116
📚I love the LORD, because he hasheard my voice and my
supplications.
116:1 There are two main themes of this psalm – God’s goodness and the psalmist’s response to it. God’s goodness is seen in hearing prayer (vs 1-4), in His gracious character revealed in His acts (vs 5,6), and in His work of deliverance (vs 8,9). The writer, experiencing God’s goodness, makes five resolutions:
he resolves to be a man of prayer as long as he lives (v 2),
to walk in God’s presence (v 9),
to take the cup of salvation (v 13),
to publicly fulfill the promise made to God (vs 14,18),
and to offer thanksgiving offerings (v 17).
Believers today in the light of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross can see God’s goodness even more clearly than the author of this psalm. And with him they should lovingly ask “How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me?” Love for God is the greatest of all qualities (Deut 6:4-6; Matt 22:36-38; 1 Cor 13:13). Love for God is a result of His love for us (1 John 4:10). He hears prayer, He delivers from trouble, He displays His great goodness toward us, and so we come to love Him more and more.⚜
2 📚Because he has bowed down
his ear to me,
I will call to him as long
as I live.
116:2 Answered prayer should encourage us to resolve as he did. See also Luke 18:1; Eph 6:18; 1 Thess 5:17.⚜
3 📚The cords of death surrounded me,
and the pains of the unseen world 📖
took hold of me.
I found trouble and sorrow.
4 📚Then I called on the name
of the LORD:
“O Lord, I beg you, rescue my soul!”
5 📚The LORD is gracious
and righteous;
yes, our God is merciful.
6 📚The LORD preserves the simple.
I was brought low, and he helped me.
116:6 The worldly wise and crafty may think they can look out for themselves; the childlike believer has God’s protection.⚜
7 📚Return to your rest, O my soul,
for the LORD has been good to you.
116:7 The believer’s rest is in God alone (Ps 62:1; 131:2; Matt 11:29; Heb 4:1). And we can encourage ourselves to experience that rest.⚜
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.
116:9 Here is the writer’s second resolution. Many walk for the eyes of other men, concerned only with what others may think and say. The believer should learn to walk in God’s presence to please Him alone. Compare 2 Cor 5:9.⚜
10 📚I believed, therefore I spoke.
I was greatly afflicted.
116:10 2 Cor 4:13. Believing does not mean believers will escape all troubles. Indeed, their troubles in this world may be increased because they trust in Christ – John 15:19; 16:33; Acts 14:22; Rom 8:17; 2 Cor 1:5; 4:17; Phil 1:29; 1 Pet 4:12-16.⚜
11 📚I said in my haste:
“All men are liars”.
12 📚What shall I do to repay
the LORD for all
his benefits toward me?
116:12 Let all we who have tasted the Lord’s goodness heartily ask this, and get God’s answer.⚜
13 📚I will take the cup 📖 of salvation,
and call on the name of the LORD.
116:13 Here is the writer’s third resolution.⚜
14 📚I will now fulfil my vows
to the LORD in
the presence of all his people.
15 📚Precious in the sight of the LORD
is the death of his saints.
116:15 God lovingly watches over the death of His people. He delights to have them released at last from the trials, pains, and troubles of this life. He gathers them to His bosom. Their death is precious to Him. What is precious in God’s sight should not be despised in ours. Let us imitate the apostle Paul in this – Phil 1:21-24; 2 Cor 5:1-5. How great the gospel of Christ that makes the death of believers precious to God and a gain to themselves!⚜
16 📚O LORD, truly I am
your servant;
I am your servant,
and the son of your
maid servant.
You have loosed my bonds.
17 📚I will offer to you the sacrifice
of thanksgiving,
and will call on the name of the LORD.
116:17 Here is the writer’s fifth resolution. Notes at Ps 7:17; 50:14-15; 56:12; Lev 7:12-13; Eph 5:20; 1 Thess 5:18.⚜
18 📚I will now fulfil my vows
to the LORD in the presence
of all his people,
19 📚In the courts of the LORD’s house,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the LORD 📖!
116:18-19 He wanted all to know God’s goodness to him. Anyone who is trying to be a secret believer should take such verses to heart.⚜