A Study of Psalm 16 (verse 8, Not Shaken)

¹ Preserve me, God, because I take refuge in you.

² I say to Yahweh, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have nothing good.” ³ I say of the holy people who are in the land, “They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.” ⁴ The sorrows of those who hurry after other gods will multiply. I will not pour out their bloody libations, nor take their names on my lips. ⁵ Yahweh is my assigned portion and my cup. You safeguard my allotment. ⁶ The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

⁷ I will praise Yahweh, who gives me counsel. Even at night my heart instructs me.

⁸ I have set Yahweh before me continually. Because He is at my right hand I will not be shaken.

David has made his request: (verse 1) Preserve me. The reason God should answer this request is because David has come to Yahweh for refuge, he trusts God. That trust in God is confessed in four different statements: (verse 2) a confession of dependence on Yahweh’s Lordship, (verse 3) a confession of fellowship with the righteous, (verse 4) a confession of orthodox worship, and (verses 5,6) a confession of deep satisfaction with Yahweh. Then (verse 7) Yahweh gives David an assurance that He is going to answer David’s prayer. Now (verses 8-11) David can assert confidence in the preservation God will grant him.

David’s assertions of confidence follow a pattern, a negative and then a positive, a negative and then a positive: v.8, not shaken, a negative, followed by v.9, secure, the positive form of that; v.10, not abandoned, a negative, then v.11, presence, the positive form of that.

David’s first assertion of confidence is in v.8,

I have set Yahweh before me continually. Because He is at my right hand I will not be shaken.

To set someone before you is to make them your focus. There is a similar declaration made in Psalm 119:30, where the psalmist says, “I have set your ordinances before me,” that is, I have made them my focus, given them my attention, committed myself to obeying and keeping them. David has set Yahweh before him, has directed all his attention to God from whom his preservation must come, has centered his trust in Yahweh alone.

David uses another picture to amplify this focused, faith-filled, attention: “Yahweh is at my right hand.” Having someone at your right hand means having them in close, loyal association with you (1 Chronicles 6:39; Psalm 80:17). And in this case, having Yahweh at your right hand means protection (Psalm 110:5; 121:5; Isaiah 63:12). Because Yahweh is at David’s right hand, David will not be shaken.

The Hebrew word used here, מוט, mot, means shaken or moved so as to stumble or fall. For the mountains to be moved or shaken (Psalm 46:2; Isaiah 54:10) is to experience cataclysmic destruction. For a king who trusts in Yahweh (Psalm 21:7) is for a king to not fall but rather succeed. For our feet to be moved or shaken (slip) is to fail (Psalm 66:9; 94:18; 121:3). So the ERV (Easy to Read Version) translates this verse, “I always remember that the Lord is with me. He is here, close by my side, so nothing can defeat me.”

God has reassured David that He will preserve him, that David’s focus on Him, trust in Him, will result in David not being shaken.