Tap any verse number for what that verse means.
1Preserve me, O God, for in You I take refuge.
2I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing.”
3As for the saints in the land, they are the excellence in whom all my delight resides.
4Sorrows will multiply to those who chase other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood, or speak their names with my lips.
5The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure.
6The lines of my boundary have fallen in pleasant places; surely my inheritance is delightful.
7I will bless the LORD who counsels me; even at night my conscience instructs me.
8I have set the LORD always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will dwell securely.
10For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
11You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.
Understand This
Psalm 16, explained
What Psalm 16 is saying
Psalm 16, a miktam of David, is a psalm of trust expressing deep satisfaction in God as one's inheritance (chelqi) and portion. The psalmist rejects idolatry, delights in the company of the saints, and makes the extraordinary declaration that God will not abandon his soul to Sheol or let His holy one see decay. The 'pleasant boundary lines' (chavalim) employ land-inheritance imagery for spiritual contentment.
The background behind it
Peter's Pentecost sermon (Acts 2:25–31) and Paul's preaching in Antioch (Acts 13:35–37) both apply the resurrection language of this psalm to Jesus, arguing that David spoke prophetically since he himself did see decay. The miktam designation (also in Psalms 56–60) remains debated.
Themes running underneath
The psalm presents God Himself—not God's gifts—as the ultimate inheritance, a radical claim in an agrarian society where land was identity. The closing confidence about not seeing decay pushes beyond typical Israelite afterlife expectations into proto-resurrection hope.
Why it still matters
Psalm 16 invites a fundamental reorientation of desire: from God's blessings to God Himself as the blessing. Its language of fullness of joy and eternal pleasures models a satisfaction that transcends circumstances.
Scripture text: Berean Standard Bible — used by permission, Bible Hub.