Stilling Waves Bible Psalm 16

Psalm 16

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Translation

World English Bible (WEB), a modern translation.

Before you read

The heading calls this a poem of David, using the Hebrew word miktam, whose exact meaning is uncertain. The psalm begins with a plea for protection and grows into deep contentment and confident hope. The speaker turns away from the gods others serve and treats the LORD himself as his share, borrowing the language of land allotted to Israel's tribes. In Acts 2 Peter reads verses 8 to 11, and in Acts 13 Paul reads verse 10, as fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus, whom death could not hold. Watch for the words of inheritance: portion, cup and lot.

1A Poem by David. Preserve me, God, for I take refuge in you.

2My soul, you have said to the LORD, “You are my Lord. Apart from you I have no good thing.”

3As for the saints who are in the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.

4Their sorrows shall be multiplied who give gifts to another god. Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, nor take their names on my lips.

5The LORD assigned my portion and my cup. You made my lot secure.

6The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Yes, I have a good inheritance.

7I will bless the LORD, who has given me counsel. Yes, my heart instructs me in the night seasons.

8I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

9Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices. My body shall also dwell in safety.

10For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption.

11You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever more.

Meditate

Psalm 16 meditation and reflection

Trace the boundary lines of your life as they are now, the portion you have been given. Where can you see goodness there, and God at your right hand?

In the King James Version: Psalm 16:11

Read it slowly, then sit with the prompt. Free: stillingwaves.com/bible/psalms/16/
Scripture: World English Bible (public domain).Scripture: King James Version (1769 text), public domain outside the United Kingdom; in the United Kingdom under Crown patent.

Sit with this: a guided reflection

Begin with verse 2 and say it slowly as your own: apart from God, nothing in your life is good on its own. That can sound bleak at first. Here it is the doorway to joy, because everything else can then be received as a gift rather than clutched as a possession. Verse 3 turns outward to the faithful people around the psalmist, and he takes delight in them. Who are the saints, famous or ordinary, who gladden you? Verse 7 speaks of the heart instructing the psalmist at night. What has God been teaching you in quiet or sleepless hours? And verse 11 ends not with rules but with joy and presence. Christians hear in it the hope of the risen Christ, a path that runs through death and out the other side. Tell God what you are glad of, and ask where his presence might meet you today.

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