What does Psalm 10:16 mean?

David triumphantly declares that God is the eternal King. This declaration expresses not only David's confidence in the Lord to vanquish His enemies, but it also declares Israel's confidence in the Lord.

In the Old Testament, the term "the nations" was often used as a reference to Gentiles: those not part of the nation of Israel. Symbolically, this represents the separation between those who belong to God and those who defy Him. Since God said that certain lands would belong to Israel (Genesis 12:7), David is confident opposing nations would be displaced.

After the Lord destroyed the Egyptian cavalry in the Red Sea, the rescued Hebrews sang praises to the Lord. They declared of the Lord that He stretched out His right hand, and the earth swallowed the Egyptians (Exodus 15:12). They proclaimed, "The LORD will reign forever and ever" (Exodus 15:18).

The eternal nature of God is seen throughout all of Scripture. Revelation 4:8 pictures four living creatures that say day and night, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come." This eternal character of God also applies to the Lord Jesus Christ. He states in Revelation 1:8: "I am the Alpha and the Omega…who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."