Psalms 16:3 (WEB)

Passage

As for the saints who are in the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.

Nearby Context

Psalms 16:1 Preserve me, God, for in you do I take refuge.

Psalms 16:2 My soul, you have said to Yahweh, “You are my Lord. Apart from you I have no good thing.”

Psalms 16:3 As for the saints who are in the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.

Psalms 16:4 Their 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.

Psalms 16:5 Yahweh assigned my portion and my cup. You made my lot secure.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "light", "saints", "earth", "excellent", "ones", and "delight". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "light" and "saints", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "My soul you have said to Yahweh..." into verse 4's "Their sorrows shall be multiplied who give...", so "light" and "saints" belong inside that flow. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "light" and "saints" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.