DiscipleDeck
Get started
Bible Commentary

Psalms 16:1-6

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. (, "I said to Jehovah, Thou art my Lord; beside thee I have no good.") The "good" here in contrast with the "sorrows" in . "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. (.) 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. (.) 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. (, .) 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.

The Daily Devotional

One devotional. Every morning.

The full reading, the passage behind it, and where to go deeper — in your inbox before the day starts. No ads, ever.

We'll send one email to confirm it's really you. Unsubscribe in one tap, any time.

Continue tomorrow

Turn Bible study into a daily habit

Read today's devotional, save your progress, and receive a gentle daily reminder.

Read today's devotionalSave my progress

Recommended reading

More for Psalms 16:1-6

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

Other commentaries

Psalms 16 — OverviewPsalms 16 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleThis psalm has something of David in it, but much more of Christ. It begins with such expressions of devotion as may be applied to Christ; but concludes with such confidence of a resurrection (and so timely a…Psalms 16 — OverviewPsalms 16 · Treasury of Scripture KnowledgePsalms 16:1, David, in distrust of merits, and hatred of idolatry, flees to God for preservation; Psalms 16:5, He shews the hope of his calling, of the resurrection, and life everlasting. Psalm of David. Psalms 56:1,…Psalms 16 — OverviewPsalms 16 · John Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleMichtam 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…Psalms 16:1-7Psalms 16:1-7 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleThis 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,…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…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…
commentaryRecommended resourceExplore this resource connected to the verse you are reading.commentaryRecommended resourceExplore this resource connected to the verse you are reading.commentaryRecommended resourceExplore this resource connected to the verse you are reading.devotionCut to the HeartCut to the heart. The right response to real Gospel is the right question: What shall I do?DiscipleDeckcommentaryRecommended resourceExplore this resource connected to the verse you are reading.commentaryRecommended resourceExplore this resource connected to the verse you are reading.commentaryRecommended resourceExplore this resource connected to the verse you are reading.commentaryRecommended resourceExplore this resource connected to the verse you are reading.