Limitless Word
You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.
Psalms 16:11 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever more.
  • KJV Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
  • NKJV You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
  • NASB You will make known to me the way of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
  • NLT You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

God reveals the path of life, and his presence holds fullness of joy and eternal pleasures. It matters because lasting joy is found only in God's presence forever.

Overview

The psalm climaxes with the assurance that God shows the path of life, and that in his presence is full joy and everlasting pleasures at his right hand. This points beyond earthly life to eternal fellowship with God. Fulfilled in the risen Christ who entered the Father's presence, it promises the same resurrection joy to all who are his.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 26

  • Acts 2:28You have made known to me the paths of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence.’
  • Jude 1:24Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—
  • Ps 36:7–8How precious is Your loving devotion, O God, that the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings!
  • Rev 7:15–17For this reason, they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and the One seated on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.
  • Eph 3:19of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
  • Ps 21:4–6He asked You for life, and You granted it—length of days, forever and ever.
  • Prov 4:18The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
  • Ps 17:15As for me, I will behold Your face in righteousness; when I awake, I will be satisfied in Your presence.
  • Matt 7:14But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.
  • Matt 5:8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
  • 2 Cor 4:17For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.
  • Rev 22:5There will be no more night in the city, and they will have no need for the light of a lamp or of the sun. For the Lord God will shine on them, and they will reign forever and ever.
  • Isa 2:3And many peoples will come and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways so that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
  • 1 Pet 3:22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.
  • Prov 12:28There is life in the path of righteousness, but another path leads to death.
  • Rom 8:11And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.
  • 1 Cor 13:12Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
  • Ps 139:24See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.
  • 1 Jn 3:2Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.
  • Matt 25:33He will place the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.
  • Mark 16:19After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
  • Matt 25:46And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
  • Prov 2:19None who go to her return or negotiate the paths of life.
  • 1 Pet 1:21Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him; and so your faith and hope are in God.
  • Acts 7:56“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
  • Prov 5:6She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 16:11YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 16:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.