No 13

(Psalm 16:10)

“ For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption”. This wonderful passage that David wrote tells us much about what revelation David must have received from God. First of all, he believed that one day there would be a resurrection and that he would be part of it. Secondly and most importantly, he believed that the Messiah would be God. That’s very interesting, because the Jews then, and those during Jesus’ time on earth and even those today believe that the Messiah will be a man. As a matter of fact, very recently there was a man who claimed to be the Messiah and had a following – his name was Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902 – 1994).

We see this passage twice in the New Testament. After the Holy Spirit came and empowered the Apostles in the upper room at Pentecost, we read about Peter and his boldness in preaching his first sermon about what Jesus Christ had come to do on earth, he quotes this Scripture in Acts 2:27 and explains that David was not talking about himself but of Jesus, the Messiah. We all know the impact that that sermon had on the Jews; 3000 souls were saved on that day alone (Acts 2:41). Praise the Lord.

Paul also used this passage in Acts 13:35 in Paphos on his first missionary journey and as Peter did, Paul in Acts 13:16, stood up and said with the same boldness as Peter “…..Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience.” He went on from there and fully explained the Gospel up to verse 52 where we read “And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.” There is much joy for any Christian who confesses the name of Jesus Christ to an unsaved person. There is even more joy when that person accepts Jesus Christ as his or her Saviour; what a privilege it is to serve God!