Psalm 16:7-11 NIV
I will praise the Lord , who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep my eyes always on the Lord .
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Often we think the Old Testament has no knowledge of hope in eternal life, but there are hints that some were thinking about it. Granted such passages are few and far between. More often than not the psalmist says to God "the dead cannot praise you" as a means of convincing God to keep them alive.
Often we think the Old Testament has no knowledge of hope in eternal life, but there are hints that some were thinking about it. Granted such passages are few and far between. More often than not the psalmist says to God "the dead cannot praise you" as a means of convincing God to keep them alive.
But look at Psalm 16. This psalm is a psalm of praise, praise for the God who keeps us safe and will not allow us to decay in the grave. I fully acknowledge that the writer of this psalm may only have been using the language here in a poetic way to talk about God keeping him alive, but reading this passage as a Christian, knowing the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it's hard to read this passage any other way. God will raise us from the dead. We shall enjoy the pleasures of his eternal presence.
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