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Psalm 16:3
As for the saints who are on the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.
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.
5The LORD assigned my portion and my cup. You made my lot secure.
Notice
“All my delight” expresses warm affection for God’s people on earth, raising the question of whose company you prize and what you see in them.
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Where else Scripture says this
12 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
Colossians 1:2to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.Both passages name living believers as saints, with David expressing delight in them and Paul greeting them with grace and peace.
Proverbs 8:31rejoicing in his whole world. My delight was with the sons of men.Both speak of delight in people on earth, though Proverbs speaks of humanity and David names the saints.
John 13:34A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another.David expresses delight in God’s people, while Jesus commands his disciples to love one another as he has loved them.
2 Corinthians 6:14Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship do righteousness and iniquity have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?Both concern fellowship shaped by faith, though Paul warns against an unequal yoke and David expresses delight in the saints.
Proverbs 13:20One who walks with wise men grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.Both value good company: David delights in the saints, while Proverbs describes the benefit of walking with wise people.
Proverbs 12:26A righteous person is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.Friendship is the shared concern, though David expresses affection and Proverbs stresses caution about where companionship leads.
Hebrews 6:10For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve …The saints are treasured in both passages, through David’s delight and through the loving service God does not forget.
2 Chronicles 6:41“Now therefore arise, LORD God, into your resting place, you, and the ark of your strength. Let your priests, LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let your …Both link the saints with joy: David delights in them, and the prayer in Chronicles asks that they rejoice in goodness.
Psalm 119:63I am a friend of all those who fear you, of those who observe your precepts.Both express attachment to God’s people, through delight in the saints and friendship with those who fear and obey God.
Psalm 122:8For my brothers’ and companions’ sakes, I will now say, “Peace be within you.”Both express affection for a community, with delight in the saints here and a prayer for peace for companions’ sake there.
Psalm 15:4in whose eyes a vile man is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD; he who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and doesn’t change;Both esteem people devoted to God: one delights in the saints, and the other honors those who fear the LORD.
Malachi 3:17They shall be mine,” says the LORD of Armies, “my own possession in the day that I make. I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him.Both describe God’s people as valued, with David calling the saints excellent and the LORD claiming his servants as his own possession.
Where this verse fits
Gratitude. loneliness. an ordinary day.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
David’s refuge in God leaves room for glad affection toward people. His delight reaches the saints here on earth; devotion to the Lord includes treasuring those who belong to him.
Now put it in your words.
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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).