Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 16:2

"[O my soul], thou hast said unto Jehovah, Thou art my Lord: I have no good beyond thee." — Psalms 16:2 (ASV)

O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord - The words “O my soul” are not in the original. A literal rendering of the passage would be, “You have said to the Lord,” etc., leaving something to be supplied. De Wette renders it: “To Yahweh I call; you are my Lord.” Luther: “I have said to the Lord.” The Latin Vulgate: “You, my soul, have said to the Lord.” The Septuagint: “I have said unto the Lord.” Dr. Horsley: “I have said unto Jehovah.”

The speaker evidently is the psalmist. He is describing his feelings toward the Lord, and the idea is equivalent to the expression “I have said to the Lord.” Some word must necessarily be understood, and our translators have probably expressed the true sense by inserting the words, “O my soul.”

The state of mind indicated is one where a person carefully examines themselves—their own perils and their own basis for hope. It is when they find within themselves a just confidence that they have placed their trust in God, and in God alone. We have such a form of appeal in (Psalms 42:5), (Psalms 42:11), and (Psalms 43:5), Why art thou cast down, O my soul?

Thou art my Lord - You have a right to rule over me; or, I acknowledge you as my Lord, my sovereign. The word here is not Yahweh, but Adonai—a word of more general significance than Yahweh. The sense is, I have acknowledged Yahweh to be my Lord and my God. I receive him and rest upon him as such.

My goodness extendeth not to thee - This passage has been rendered in various ways. Prof. Alexander translates it: “My good (is) not besides you (or, beyond you);” meaning, as he supposes: “My happiness is not beside you, independent of, or separable from you?” So DeWette: “There is no success (or good fortune) to me out of you.” Others render it: “My goodness is not such as to entitle me to your regard.” And others, “My happiness is not obligatory or incumbent on you; you are not bound to provide for it.” The Latin Vulgate renders it: “My good is not given unless by you.” Dr. Horsley: “You are my good - not besides you.”

I think the meaning is: “My good is nowhere except in you; I have no source of good of any kind—happiness, hope, life, safety, salvation—but in you. My good is not without you.”

This accords with the idea in the other member of the sentence, where he acknowledges Yahweh as his Lord. In other words, he found in Yahweh all that is implied in the idea of an object of worship—all that is properly expressed by the notion of a God. He renounced all other gods, and found his happiness—his all—in Yahweh.