Psalms 16:2

But what follows—"I said to the Lord, You are my God"—he directs his speech to the apostles and to the disciples and to us, if indeed we deserve to be disciples, teaching what he has said to the Lord of the universe. What, then, does he say he has spoken to the Lord? "You are my Lord": that is, you who are the Lord of all have become peculiarly mine, that is, the Lord of my own. He was the Lord of all even in the Old Testament, since he had created all things; but he became peculiarly the Lord of the saints, saying: "I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." As, then, you are theirs, so you are now especially my Lord, because you deign to be the Lord of my own. And the reason why he is his Lord is added: For you have no need of my goods. For God almighty has no need of a man's goods, nor do our virtues contribute to God's advancement, since God receives no increase: but whatever we labor at and strive for, he receives and requires it of us for this reason, that he may restore to us what he has received. For that man too in the Gospel who from one mina had made ten minas not only received back what he had given, but was even granted the other mina, which another could not multiply. It is said also to Job: "What does it profit the Lord, if you make your way blameless?" Other masters, however powerful they may be, cannot yet say to their servants, "We have no need of your works": for indeed they make full use of their service. But God alone is a Lord who needs the service of his servants only for this, that he may have occasion to give more. […]

He points all things back to the one who has freely given them, not to himself who has received what was conferred on him.

All our merits are rooted in the merit of Christ, whether satisfactory for punishment or meritorious of eternal life, because we are worthy neither to be absolved from offense against the highest good, nor to gain the immensity of the eternal reward, which is God, …

"I said," etc. Here first he sets forth the act of faith. Second he assigns the reason, at "Because you have no need of my goods," etc. The act of faith is to confess God, either in the heart by believing, or outwardly by praising, …

It is the duty and interest of every one of us to acknowledge the Lord for our Lord, to subject ourselves to him, and then to stay ourselves upon him. Adonai signifies My stayer, the strength of my heart. This must be done with our souls: "O my soul! thou hast said it." Covenanting with God must be heart-work; all that is within us must be employed therein and engaged thereby.

O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord,....

Those that are renewed by the grace of God, and devoted to the glory of God, are saints on earth. (2.) The saints in the earth are excellent ones, great, mighty, magnificent ones, and yet some of them so poor in the world that they need to have David's goodness extended to them. God makes them excellent by the grace he gives them.

my soul--must be supplied; expressed in similar cases (Ps 42:5, 11). my goodness . . . thee--This obscure passage is variously expounded. Either one of two expositions falls in with the context. "My goodness" or merit is not on account of Thee--that is, is not for Thy benefit.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

"O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord." In his inmost heart the Lord Jesus bowed himself to do service to his Heavenly Father, and before the throne of Jehovah his soul vowed allegiance to the Lord for our sakes. We are like him when our soul, truly and constantly in the presence of the heart-searching God, declares her full consent to the rule and government of the Infinite Jehovah, saying, "Thou art my Lord." To avow this with the lip is little, but for the soul to say it, especially in times of trial, is a gracious evidence of spiritual health; to profess it before men is a small matter, but to declare it before Jehovah himself is of far more consequence. This sentence may also be viewed as the utterance of appropriating faith, laying hold upon the Lord by personal covenant and enjoyment; in this sense may it be our daily song in the house of our pilgrimage. "My goodness extendeth not to thee." The work of our Lord Jesus was not needful on account of any necessity in the Divine Being. Jehovah would have been inconceivably glorious had the human race perished, and had no atonement been offered. Although the life-work and death-agony of the Son did reflect unparalleled lustre upon every attribute of God, yet the Most Blessed and Infinitely Happy God stood in no need of the obedience and death of his Son; it was for our sakes that the work of redemption was undertaken, and not because of any lack or want on the part of the Most High. How modestly does the Saviour here estimate his own goodness! What overwhelming reasons have we for imitating his humility! "If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand?" (Job 35:7.)

"O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord." In his inmost heart the Lord Jesus bowed himself to do service to his Heavenly Father, and before the throne of Jehovah his soul vowed allegiance to the Lord for our sakes. We are like him when our soul, truly and constantly in the presence of the heart-searching God, declares her full consent to the rule and government of the Infinite Jehovah, saying, "Thou art my Lord."

Thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord - Thou hast said ליהוה layhovah to Jehovah, the supreme, self-existing, and eternal Being; Thou art my Lord, אדני אתה adonai attah, Thou art my prop, stay, or support. As the Messiah, or Son of God, Jesus derived his being and support from Jehovah; and the man Christ was supported by the eternal Divinity that dwelt within him, without which he could not have sustained the sufferings which he passed through, nor have made an atonement for the sin of the world; it is the suffering Messiah, or the Messiah in prospect of his sufferings, who here speaks. My goodness extendeth not to thee - There are almost endless explanations of this clause; no man can read them without being confounded by them. The Septuagint read ὁτι των αγαθων μου ου χρειαν εχεις; Because thou dost not need my goods. The Vulgate follows the Septuagint. The Chaldee: My good is given only by thyself. So the Syriac: My good is from thee. The Arabic: Thou dost not need my good works. And in this sense, with shades of difference, it has been understood by most commentators and critics. Bishop Horsley translates, Thou art my good - not besides thee. Dr. Kennicott, My goodness is not without thee. I think the words should be understood of what the Messiah was doing for men. My goodness, טובתי tobathi, “my bounty,” is not to thee. What I am doing can add nothing to thy divinity; thou art not providing this astonishing sacrifice because thou canst derive any excellence from it: but this bounty extends to the saints - to all the spirits of just men made perfect, whose bodies are still in the earth; and to the excellent, אדירי addirey, “the noble or supereminent ones,” those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. The saints and illustrious ones not only taste of my goodness, but enjoy my salvation. […]

O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord - The words “O my soul” are not in the original. A literal rendering of the passage would be, “Thou hast said unto the Lord,” etc., leaving something to be supplied. De Wette renders it: “To Yahweh I call; thou art my Lord.” Luther: “I have said to the Lord.” The Latin Vulgate: “Thou, my soul, hast said to the Lord.” The Septuagint: “I have said unto the Lord.” Dr. Horsley: “I have said unto Jehovah.” The speaker evidently is the psalmist; he is describing his feelings toward the Lord, and the idea is equivalent to the expression “I have said unto the Lord.” Some word must necessarily be understood, and our translators have probably expressed the true sense by inserting the words, “O my soul.” the state of mind indicated is that in which one is carefully looking at himself, his own perils, his own ground of hope, and when he finds in himself a ground of just confidence that he has put his trust in God, and in God alone. We have such a form of appeal in Psa 42:5, Psa 42:11; Psa 43:5, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” Thou art my Lord - Thou hast a right to rule over me; or, I acknowledge thee as my Lord, my sovereign. The word here is not Yahweh, but Adonai - a word of more general signification than Yahweh. The sense is, I have acknowledged Yahweh to be my Lord and my God. I receive him and rest upon him as such. My goodness extendeth not to thee - This passage has been very variously rendered. Prof. […]