Psalm 116:1-19
1 I love the LORD, because He
has heard My voice and my supplications.
2 Because He has inclined His
ear to me, Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.
3 The pains of death
surrounded me, And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and
sorrow.
4 Then I called upon the name
of the LORD: "O LORD, I implore You, deliver my soul!"
5 Gracious is the LORD, and
righteous; Yes, our God is merciful.
6 The LORD preserves the
simple; I was brought low, and He saved me.
7 Return to your rest, O my
soul, For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For You have delivered my
soul from death, My eyes from tears, And my feet from falling.
9 I will walk before the LORD
In the land of the living.
10 I believed, therefore I
spoke, "I am greatly afflicted."
11 I said in my haste,
"All men are liars."
12 What shall I render to the
LORD For all His benefits toward me?
13 I will take up the cup of
salvation, And call upon the name of the LORD.
14 I will pay my vows to the
LORD Now in the presence of all His people.
15 Precious in the sight of
the LORD Is the death of His saints.
16 O LORD, truly I am Your
servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant; You have loosed my
bonds.
17 I will offer to You the
sacrifice of thanksgiving, And will call upon the name of the LORD.
18 I will pay my vows to the
LORD Now in the presence of all His people,
19 In the courts of the LORD'S
house, In the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD!.
Psalm 116 is one of the
“Hallel” psalms (Psalms 113-118), that were probably written after the 70 years
captivity in Babylon. Psalm 116 is considered one of the great psalms in
Scripture. Some expositors even place it next to Psalm 23 in greatness. It is a
psalm of thanksgiving. Man is in distress and calls upon God, and God hears in
mercy. It is a love song.
Remember the Jews would sing
Psalm 113 and Psalm 114 before they partook of the Passover meal. They would
sing Psalm 116 after the meal. After the Lord Jesus had observed the Passover
with His disciples in the Upper Room, Matthew 26:30 tells us, “And when they
had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” Psalm 116 was
probably the “hymn” that Jesus sang that night as He went to Gethsemane to
pray. Keep that in mind as you read through this psalm that speaks of the past
sufferings of Christ in the presence of death.
It is a very personal psalm with
the writer referring to himself ("I," "my," and
"me") some 37 times in 16 verses. Indeed, only three verses have no
direct personal reference. Yet it is not a sinful preoccupation with self
because he also mentions the LORD (Jehovah) 15 times.
At a time when the psalmist
was "at rest" (v. 7), unscrupulous men whom he had trusted lied about
him (v. 11) and created trouble for him. In fact, their deception almost cost
him his life (vv. 3-4), but he called on the Lord and was saved from death (vv.
1-2). In expressing his praise to the Lord, the writer borrowed from other
psalms, especially Psalms 18, 27, 31, and 56, and it appears that he knew the
texts of King Hezekiah's prayer in Isaiah 37 and his psalm of thanksgiving in Isaiah
38.
At least four times the
psalmist said that he called upon the Lord. This is what Jesus did as He faced
Calvary in Gethsemane and even as He hung on the cross! My friend, we should do
the same as we face the trials and tribulations of life! This psalm assures us
that the LORD will hear and deliver us and we too can say, “I love the LORD,
because….”
God bless!
