Psalms 16:8

I have set. The verb is active and it is David's. Whatever else is being described here, the first move belongs to him.

That is worth noticing because the rest of the verse is about stability, and stability sounds passive. But the psalm does not say God placed himself before David. It says David set Yahweh before him — a deliberate positioning, repeated, of where his attention goes. Always suggests it did not stay put on its own.

At my right hand is a specific image. In an ancient court, the position at someone's right was where a supporter or advocate stood — the place from which you were defended when accused. It is not the position of a distant observer.

And then the consequence: I shall not be moved. Not I shall not move — the verb is passive. He is not claiming to be immovable by temperament. He is saying nothing will succeed in shifting him, which is a claim about external forces failing rather than internal resolve holding.

The order is what makes it usable. Set, then stand, then stability. The first is something you do repeatedly and often badly. The last is not something you can attempt directly at all.

Peter, preaching seven weeks after the crucifixion, read the next lines of this psalm as being about someone whose flesh did not see decay.