Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 16:9

"Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth; My flesh also shall dwell in safety." — Psalms 16:9 (ASV)

Therefore my heart is glad—This is because my confidence is in God alone, and I believe that He is my Protector and Friend. See the notes at Acts 2:26.

And my glory rejoices—The Septuagint translates this as “my tongue,” and this translation is followed by Peter in his quotation of the passage in Acts 2:26 (see the notes at that passage).

The meaning here is that whatever was in him that was honorable, dignified, or glorious—all the faculties of his soul, as well as his heart—had reason to rejoice in God. His whole nature, his undying soul, his exalted powers as he was made by God—all, all found cause for exultation in the favor and friendship of God. The heart, the understanding, the imagination, the whole immortal soul, found reason for joy in God.

My flesh also—This means my body. Or, it may mean his whole person, he himself, though the direct allusion is to the body considered as lying in the grave (Psalms 16:10).

The language is what one would use when reflecting on one's own death. It is equivalent to saying, “I myself, when I am dead, will rest in hope; my soul will not be left to remain in the gloomy place of the dead, nor will my body remain permanently in the grave under the power of corruption. Concerning my soul and my body—my whole nature—I will descend to the grave in the hope of a future life.”

Shall rest—The margin reads, “dwell confidently.” The Hebrew literally is “shall dwell in confidence” or hope.

The word translated here as “shall rest” properly means to let oneself down or to lie down (Numbers 9:17; Exodus 24:16). It then means to lay oneself down, to lie down—for example, a lion lying down (Deuteronomy 33:20), or a people in tents (Numbers 24:2). Consequently, it means to rest, to take rest (Judges 5:17), and then to abide or to dwell (Gesenius, Lexicon).

Perhaps the sense here is that of “lying down,” considered as lying in the grave. The expression is equivalent to saying, “When I die, I will lie down in the grave in hope or confidence, not in despair. I will expect to rise and live again.”

In hope—The word used here means “trust, confidence, security.” It is the opposite of despair.

As used here, it would refer to a state of mind expecting to live again, as distinct from a state of mind feeling that the grave was the end of humanity. What is particularly noteworthy here is that this trust or confidence extended to the flesh as well as to the soul. The language is what would naturally be used by one who believed in the resurrection of the body.

Language of this kind occurs elsewhere in the Old Testament, showing that the doctrine of the resurrection of the body was one with which the sacred writers were familiar. Although the doctrine was not as explicitly and formally stated in the Old Testament as in the New, it was a doctrine that had been communicated to humanity at some time (see Isaiah 26:19, note; Daniel 12:2, note).

As applicable to David, the language used here expresses his belief that he would rise again, or would not perish in the grave when his body died. As applicable to the Messiah, and as applied by Peter (Acts 2:26), it means that when he died, it would be with the hope and expectation of being raised again without seeing corruption.

The language is applicable to both cases. Regarding the interpretation of the language, it makes no difference whether it was supposed that the resurrection would occur before the body could molder back to dust, or whether it would occur at a much more remote period, long after it had decayed.

In either case, it would be true that it was laid in the grave in hope.