Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today”, July 9, 2013

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, July 9, 2013 Read – Psalm 16 Psalm 16 is a psalm of trust written by a psalmist who has known the devastation of hardship. The psalmist has placed his trust in God and is not disappointed. When it appeared that his life would end and he would find himself in Sheol, the place of the dead, God had rescued him. Now the psalmist sings God’s praises. Paul uses this psalm in his speech after he has argued that Jesus is the offspring of David through whom salvation was to come. Though Jesus was crucified and died, God did not let his body know corruption as had been the case for David. The verse that Paul quotes is verse 10. Readers of the Psalms can’t help but notice that Paul has twisted the meaning of the Psalm a bit – the original writer has not died but only been threatened by death. But the Psalm work for Paul – much of “Messianic Exegesis” is like this. New meanings are given to old texts in light of the experience of the death and resurrection of Jesus.