It turns out that Psalm 16 is David’s ‘Best of’ collection, or ‘Greatest Hits‘, or ‘Number Ones’ – whichever makes more sense to you.
The psalm is designated a ‘Miktam’. Despite first thoughts, it’s not a chocolate biscuit. It was the equivalent of the labels I’ve already mentioned. Quite simply, a precious and treasured golden Psalm. As with any song that ends up on a a ‘Greatest Hits’ complilation, it tends to end up there because it’s been put on high rotation for quite a while and got its share of air-play.
You can be quite confident that if the psalm was on high rotation for David, he needed to hear it, sing it, speak it often. To affirm its truths to his soul.
The psalm is a one of trust and confidence. It’s a declaration and a petition all at the same time. David begins:
Keep me safe, O God,
for in you I take refuge.
I love the prayer. Essentially it’s: ‘You’re who I’m relying on so it’d be really good if You’re trustworthy’. The implicit thought here is: if You can’t be trusted, I’m in trouble.
God can be trusted. David’s reliance is well founded and he knows it. Because of God’s trustworthiness David lacks no good thing. It’s a declaration that reminded me of James 1:17 – a similar affirmation of God as the author of good gear.
David beams with delight at those whom he shepherds – the glorious ones in whom is all his delight.
This was one of the slabs of scripture a bunch of memorised last year and two things often struck me as I was committing it to memory.
The first was David’s love of His people. They were his sheep, his treasure and his delight. It’s hardly surprising that a psalm that affirms how precious they are for him should make it into the Greatest Hits – he would have wanted them to know the value that he found in them.
The second was that it had plenty of Jesus in it.
You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Only Jesus is the path to to life. Only Jesus presents us faultless to the Father for eternity. Only Jesus will not let our spiritual bodies see decay. Only Jesus is our way. Only Jesus. In this light, the Psalm has an undeniable prophetic edge as well. David has confidence in His God who is sovereign over all things but also in the coming Messiah who will rescue and redeem his soul.
Without wanting to tie too neat a bow at the tail of this thought, Psalm 16 is a psalm written by a bloke who’s keeping the end game in mind. His safety now is a big deal for his life is often threatened but he has complete confidence in God who continually blesses, from the boundaries of his land holdings to the absence of any boundary in his lifespan. David wants you to know what Jesus wants you to know: God is good and His love endures forever.
– Simon Elliott