(Psalm 16:1-6)…..Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust. 2 O my soul, you have said to the Lord,“You are my Lord, my goodness is nothing apart from You.” 3 As for the saints who are on the earth, “They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.” 4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god; Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, nor take up their names on my lips. 5 O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. 6 The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance.
This Psalm is one that David writes of himself, but according to Peter in (Acts 2:25), and Paul in (Acts 13:35-39), this Psalm also relates to Christ’s sufferings and victory over death and the grave, including His exaltation to the right hand of God. Since it was necessary for God to “preserve” His Son, and seeing David’s request that God would “preserve” him.
How important might this be for me and you? The word for “preserve” comes from the Hebrew word – (shamar; shaw-mar) meaning, to hedge one about (as with thorns) to guard, to protect, to attend to, and to keep. Notice David’s desire of God to not let him go, to not forget him, this is what David trust. How about us? Do we completely trust that God will preserve us?
We are being carefully “guarded” in Christ! Peter uses a different word (phroureo; froo-reh’-o) to express a similar idea (1 Peter 1:3-5). Paul used yet another word (sozo; sode’-zo) to express his own confidence in God’s preservation (2 Timothy 4:17-18). Jesus Himself reassured his disciples that no one could “snatch” them out of His hand (John 10:27-29). Is it God we have to trust for our preservation? Can’t we trust ourselves to do it? Nope! Only God can preserve me and you.