Psalm 16:1 Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.

2 O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;

3 But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.

4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.

5 The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.

6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.

7 I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct 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 rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

MEMORY VERSE: He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.

—Acts 2:31

CENTRAL THOUGHT: Because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was submissive to His Father’s will in permitting Himself to be crucified for the sins of the world, God did not allow His body to decay in death and the grave, but raised Him from the dead on the third day.

WORD DEFINITIONS

Psalm 16:1 “Preserve me”: hedge me about (Hebrew); guard; protect; defend and attend to me. “Put my trust”: to flee for refuge; confide in.

Psalm 16:2-3 The Hebrew renders these verses: “You have said to Jehovah, You are my sovereign ruler and master; my goodness is not apart from You. As for the saints who are on the earth, they are the excellent, all my delight is in them.” “Saints”: the holy and pure ones before God. “Excellent”: great, powerful and magnificent.

Psalm 16:4 “Hasten”: to hurry and run after willfully. “Their drink offerings of blood will I not offer”: evidently a prophetic utterance of Christ refusing and bringing an end to the animal sacrifices offered under the law. He was to offer Himself as the supreme sacrifice for sin; therefore the sacrifices of bulls and goats offered under the law no longer avail with God. Those who hold to the carnal ordinances of the law system are worshipping a false god. Jesus came to fulfill the law in the sacrifice of Himself.

Psalm 16:5 “Inheritance; cup; lot”: expressions of what is really one’s true possession. Jesus sought not for worldly possessions. He was wise to know that this material world was temporary and soon would pass away, so He always sought to do His Father’s will, knowing that only in Him would He have anything. Whatever He would gain in a material way would be taken away in the death He was to die; but with God as His portion, His gain would far offset any loss.

Psalm 16:6 “The lines”: the boundaries and limits. “Pleasant”: sweet, enjoyable and delightful. “Goodly heritage”: a beautiful inheritance. The love and spiritual fellowship of all His redeemed from all ages that make up His bride means more to Christ than all the riches this old world could offer.

Psalm 16:7 “My reins”: the inward man tuned to the will and pleasure of the heavenly Father. “Night seasons”: times of adversity and opposition from the world.

Psalm 16:10 “Hell”: the world of the dead; the realm of spirits who have left the body. The Hebrew word “Sheol” corresponds with the Greek word “hades,” and both refer to the same.

LESSON BACKGROUND

David is undoubtedly the author of this beautiful, prophetic Psalm that points directly and fully to Christ Jesus. Every part of it can be applied to Him. The apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost preached to the wondering crowd about Jesus, His death, resurrection, and ascension on high. In the course of his wonderful message he quoted directly from this Psalm as Acts 2:25-28 shows: “For David speaketh concerning him [Christ].” And then He quoted verses 8 through 11.

Paul quoted from this in his message at Antioch in Pisidia in Acts 13:35, speaking of Jesus: “Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”

Farther on in Peter’s message he said concerning David, “He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption” (Acts 2:31). Paul said further in Acts 13:36-37, “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption. [His body decayed in death and went back to the dust]. But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.” And it certainly follows that all who love and follow Jesus will one day be brought back from death and the corruption of the grave unto eternal life.

—Bro. Leslie Busbee

DISCUSSION:

  1. Of whom is the 16th Psalm a direct prophecy?
  2. Who quoted from this Psalm in the New Testament?
  3. What was the inheritance that Christ desired of His Father?
  4. Who will share with Christ in this “goodly heritage?”
  5. What will it take for us to share in this glorious resurrection?

COMMENTS AND APPLICATION

Oh, what a wonderful prophecy of our blessed Jesus is found in our lesson today! Every part of it belongs to Christ and can be ours as well, if we will love and obey Him. God sent Jesus into the world and He preserved Him from the evil and wickedness that came against Him. Even so we can overcome this world as we follow Christ and put our trust in Him. God can be Lord to us just as He was to Jesus.

Christ’s goodness was not apart from His Father and His sole delight was the people whom He would cleanse and purify from sin, making them saints in light. Christ worshipped and served the true God. He did not fall in line with the compromising elements of fallen Israel and their corrupt leaders. He stood out against them, and that is why they hated Him so. It is the same today when we stand fast for truth and holiness and refuse to conform to this present evil world. The Lord is our portion. We are following Jesus and not seeking for the wealth and pleasures of this life. Our inheritance is in Him and He will maintain us in this blessed possession. Our boundaries are in the pleasantness and true beauties of holiness.

So it was with Jesus. He submitted to die the death of the cross, giving up His young life, relinquishing all claim and desire for worldly glory and honor. This world and its riches meant nothing to Him. He sought not to preserve His life. He had set His Father’s will before Him as His sole purpose and aim. His holy and righteous spirit within Him sustained and instructed Him in the way of doing God’s pleasure. Therefore His heart was glad, and He had the true glory that rejoiced, even though His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men (Isaiah 52:14). His glory was not that outward glory that will perish, but it was the inward glory of the heart and soul.

We must also be of the same mind, not seeking for the outward beauty with its vanity and pride. The hidden man of the heart—that which is not corruptible—must be our objective. Thus, Christ in His body could “rest in hope.” He was not afraid to die. Death held no terror for Him. He knew the crucifixion would kill this mortal body, but He knew that immortality would be His portion. We, too, can share in this hope. He went to paradise when He committed His holy and righteous spirit to the hands of the Father, and the repentant thief on the cross went with Him. Jesus knew that His soul would not remain a disembodied spirit, but would come back to a glorified body that had known no corruption. He had truly walked the path of life in His short sojourn on earth and thus He knew that His portion would be God’s presence of fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore.

—Bro. Leslie Busbee

REFLECTIONS

This is truly a marvelous hymn of resurrection hope and glory, the essence of which permeates the song from beginning to end. It is a song about Jesus, but what is true about the Savior He also shares with us!

I remember when Psalm 16 came alive to me. I was a new mother and my baby had been sick for several days. There had been sleepless nights and I was rocking my baby during yet another. I was bone weary and my spirit needed a comforting touch. I can’t tell you just how the words of this Psalm began their magnificent chorus in my mind, but all during those midnight hours, “Oh, the glory did roll!”

“The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.” Indeed, because of salvation, I was heir to the richest of blessings. God had been good to me. I had married my childhood sweetheart and ours was a happy home. God had supplied all our temporal needs, fed and clothed me and my family, and now we had a precious baby boy. In the night seasons of my life, the Word which had been hidden deep in my heart came back to comfort and instruct me. God had shown me and was leading me in the path of abundant, satisfying life.

That has been over 30 years ago. I can still sing that song. We have endured many more afflictions. God has never failed us. The baby grew to be a man who loves God, and the heritage which passed from my grandparents to my parents to me lives on in the hearts of my children. It is the heritage of the truth about the very life and Spirit of Jesus—Christ in me, “my hope of glory, anchor of my trusting soul.” Truly, in His presence is fullness of joy and life forevermore!

—Sis. Angela Gellenbeck