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Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will dwell securely.
Psalms 16:9 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices. My body shall also dwell in safety.
  • KJV Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
  • NKJV Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.
  • NASB Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely.
  • NLT No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety.

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

David's heart is glad and his body rests in safety because of God's presence. It matters because trust in God brings joy and confident hope even concerning the body.

Overview

Flowing from God's nearness, David's heart rejoices and his very flesh dwells in security. His confidence extends beyond the soul to the body's safety and future. Peter applies this to Christ in Acts 2, whose body rested in hope of resurrection, securing the same hope for believers.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Acts 2:26Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will dwell in hope,
  • Ps 30:12that my heart may sing Your praises and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks forever.
  • Ps 57:8Awake, my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.
  • Ps 4:7–8You have filled my heart with more joy than when grain and new wine abound.
  • Ps 108:1A song. A Psalm of David. My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and make music with all my being.
  • Job 14:14–15When a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, until my renewal comes.
  • Job 19:26–27Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.
  • 1 Th 4:13–14Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope.
  • Luke 10:21–22At that time Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight.
  • Isa 26:19Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.
  • Jas 3:5–9In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze.
  • Prov 14:32The wicked man is thrown down by his own sin, but the righteous man has a refuge even in death.

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 16:9YouTube · 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 16:9 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.