²⁴”But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. ²⁵For David says of Him, ‘I saw the Lord always in my presence; for He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken. ²⁶Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted; moreover my flesh also will live in hope; ²⁷because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. ²⁸You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of gladness with Your presence.’ ²⁹Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.”

The resurrection proves that God’s “predetermined plan and foreknowledge” was infinitely greater than the willful intention and action of those who crucified Jesus. If Christ hadn’t been raised from the dead, the plans of mere humans would have foiled the eternal plan of salvation. But in the cross, we see the worst that humankind can do in rebellion against God, the most “spectacular” sin of all (as one writer puts it), is completely eclipsed by the unlimited, matchless superiority of the Grand Master. To say this was a counteracting “spectacular” action of God would be to say the absolute minimum. The Lord told us long before this, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:9). No greater divide between God and man can be seen anywhere than at the cross. Yet no greater coming together can be seen anywhere than that a mere human comes to the cross for salvation!

Speaking to a Jewish audience, Peter validates his assertion of the resurrection by appealing not only to the testimony of the miraculous signs Jesus performed (Acts 2:22), but also the testimony of Scripture, quoting Psalm 16:8–11. A detailed analysis of Peter’s use of this psalm and the apparent changes he makes in quoting it is beyond the scope of this essay. Suffice it to say that the apostle was quoting the Greek version of the psalm that would be familiar to his audience (i.e., the LXX). Also, in verse 11, he changes from the future, predictive sense as it reads in the OT (“You will make known to me the path of life”) to the past tense here (“You have made known to me . . .”). Peter is undoubtedly allowing for the reality of the resurrection, which was future to the time of David’s writing but already completed at the time of Peter’s sermon.

The thrust of Peter’s message is that the psalm could not possibly have found its fulfillment in David, for he is still dead. His entombed body proves it. So the psalm must refer to one whose body would not endure physical decay at death. That is the One they crucified, whom God raised from the dead! Jesus.

Lord, thank You for the biblical and eyewitness evidence for the resurrection.