My Protection

¹Keep me safe, O mighty God.

I run to you, my safe place.

²I said to Yahweh ,

“You are my Maker and my Master.

Any good thing you find in me has come from you.”

³And he said to me , “My holy lovers

in the land are my glorious ones,

who fulfill all my desires.”

⁴Yet there are those who yield to their weakness,[#16:4 As translated from the Septuagint.]

and they will have troubles unending.

I never gather with such ones,

nor give them honor in any way.

My Portion

⁵Yahweh , you alone are my inheritance.

You are my prize, my pleasure, and my portion.

You hold my destiny and its timing in your hands.

⁶Your pleasant path leads me to pleasant places.[#16:6 Or “boundary lines.”]

I’m overwhelmed by the privileges

that come with following you!

My Praise

⁷The way you counsel me makes me praise you more,

for your whispers in the night give me wisdom,

showing me what to do next.

⁸Because I set you, Yahweh , always close to me,[#16:8 The Hebrew word shava carries the sense of being equal or similar. David was not saying he was equal to , but that he thought the way God thought. David had made his heart and mind to be identical with the heart and mind of God. Always before himself, before anything, were the desires of God. It was the heart and mind of God that had first place in David’s heart and thoughts.]

my confidence will never be weakened,

for I experience your wraparound presence every moment.

⁹My heart and soul explode with joy—full of glory!

Even my body will rest confident and secure.

¹⁰For you will not abandon me to the realm of death,

nor will you allow your Faithful One to experience corruption.

¹¹Because of you, I know the path of life,

as I taste the fullness of joy in your presence.

At your right side I experience divine pleasures forevermore!