Every Scripture is profitable, but the Scriptures that present “the things concerning Himself” must have a special charm for the Christian. It is this that makes Psalm 16 so attractive, for it sets forth the moral perfections of Christ, the perfect Man, as He trod the path of life through this world of sin and death. How good, then, to look away from self, to contemplate this perfect Man in all His excellence! In this psalm we may surely say that David, led by the Spirit, unrolls before us the loveliness of Christ.
We know that Christ is a divine person and was the perfect manifestation of God to man. But we also know that He was a true man and, as such, was the perfect expression of man before God. It is in this latter aspect that Christ is presented in Psalm 16. Here, then, we have portrayed in all its blessedness the inner life of a perfect Man who trod this path of life in perfection, and who has reached the end of the path — the right hand of God.
Dependence and Confidence
“Preserve me, O God: for in Thee do I put my trust” (vs. 1). This perfect life is a life of dependence and confidence—dependence upon the power of God and confidence in the love of God. The Lord Jesus did not depend upon Himself; He was entirely dependent upon God’s hand of power, because He had entire confidence in God’s heart of love. With unbounded confidence in boundless love, He looked to God to preserve Him.
He was neither ignorant of nor indifferent to His enemies. He knew their number, strength and treachery, but He knew that God was above all His enemies. No one was above God, and in perfect confidence He looks alone to God.
He was at times brought very low in His circumstances, and thus He was tested in a way that we shall never know. At times He had nowhere to lay His head, and on occasions He lacked even a cup of cold water. But such tests only brought out the perfection of His manhood, for still He can say, “Preserve Me, O God: for in Thee do I put My trust.” God answered His prayer and used a fallen woman to quench His thirst and some unknown person to provide a pillow for His head.
Following in the footsteps of the Lord, Paul could say in his prison, “The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom” (2 Tim. 4:18). Have we such confidence in the love of the Father and of Christ that, in the presence of enemies, dangers and desertion, we can say, “Preserve me, O God, for in Thee do I put my trust”?
Wholehearted Subjection
“O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to Thee” (vs. 2). The perfect life is a life of wholehearted subjection to the will of God. Doing only the Father’s will, all that He did was perfectly good. There was also divine goodness toward man, perfectly expressed in the Son of God. But the goodness of which this psalm speaks is the goodness of Christ as man towards men, and though perfect in its place, it does not rise to the height of divine goodness. So the Lord can say of this goodness, “My goodness extendeth not to Thee.”
Only as we are subject to the Father’s will shall we do good as we pass along our way. When converted, the first question asked by Paul was, “What shall I do, Lord?” (Acts 22:1010And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. (Acts 22:10)). Hitherto he had done his own will; now he submits to the will of the Lord. The proud, overbearing Pharisee becomes the lowly man in subjection to the Lord.
A Lowly Life
“To the saints that are on the earth and to the excellent thou hast said, in them is all my delight” (vs. 3 JND). This perfect life is a lowly life that finds its delight with God’s poor people. The perfection of Jesus in all His lowly grace is seen in the place He takes in association with the poor of the earth. “Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him?” (James 2:55Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? (James 2:5)). However feeble and poor, they are the excellent of the earth, and in them God finds His delight. Are we lowly enough in our eyes, and have we so learned our own nothingness that we can associate with God’s poor people and find our delight where He finds His?
Refusal
“Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips” (vs. 4). The Lord refused every object that would come in between the soul and God. The devil tried hard to turn the Lord from the separate path and offered Him “all the kingdoms of the world” if He would but worship the devil. The Lord’s reply was, “It is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve” (Luke 4:58). A very little bit of this world is too often sufficient to ensnare our souls, and thus we turn aside to seek some passing satisfaction in the things of this world, only to find that we multiply to ourselves sorrows. The Lord refused the idols of this world. He would not take up their names into His lips.
Sweet Enjoyment
“The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage” (vss. 5-6). Not only was the Lord entirely separate from the world, but God was His portion in another world. Moreover, as He passed along His way to the eternal inheritance, the Lord filled His cup in His daily path. The cup is the actual present enjoyment of the future heavenly portion. With the Lord as His heavenly portion, as well as the source of His present joy, He can say, “The lines are fallen unto Me in pleasant places: yea, I have a goodly heritage.” As to circumstances, He was indeed the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. It is not, however, the circumstances of which the psalm speaks, but of the inner life lived in the circumstances. The life was lived in the sweet enjoyment of the love and support of the Father, and such experiences turned the roughest paths into “pleasant places.”
In the dullness of our way, we little realize what the joy of a life must be that is lived in relationship with the Father and the constant enjoyment of all that the Father is. We shall know the fullness of the joy of this life in a day to come, but the Lord Jesus knew it without a cloud as He trod the path of life through this world.
Counselor and Guide
“I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night season” (vs. 7). This perfect life is a life in which the Lord is the Counselor and Guide. It is not merely that we refer to the Lord in some great emergency, but that we habitually wait upon the Lord in the details of life. Acknowledging Him, we shall find that He guides us. Then shall we be able to say, “I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel.”
“I have set the Lord always before me: because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved” (vs. 8). The perfect life has only one object — the Lord Himself. Christ walked on earth with singleness of eye. He set Jehovah before Him as His only object. In such a life there is nothing of self and no room for self-will.
Such is the path open to the believer. If day by day we set the Lord before us as our one object, to do His will, shall we not find that He will be at our right hand to support us? And being supported, we shall not be moved by any trying circumstances we may be called to meet.
Joy and Gladness
“Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption” (vss. 910). This perfect life has its joy and gladness, though not like the joy of this world that depends upon outward circumstances. The joy is in the heart, even as David can say, “Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased” (Psa. 4:44Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. (Psalm 4:4)). The world’s joy is in prosperous circumstances, the corn and the wine. The Lord could say to His disciples, “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you” (John 15:1111These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. (John 15:11)).
The Lord’s joy remains even in view of death, for His confidence is still in God. “Thou wilt not leave My soul in Sheol; neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption.” Christ is indeed the “Holy One,” but believers are “holy and beloved,” and, as such, can know the blessedness of the life of Christ as man. They, too, can look on with confidence, knowing that God will not leave the soul in death nor the body in corruption.
The Light of Glory
“Thou wilt show me the path of life; in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore” (vs. 11). This life is a life lived in the light of the glory to which it leads. “The path of life” leads into the presence of the Lord where there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. In all the opposition the Lord Jesus had to meet — the contradiction of sinners, the insults and reproach from the religious world, the ignorance and forsaking of His own — He endured in the light of the glory before Him. The word to us is, “Consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”
We often break down because we lose sight of the glory at the end of the road — the joy that is set before us. Instead of quietly enduring insults and shame, too often we return evil for evil and railing for railing. We may attempt to justify our strong words and our hasty acts, but the one test is, Did Jesus act as we did?
Our Great High Priest
Let us remember that the grace that enabled the Lord to tread the path of life is available for us; He still serves us as our Great High Priest to sympathize and sustain us as we seek to follow in His steps. Whatever we may have to meet, let us remember the word, “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:1).
Such is the loveliness of Christ as He trod the path of life, lived in all its beauty before God, and marked it out for His people to follow — a life of dependence upon the Father’s hand of power, confidence in the Father’s heart of love, and subjection to the Father’s will. It is a life of lowliness that finds its delight with God’s poor people — the excellent of the earth; a life of separation from evil, finding in the Lord its future portion and its present cup of blessing; a life which has the Lord as its one Object and has the Lord ever-present to support it; a life of secret joy and gladness that ends at last in the presence of the Lord, where there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore.
H. Smith, adapted