In Acts 2 Peter says about verses 9 and 10 in this psalm:
Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.
This is a psalm of David, but it is not a psalm about David. It is not David who speaks here, but Christ.
That is not to say that it had no relevance for David and has none for us. He and we are in Christ and what is his becomes ours. Nevertheless, we must expect to find, as Peter did, that certain things said here can only be true of Christ.
The gospels record some of the words of Christ: prayers, answers to questions, teaching, private conversation and so on. Some Bibles mark off these words of Christ in red. If we’re going to do that, then at least some of the psalms should also be in red lettering. They too record his direct speech to us and to his heavenly Father. He sang and prayed them, and some of them, like this, are very peculiarly his own, rather than ours: “You will not leave my soulin Sheol.”
The unifying idea of the psalm is pilgrimage. The psalm belongs in a very special way to the time of our Lord’s earthly sojourn. In it he talks to his Father, to us and even to himself about that sojourn, and finds it, in contrast with many other psalms, a time of great blessing and joy. There is here no complaint about suffering, forsakenness or enemies, but only rejoicing in the Lord. He begins with a prayer for preservation (verse 1). He continues with celebration of the goodness of the heritage given him in the world (verses 2-6), and he closes with hope for the future (verses 7-11).
- The Pilgrim’s Prayer (v. 1)
The pilgrim’s life is full of danger. There are lions along the way waiting to devour him. It is hard to find food and drink to sustain him during the journey. The journey is difficult and filled with suffering. He grows weary and needs rest, but places of rest are hard to find. His eyes are dim and he cannot always see clearly the path that he should follow. It’s a narrow way, a way of self-denial, constant vigilance and strenuous effort. He knows that his own resources are not sufficient to bring him safely to its end; he needs help. The way is too long and difficult, the dangers too great, the flesh too weak for him to hope to do it by himself.
His help is the Lord, and to him he turns with the prayer of verse 1: Preserve me, O Lord. He expects the Lord to guard him, so that no enemy can destroy him, no temptation entice or drive him from the path, no obstacle prevent him from reaching the end of the journey, and no lack of any essential cause him to falter in his struggle.
The fundamental characteristic of the pilgrim is trust in the Lord. He is not self-reliant, self-sufficient or independent. He is like a very small child, automatically and instinctively expecting father or mother to be there for everything. He believes the Lord’s promises. He looks to him for the supplying of his needs. He expects him to bring him to the reward. Out of that faith flow all other things necessary to a pilgrim’s life: his endurance, his hope, his vigilance, his love for fellow pilgrims and his expectation of good to come. So here the pilgrim prays first: “Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust.”
2. The Pilgrim’s Good Inheritance (vv. 2-6)
Usually when we talk about the pilgrim’s place in the world the emphasis falls on the idea that he is a stranger and has no permanent home here. That is a proper emphasis, but in this psalm the pilgrim rejoices in a portion he does have. That portion is here, though by its origin and character it belongs to the heavenly realm and will not be perfected until he has reached the end of his journey.
The pilgrim talks to himself in verses 2 and 3. He says to his own soul: “You have said to Yahweh, you are my Lord.” Compelled by the voice of God, drawn by his will, he defines and thinks of himself in relation to one God only. Yahweh is his Lord. He is no longer his own man but owes allegiance and obedience to another. He is now a servant, doing another’s will and subject in everything to his decisions. He does not take it on himself to decide what is right, or what he must do, but looks to the hand of his master, takes orders from him, and is interested only in finishing what the master gives him to do.
But he rejoices in this. He confesses it willingly and finds that everything good in his life comes out of this new relationship of service. His goodness is nothing apart from his Lord.
He also begins to define himself differently with respect to other people. There are two groups. The first is the saints who are on the earth. Of them he says, “They are the excellent ones. In them is my delight.” I belong among them and will seek their company. The other group is those who hasten after another god. He sees that their sorrows will multiply. They give themselves great trouble about their idolatry and sometimes make very great sacrifices for the sake of their gods. There were nations in those days who made their children pass through the fire, that is, offered them as sacrifices. But all this sacrifice, and all this trouble, will bring no profit. In fact, it brings instead a multiplying of sorrows. They have forsaken God the fountain of living waters and dug cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. Of them he says, “Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, nor take up their names on my lips.” Blood was usually a part of their sacrifices, and in many cases the worshippers drank blood as well as pouring it out to their gods. But the pilgrim wants no part with them, with their gods, or with their sorrowful portion.
So, he has spoken of his master and of his companions. He has also rejected the company of any who do not serve the Lord. Now he goes on to talk about his inheritance in verses 5-6. He uses a number of different words that all describe the same thing: inheritance, lot, lines and heritage.
The idea of inheritance is important in the Scriptures. Sometimes we read that his people are the Lord’s portion or inheritance. Deuteronomy 32:9 says, For the LORD’S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. The Lord receives an inheritance, and he is greatly pleased with it. At other times we read that God gives an inheritance to his people. That is the idea here.
God promised that he would give the land of Canaan to Abraham’s descendants as their inheritance, and when the time came for him to fulfill his promise, he gave to each man, by the casting of lots, a particular portion of the land to be his own inheritance and the inheritance of his children after him. It prefigures the inheritance of the spiritual inheritance among his people and in heaven that God has given to us in the death of the testator, Jesus Christ.
The exception in Israel was the tribe of Levi. They received some cities, but nothing else. Of them the Lord said, You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel (Num 18:20). Their inheritance would be the right to serve in God’s house, to draw near to him, to eat at his table and to share in the gifts that Israel brought to him.
It is that language that the pilgrim recalls here when he says, “The Lord is my inheritance.” He claims for himself the portion of the priests and Levites. He has no portion in this world, but he has a spiritual allotment, that the Lord is his God, that he has a place in the Lord’s house, a right to draw near to him, to eat and drink with him, and to share in all his bounty. It is a pleasant and goodly inheritance.
Verse 5 also uses the figure of a cup. This cup is closely related to the cup of the Lord’s Supper, for the Lord is the portion of it. By it he is partaker of all the benefits of the Lord. It is a cup of blessing. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26
The Lord maintains that lot for him, so that he cannot lose it and none can take it from him. It is his to rejoice in through all the rigors of his pilgrimage.
3. The Pilgrim’s Hope (vv. 7-11)
In verses 7-11 the pilgrim turns his attention to his journey, and he finds there equal cause for blessing the Lord.
The first reason for blessing the Lord is his counsel. A pilgrim needs advice as to the way to go, how to live along the way, what difficulties to prepare for, where to find lodging, etc. All this the Lord provides in his word and continues to provide during the whole course of his journey. He says that the world will hate him and that he will suffer persecution. He warns him of dangers and obstacles along the way and teaches him how to overcome them. He tells him that he will always be with him. Every night as the pilgrim lays his weary head down for rest, the Lord is there. His word abides in him, and his heart (literally kidneys in the Hebrew) takes fresh encouragement and hope from it.
The second reason for blessing is that the Lord is the goal of his journey. As he travels, he sets the Lord always before him and fixes his eyes on him. There are many good things to enjoy here in the world, but there is a greater good at the end of his journey and he turns his heart to it. He sets his face like a flint to pass through all the temptations and dangers of the journey, so that he may obtain the great prize. Like an athlete training for the Olympics, he denies himself many things and works strenuously, so that he will be fit for the journey ahead of him.
The third reason for blessing is that even while the Lord is always before him, he is also at his right hand to defend and uphold him along the way. He cannot be moved, cannot be turned aside or shaken in his purpose while he knows that the Lord is his ever-present help. He has always abundant food to renew his strength, help to protect him from predators, and a guide to keep him from straying.
Death will overtake the pilgrim while he travels, and his body will lie in the grave. Even of that the pilgrim says, My flesh also will rest in hope. The grave is a temporary place of rest, a part of the journey, and there is hope even there. There is hope because God will not leave him there. You will not leave my soul in hell, nor suffer your holy one to see corruption. The corruption of the grave will not master him, because he mastered the grave before he got there. Therefore, he will rise from the dead and appear in glory. Strictly speaking, this was true only of Christ. He was not in the grave long enough to see corruption. Nevertheless, because we are in Christ, though our bodies will see corruption, God will raise even them from the grave.
Verse 11 sums it all up. The pilgrim has a path to walk here. It is apart from the world, but it is the path of life, shown to him by the Lord. After he has passed through death at its end he will come into the presence of the Lord where there is fulness of joy.
For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
There he will stand at God’s right hand. Note the change from verse 8. During the journey, the Lord is before the pilgrim and at his right hand. At journey’s end he is in the presence of the Lord and stands at his right hand. That is the place of highest honor and a place of everlasting pleasures.
It was all of this, this inheritance, the Lord’s help, and the joy of the reward that sustained our Lord Jesus Christ in his earthly pilgrimage. He has blazed the trail and opened the way for us to follow him.
Two things need to be said by way of conclusion:
First, everything in the pilgrim’s life revolves around the Lord. In this psalm the Lord appears in many different capacities: as preserver, master, inheritance, counselor, companion, goal, deliverer and joy. The Lord preserves him. The Lord is all his goodness. The Lord is his inheritance and the portion of his cup. The Lord gives him counsel. The Lord is before him and at his right hand. The Lord waits for him at the end of his journey and is his protection during it. The Lord redeems both his soul and his body. The Lord shows him the path of life, and with the Lord is full and everlasting joy.
Second, this is a psalm of rejoicing. The pilgrim has a dark and difficult way to follow, but there is no desponding here. He trusts in the Lord, he has help and and a goodly portion for the present, and he confidently expects many pleasures that far outweigh the pleasures and pains of the world. He delights in the saints. His inheritance is pleasant and goodly. The Lord gives him counsel and is his companion on the way. The Lord is before him and he anticipates great joy in his presence and at his right hand. So, his heart is glad and his glory rejoices.
Because of this great joy he blesses the Lord. A strong sense of the Lord’s presence and favor imbues the psalm, and all its language is so theo-centric that the praise of the Lord is a natural outcome of reading and studying it.
We have said that this psalm describes the earthly sojourn of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who prays for preservation, rejoices in the inheritance of the Lord, and looks forward with such keen hope to the pleasures of heaven.
But we are in him. Where he goes, we follow. He entered into our condition so that we, in the end, may enter into his. Because he was not of this world, we are not, and because his residence here was not final, neither is ours. We too expect glory. But we also have a pleasant and goodly inheritance here and now.
So, we sing this song with our savior and forerunner. We joyfully confess that the Lord is our master, and the saints our delight. We turn away from all other gods because we can have no delight in them or in those who serve them. We rejoice in the Lord’s inheritance and consider our lot as his heirs pleasant and good. We diligently tread the path of life through death into the presence of the Lord, and there we anticipate full, satisfying, and enduring pleasures.