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Psalm 16:2

My soul, you have said to the LORD, “You are my Lord. Apart from you I have no good thing.”

1A Poem by David. Preserve me, God, for I take refuge in you.
2My soul, you have said to the LORD, “You are my Lord. Apart from you I have no good thing.”
3As for the saints who are on the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.
4Their sorrows shall be multiplied who give gifts to another god. Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, nor take their names on my lips.
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Notice

“You are my Lord” makes allegiance personal, while “Apart from you” reaches into every good thing a person might be tempted to count as independent.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What would acknowledging “You are my Lord” mean for one choice before you today?

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Which good thing in your life is hardest to see as dependent on God?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

11 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 73:25Whom do I have in heaven? There is no one on earth whom I desire besides you.Both address God as the one beyond whom the speaker finds no good or desired companion.
Psalm 48:14For this God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even to death.Both confess belonging to God: David names him as Lord, and Psalm 48 names him as God and guide.
Psalm 31:14But I trust in you, LORD. I said, “You are my God.”Both record a personal declaration to the LORD, naming him as the speaker’s own Lord or God.
Job 22:2–3“Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.Both concern a person’s relation to God, though Job asks about human usefulness while David confesses dependence.
Psalm 89:26He will call to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation!’Both portray someone addressing God with a personal confession of who God is to him.
John 20:28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”David and Thomas both use the personal confession “my Lord,” with Thomas also declaring “my God!”
Job 35:7If you are righteous, what do you give him? Or what does he receive from your hand?Both concern goodness in relation to God, though Job asks what humans give him and David names his dependence.
Isaiah 26:13LORD our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us, but we will only acknowledge your name.Both acknowledge the LORD’s authority, with Isaiah naming other lords whose dominion does not displace that allegiance.
Zechariah 13:9I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them like gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I …Both include a personal declaration of belonging to the LORD, whom the speakers acknowledge as their God or Lord.
Romans 11:35“Or who has first given to him, and it will be repaid to him again?”David locates his good in God; Romans questions whether anyone has given God something that puts him in debt.
Luke 17:10Even so you also, when you have done all the things that are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants. We have done our duty.’”Both express a subordinate relationship: David acknowledges his Lord, while Jesus describes servants whose obedience is their duty.
Where this verse fits

Gratitude. praise and worship.

What the Bible says about gratitude →What the Bible says about worship →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Pray Psalm 16:2 aloud before breakfast

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Encouragement

David speaks these words while asking God to preserve him. Dependence on the Lord belongs even in danger; no good thing exists apart from him.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 16:2. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 16 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).