Jewish Commentary: Psalm 16

The Jewish orthodox sages and Rabbis understood the literalness of all of the Old Testament prophecies. Premillennialists and dispensationalists are in good company in seeing the Bible interpreted in a normal, literal hermeneutic. Someday, the eyes of the Jews will be open in seeing the Lord Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah. Meanwhile, their interpretative notes and commentaries on great prophetic passages continue to support the “rightness” of looking for future prophecy being fulfilled actually, and literally!

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 Psalm 16

The Prophecy of the Resurrection of the Messiah 

16:1 The Jewish Rabbis have never considered this as a messianic Psalm, nor is it mentioned in the Gospels as such. Only after Christ’s resurrection and ascension were the eyes of the apostles opened to this fact. The disciple Peter got the picture and quoted it before the large Jewish crowd he addressed in Acts 2:22-36. Below is the commentary from the Rabbis:

   Michtam. This Psalm is a Michtam of David. The meaning of the word is uncertain though it is related to the Hebrew word meaning “to cover.” The Psalm may be dealing with the protection or covering of God over the righteous.

   Keep me, O God. A general prayer from a trusting soul, not a cry for help in a situation of danger.

16:2 I have said to the Lord … Both Yahweh and Adonai are used here in this verse. Yahweh means “the Ever Existing One,” and Adonai refers to the Lord as the Master. The God who ever exists is the Master of the writer. 

   I have no good besides You. God is the source from which comes all that he desires.

16:3-4 As for the saints (the holy ones) in the earth … Those who have obeyed the exhortation “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Lev. 19:2). 

   The majestic. The excellent ones, the nobles. They are truly distinguished who are holy, not the men honored because of their wealth or rank. In association with them he takes his delight.

   The sorrows. Those who play with idolatry, with the gods, “bartered with them.” God will have nothing to do with those who multiply their gods, literally “who give a dowry to them.” Those who play with the gods will experience disappointments, whereas the writer has only good from God.  

   Libations of blood. Drink offerings of blood. Blood libations to idols. Or it could be metaphorically of drink-offerings which are unacceptable to God because they are brought by men whose hands are blood-stained (cf. Isa. 1:15).

   Their names. The pagan names which have been preferred to the true God. Even to mention their names would soil his lips.

16:5-6 Inheritance. When the land of Israel was allotted to the tribes, one was assigned to the Levites, because God said, “I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel” (Num. 18:20). In like manner the Psalmist urges that his inheritance is God, and he does not long for a share of wordly goods.

   Cup. His thirst is of the spirit which finds its satisfaction in God.

   You support my lot. Rabbi Kimchi remarks that “tomich” is identical with “tomech,” the participle of the verb; thus “Thou are the holder of my lot.” The land was apportioned by the casting of lots (Num. 26:55), the result being determined by God. Similarly the Psalmist is contented with the knowledge that He holds his destiny in His hand.

   The lines. The measuring cords which mark off an area falling to the lot, and then used of the territory so allocated. His portion having been assigned to him by God, it must be of the best heritage.

16:7-8 The Psalmists relationship with God is given here. “I will bless the Lord” equals to “I will thank Him.”

   Has counseled me. Granted me the understanding to choose Him as the Source of my welfare.

   Instructs me in the night. In the stillness of the night the voice of God seemed to speak to him and direct his thoughts.

   I have set the Lord continually before me. This is the leading principle in trust of God, the upward strivings of the righteous who walk ever in the presence of God. To have the consciousness of being always before Him must profoundly affect man’s conduct in every circumstance.

   At My right hand, God is … Though the Messiah will go through terrible pain, He knows God is with Him. He is not shaken. God is the Messiah’s Guide and Helper.

16:9 My glory. God the Father is the glory of the Messiah.

   My flesh also will dwell securely. In addition to bliss of the spirit, the Messiah’s person can enjoy security, no matter what happens. The three terms “heart, glory, flesh,” denote the constituent elements of the person: mind, spirit, and body. And though the Messiah will die, He will still be secure because of what is said in verse 10.

16:10 This verse clearly has as a point of reference the holy Messiah. He is the Holy One of God. His soul will not be abandoned in Sheol, or the nether-world (or the pit of the grave). Since God is His Protector, and because He is innately holy, the grave cannot hold Him. While Christ indeed experienced true death, the cells of His body did not decay. Death is the penalty of sin and He was not a sinner, either by action, or by His very sinless and holy nature.

16:11 By His death and resurrection the Messiah will know and experience the true path of life. No other human being can say this. “In Your presence is fullness of joy” may imply that, though fellowship was broken between the Father and Son when Christ was on the cross, still the deific union of Father and Son could never be broken or severed. In a certain sense, the Son is ever at the place of honor at the right hand of God the Father. Specifically He is now, seated by the Father, waiting until God subdues all enemies so that the Son may return to earth to reign and rule on the throne of David!

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Sources:

    The Pentateuch and Haftorahs.
    Society and Religion in the Second Temple Period, Michael Avi-Yonah and Zvi  Baras (Jerusalem: Massada Publishing, 1977).
    The Messiah Texts, Raphael Patai (Detroit: Wayne State University, 1979).
    Dictionary of Judaism in the Biblical Period, William Green, ed. (Peabody, MS: Hendrickson, 1999).