Psalm 16
A portion of today’s reading is well known to many of us. Peter quotes verses 8-11 verbatim in Acts 2:25-28 when speaking to the crowd after the Holy Spirit landed on the apostles at Pentecost. Paul also quotes verse 10b: And as for the fact that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken in this way, … “You will not let Your Holy One see corruption.” (Acts 13:34-35) The apostles clearly saw these verses as pointing to Jesus.
However, as David wrote this Psalm, I don’t sense that he was speaking of his descendent, the Messiah. In our translations of “the Holy One” the Hebrew word is “hasid”. It’s the same word that David uses back in Psalm 4:3, But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for Himself; the LORD hears when I call to Him. In Psalm 4:3 David is clearly linking the godly to himself. By association, there is reason to assume that David is speaking of himself in today’s reading where “hasid” is translated “the Holy One”.
Beyond all that, verse 3 is the one that jumped out at me today: As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. As before I am drawn to my fellow worshipers at St. Andrew’s, in whom is all my delight. A nice thought to close…