Псалом 15

The Hebrew inscription miktam - “Golden poem”, Slavic - “pillar writing” indicate the value of the content of the psalm. All peoples of the ancient and modern world had and still have customs to perpetuate the memory of important events and persons by erecting various buildings in honor of them. “Pillar writing” indicates that the content of the psalm, due to its value and importance, deserves to be written on a pillar for general knowledge and for storage in the memory of posterity. From Russian the language "song" indicates the vocal performance of the psalm. Both according to the inscription and according to the testimony of the book. Acts (Acts 2:25–28, 13:35–36) psalm belongs to David. Regarding the time of writing the psalm, you can find indications in its contents. In Ps. 15:2 God does not require “good” things from David. The last expression can be understood as the sacrifices that constituted the most important and obligatory part of the Old Testament cult. When God did not require sacrifices from David, we find an indication in Ps.15:3. By “saints” here we mean Jews, as God’s chosen people, who have received great promises from God and called to great service. David in this psalm distinguishes himself from the Jews who lived on the land “His”, that is, assigned to him by God, Palestine: this means that at the indicated time he is outside the Jews, not in Palestine, but beyond its borders. In Ps.15:4 v. David portrays the wickedness of the people around him, but he does not take any part in this wickedness, in serving false gods. All this portrays David as being outside his people, outside the opportunity to make sacrifices to God, surrounded by pagans. David’s position was the same under Saul, when he was forced to flee from his persecution to Ziklag, to the Philistine king Achish (1 Sam. 27:1–7). Save me, Lord! I call upon You and long for the saints in Your land (1-3). I will not take part in serving idols, since my destiny is You (4-6). I bless You, who always taught and strengthened me (7-8). I am sure that You will not leave me in hell, will not allow me to decay, but will send me bliss (9-11). Due to the lack of clarity and completeness in the development of thoughts and the brevity of expression of the latter, this psalm is considered one of the most difficult to interpret. Ps.16:1. Protect me, O God, for I trust in You. The message of this verse, repeated in most of David's psalms, testifies to the extraordinary strength and depth of his faith and devotion to God. David placed all his hope, “all the hope” of life only in God, and only from Him did he expect help, both always and especially in this case, when he was outside his people, among the pagans, alien to him by blood and faith, Ps.15:2. I said to the Lord: You are my Lord; You don't need my blessings. By “benefits”, as we mentioned, we can mean sacrifices. The purpose of the latter was to arouse in man the consciousness of his sinfulness before God and thereby the thirst for reconciliation with Him; That is why they constituted the most important and essential part of the Old Testament cult. All Jews were required to make sacrifices, and evasion from them was a crime before God and was punishable by law. God does not require “good” sacrifices from David, that is, sacrifices, and does not charge him with the crime of not making the latter, and this is because He demanded that he serve himself with his whole being - thoughts and deeds. This abolition of observance of the generally binding Law of Moses in relation to David contained a pre-indication that the Law of Moses is not something eternal and unchangeable, but that it is only a temporary means that educates the Jews in a certain direction, and that it can be replaced by a higher form of pleasing God. Ps.16:3. To the saints who are on earth, and to Your wondrous ones - all my desire is for them. “Holy” here refers to the Jewish people, as God’s chosen one, under His special protection and guidance and called to be a holy people. The land is Palestine, “Thy wondrous ones” are either the elders of the people or the priests. “Wonderful” here has the same meaning - famous, famous, which is what the priests were, as servants of the Lord, enjoying honor and respect among the people. For his native land, his native people, the true shepherds, “all the desire” of David, all his attraction from a foreign country. Ps.15:4. Let the sorrows of those who flow to a foreign god multiply; I will not pour out their bloody drink offerings, nor will I remember their names with my lips. Ps.15:5. The Lord is part of my inheritance and my cup. You hold my lot. Since Jehovah is the only true God, then those who worship Him deserve mercy, and “sorrows” and hardships will go to those who believe and flow to foreign gods. By these flowing to foreign gods, David here means mainly the pagans around him, whose gods were “foreign”, not true. David refuses to take part in their “bloody libations” and will never utter “their names,” since his “heritage,” his destiny, is God alone. From this opposition of their “heritage”, i.e. God, to the “names” of the pagans, we can conclude that the pagans around him wanted to attract David to honor their gods and to bloody sacrifices (“blood libations”) in honor of them. It really was like that. Achish, with whom David lived, highly appreciating the latter’s military talents, really wanted to win him over to his side, to force him to renounce both his people and his faith in Jehovah, the God of the Jews. Ps.15:6. My lands have passed through beautiful places, and my heritage is pleasant to me. “My borders,” that is, the borders, the limits of my possessions, fields, passed through beautiful places, and such a section of possessions was pleasant to David. David earlier called God such a destiny. He devotes himself entirely to His service; outside of the latter, he considers it impossible to exist. “The pleasantness of the lot” here is the same as the height of the object of affection, its extraordinary strength and greatness. Ps.15:7. I will bless the Lord, who gave me understanding; even at night my insides teach me. Probably David, during his stay among the Philistines, had a revelation from God, which is not reported in the historical books, and by this revelation he was “admonished” what to do. - “The inside teaches me” - I, says David, “even at night”, studied for a long time, reflected on this revelation. Ps.15:8. I have always seen the Lord before me, for He is at my right hand; I will not hesitate. David recalls the story of his life, in which he sees constant help for himself from God (“I saw ... on the right hand”), who protected him from all misfortunes and falls, which is why he is sure that even now, among the pagans, he will be saved and will not perish (“I will not be shaken”). Ps.15:9. Therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad; even my flesh will rest in hope, Ps.15:10. for You will not leave my soul in hell, and You will not allow Your holy one to see corruption, The consciousness of God’s constant protection over himself was the source of his deep, inner joy, which was also revealed externally (“my tongue rejoiced”) in composing songs of gratitude and prayer to God. This same constant patronage of God to David in his past instilled in him the confidence that even now, among the Philistines, he would not perish physically (“my flesh will rest in hope” - in firm hope); even more, that his body will not see corruption at all, and his soul will not remain in hell, out of communication with God, at a distance from Him. Apparently, this confidence of David was not justified; he, like all people, died, his body decayed, as the book testifies to this. Acts 2:29, 13:36, and the soul descended into hell (Sheol), where the souls of all the dead descended; that's why the book Acts refers the said words to Christ, whose body was resurrected and did not see corruption and whose spirit did not remain in hell after descending there. Indeed, the said words of David found full fulfillment in Christ, but for him they did not remain a mere sound, they could not be erroneous, since they were inspired by God and related to his personality, as the context of the speech clearly indicates. The justification of these words of David on the personality of the latter has already partially occurred, but the full one belongs to the time of the distant future. Christ has risen from the body. He, as a descendant of David, had part of the latter's physical nature; along with the resurrection of the body of Christ, part of the physical nature of His ancestor was resurrected in it. David's faith in his incorruptibility in the body thus found its partial fulfillment, but its full fulfillment will be in the future, evidence of which is the very fact of the resurrection of Christ, which serves as a sign that in the future the bodies of people will be resurrected, which will happen before the time of the Last Judgment. David's belief in the incorruptibility of the body is unusual in that in his time the teaching on this issue was not revealed to the Jewish people. David’s faith in his “not being left in hell” had already found complete justification: during the descent of Christ into hell, the souls of all the Old Testament righteous were brought out of hell (1 Pet. 3:18–19), and with them David. Ps.15:11. You will show me the path of life: fullness of joy is before Your face, bliss is at Your right hand forever. This verse represents the conclusion of the entire content of the psalm. Since You, Lord, are my property, then from You I learn the true paths of life: only before You ("before Your face"), near You I experience joy, and the true, inalienable reward, eternal ("bliss... forever") is given only by You. 10 tbsp. this psalm should be considered a representative messianic one. You might be interested in: