Psalm 16:5-11

5 The LORD is the ¹portion of my inheritance and my ²cup; You support my ³lot.

6 The ⁴lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is ⁵beautiful to me.

7 I will bless the LORD who has ⁶counseled me; Indeed, my ⁷mind instructs me in the night.

8 ⁸I have ⁹set the LORD continually before me; Because He is ¹⁰at my right hand, ¹¹I will not be shaken.

9 Therefore ¹²my heart is glad and ¹³my glory rejoices; My flesh also will ¹⁴dwell securely.

10 For You ¹⁵will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You ¹⁶allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.

11 You will make known to me ¹⁷the path of life; In ¹⁸Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are ¹⁹pleasures forever.

Psalm 16:5-11 Meaning and Commentary

Michtam of David. This is a new title, not met with before, though it afterwards is prefixed to "five" psalms running, the fifty sixth, the fifty seventh, the fifty eighth, the fifty ninth, and the sixtieth psalms. Some take the word "michtam" to be the name of a musical instrument, as Kimchi on Psalm 4:1; others the name of one of the tunes, as Jarchi; and others the tune of a song which began with this word, as Aben Ezra observes, to which this psalm was sung; the Septuagint translate it "stelography," or an inscription upon a pillar; such an one as is erected by conquerors, as Theodoret observes, having writing on it declaring the victory obtained; suggesting that the psalm, or the subject of it, the death and resurrection of Christ, was worthy to be inscribed on a pillar of marble; and the Targum renders it, "a right engraving," that deserves to be engraven in a monument of brass: but what seems to be the best sense of the word is, that it signifies a work of gold, and may be rendered, "a golden [psalm] of David"; so called, either because it was a dear and favourite song of his; or from the subject matter, which is more valuable and precious than the most fine gold: the title of it in the Syriac and Arabic versions is, "concerning the election of the church, and the resurrection of Christ;" and certain it is from Psalm 16:10, the resurrection of Christ is spoken of in it, as is clear from the testimonies of two apostles, Peter and Paul, who cite it in proof of it, Acts 2:25; and since there is but one person speaking throughout the psalm, and Christ is he that speaks in Psalm 16:10, and which cannot be understood of David, nor of any other person but Christ, the whole of the psalm must be interpreted of him.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 73:26; Psalms 119:57; Psalms 142:5; Lamentations 3:24
• 2. Psalms 23:5
• 3. Ps 125:3 mg
• 4. Psalms 78:55
• 5. Jeremiah 3:19
• 6. Psalms 73:24
• 7. Psalms 77:6
• 8. Psalms 16:8-11; Acts 2:25-28
• 9. Psalms 27:8; Psalms 123:1, 2
• 10. Psalms 73:23; Psalms 110:5; Psalms 121:5
• 11. Psalms 112:6
• 12. Psalms 4:7; Psalms 13:5
• 13. Psalms 30:12; Psalms 57:8; Psalms 108:1
• 14. Psalms 4:8
• 15. Psalms 49:15; Psalms 86:13
• 16. Acts 13:35
• 17. Psalms 139:24; Matthew 7:14
• 18. Psalms 21:6; Psalms 43:4
• 19. Job 36:11; Psalms 36:7, 8; Psalms 46:4

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "kidneys," figurative for inner man
• [b] I.e. the nether world
• [c] Lit "give"
• [d] Or "godly one"
• [e] Or "see corruption" or "the pit"