocation (allotted share and portion, Delightful country, my estate).
16:7-11: The conclusion of the psalm is unified through references to body parts. The psalmist speaks of his kidneys (the seat of his conscience), right hand, heart, and body (literally “flesh;” my whole being, “kevodi,” might also be a play on “kevedi,” my liver); this is matched (verse 11) by God’s face (translated here as presence) and right hand. Jewish Study Bible
Psalms 16:5-8
Joy in Faith. Inheritance ... lot ... lines. These figures all refer to the allotment of land by lots whereby the Levites received no specific apportionment. Along with the figure of the writer's cup of happiness, these add up to a truly goodly heritage because God is his choicest possession. His stability is based upon God's constant leadership.
‘Portion.’ Note the four things: (1) Portion (v. 5); (2) path; (3) presence, and (4) pleasures (v. 11).
‘Lot.’ Put by figure of Speech Metonomy (of Cause), for the land thus allotted by it.
BOOK ONE SECTION THREE
Psalm 16:8-11 (C-2). HIS MISSION AND WORK.
D. Psalms 16:8 Jehovah at My right hand. (Life.).
E. Psalms 16:9 Rest in hope. Positive. (Death.).
E. Psalms 16:10 Not left in Sheol. Negative (Resurrection.).
D. Psalms 16:11 At His right hand. (Ascension.).
Psalms 16:8 I have set, &c. Quoted in Acts 2:25-28; 13:35.
Note: To the Jewish mind there is only blindness (blindness in part has happened unto Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be brought in). They cannot see the scriptures that speak of the Messiah in His suffering and resurrection for they are still looking for Him to come. Paul the Learner
Psalms 16:9
[Therefore my heart is glad]
In view of this fact, that my confidence is in God alone, and my belief that he is my Protector and Friend. See the notes at Acts 2:26.
‘My heart.’ I myself, like “my soul.” Figure of Speech is Synecdoche (of Part).
[And my glory rejoiceth]
The Septuagint translates this, "my tongue," and this translation is followed by Peter in his quotation of the passage in Acts 2:26. See the notes at that passage. The meaning here is, that whatever there was in him that was honorable, dignified, or glorious-all the faculties of his soul, as well as his heart-had occasion to rejoice in God.
His whole nature-his undying soul-his exalted powers as he was made by God-all-all, found cause of exultation in the favor and friendship of God. The heart-the understanding-the imagination-the whole immortal soul, found occasion for joy in God.
‘Glory.’ Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Effect), for the powers of the mind, which give the glory.
[My flesh also]
My body. Or, it may mean, his whole person, he himself, though the direct allusion is to the body considered as lying in the grave, Psalms 16:10. The language is such as one would use of himself when he reflected on his own death, and it is equivalent to saying,
"I myself, when I am dead, shall rest in hope; my soul will not be left to abide in the gloomy place of the dead; nor will my body remain permanently in the grave under the power of corruption. In reference to my soul and my body-my whole nature-I shall descend to the grave in the hope of a future life."
[Shall rest]
Margin, "dwell confidently." The Hebrew is literally "shall dwell in confidence" or hope. The word here rendered "shall rest" means properly to let oneself down; to lie down, Numbers 9:17; Exodus 24:16; then, to lay oneself down, to lie down, as, for example:
(1) A lion lying down, Deuteronomy 33:20;
(2) Or a people in tents, Numbers 24:2;
(3) And hence, to rest, to take rest, Judges 5:17;
(4) And then to abide, to dwell. Gesenius, Lexicon.
BOOK ONE SECTION THREE
16:9
Perhaps the sense here is that of "lying down," considered as lying in the grave, and the expression is equivalent to saying, "When I die I shall lie down in the grave in hope or confidence, not in despair. I shall expect to rise and live again."
‘My flesh also shall rest. Refers to Messiah’s death.
[In hope]
The word used here means "trust, confidence, security." It is the opposite of despair. As used here, it would refer to a state of mind in, which there was an expectation of living again, as distinguished from that state of mind in, which it was felt that the grave was the end of man.
What is particularly to be remarked here is, that this trust or confidence extended to the "flesh" as well as to the "soul;" and the language is such as would be naturally used by one who believed in the resurrection of the body. Language of this kind occurs elsewhere in the Old Testament,
Showing that the doctrine of the resurrection of the body was one to, which the sacred writers were not strangers, and that although the doctrine was not as explicitly and formally stated in the Old Testament as in the New, yet that it was a doctrine, which had been at some time communicated to man.
See the notes at Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2. As applicable to David, the language used here is expressive of his belief that "he" would rise again, or would not perish in the grave when his body died; as applicable to the Messiah, as applied by Peter (Acts 2:26), it means that when "he" should die it would be with the hope and expectation of being raised again without seeing corruption.
The language is such as to be applicable to both cases; and, in regard to the interpretation of the "language," it makes no difference whether it was supposed that the resurrection would occur before the body should molder back to dust, or whether it would occur at a much more remote period, and long after it had gone to decay. In either case it would be true that it was laid in the grave "in hope." (From Barnes' Notes)
Note:
1. In Genesis 2:7 it states that ‘man became a living soul.’
2. In 1 Samuel 28:12 that Samuel came up from Sheol [the place of departed souls] to talk to Saul.