Unshakeable faith is rare, especially at 3 a.m. There’s something about waking up in the stillness and silence of the night that magnifies the worries we carry during the day. Like a bright overhead light turned on in a dark room, we’re immediately confronted with the heart-pounding, mind-racing, problem-solving fight for faith.
I imagine King David had more than his fair share of those middle-of-the-night wake-up calls. Often running for his life, David pens one of the most beloved psalms, beginning with a cry for help.
“Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you” (Psalm 16:1-2).
While his circumstances are unknown, the midnight setting and the transformation of his heart and outlook emerge in verses 7-8.
“I bless the Lord who gives me counsel, in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.” (Psalm 16:7-8).
David’s initial prayer for preservation may have been a cry to save his life from his enemies, but by verse 8, he confidently proclaims he won’t be shaken. Perhaps David recalled God’s promise that from his offspring, he would establish his kingdom and throne forever (1 Chron. 17:11-14). Whatever his present circumstances were, David looked beyond them to see an eternal kingdom and a Ruler who would come after him.
The Resurrection Psalm
You may already love Psalm 16, but did you know that Charles Spurgeon referred to it as the “Resurrection Psalm” and a prophetic window into Easter morning? Or that Augustine interpreted the entire psalm as the voice of Christ, confident in his resurrection? John Calvin also saw this psalm as messianic and said, “David does not speak of himself alone, but of Christ.”
So, where is Jesus and the resurrection in Psalm 16? The answer is in verse 10. After proclaiming his unshakeable confidence, a glad heart, and his flesh dwelling securely, David said,
“For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.” (Psalm 16:10)
Sheol is the Hebrew term for the place of the dead. The Old Testament understanding was that Sheol was neither heaven nor hell, but a shadowy realm of the grave where all the dead go. Although David was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him, he, too, went the way of his fathers to Sheol. In Acts 2, Peter preached that Jesus fulfilled this prophecy from Psalm 16, and also made his enemies his footstool, as foretold in Psalm 110.
Preaching his first sermon after Pentecost, Peter reminded the same Jews who had crucified Jesus that David could not have been talking about himself in this verse. His tomb was still there, and he had undergone corruption (Acts 2:29-36). This prophecy pointed beyond David to the Greater David. The one God promised would sit on his throne and establish his kingdom forever, Jesus Christ.
Impossible to Corrupt
Like David, Jesus of Nazareth died and went down to Sheol, but he didn’t stay there long enough to experience corruption. Peter said, “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it” (Acts 2:24, emphasis mine). The holy one couldn’t rot in the grave or see corruption because God said he would never abandon him there! He descended into the lower regions of the earth long enough to fulfill prophecy, proclaim his victory to imprisoned spirits, and put them all to open shame (Matt. 12:40, Eph. 4:9-10, 1 Pet. 3:18-19, Col 2:15)!
There was no corruption for our victorious and triumphant risen Savior! Our Easter confidence is this immutable fact: the holy one, Jesus Christ, never saw corruption. He died and rose again, never to experience death again (Rom. 6:9)!
The Path to Fullness
What began as a cry for preservation ended as a song of confident rejoicing. But can you identify with David’s midnight wrestling? In the stillness and silence of the night, it’s easy to let our minds wander down the corridors of “what if” instead of running to the Lord. In those moments, we mentally open old doorways, revisit past failures, or replay past hurts. In the silence of our bedrooms, God himself may seem equally silent and distant.
Psalm 16 indicates that David had a similar experience. Still, after meditating on God’s delight in his saints and the multiplied sorrows of those who worship other gods, he remembered that the Lord was his portion, his cup, and his lot. With the boundaries of his life secure in the Lord’s hands, what could he possibly fear? How could he desire anything else but him? Come what may, God would fulfill His promises, and that produced a settled, unshakeable faith.
Instead of following his thoughts down the dark hallways of doubt and fear, David realized that God offered a better way—a path of life that led to ultimate and eternal joy.
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11).
This profound declaration of enduring joy in God’s presence settled David, and should likewise settle us. Because the holy one did not experience corruption, Jesus offers us the fullness of joy. John Piper refers to this verse as the foundation of Christian hedonism—the unabashed joy and satisfaction that comes from being in God’s presence. He said,
“There’s nobody in this room who could offer me anything better. In fact, there’s no one in this room or in this world who can even conceive of anything better than fullness of joy and pleasures at his right hand forever. Full. There’s nothing fuller than full, and there’s nothing longer than forever.”
Unshakeable Joy
So, friend, where does your mind wander when you wake up worried at 3:00 a.m.? Do you travel down dark hallways, or do you turn on the light of Psalm 16? There you’ll find unshakeable joy in his presence, and heart-reorienting pleasure in his company.
Someday, Christian, you’ll see the risen Lord, seated on the throne of David. Because the holy one didn’t see corruption, you and I can rejoice today. This is our unshakeable Easter confidence and joy.
The incorruptible One is risen. He is risen indeed!
Cara
P.S. I’m currently writing my first book, which explores enjoying God through the lens of holy leisure–a close cousin to the fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore of Psalm 16:11. To learn more and get updates on my progress, download this free resource.
