Psalms 16:9

16:1-11 This psalm begins with expressions of devotion, which may be applied to Christ; but ends with such confidence of a resurrection, as must be applied to Christ, and to him only. - David flees to God's protection, with cheerful, believing confidence. Those who have avowed that the Lord is their Lord, should often put themselves in mind of what they have done, take the comfort of it, and live up to it. He devotes himself to the honour of God, in the service of the saints. Saints on earth we must be, or we shall never be saints in heaven. Those renewed by the grace of God, and devoted to the glory of God, are saints on earth. The saints in the earth are excellent ones, yet some of them so poor, that they needed to have David's goodness extended to them. David declares his resolution to have no fellowship with the works of darkness; he repeats the solemn choice he had made of God for his portion and happiness, takes to himself the comfort of the choice, and gives God the glory of it. This is the language of a devout and pious soul. Most take the world for their chief good, and place their happiness in the enjoyments of it; but how poor soever my condition is in this world, let me have the love and favour of God, and be accepted of him; let me have a title by promise to life and happiness in the future state; and I have enough.

Heaven is an inheritance; we must take that for our home, our rest, our everlasting good, and look upon this world to be no more ours, than the country through which is our road to our Father's house. Those that have God for their portion, have a goodly heritage. Return unto thy rest, O my soul, and look no further. Gracious persons, though they still covet more of God, never covet more than God; but, being satisfied of his loving-kindness, are abundantly satisfied with it: they envy not any their carnal mirth and delights. But so ignorant and foolish are we, that if left to ourselves, we shall forsake our own mercies for lying vanities. God having given David counsel by his word and Spirit, his own thoughts taught him in the night season, and engaged him by faith to live to God. Verses 8-11, are quoted by St. Peter in his first sermon, after the pouring out of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, Ac 2:25-31; he declared that David in them speaks concerning Christ, and particularly of his resurrection. And Christ being the Head of the body, the church, these verses may be applied to all Christians, guided and animated by the Spirit of Christ; and we may hence learn, that it is our wisdom and duty to set the Lord always before us. And if our eyes are ever toward God, our hearts and tongues may ever rejoice in him. Death destroys the hope of man, but not the hope of a real Christian. Christ's resurrection is an earnest of the believer's resurrection.

Psalm 16:9 . Therefore — Upon this ground and confidence; my heart is glad — I feel, not only a perfect satisfaction, but joy and triumph in my heart. And my glory — My tongue, as St. Peter explains it, Acts 2:26 . For the Hebrews give the tongue the name of glory, Psalm 30:12 ; Psalm 57:8 ; Psalm 108:1 , because it was bestowed upon us that we might thereby glorify God and because it is our glory, as being the instrument of expressing our thoughts by words, a privilege not vouchsafed to any of the inferior creatures; rejoiceth — Hebrew, יגל , jagel, exulteth; declares my inward joy. For this word signifies, not so much inward joy, as the outward demonstrations of it. My flesh also shall rest in hope — My body shall quietly and sweetly rest in the grave, to which I am hastening, in confident assurance of its not suffering corruption there, and of its resurrection to immortal life. The flesh, or body, is in itself but a dead lump of clay; yet hope is here ascribed to it figuratively, as it is to the brute creatures, Romans 8:19 , because there is a sufficient cause and foundation for such hope, if it were capable of it, the good promised and expected being future and certain.

(9) Glory. —Heb., khabôd; but probably the poet wrote khabed, i.e., liver, or (comp. “reins” above, and the common use of the word “bowels”) heart. The LXX. paraphrase tongue. The passage was so quoted in Acts 2:25 . (Comp. Psalm 57:8 ; Psalm 108:1 .) “With the best member that I have” (Prayer Book). Shall rest in hope.—This follows the Vulg. The LXX. also have “shall tabernacle in hope.” The true rendering, however, is shall rest in security. In “heart, soul, flesh,” the poet comprises the whole living man. (Comp. 1Thessalonians 5:23.) The psalmist feels that the body must share with the soul the immunity from evil which is insured by fellowship with God. Carried out to its full issue, the logical conclusion of this is the doctrine of immortality; but we must not see a conscious reference to it here.

Verse 9. - Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth . The thought of God's continual presence at his right hand causes David's "heart" to be "glad," and his "glory" - i.e. his soul, or spirit ( Genesis 49:6 ), man's true glory - to rejoice. My flesh also shall rest in hope . His "flesh" - his corporeal nature, united closely with his "heart" and "spirit" - rests, and will rest, secure, confident that God will watch over it, and make the whole complex man - body, soul, and spirit - to "dwell in safety" ( Psalm 4:8 ). Psalm 16:9

Therefore; upon this ground and confidence. My heart; the proper seat of joy, and of all the affections. My glory; either, 1. My soul, which isindeed the glory of a man. Or rather, 2. My tongue, which also is a man’s glory and privilege above all other living creatures, and the instrument of glorifying both God and man; and which is oft called a man’s glory , as Genesis 49:6 Psalm 30:12 57:8 108:1 149:5 . And so this very word is translated Acts 2:26 . And thus the distinction between heart , and glory , and flesh is more certain and evident. Rejoiceth ; or, exulteth , i.e. declares or expresseth my inward joy. For this verb signifies not so much internal joy, as the outward and visible demonstrations of it in words or gestures and carriages. My flesh shall rest, i.e. my body shall quietly and sweetly rest in the grave, to which I am hastening. In hope, i.e. in confident assurance of its incorruption there, and of its resurrection to a blessed and immortal life, as it is explained, Psalm 16:10,11 . The flesh or body is in itself but a dead and senseless lump of clay, yet hope is here ascribed to it figuratively, as it is to the brute creatures, Romans 8:19 , because there is matter and foundation for such hope, if it were capable of it, the good promised and expected being certainly future.

9. glory—as heart (Ps 7:5), for self. In Ac 2:26, after the Septuagint, "my tongue" as "the glory of the frame"—the instrument for praising God. flesh—If taken as opposed to soul (Ps 16:10), it may mean the body; otherwise, the whole person (compare Ps 63:1; 84:2). rest in hope—(compare Margin).

9 . my glory ] i.e. my soul. See note on Psalm 7:5 . The LXX renders freely my tongue . my flesh also shall rest in hope ] So the Vulg., insurer et caro mea requiescet in spe . Beautiful and suggestive as this rendering is, it is inaccurate and misleading, and must be replaced by that of R.V. My flesh also shall dwell in safety (marg. securely ). Cp. Jer., et caro mea habitavit [v.l. habitabit ] confidenter . Dwell in safety is a phrase repeatedly used of a life of undisturbed security in the promised land. See Deuteronomy 33:12 ; Deuteronomy 33:28 ; Proverbs 1:33 ; Jeremiah 23:6 ; Jeremiah 33:16 . Fellowship with Jehovah guarantees outward security as well as inward joy. The words do not refer, primarily at least, to the rest of the body in the grave in the hope of a joyful resurrection. Flesh does not denote the dead corpse, but the living organism in and through which the soul works: together with heart and soul it makes up the whole man ( Psalm 63:1 ; Psalm 73:26 ; Psalm 84:2 ; cp. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 ). 9–11 . The blessed outcome of this fellowship is joy, confidence, progress.

Therefore my heart is glad - In view of this fact, that my confidence is in God alone, and my belief that he is my Protector and Friend. See the notes at Acts 2:26 . And my glory rejoiceth - The Septuagint translate this, "my tongue," and this translation is followed by Peter in his quotation of the passage in Acts 2:26. See the notes at that passage. The meaning here is, that whatever there was in him that was honorable, dignified, or glorious - all the faculties of his soul, as well as his heart - had occasion to rejoice in God. His whole nature - his undying soul - his exalted powers as he was made by God - all - all, found cause of exultation in the favor and friendship of God. The heart - the uuderstanding - the imagination - the whole immortal soul, found occasion for joy in God. My flesh also - My body. Or, it may mean, his whole person, he himself, though the direct allusion is to the body considered as lying in the grave, Psalm 16:10. The language is such as one would use of himself when he reflected on his own death, and it is equivalent to saying, "I myself, when I am dead, shall rest in hope; my soul will not be left to abide in the gloomy place of the dead; nor will my body remain permanently in the grave under the power of corruption. In reference to my soul and my body - my whole nature - I shall descend to the grave in the hope of a future life." Shall rest - Margin, "dwell confidently." The Hebrew is literally "shall dwell in confidence" or hope.

The word here rendered "shall rest" means properly to let oneself down; to lie down, Numbers 9:17; Exodus 24:16; then, to lay oneself down, to lie down, as, for example, a lion lying down, Deuteronomy 33:20; or a people in tents, Numbers 24:2; and hence, to rest, to take rest, Judges 5:17; and then to abide, to dwell. Gesenius, Lexicon. Perhaps the sense here is that of "lying down," considered as lying in the grave, and the expression is equivalent to saying, "When I die I shall lie down in the grave in hope or confidence, not in despair. I shall expect to rise and live again." In hope - The word used here means "trust, confidence, security." It is the opposite of despair. As used here, it would refer to a state of mind in which there was an expectation of living again, as distinguished from that state of mind in which it was felt that the grave was the end of man. What is particularly to be remarked here is, that this trust or confidence extended to the "flesh" as well as to the "soul;" and the language is such as would be naturally used by one who believed in the resurrection of the body. Language of this kind occurs elsewhere in the Old Testament, showing that the doctrine of the resurrection of the body was one to which the sacred writers were not strangers, and that although the doctrine was not as explicitly and formally stated in the Old Testament as in the New, yet that it was a doctrine which had been at some time communicated to man.