Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.
Psalm 16:4 is David’s vow of separation from false worship. He has asked God to preserve him because he trusts in Him (v.1), has confessed Jehovah as his Lord (v.2), and has set his delight upon the saints that are in the earth (v.3). Now he turns from those who run after other gods. In the next verse he confesses, “The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot” (v.5). Peter applies the psalm to Christ’s resurrection from verse 8 onward: “For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved” (Acts 2:25). Verse 4 is David’s own vow, and it binds every saint.
“Their sorrows shall be multiplied.” False worship does not lead to the happiness it promises. Those who forsake the living God increase their trouble. Jeremiah declared that it is an evil thing and bitter to forsake the LORD (Jeremiah 2:19), and asked, “But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble” (Jeremiah 2:28). Idols cannot supply the good for which men pursue them, and their worship provokes the true God. The contrast within the psalm is exact: multiplied sorrows here, but fulness of joy in God’s presence (v.11).
“That hasten after another god.” These men pursue what they should refuse. Their haste shows eager desire, but eagerness does not make worship righteous. Men may be diligent, devoted, and costly in serving what God condemns. “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13). To hasten after another god is to leave the only sufficient portion for something that cannot satisfy or save. The wrong object makes religious zeal sinful.
“Their drink offerings of blood.” These are offerings belonging to false worship. God appointed wine for Israel’s drink offerings (Numbers 15:5); here the offerings are described as blood. Scripture elsewhere shows the dreadful connection between idolatry and bloodshed: “Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood” (Psalm 106:37-38). The particular ceremony in this verse is not described, so we should not invent its details. What is clear is David’s refusal of worship polluted by idolatry. Calling something an offering does not make it acceptable to God.
“Will I not offer.” The refusal is personal and settled. David does not disapprove inwardly while participating outwardly. He will not offer. Worship is an act of allegiance, and allegiance to Jehovah excludes fellowship with idols. Paul gives the same rule to the saints: “Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils” (I Corinthians 10:21). A man cannot make false worship harmless by claiming that his heart intends something better. God judges the worship offered, not the excuse supplied for it.
“Nor take up their names.” The refusal reaches from offerings to words. God had commanded, “And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth” (Exodus 23:13). Joshua joined this prohibition to swearing by those gods, serving them, and bowing before them (Joshua 23:7). Their names were not to be invoked, honoured, or confessed as objects of trust. David will not give false gods an offering from his hand or worship from his lips.
This does not forbid naming an idol when exposing its falsehood. Scripture itself names Baal, and Elijah named him while calling Israel away from his worship: “And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him” (I Kings 18:21). The distinction is between identifying a false god and honouring one. To name an idol in warning is not to call upon it in prayer. David’s refusal concerns the allegiance expressed by his lips, not ignorance of the names by which men practise idolatry.
“Into my lips.” The lips belong to God as surely as the heart and the hand. Speech can become an act of false worship through prayers, praises, vows, and confessions directed to another god. Therefore, it is not enough to keep the lips from lying against a neighbour; they must also be kept from honouring what God rejects. The mouth must not confess the true God in one place and join the worship of another elsewhere. The words used in worship declare whom the worshipper serves (Exodus 23:13; Joshua 23:7-8).
David’s refusal is not empty. He rejects other gods because Jehovah is his portion (v.5). A man who has the LORD as his inheritance has no need to hasten after another. The psalm then rises to confidence that reaches through death itself: “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (v.11). Those who hasten after other gods multiply their sorrows; the man whose portion is Jehovah is brought to fulness of joy.
Jesus Christ kept this separation perfectly. When Satan offered Him all the kingdoms of the world for one act of worship, “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10). He would not obtain earthly glory by giving another the honour belonging to God. What David vowed, Christ performed without failure.
“Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry” (I Corinthians 10:14). Do not give false worship your participation because custom, friendship, gain, or fear makes refusal costly. Examine the prayers you pray, the songs you sing, and the honour your words bestow, and reserve your lips for truthful prayer and praise. There is no need to seek another god when Jehovah Himself is your portion.
Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.
Psalm 16:4 is David’s vow of separation from false worship. He has asked God to preserve him because he trusts in Him (v.1), has confessed Jehovah as his Lord (v.2), and has set his delight upon the saints that are in the earth (v.3). Now he turns from those who run after other gods. In the next verse he confesses, “The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot” (v.5). Peter applies the psalm to Christ’s resurrection from verse 8 onward: “For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved” (Acts 2:25). Verse 4 is David’s own vow, and it binds every saint.
“Their sorrows shall be multiplied.” False worship does not lead to the happiness it promises. Those who forsake the living God increase their trouble. Jeremiah declared that it is an evil thing and bitter to forsake the LORD (Jeremiah 2:19), and asked, “But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble” (Jeremiah 2:28). Idols cannot supply the good for which men pursue them, and their worship provokes the true God. The contrast within the psalm is exact: multiplied sorrows here, but fulness of joy in God’s presence (v.11).
“That hasten after another god.” These men pursue what they should refuse. Their haste shows eager desire, but eagerness does not make worship righteous. Men may be diligent, devoted, and costly in serving what God condemns. “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13). To hasten after another god is to leave the only sufficient portion for something that cannot satisfy or save. The wrong object makes religious zeal sinful.
“Their drink offerings of blood.” These are offerings belonging to false worship. God appointed wine for Israel’s drink offerings (Numbers 15:5); here the offerings are described as blood. Scripture elsewhere shows the dreadful connection between idolatry and bloodshed: “Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood” (Psalm 106:37-38). The particular ceremony in this verse is not described, so we should not invent its details. What is clear is David’s refusal of worship polluted by idolatry. Calling something an offering does not make it acceptable to God.
“Will I not offer.” The refusal is personal and settled. David does not disapprove inwardly while participating outwardly. He will not offer. Worship is an act of allegiance, and allegiance to Jehovah excludes fellowship with idols. Paul gives the same rule to the saints: “Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils” (I Corinthians 10:21). A man cannot make false worship harmless by claiming that his heart intends something better. God judges the worship offered, not the excuse supplied for it.
“Nor take up their names.” The refusal reaches from offerings to words. God had commanded, “And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth” (Exodus 23:13). Joshua joined this prohibition to swearing by those gods, serving them, and bowing before them (Joshua 23:7). Their names were not to be invoked, honoured, or confessed as objects of trust. David will not give false gods an offering from his hand or worship from his lips.
This does not forbid naming an idol when exposing its falsehood. Scripture itself names Baal, and Elijah named him while calling Israel away from his worship: “And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him” (I Kings 18:21). The distinction is between identifying a false god and honouring one. To name an idol in warning is not to call upon it in prayer. David’s refusal concerns the allegiance expressed by his lips, not ignorance of the names by which men practise idolatry.
“Into my lips.” The lips belong to God as surely as the heart and the hand. Speech can become an act of false worship through prayers, praises, vows, and confessions directed to another god. Therefore, it is not enough to keep the lips from lying against a neighbour; they must also be kept from honouring what God rejects. The mouth must not confess the true God in one place and join the worship of another elsewhere. The words used in worship declare whom the worshipper serves (Exodus 23:13; Joshua 23:7-8).
David’s refusal is not empty. He rejects other gods because Jehovah is his portion (v.5). A man who has the LORD as his inheritance has no need to hasten after another. The psalm then rises to confidence that reaches through death itself: “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (v.11). Those who hasten after other gods multiply their sorrows; the man whose portion is Jehovah is brought to fulness of joy.
Jesus Christ kept this separation perfectly. When Satan offered Him all the kingdoms of the world for one act of worship, “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10). He would not obtain earthly glory by giving another the honour belonging to God. What David vowed, Christ performed without failure.
“Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry” (I Corinthians 10:14). Do not give false worship your participation because custom, friendship, gain, or fear makes refusal costly. Examine the prayers you pray, the songs you sing, and the honour your words bestow, and reserve your lips for truthful prayer and praise. There is no need to seek another god when Jehovah Himself is your portion.