Following are two quotes from Allen Ross’s Commentary On The Psalms by Kregel Publications.  These quotes are taken from his exegesis of Psalm 16 which he titles “The LORD’s Everlasting Provision and Protection.”  Allen Ross emphasizes the truth that the God who is good and protects and provides for His people will not abandon them at death.  The God who meets His sheep at death is eternally and infinitely good.  He is our Savior and Redeemer.  We can certainly trust Him “though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death” Psalm 23:4.

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“It is essential for believers to keep uppermost in their minds the goodness of God, not only as it pertains to this life, but to the next as well.  This is important because there are difficult times when believers otherwise might question the Lord’s integrity and doubt his goodness, and consequently lose confidence in his word.  Without a firm conviction of the goodness of God, guilty fears take over, insecurities run away with people, prayer becomes hoping against hope, and praise, if it exists at all, has a hollow ring to it.  What is needed is a constant awareness of the goodness and grace of God-he is not capricious; he is not going to give up on his people because they are struggling to do his will; and neither is he going to guide his people through this life only to abandon them when they die.  No, he loves the saints with and everlasting love, and it pleases him to do things for them” (Ross, Allen P., A Commentary On the Psalms; Kregel).

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“God does not redeem his people, guide them through life, provide for them, and protect them along the way only to let it all come to an end in the grave.  No, he will raise them from corruption to incorruption, to a glorious new estate in his presence forever.  As the saints face the trials and troubles of life, they must be absolutely sure of the goodness of God who remains faithful to his people, even in spite of their failures.  They may build this kind of confidence as the psalmist did: by studying God’s word with a new interest and purpose, by meditating on his goodness and guidance in the night seasons, by focusing on his grace and glory that he shares with his saints whom he loves eternally, by cultivating a life of obedience inspired by setting him always before them, by determining to remain loyal to him in the face of competing religious ideas, and by praising him more for all his care and guidance.  Then they will be able to pray with confidence, knowing that nothing, absolutely nothing, neither death nor life, nor any power, will be able to separate them from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:38 – 39).”