seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Psalm 16: A miktam[a] of David.
1 Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
3 I say of the holy people who are in the land,
“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
4 Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.
5 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful(b) one see decay.
11 You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
a. Psalm 16:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
b. Psalm 16:10 Or holy
Apparently this is another of those songs written while David was running from Saul. David had 400 men who chose to support him. Saul had an army of 3000 men. David had a secret weapon.... David had God on his side.... and IMHO this song was probably sung to disperse the fear and loneliness of the predicament.
This is from the easy English site.
Saul was trying to kill David. David ran away to the woods, the hills and the fields. He hid there from Saul. 400 men went with David. Saul had 3000 soldiers. Saul was king of Israel. One night Saul and all his men slept. David came near in the night and took some things from Saul. David did not kill Saul. In the morning David told Saul, "It was easy to kill you but I did not. What have I done wrong? You sent me away from my own country. You told me to find other gods. Why?" It was probably at this time that David wrote Psalm 16. It has two ideas in it:
1 The inheritance of David. Your inheritance is what your parents give you when they die. David says Saul made him go away from his own country. The inheritance of David was there. But David had a better inheritance. The LORD was his inheritance.
2 The God of David. Saul told David to find other gods. But David already had the best God that there was. David had the only God. He had no need to make a change.
Verses 1 - 4: "Secret" is "miktam" in Hebrew. "Secret" is only one of the things that it may mean. Another is "gold". Some Christians call Psalm 16 the "golden psalm". "Golden" means "like gold". Gold has great value. In Psalm 16 it is the secret that is of great value. It is the secret of living for ever. "For ever" means "with no end". First we live on earth. When we die we live with God in heaven. The secret is to believe in the one true God. David found this secret. It is of more value than gold. David tells us that there are 2 groups of people:
1 the saints on earth. These are the people of the LORD, or the righteous. The righteous are people that God sees as clean. They are not his enemies. Saints is a word that the New Testament uses for Christians. The New Testament is part of the Bible. It tells us about Jesus and the Church.
2 people that run after other gods. "Run after" is the Hebrew way of saying "go and serve". These are the enemies of God. Christians call them 'unbelievers' because they do not believe in the one true God. Jesus came to show us the one true God. What does "gifts of blood" mean in verse 4? In the time of David they killed animals and sometimes children for their false gods. David called these "gifts of blood".
Verses 5 - 6: "my part" is "my inheritance" in Hebrew. An inheritance is what a father gives (or leaves) to his children when he dies. In the time of David it was probably land or animals. Saul made David go away. So, David had no inheritance. This part of the psalm tells us that David had a better inheritance than land or animals. God himself was David's inheritance. Verses 7-11 tell us what this meant to David. What does "lines" mean in verse 6? The lines measured the land into pieces. People then knew where their piece of land was. In ( ) is another way of translating this part.
Once again.... I think the commentaries are missing an important reason for singing out loud. David wrote these poems down so they could become a tool. Going up against 3000 well trained soldiers led by an insane man had to be terrifying. David had been snatched from the quiet life of a shepherd and now he's on the run. That's what I think this song is about.... it's the reason as much as the words that result.As I read this poem, I have to admit, I am moved. I remember one night that happened a long long long long time ago.... I was alone.... on a mission to find my children and get them back. I was sitting on the side of the boardwalk, with my feet buried in the sand. It was really dark that night.... there was only a sliver of a moon lighting the waves. The waves brought me to the sea. I needed to lose myself in the rhythm and calm back down.
As I sat there.... I started to sing.... I doubt anyone could hear me.... there weren't a lot of people on the beach... it was late in December.
I didn't sound anything like this but I did sing the same song.... and it helped tremendously. David might not have been as stupid as I was.... he lost his quiet shepherd's life by knocking down a big mouth giant for the Lord.... I was just stupid.... I hope that poem made David feel as close to his Lord as singing a song on the beach that night did for me.
Have a good day....
