Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

In this verse, which Peter spoke as part of his Pentecost sermon to the crowd that had gathered in response to the events connected with the granting of the Holy Spirit to the apostles, he was quoting David's words from Psalm 16:10.

In this psalm, David was both expressing his confidence in God to grant him ultimate safety and protection from his enemies (despite any temporary sufferings that they might inflict upon him), and also speaking prophetically (as he did in multiple other occasions in the Psalms) concerning future events. In this case, he was referring specifically to events associated with the future resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

David could not have been speaking entirely literally about himself in referring to "Your [God's] Holy One". Even though David was described in 1 Samuel 13:14 as "a man after [God's] own heart", and God also showed David great favor, David was not absolutely holy (as he demonstrated after he became king in sinning with Bathsheba and ordering the death of her husband Uriah the Hittite (2 Samuel 11), as well as directing that a census be taken of the number of people in Israel (2 Samuel 24)).

Nor (as Peter pointed out to the assembled crowd in Acts 2:29) could David have meant that his own body would not experience decay, or remain in the grave (Sheol or Hades), after death, since David had died, and his tomb was still plainly visible at the time that Peter was speaking.

Instead, David was speaking prophetically of the coming Messiah (Jesus, who was truly God's "Holy One"), and the manner in which God would raise Jesus from the grave following his crucifixion and burial, without allowing corruption (the normal process of bodily decay) to occur after Jesus' physical death.

May 17 2015 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Brian Nelson Follower of Christ, Husband, Father, Systems Engineer

The answer to this question is found a few verses later in Acts 2:29-33 29 “Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. 30 But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne. 31 David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave. 32 “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this. 33 Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today.

November 08 2015 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report