Psalm 16 2 Commentary

We trust that this Psalm 16 2 commentary will help you understand this verse… In Psalm 16 2 David reminds himself of what he has said to the Lord.

Psalm 16 2 Commentary
David’s Master

He at some point has told the Lord that he’s his lord. He’s told Yahweh that he’s David’s Adonai. His master or ruler.

Psalm 16 2 Commentary
Goodness Doesn’t Extend…

And David has told the Lord additionally that David’s goodness doesn’t extend to the Lord.

And that makes very little sense, honestly. And this is the beginning of where things start getting really gnarly with trying to translate and interpret this psalm.

Psalm 16 2 Commentary
Verses 2 and 3 Together?

You can see the King James translators interpreting this verse and the next one as David saying that his own goodness doesn’t extend to the Lord, but that it does extend to the saints in verse 3. So they grammatically connect verses 2 and 3 as if they’re one connected thought.

But, I don’t think that’s what’s going on here. So, let’s explore what I think David is saying here.

Psalm 16 2 Commentary
Whose Goodness?

To begin, “goodness” CAN refer to the goodness that proceeds from someone to someone else. That’s how it’s taken in the KJV.

But it can ALSO refer to someone’s welfare – the goodness – NOT that PROCEEDS from someone – but that someone RECEIVES.

And I think in Psalm 16 2, David is speaking not of his own GOODNESS that others can receive but of his WELFARE which he needs to receive from some source outside of himself.

Psalm 16 2 Commentary
Extend to God?

And so next, we’re told that this welfare of his doesn’t extend to God.

“Extend” as you see there is in italics – the slanty words – and so it’s not in the Hebrew text.

So, then we have David saying that his “welfare not to God” whatever that means. So, David’s welfare is not TO God.

Psalm 16 2 Commentary
Meaning of “To”

That word “to” surprisingly has a vast array of meanings. And that’s common in both Hebrew and Greek – that a certain preposition can have any number of meanings. And I’m sure if you thought of our English prepositions and the full range of meanings of each one, you’d probably notice the same flexibility in our language as well.

Psalm 16 2 Commentary
“Beyond”

So, that being sad, one possible meaning of this Hebrew preposition “to” that makes sense in context is “beyond”.

David’s welfare – then – is not BEYOND God.

Psalm 16 2 Commentary
Summary

And here’s putting it all together. This is the idea that David is communicating in Psalm 16 2:

It’s not beyond God’s ability to produce and maintain David’s welfare.

So, you get the sense that David is expressing confidence that God is able to provide the welfare – the well-being – that he needs.

This is the meaning of Psalm 16 2.

So, let’s return to our Psalm 16 Commentary.