Psalms 16:11

The benefits that pertain to the soul he commemorates when he says, "You have made known." This refers to Christ for his members, and these are the teachings and precepts that are the way to beatitude. Prov. 7: "Keep my commandments, and you shall live"; …

But grace which lifts up is obtained through hope. Therefore "our present light affliction which is for the moment, prepares for us an eternal weight of glory." For the Lord rejoices in the right. "The delights at your right hand forever." At the left are …

Scripture enlightens from above by means of divine promises, for its teaching is concerned with things above. Hence the Apostle writes: For we know that if the earthly house in which we dwell be destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made …

If the heart rejoice in God, out of the abundance of that let the mouth speak, to his glory, and the edification of others. That dying Christians, as well as a dying Christ, may cheerfully put off the body, in a believing expectation of a joyful resurrection: My flesh also shall rest in hope.

Right-hand - Which he mentions as a place of the greatest honour, the place where the saints are placed at the last day, and where Christ himself is said to sit, chap. cx, 1. Pleasures - All our joys are empty and defective: But in heaven there is fulness of joy.

Thou wilt show me the path of life,....

7 I will bless the L ORD , who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons. This psalm is entitled Michtam, which some translate a golden psalm, a very precious one, more to be valued by us than gold, yea, than much fine gold, because it speaks so plainly of Christ and his resurrection, who is the true treasure hidden in the field of the Old Testament.

31:16). at thy right hand--to which Christ was exalted (Ps 110:1; In the glories of this state, He shall see of the travail (Isa 53:10, 11; Php 2:9) of His soul, and be satisfied.

"Thou wilt shew me the path of life." To Jesus first this way was shown, for he is the first begotten from the dead, the first-born of every creature. He himself opened up the way through his own flesh, and then trod it as the forerunner of his own redeemed. The thought of being made the path of life to his people, gladdened the soul of Jesus. "In thy presence is fulness of joy." Christ being raised from the dead ascended into glory, to dwell in constant nearness to God, where joy is at its full for ever: the foresight of this urged him onward in his glorious but grievous toil. To bring his chosen to eternal happiness was the high ambition which inspired him, and made him wade through a sea of blood. O God, when a worldling's mirth has all expired, for ever with Jesus may we dwell "at thy right hand, " where "there are pleasures for evermore;" and meanwhile, may we have an earnest by tasting thy love below. Trapp's note on the heavenly verse which closes the Psalm is a sweet morsel, which may serve for a contemplation, and yield a foretaste of our inheritance. He writes, "Here is as much said as can be, but words are too weak to utter it. For quality there is in heaven joy and pleasures; for quantity, a fulness, a torrent whereat they drink without let or loathing; for constancy, it is at God's right hand, who is stronger than all, neither can any take us out of his hand; it is a constant happiness without intermission: and for perpetuity it is for evermore. Heaven's joys are without measure, mixture, or end."

I THINK YOU must have noticed, while I was reading the Psalm from which my text is taken, that I expounded it partly concerning David and partly concerning David's Lord, Jesus, the Messiah. It often happens, in the Psalms, that you can scarcely tell whether it is David, or Jesus, or both of them to whom the writer is referring. Oftentimes you lose sight of David, altogether, and are quite certain that he is not there, while, at other times, the words seem equally suitable either to David, the type, or to Jesus the antitype.

I THINK YOU must have noticed, while I was reading the Psalm from which my text is taken, that I expounded it partly concerning David and partly concerning David's Lord, Jesus, the Messiah. It often happens, in the Psalms, that you can scarcely tell whether it is David, or Jesus, or both of them to whom the writer is referring. Oftentimes you lose sight of David, altogether, and are quite certain that he is not there, while, at other times, the words seem equally suitable either to David, the type, or to Jesus the antitype. I think that this fact is very instructive to us. It looks as if the Hoy Spirit intended, even in those ancient times, to let God's saints know that there is a mysterious union between Christ and His people, so that almost all things which may be said concerning Him may be said, also, concerning those who are in Him. They are so completely one, they are so intimately united in bonds of mystic, vital, eternal union, that it would not be possible to always keep the sayings concerning them apart. As two bank-divided streams flow side by side for a while and, at last, melt into one river—and you can scarcely say which river it is when they are joined in one—so Christ and His Church are united in one mighty stream and, therefore, what is said of the one may, at least in some sense, be said of the other. O Christian, treasure up this precious thought! You are one with Jesus and, consequently, much that is said concerning Him may also be said concerning you! In this 16th Psalm we are sure that there is a clear reference to the Savior because to no one but to Him could these words be absolutely applied, "You will not leave my soul in the abode of the dead; neither will You suffer Your Holy One to see corruption." All other bodies see corruption, but His holy body did not. His birth was not according to carnal generation.

Thou wilt show me the path of life - I first shall find the way out of the regions of death, to die no more. Thus Christ was the first fruits of them that slept. Several had before risen from the dead, but they died again. Jesus rose from the dead, and is alive for evermore. Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead was the first entrance out of the grave to eternal life or lives, חיים chaiyim, for the word is in the plural, and with great propriety too, as this resurrection implies the life of the body, and the life of the rational soul also. In thy presence - פניך paneycha, thy faces. Every holy soul has, throughout eternity, the beatific vision, i.e., “it sees God as he is,” because it is like him; 1Jn 3:2. It drinks in beatification from the presence of the Eternal Trinity. Thy right hand - The place of honor and dignity; repeatedly used in this sense in the Scriptures. Pleasures for evermore - נצח netzach, onwardly; perpetually, continually, well expressed by our translation, ever and more; an eternal progression. Think of duration in the most extended and unlimited manner, and there is still more; more to be suffered in hell, and more to be enjoyed in heaven. Great God! grant that my readers may have this beatific sight; this eternal progression in unadulterated, unchangeable, and unlimited happiness! Hear this prayer for His sake, who found out the path of life, and who by his blood purchased an entrance into the holiest! Amen and Amen. For the application of the whole Psalm to David, see the analysis at the end, which is a little altered from David’s Harp Strung and Tuned. The remains of this Psalm in the old Psalter are worthy to be inserted: - 1Jn 3:7 Benedicam Dominum qui tribuit michi intellectum, etc. Trans. […]

Thou wilt show me the path of life - In this connection this means that though he was to die - to descend to the regions of the dead, and to lie down in the dark grave - yet there WAS a path again to the living world, and that that path would be pointed out to him by God. In other words, he would not be suffered to remain among the dead, or to wander away forever with those who were in the under world, but he would be brought back: to the living world. This is language which, in this connection, could be founded only on a belief of the resurrection of the dead. The word “life” here does not necessarily refer to heaven - to eternal life - though the connection shows that this is the ultimate idea. It is life in contradistinction from the condition of the dead. The highest form of life is that which is found in heaven, at the right hand of God; and the connection shows it was that on which the eye of the psalmist was fixed. In thy presence - literally, “with thy face.” Before thy face; or, as the sense is correctly expressed in our version, “in thy presence.” The reference is to God’s presence in heaven, or where he is supposed to dwell. This is shown by the additional statement that the joy mentioned was to be found at his “right hand” - an expression which properly refers to heaven. […]

"Fullness" means completely satisfying. And "forevermore" means those pleasures never stop.