“Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.”
(Psalm 16:9-10)
I love to read David’s rejoicing in the Lord! But often I find it troubling.
Here, David rejoices because he knows God will protect him. But where does he get that confidence? Can I share that confidence? Surely not! Romans 8:36 says “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
So how come David is so sure of God’s protection? And how can I share in his rejoicing? I feel kind of fake…
I was thinking about this, and came up with this answer:
How can David be sure of God’s protection?
Because he is the King of God’s people, living in the land God promised that they would forever possess and prosper in.
One of the promises God made to Abraham was land, forever: “And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” (Gen 17:8) As the Israelites drive out the inhabitants of that land, and settle in, there is a sense of arriving home, fulfilment. Here, they will be established as God’s people in peaceful prosperity forever.
David, then, understands that God has promised to be their protector – otherwise there cannot be lasting peace and prosperity. So David is rejoicing in the promised salvation of the Lord!
The people broke their covenant with God, and brought on themselves the curse instead of the blessing. But through Jesus’ death, God has made a new covenant with us, promising that we will live and prosper with Him forever in His land (the real promised land, the new heavens and new earth).
The promised salvation now is deliverance of a different kind. Not the physical protection needed for peace in a physical land, but spiritual deliverance from His anger, and protection from any spiritual threat that would prevent us entering that spiritual promised land.
David did see corruption, eventually, in the sense that he eventually died. Thus the Psalm points to another Holy One, one who will not be abandoned to the grave.
Jesus was not abandoned to Sheol nor did he see corruption. He was raised from the grave, and with Him will come David and all believers.
Let us rejoice in the promised salvation of the Lord!
“Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.” (Psalm 16:9-10)