A Study of Acts: Peter Refers to Psalm 16
Acts 2:25-28; Psalm 16:1-11 - Peter looks to a Psalm of David for a scriptural proof of the Resurrection.
“For David says of Him, ‘I saw the Lord always in my presence; For He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted; Moreover my flesh also will live in hope; Because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, Nor allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of gladness with Your presence.’”
Acts 2:25-28 NASB1995
In his second recitation of OT scripture, Peter now invokes the words of David in Psalm 16 (verses 8-11). Peter sees this Psalm of David as a prophecy about the resurrection of Jesus. Here is the Psalm in its entirety for reference; the Acts verses and this Psalm are both from the NASB1995 translation, so Peter’s recitation has a few differences :
“Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You.
I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good besides You.”
As for the saints who are in the earth, They are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight.
The sorrows of those who have bartered for another god will be multiplied;
I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, Nor will I take their names upon my lips.
The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot.
The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.
I will bless the Lord who has counseled me; Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.
I have set the Lord continually before me;
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will dwell securely. For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”
Psalms 16:1-11 NASB1995
Peter points to this Psalm as a proof of the Resurrection through scripture. The impulsive and naive disciple is now showing that he actually listened to Jesus and learned the nuances of this prophecy. At first, it seems that the psalm is talking about David, but Peter has glimpsed something bigger. I read in a commentary that we should recall that the disciples spent most of the 10 days after the Ascension in prayer and they were probably also studying scripture so they could know exactly what happened; God was guiding them to these OT scriptures as a way to help them evangelize to others about the Good News.
Here is what Enduring Word says about Peter and this Psalm:
For David says concerning Him: Peter recognized that though this Psalm spoke of David, it spoke of someone greater than David – the Messiah, Jesus the Christ. Jesus may have taught Peter this when He instructed the disciples in the Scriptures (Luke 24:44-45).
Your Holy One: Jesus bore the full wrath of God on the cross, as if He were a guilty sinner, guilty of all our sin, even being made sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). Yet, that work was an act of holy, giving love for us, so that Jesus Himself did not become a sinner, even though He bore the full guilt of our sin.
This is the gospel message; that Jesus took our punishment for sin on the cross and remained a perfect Savior through the whole ordeal – proved by His resurrection. Apart from the resurrection, we would have no proof that Jesus successfully, perfectly, paid for our sins.
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption: Because Jesus bore our sin without becoming a sinner, He remained the Holy One, even in His death. Since it is incomprehensible that God’s Holy One should be bound by death, the resurrection was absolutely inevitable.
Instead of being punished for His glorious work on the cross, Jesus was rewarded, as prophetically described in Psalm 16:11: You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.
In researching this passage, I found a superb sermon by John Piper on Acts 2:28 that he gave on Easter in 1987 (“You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of gladness with Your presence”). Here are a few excerpts from that sermon; the full sermon can be read at the link:
I begin this morning with three questions for you to answer silently in your own mind.
First, do you want to be happy?
Second, do you want your happiness to be partial or full?
Third, do you want your happiness to stop or to last as long as you last?
The reason I count these questions worthy of Easter Sunday morning is not just because I think every person in this room cares about them, but also because these questions are the rock bottom concerns of the Bible.
Wherever the Bible has had its profoundest effect in people's lives, it hasn't been because of the demands of a new duty but because of the power of a new pleasure.
…
Among those who know the Bible best and who have experienced it most deeply, it has never diverted people from the quest for happiness and pleasure. Instead, it has caused people to get really serious about the quest. It has caused them to ask, "Do I really want to be happy? Do I want the fullest happiness possible? Do I want my happiness to last forever?" In other words, the Bible makes us stop playing games with our happiness. It makes us serious, even desperate, in our pursuit.
It makes a harried and overworked businessman go away for a few days and sit by the lake, and look at the sunset and the stars, and ask: "Have I found it? Is this what I am really after? Does it satisfy? Will it last?"
Jesus Christ never once condemned the quest for happiness. But often he has rebuked us for taking it so lightly.
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The message of Easter is doubly wonderful.
It is wonderful to see the suffering Son coming home to the Father. What a reunion that must have been when Creator embraced Creator and said, "Well done Son. Welcome home." What a wonderful thing to see the bloody Passover Lamb of Good Friday crowned with glory and honor, and handed the scepter of the universe!
But it is also wonderful to hear Jesus say, "I want others to be with me, Father. I want others to share my glory. I want my gladness in your glory to overflow like a mountain spring and become the gladness of others. I want my joy in you to be in them and their joy to be full forever and ever."
On Easter Sunday morning Jesus blew the lock off the prison of death and gloom and returned to the gladness of God. With that he put his sanction on the pursuit of happiness. And he opened the way for sinners to find never-ending satisfaction at the fountain of the glory of his grace.
From the right hand of God he speaks to everyone of us today and invites us to the never-ending banquet: "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst (John 6:35) . . . I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25–26).
The greatest joy and never-ending pleasures are not found in the temporary pursuits of this mortal life. They are found in pursuing Him and accepting the invitation to the eternal banquet. Heaven is not a somber place, but a place of unending joy and soul satisfaction. The gloomy prison of death is defeated for those who believe!
My next devotional examines Acts 2:29-33 - Peter explains why this Psalm is not about David.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - I wish to pursue true happiness, which is only found in Your invitation to eternal life and eternal joy. Thank you for the insight that Peter had into scripture on that crucial day of Pentecost. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.
John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For more than thirty years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis. He is author of more than fifty books, and his sermons, articles, books, and more are available free of charge at desiringGod.org.
In all cases of republishing, the following attribution must be included:
By John Piper. © Desiring God Foundation. Source: desiringGod.org