Ps 15 (16)

"Miktam. Of David. Protect me, O God: in you I take refuge". Miktām is a disputed word. It is derived from 'katam' (to carve, to engrave). The word indicates something that has been carved and thus a permanent scripture, carved for its importance. The LXX Bible translates "stēlographia", an engraved writing; stēlē was the word for tombstone (for the inscription carved on it). Therefore "miktām" indicates that these kinds of Psalms are connected with death, but go towards the hope of resurrection. This is particularly true of Psalm 15; however, what is important that is 'carved' into these Psalms is to be gleaned from the reading of the Psalm itself. The reference is to the Son of David; and especially to his death and resurrection; this is the truth "carved" into this Psalm miktām.

It is a psalm of trust, the prayer in which a righteous man expresses his confidence in the Lord. One asks God for protection. In God one seeks refuge: Protect me, O God, in you I take refuge. The righteous person takes refuge in God, and asks him for protection.

We note the twofold movement: a) on the one hand, God protects the believer (downward movement); b) on the other, the believer entrusts himself totally to God (upward movement). This psalm, we might almost say, describes to us the concept of the sacraments: the meeting point between God's descending grace (hence the Lord who works) and man who draws on grace and worships the Lord.

V. 2 is a beautiful profession of faith: 'You are my Lord, without you I have no good'. Here is the faith of the righteous, the God-fearing man. God is his Lord. No one else is his Lord. If God is his Lord, it means that he will always walk according to the will of his God and Lord. 'Without you I have no good'. God who has given us life is not only the source from which good comes, but is 'the good'. This is true profession of faith, it is not only a faith thought out, but also witnessed to the community, it is a public profession. On the other hand, faith must be public, it must always be proclaimed before everyone, always.

"For the saints, who are on earth, noble men, is all my love" (v. 3). The "saints" and the "noble ones" are the people with whom the righteous man goes along. He recognises the value to be found in fellowship with the saints, with those whom God has set apart, and in whom His holiness is reflected. The new CEI translation (the 2008 one), translates: 'to the idols of the land, to the mighty gods went all my favour', making the text, which is already difficult in Hebrew, completely incomprehensible. It is difficult to understand how the Hebrew 'qeḏôšîm' can be translated 'idols' instead of 'saints'. The translation of the LXX and the Vulgate had made a clear choice, and it is the one that emerged in the 1974 translation: 'For the saints, who are on earth, noble men, is all my love'.

In v. 4, the profession of faith is made in reverse. The pious worshipper pledges not to favour idolatrous worship. "I will not pour out their libations of blood". One of the characteristics of idolatry was the 'libation of blood', which could also refer to human sacrifice, especially of children. "Nor will I utter with my lips their names". The distance must be clear. With idols one must have no fellowship, of any kind. Not even their names are to be uttered. On the lips of the true worshipper there must be only the name of his God. Idols do not deserve the honour of being named. Today, we might say, the righteous avoids participating in false worship.

"The Lord is my inheritance and my cup: in thy hand is my life" (v. 5). There are priestly symbols here. We know that in the partition of the land of Canaan, after the conquest, the tribe of Levi did not have its own territory but only cities of residence. Those who were consecrated to worship were not to be involved in social structures but were to act as intermediaries between God and the people. The land of the priests was God himself and this concretely meant the right to receive the tithes offered by the tribes for their sustenance. The psalmist, therefore, through imagery expresses this dedication of the priest to his God.

1.  The Lord is for him "part of an inheritance" that is, "part of a territory". 

2.  The Lord is for him his "chalice", i.e. his host, his familiar who welcomes him.

The "chalice" is a sign of God's hospitality to his faithful. It is God who offers the chalice, just as - from a strictly human point of view - it is he who receives in his own home who offers the host the chalice. At the Last Supper, who offers the chalice? It is Jesus the host, he is the guest in the Latin sense (for the Romans, in fact, the guest is the one who hosts and not the one who is hosted).

For the righteous and pious man, the Lord is his inheritance and his cup. The earth is not the righteous man's inheritance, nor are the things of this world. His inheritance is the Lord alone. The Lord alone is his cup of salvation, of true life. This man expects nothing from the earth. It is the Lord, in the present and in the future, his life, his well-being, his prosperity, therefore he places it in the hands of his God. This is total abandonment. He wants to be God's alone, always in His hands. 

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

(Buyable on Amazon)