Psalm 16:9-11

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;

My flesh also will rest in hope.

For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,

Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

You will show me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Verse 10 expresses trust that God will deliver the psalmist from a premature death. However, examining this verse through the lens of the New Testament reveals that David was speaking as a prophet, pointing unequivocally to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The prophecy could not have been ultimately fulfilled in David himself. As the Apostle Peter argues in his Pentecost sermon: Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption (Acts 2:29-31). David’s body did see corruption; it decomposed in the grave like any other human being. Peter directly links David’s prophetic utterance to the resurrection of Jesus, the promised Messiah and descendant of David who would eternally occupy his throne.

Acts 13:35-37: Therefore He also says in another Psalm:

‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’

For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption; but He whom God raised up saw no corruption.

Paul, like Peter, draws the critical distinction: David saw corruption, but the one whom God raised did not. The resurrection of Jesus occurred before the natural process of bodily decay could begin, thus perfectly and literally fulfilling the prophetic words. Christ’s resurrection body was transformed and glorified, never to die again.

The fulfillment of this prophecy is rooted in the historical reality of the empty tomb. The Gospels document that Jesus was crucified, confirmed dead by the Roman soldiers (John 19:33-34), and buried in the new tomb of Joseph of Arimathea (Matthew 27:57-60). A large stone was rolled against the entrance, and a Roman guard was set to secure it (Matthew 27:62-66). Nevertheless, on the third day, the tomb was found empty (John 20:1-8). The body was not stolen; the grave clothes were left behind, lying in the place where the body had been, with the face cloth folded separately (John 20:6-7). The only logical conclusion, supported by the angel’s announcement: He is not here; he has risen! (Luke 24:6), is that God had raised Him from the dead. Therefore, Jesus was not abandoned to Sheol (the realm of the dead), nor did His holy, sinless body see corruption.

The fulfillment of Psalm 16:10 in Jesus Christ is the very foundation of our hope. As Paul argues, the resurrection of Christ is the linchpin of the Christian faith: And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins (1 Corinthians 15:17). Because Jesus did not see corruption and was raised immortal, He possesses the power over death itself. He is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:20), the guarantee that all who are united to Him by faith will likewise be resurrected to eternal life.

Ask God to:

• solidify your faith in the historical reality of Christ’s resurrection.
• remind you that death is not the end for those in Jesus Christ.
• grant you the boldness to share the gospel.