Revision as of 15:47, 15 June 2024

Psalm 16:1-11=

A Miktam of David. 1 Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge. 2 I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.’ 3 As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble, in whom is all my delight. 4 Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; their drink-offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips. 5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. 6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage. 7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. 8 I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure. 10 For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit. 11 You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.

Psummer of Psalms VII: Psalm 16

The summer between my sophomore and junior year of college I participated in an ROTC program called “basic training.” Since it was ROTC, it wasn’t quite as intense as actual basic training for the army, and was only about half as long, but it did take place at Fort Knox Kentucky, with real drill sergeants and barracks, and included a lot of aspects of basic training, like waking up at 4am for daily PT, getting yelled at, marching in formation, taking off your gas mask in the gas chamber and reciting your social security number until you puked… oh, and my favorite: Land Navigation. This was in 1995, so well before cell phones and smart watches with GPS built in. We were paired up with a buddy, given a paper map, a pencil, a compass, several coordinates, and then dropped off in the middle of the woods.

Now, I’ve always been good with a map and a compass, and I knew that. So even though we were exhausted from running around everywhere with heavy rucksacks on our backs, I set off at a pretty fast clip, hitting every single coordinate with very little help from my buddy. I was confident. I had this. Time to shine.

We were on the way to our last coordinate, the extraction point, and we could see our drill sergeants in the distance waiting for us—but they hadn’t seen us yet. It looked like we would be the first ones to arrive, although it would be close—there was another team that was pretty close behind us. But if we booked it, we could be first. I was super excited. And that’s where my buddy stopped us in our tracks. I have long since forgotten her name, but I think she was from Nebraska. She wasn’t nearly as good at navigation as I was, but (and I say this in hindsight) she was wise beyond her years.

She said, “Wait a minute. What do we get if we’re the first ones?” I said, “glory and fame.” She rolled her eyes a little bit, and said, “what else?” I said, “I don’t know; maybe we get to eat before everyone else?” I was very hungry. But she pointed out that dinner did not seem to be ready and waiting for us, even though it was the next thing on our itinerary after land navigation. Instead, she said, “let that other team go in first. We’ll stay here and watch what happens from a distance.”

So we did. We watched as they were briefly congratulated, and then immediately put to work carting around heavy water containers in preparation for dinner. The next group that came in got to peel potatoes while being yelled at by drill sergeants, and so on. My wise buddy and I found a nice soft grassy spot just out of sight where we could take turns resting and watching (so that at least we wouldn’t be last). We also found a bush full of very tasty blackberries to snack on. By the time we finally came in, about two hours later, we were well rested, not nearly as hungry, and we too were congratulated for successfully completing our navigation. And shortly thereafter, dinner was ready.

Reflecting back years later, that was probably the most peaceful, enjoyable, and fun memory from my ROTC basic training experience. And you might be wondering what any of that has to do with Psalm 16!

Psalm 16 is what I would call a navigation psalm, a compass psalm. In the very last verse of the Psalm, the author says to God, “You show me the path… of life.” But just like in my ROTC experience, navigating successfully through life involves knowing what’s around you, knowing where you’re going, knowing when to move forward confidently… and also when to stand fast. It involves listening to wise counsel, avoiding traps, and being able to enjoy yourself along the way. So let’s jump right in…

The inscription at the beginning of the Psalm tells us that it is a Miktam of David. What’s a miktam? No one knows. Like so many labels and instructions in the Psalms, the meaning of this ancient Hebrew word has been lost to time. But Psalm 16’s connection with David, on the other hand, I think is helpful. Whether this Miktam (whatever that is) is BY David, or ABOUT David, or in HONOR of David—we know from the Scriptures that as a young man, David spent a lot of time wandering around the Judean wilderness, sometimes hiding or on the run from his enemies, and sometimes leading his band of outlaws into battle against them. Young David was almost always in trouble, and yet always confident that his God would protect and lead him on the right path.

Verse 1:

• high usage of personal pronouns, I and you. Relationship.
• Begins with crisis (protect me) then affirmation of faith (you are my lord) then the journey…
• compass psalm: You show me the path of life (11). Where am I? Who am I? What’s above below right left, etc.
• words: gladness, joy, rejoicing, security, pleasure, delight,
• chosen portion and cup as metaphor for destiny/destination