Psalm 16 — 17
of it for His glory? Do you anticipate being with Christ in glory? Is He the joy of your life today; for if He isn't, when will you be prepared to enjoy Him for all eternity?
guard, he had nothing to fear; he would not be moved (10:6; 15:5). The future is your friend when Jesus is your Lord.
The Conqueror of Death (vv. 9–10) To delight in the Lord and His goodness and then lose all these blessings at death would be a great tragedy. "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable" (1 Cor. 15:19 nkjv). But in His death and resurrection, Jesus has conquered death, and through faith in Him we have a "living hope" (1 Peter 1:3ff.). When David wrote "My body will rest secure" (v. 9 nasb), he was referring to Messiah and not to himself. Using these verses, Peter proved that Jesus had been raised from the dead, for it's obvious that David was dead and his body had decayed in his tomb (Acts 2:22–31). But Jesus did not see corruption! When He arose from the dead on the third day, He had a real and substantial body, but it was a glorified body that could ingest food (Luke 24:36–42) but was also able to appear and disappear (Luke 24:28–31) and pass through locked doors (John 20:19–29). David could face death with a glad heart and soul, and could rest in the grave in hope, knowing that one day, he, too, would have a new glorified body. Paul used this same text to prove the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (Acts 13:26–39). The full light of revelation about death and resurrection had not yet been revealed in Old Testament times, although there are hints in verses like 17:15 and 73:24–26, but through Jesus Christ, God had brought "life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Tim. 1:10).
PSALM 17
This is one of five psalms identified as "prayers" (17, 86, 90, 102, 142). The title is also used in Habakkuk 3:1 and Psalm 72:20. Since most of the psalms contain prayers to the Lord, we wonder why these five were singled out for this special title. Except for 90, written by Moses, they describe the writer in dangerous situations and crying out to God for deliverance. Only 17, 86, and 142 are attributed to David, and they were probably written during the years when Saul pursued him. There are at least a dozen words for prayer in the Hebrew language, and this one (tepilla) can also mean "to intervene." Perhaps the title also told the temple musicians what melody to use when using these psalms in public worship. Psalm 17 has definite connections with Psalm 16—"keep me" (16:1/17:8); the night (16:7/17:3); the use of El as the name for God (16:1/17:6); the hand (16:8/17:7, 14); God's presence (16:11; 17:15); maintain or hold up (16:5/17:5). While there are suggestions of danger in Psalm 16 (vv. 1, 8, 10), the atmosphere is much more calm than what we find in 17. In this prayer, David deals with three pressing concerns and makes three major requests to the Lord. Each section opens with David addressing the Lord.
The Joy of Eternity (v. 11) The noted philosopher and Harvard University professor Alfred North Whitehead once asked a friend, "As for Christian theology, can you imagine anything more appallingly idiotic than the Christian idea of heaven?"13 But the focal point of heaven is not gates of pearl, streets of gold, or even angels and glorified saints. The central glory and joy of heaven is Jesus Christ (Rev. 4–5). The path of life that He shows us on earth today will end in even greater life when we enter heaven. Then we shall be in His presence and experience fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. A foolish caricature of heaven shows white-robed saints with halos and harps, resting on little white clouds; but the Bible gives no such description. In our glorified bodies, we shall be like Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:20–21; 1 John 3:1–3), and we shall worship and serve Him forever. The pleasures of heaven will be far beyond any pleasures we have known here on earth, and as we enjoy the Lord and serve Him, we will not be restricted or encumbered by time, physical weakness, or the consequences of sin. So magnificent are the glories of heaven that the apostle John had to ransack human language to find words to describe it (Rev. 21—22).
Vindication—"Examine Me" (vv. 1–5) The psalm begins and ends with "righteousness" (vv. 1, 15), because David wants God to examine him and vindicate him before his enemies. He saw God as a righteous judge who would give him a fair trial. King Saul and his leaders believed and circulated all kinds of lies about David, but the Lord and David knew the truth. David asked God to hear his plea, examine his life, and declare his integrity by giving him victory over the forces of Saul. Then everybody would know that God was with David, the man He had chosen to be Israel's king. God knew that David's prayer was sincere and that his life, though not sinless, was blameless. He was a man of integrity whose cause was a righteous one. During those years of exile, God had proved David's heart, visited and examined him, and tested him the way gold and silver are tested and refined in the crucible ("tested by fire"). (See 26:2; 66:10; 81:7; 95:9; 139:23–24; also Job 23:10; Rev. 3:18.) No matter what Saul and his men had said about him, David was able to affirm to the Lord that he had not spoken evil of the king. In fact, on at least two occasions, David could have slain Saul, but he refused to lay hands on God's chosen and anointed leader (1 Sam. 24, 26). Saul would have killed David (v. 9, "deadly enemies"), but David obeyed the Word of the Lord and kept himself
Is Jesus Christ the Lord of your life? Have you accepted your inheritance and are you making the most