Happy Resurrection Day!
My favorite Easter passage was written about 1,000 years before the resurrection of Christ.
Psalm 16:8-11 was penned by King David centuries before Jesus was raised from the dead.
How do we know that these verses are about Jesus?
The Apostle Peter told us so.
On the day of Pentecost (some 50 days after Christ’s death and resurrection), Peter makes this pronouncement:
“This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him . . .” (Acts 2:23-25)
What did David say about Jesus? Peter then quotes Psalm 16:8-11 –
“I saw the Lord always before me,
for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;
therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
my flesh also will dwell in hope.
For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
or let your Holy One see corruption.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will make me full of gladness with your presence.”
Acts 2:25-28
A few verses later, Peter repeats his claim that David “foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ” (Acts 2:31-32).
What can we conclude from Peter’s quotation of Psalm 16?
Simply this . . .
The words of David became the words of Jesus.
And if you are a true believer in Jesus, the words of David and Jesus become your words, too!
You and I can pray this prayer as an expression of our hope in God’s promise to raise us from the dead. Just as God raised Jesus, He will raise us.
God will not abandon us to hell, nor will He let us see corruption.
Indeed, because we are “in Christ” and have been “blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3), God has made known to us the paths of life, and one day He will make us full of gladness in His presence.
Rejoice and be glad!
Christ is alive. And so are we, for our souls have already been “raised with Christ” (Colossians 3:1).
When He returns, our bodies will be raised as well. I look forward to that day.
How about you?
- The Infinite Greatness of Jesus - February 22, 2026
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