Chapter Fifteen

The Hebrew inscription miktam—“Golden poem”—and the Slavonic—“pillar inscription”—indicate the value of the psalm’s content. Among all peoples, ancient and modern, customs have existed and still exist to perpetuate the memory of important events and persons by erecting various structures in their honor. “Pillar inscription” indicates that the psalm’s content, by its value and importance, deserves to be written upon a pillar for universal knowledge and for preservation in the memory of posterity. From the Russian language, “song” indicates the vocal performance of the psalm. Both by its inscription and by the testimony of the Acts (Acts 2:25-28), the psalm belongs to David. Regarding the time of the psalm’s writing, one can find indications in its content. In Ps 15:2, God does not ask of David any “good things.” By this latter expression, one may understand sacrifices, which constituted the chief and obligatory part of Old Testament worship. When God did not demand sacrifices from David, we find an indication in Ps 15:3. By “the holy ones” here are meant the Hebrews, as the chosen people of God, who received from God great promises and were called to great service. David in this psalm distinguishes himself from the Hebrews living on His land, that is, the land appointed to him by God—Palestine: thus, at this time he is among those outside the Hebrews, not in Palestine, but beyond its borders. In Ps 15:4, David depicts the impiety of the people surrounding him, but in this impiety, in the service of false gods, he takes no part. All this portrays David as living outside his people, without the possibility of bringing sacrifices to God, surrounded by pagans. David’s situation was the same when he was persecuted by Saul and forced to flee to Ziklag, to the Philistine king Achish (1 Sam 27:1-7).

Keep me, O Lord! I cry to You, and seek to be with the holy ones on Your land (1–3). I will not take part in the service of idols, because my portion is You (4–6). I bless You, who taught and strengthened me always (7–8). I am confident that You will not abandon me in Hades, will not let me decay, but will send blessedness (9–11).

Due to insufficient clarity and completeness in the development of thoughts and the brevity of their expression, this psalm is considered one of the most difficult for interpretation.

Psalm 15:1. Keep me, O God, for I trust in You. The thought 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 hope, all reliance for life, in God alone, and only from Him did he await help, both always and especially in this case, when he was outside his people, among pagans, foreign to him by blood and faith.

Psalm 15:2. I have said to the Lord: You are my Lord; my good things are not needed by You. By “good things,” as we have mentioned, sacrifices may be understood. Their purpose was to awaken in a person a consciousness of his sinfulness before God and thereby a longing for reconciliation with Him; therefore they constituted the most important and essential part of Old Testament worship. All Hebrews were obliged to offer sacrifices, and deviation from them was a transgression before God and was punished by law. God does not require of David “good things,” that is, sacrifices; He does not count against him the non-offering of the latter, and this is because He has required him to serve Him with all his being—in thoughts and deeds. In this exemption, granted to David regarding the observance of the universal Law of Moses, was foreshadowed that the Law of Moses is not something eternal and unchangeable, but merely a temporary means to educate the Hebrews in a certain direction, and that it could be replaced by a higher form of pleasing to God.

Psalm 15:3. To the holy ones who are on the earth, and to Your wonderful ones—all my desire is for them. The “holy ones” here are called the Hebrew people, as the chosen of God, standing under His special protection and guidance and called to be a holy people. The earth is Palestine; “Your wonderful ones” are either the elders of the people or the priests. “Wonderful” here means illustrious, renowned, as the priests certainly were, as ministers of the Lord, who were held in honor and respect among the people. To the native land, the native people, the true shepherds—all of David’s desire, all his longing is from the foreign land.

Psalm 15:4. Let sorrows multiply for those who run to another god; I will not pour out their libations of blood nor take their names upon my lips. Psalm 15:5. The Lord is my portion of inheritance and my cup. You hold my lot. Since Jehovah alone is the true God, mercy is deserved by those who worship Him, and “sorrows,” deprivations shall fall to those who believe and run to strange gods. By these running to strange gods, David here means principally the surrounding pagans, whose gods were “strange,” not true. David refuses to take part in their “bloody libations” and will never pronounce “their names,” because his “inheritance,” his portion is God alone. From this contrast of his “inheritance,” that is, God, to the “names” of pagans, one can conclude that the surrounding pagans sought to draw David to the worship of their gods and to bloody sacrificial offerings (“bloody libations”) in their honor. This was indeed the case. Achish, who valued David’s military talents highly, greatly desired to win him over to his side, to force him to renounce both his people and his faith in Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews.

Psalm 15:6. My boundaries have passed through beautiful places, and my inheritance is pleasant for me. “My boundaries,” that is, the limits, borders of my holdings, my fields, have passed through beautiful places, and such a portion of holdings is pleasant to David. By this portion David previously named God. He gives himself entirely to Him in service; apart from this service he considers it impossible to exist. The “pleasantness of the portion” here is the same as the excellence of the object of attachment, its extraordinary strength and greatness.

Psalm 15:7. I will bless the Lord who has instructed me; even at night my inward part teaches me. Probably David, during his stay among the Philistines, received a revelation from God, which is not related in the historical books, and by this revelation he “was instructed” as to how to act. “My inward part teaches me”—I, says David, “even at night” meditated and reflected upon the revelation given.

Psalm 15:8. I have always seen the Lord before me, for He is at my right hand; I shall not be moved. David recalls the history of his life, in which he sees constant help to him from God (“saw... at my right hand”), protecting him from all misfortunes and falls, which is why he is confident that even now, among the pagans, he will be saved and will not perish (“shall not be moved”).

Psalm 15:9. Therefore my heart has rejoiced and my tongue has made merry; even my flesh will rest in hope, Psalm 15:10. for You will not abandon my soul to Hades nor will You let Your Holy One see corruption, The consciousness of constant protection by God was the source of his deep, inner joy, which showed itself also outwardly (“my tongue has made merry”) in the composition of thanksgiving and prayer songs to God. This same constant protection of David by God in his past instilled in him the assurance that even now, among the Philistines, he will not perish bodily (“my flesh will rest in hope”—in firm confidence); even more, that his body will not see corruption, and his soul will not remain in Hades, separated from God, removed from Him. Apparently, this assurance of David was not fulfilled; he, like all men, died, his body decayed, as testified by the book of Acts 2:29, and his soul descended to Hades (Sheol), whither descended the souls of all the dead; therefore the Acts relates these words to Christ, whose body rose and did not see corruption and whose spirit did not remain in Hades after His descent there. Indeed, David’s words found complete fulfillment in Christ, but for him they did not remain an empty sound or erroneous, since they were inspired by God and had relation to his own person, as the context of the speech clearly indicates. The vindication of these words of David has already been partial in his own person, and complete vindication belongs to the time of the distant future. Christ rose in body. In Him, as a descendant of David, was a portion of the physical nature of the latter; with the resurrection of Christ’s body was also resurrected in him a portion of the physical nature of His ancestor. David’s faith in his own non-corruption in body thus found its partial fulfillment, but complete fulfillment will be in the future, of which the very fact of Christ’s resurrection is assurance, serving as a sign that in the future the bodies of men will rise, which will be before the time of the Last Judgment. David’s faith in the non-corruption of his body is unusual in that at his time the teaching on this question had not been revealed to the Hebrew people. But David’s faith in his “non-abandonment in Hades” has already found complete vindication: at the descent of Christ to Hades, from it were brought forth the souls of all Old Testament righteous ones (1 Pet 3:18-19), and with them also David.

Psalm 15:11. You will show me the path of life: fullness of joys in Your presence, blessedness at Your right hand forever. This verse presents the conclusion of the entire content of the psalm. Since You, O Lord, are my possession, then from You I will know the true paths of life: only before You (“before Your face”), near You do I experience joy, and the true, inalienable reward, eternal (“blessedness... forever”) is given only by You. By verse 10, this psalm should be considered typologically messianic.