NOTES for Psa 16:8

One should not demand literal precision from the psalmist: the psalms are first of all prayers, prayerful and poetic creation. It is foolish to ask David where exactly he saw the Lord, before himself or at his right hand. The expression "at my right hand" means "my helper," "my right hand"; in many psalms David uses precisely these expressions. But at the same time this allows us to penetrate a little into the nature of how David "sees" the Lord. It is impossible for a human being to see the invisible and incomprehensible God with his physical sight, but God is accessible to spiritual sight; He can be seen with "the eyes of faith." For this sight, what matters is not the spatial position of the object, ahead or to the right, but the meaningful one: David sees God as his helper, laying out the path for him. That is why he goes along this path without hesitation, for the path has been laid out by the Lord Himself, whom David trusts unconditionally.