(Here’s the 21st post in my continuing series on the Psalms for All Seasons Sunday school class I co-teach with Andrew Friend. Each week we sing psalm settings from Psalms for All Seasons, Lift Up Your Hearts, and other CRC hymnals. Previous posts is the series focused on Psalm 121, Psalm 122, Psalms 2/99, Psalm 72, Psalm 95, Psalm 147, Psalm 112, Psalm 29, Psalm 40, Psalm 23, Psalm 27, Psalm 130, Psalm 15, Psalm 51, Psalm 6, Psalm 32, Psalm 143, Psalms 38/102, Psalm 31, and Psalm 116. On March 9, our class took up Psalm 16.)
“Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge,” begins Psalm 16, and then the psalmist meditates on what it means to take refuge in God—what God has done for him and what response he owes to God.
In the middle section of the psalm (vv. 5-8), the psalmist reflects on the inheritance, counsel, and security God has provided him. In the final section (vv. 9-11), the psalmist rejoices that God has saved his life:
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.
In response, the psalmist vows to serve only the Lord, and not to “run after other gods.” The opening section (vv. 2-4), with its contrast between the Lord and other gods, parallels the contrast between life and death in the closing.
Although the original author (David is credited in the superscription) seems to be expressing thanks for salvation from near death, a long Christian tradition, dating back to Peter and Paul, views the psalm as a messianic prophecy. This understanding of Psalm 16 is the central argument in in Peter’s Pentecost address. After quoting vv. 8-11, he tells the crowd:
“Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it.
Paul quotes verse 10 in his address in Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13) and makes the same argument as Peter.
Presumably for this reason the Revised Common Lectionary assigns the psalm to Easter Vigil in all three years as well as the 2nd Sunday of Easter in Year A and ordinary time Lord’s Days in Years B & C.
Psalms for All Seasons includes three hymn settings of Psalm 16. (Andrew was out of town so Char was our accompanist for the morning.)
“When in the Night I Meditate” (PFAS #16A/PH57 #22) is from the 1912 Psalter and is set to MAITLAND. (A sample is here.) It is a loose versification of vv. 7-11. Here is stanza 1 (based on v. 7: “I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.”):
When in the night I meditate
On mercies multiplied,
My grateful heart inspires my tongue
To bless the Lord, my Guide.
MAITLAND is reminiscent of “Precious Lord, Take my Hand” (LUYH #464/PH87 #493), which was derived from it.
“Harbor My Heart” (PFAS #16B) is a modern hymn based on the psalm. (A sample is here.) If we used it in a service, we would likely have a soloist sing the verses and the congregation the refrain. Here is the refrain:
Harbor of my heart,
I take refuge in you,
preserve me, O God!
My joy is in you alone.
The final setting in Psalm for All Seasons is “Protect Me, God; I Trust in You” (PFAS #16C/LUYH #411/PH87 #16). (A recording of the first stanza is here.) It is one of very favorite psalm settings from the gray Psalter Hymnal and I was happy to see that it made the cut for Lift Up Your Hearts. It was written for the 1973 Anglican hymnal Psalm Praise.
“Protect Me, God; I Trust in You” is a very concise versification of the entire psalm. For instance, verse 4 (“Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more. I will not pour out libations of blood to such godsor take up their names on my lips.”) is versified as “but pagan ways I will not share.” Each of the five stanzas is followed by the refrain, “Protect me, God: I trust in you.” Here is stanza 3 (based on vv. 4-5):
LORD God, you are my food and drink;
my work for you is joy indeed;
glad is the heritage that’s mine.
The refrain of “Protect Me, God; I Trust in You” (PFAS #26D/SNC #155) is the responsorial setting. [The alternate responsorial refrain is “My Heart it Glad and My Spirit Rejoices” (PFAS #16D-alt).]
In addition to “When in the Night, I Meditate,” the blue Psalter Hymnal has two other settings, both with lyrics from the 1912 Psalter. “O God, Preserve Me” (PH57 #16) is a versification of vv. 1-6. “To Thee, O Lord, I Fly” (PH57 #23) is a loose versification of most of the psalm.