Every verse in Psalm 16 has two or three lines, except the first. It has only one: “Protect me, God, because I have taken refuge in you.”

That single line breaks into two halves, and so does the rest of the psalm. The first half of the poem (vv. 2–6) is an act of taking refuge: the psalmist declares that the LORD alone is his Lord, refuses the offerings of other gods, and calls his inheritance beautiful. The second half (vv. 7–11) is protection: counsel in the night, a body that will dwell securely, a life not abandoned to the grave.

The order is reversed. The opening line asks for protection first; the poem gives refuge first. And the small word “because” that holds the opening line together now holds the whole poem together.

Everything that follows was already there in its first breath.

Read more on psalms.scriptura.org → Psalm 16 Poetic Features