Confidence and Contentment in the Lord (A Psalm of Trust)

Love God and Neighbor

V. 1- David asks God to preserve him. This Word Preserve is the same used in Genesis 2:15 “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”

Adam was to protect, defend, preserve, and guard the garden, and David calls on God to defend him from attacks that come from within or without

James M. Hamilton Jr., Psalms, ed.

This Psalm is a prayer, and in v 1 David tells God that He is David’s keeper and David’s refuge.

In Psalm 12:4, the wicked ask, “Who is master, or Lord over us?” Well david responds “You oh Yahweh are my Lord” , and “I have nothing good apart from you”

David is confessing that there is nothing in his life that is more valuable to him than Yahweh

After confessing His supreme devotion to God, David then expresses his love for the saints in the land. Psalm 16:3 continues the thinking of psalm 15:4 concerning a blameless person honors those who fear the LORD

The people of God should delight in one another and love one another, because we share a common committment to love God with all that we are. Loving God should result in God’s people loving one another. Love God, Love People. Because we love God, we should honor those who honor God.

Likewise, we should despise what goes against honoring God. David explains that those in verse 4 only make their lives more painful by running after other gods. the word multiply is used also in Genesis 3:16 when God told the woman “I will multiply your pain in childbearing” This reinforces the painful consequences of sin. Adam and Eve had every satisfaction and joy in the Garden with God. but they succommed to idolatry, and what they thought would make their life better only made it much, much worse. The same goes for the idol chasers in verse for and for idolators in general: they commit idolatry hoping to help themselves, but by failing to be true to the Lord they only hurt themselves.

And David says he will have no part of it. the offerings of blood that these people make to these false gods are detestable to the Lord, and David says he will not pour them out or take the names of these idols on his lips.

The presence of God is a reward in itself. The presence of God demands virtue, which is also its own reward. Both God’s presence and virtue also result in other rewards, such as freedom from guilt, remorse, fear of being found out, and fear of condemnation. To walk with God and know his goodness results in David saying in 16:9a that his heart is glad and his glory rejoices.

Loving God Results in Satisfaction

David is saying priestly things here. Numbers 18:20 “And the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.”

Explain what is going on. David has done priestly things before (2 sam 6)

Adam was a royal priest, Israel was to be a royal priesthood, and now King David speaks of his inheritance in priestly terms, anticipating the King who will come as the great high priest

Our appreciation for what David says can be deepended if we understand what land signified to an Israelite.

The land of an Israelite reflected his status in society. what he did with that land impacted his reputation. If he cultivated and produced a large crop, his reputation was lifted. the produce and pasture of his land equaled his entire livelyhood. His land was his home, his land was the inheritance of his children.

by david saying the lord is my portion, cup and inheritance, he is saying that Yahweh is this to him him and much more.

The presence of God is a reward in itself. The presence of God demands virtue, which is also its own reward. Both God’s presence and virtue also result in other rewards, such as freedom from guilt, remorse, fear of being found out, and fear of condemnation. To walk with God and know his goodness results in David saying in 16:9a that his heart is glad and his glory rejoices.

Loving God Promises a Resurrection