Psalm 116

Introduction

In the previous psalm, the psalmist said about the gods of the nations that they have mouths, but cannot speak; and they have eyes, but cannot see; and they have ears, but they cannot hear; and they have noses, but cannot smell; and they have hands, but they cannot feel; and they have feet, but cannot walk. The gods of the nations can do nothing. But our God, the Lord, is able to save his people. And that’s what today’s psalm is about, because in this psalm, the psalmist gives thanks to the Lord for rescuing him from death.

We can divide the psalm into three parts: verses 1 to 4; verses 5 to 11; and verses 12 to 19. In the first part he declares that he loves the Lord who rescued him. In the second part he describes what the Lord his God is like. And in the third part he says he will offer grateful praise to the Lord in the assembly of his people.

Verses 1 to 4

And so, in the first part, he declares that he loves the Lord who rescued him.

‘I love the Lord,’ he announces in verse 1. And why does he love him? It’s because the Lord heard his voice and his cry for mercy. So, when he was in trouble, when his life was in peril, he called on the Lord and cried out to him for mercy and help. And the Lord heard him. He paid attention to him. He turned his ear to the psalmist. So, instead of disregarding his cry, the Lord turned to hear what he was saying.

And, of course, not only did the Lord listen, but he responded to his cry. We talk about first responders these days: people who are the first to respond to an accident or incident and who are trained o help in an emergency. But the Lord our God is the original first responder. When the psalmist was in need, the Lord responded to him. And since that’s the case, the psalmist resolves in verse 2 to call on the Lord as long as he lives. In this line, the word ‘call’ means ‘worship’. He will call on the Lord in worship for as long as he lives. He is resolved to worship the Lord always.

And then he recalls what happened. He says the cords of death entangled him. Death is depicted as a hunter who has got a rope or net around him. And he says that the anguish of the grave came upon him. This is the anguish of a man who knows that the grave is near, because he’s close to death. He says that he was overcome by trouble and sorrow. And that’s when he called on the name of the Lord. In this line, the word ‘call’ means call for help. He called to the Lord for help. ‘O Lord, save me!’, he cried. And as we just read in verses 1 and 2, when he called on the Lord, the Lord responded to his cry.

The gods of the nations have ears, but they cannot hear. And while the Lord our God does not have ears, because he’s a spirit and does not possess a body, nevertheless even though he does not have ears, he’s able to hear and he’s willing to answer his people when we cry out to him for help.

Verses 5 to 11

And in the second part of the psalm, the psalmist describes what the Lord his God is like.

He says about him in verse 5 that the Lord is gracious and righteous and he’s full of compassion. Being gracious, he’s willing to help us even though we don’t deserve it. Being righteous, he always does what is right or he always acts in accordance with his covenant promise to be our God and to take care of us. And being compassionate, he’s willing to show us mercy and help.

The Lord also protects the simple-hearted. The simple-hearted are helpless people. They don’t have any means to protect themselves. But the Lord is willing to protect them. And so, when the psalmist was helpless, when he was in great need, the Lord saved him.

And in verse 7 we have one of those occasions when the psalmist addresses his soul. In other words, he addresses himself. So, when he was afraid, he told himself to be at rest. Relax! Don’t worry. Don’t upset yourself. Take it easy. And he’s able to relax now, because the Lord has been good to him and the danger has passed.

And the danger has passed, because the Lord has delivered him from death. That’s in verse 8. And the Lord has delivered his eyes from tears and his feet from stumbling so that he might walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Now that God has rescued him, he’s determined to walk with the Lord all the days of his life. He will devote himself to God.

The psalmist understands that the way to show our gratitude for all that the Lord has done for us is by obeying him. Obedience is our grateful response to God’s grace and mercy. The way we demonstrate our thankfulness for his mercy to us is by walking in his ways and by doing his will.

In verse 10 the psalmist says, ‘I believed; therefore I said, I am greatly afflicted.’ I think what he means is that since he trusted in God’s grace and mercy, then he cried out to the Lord about his affliction. If we think that no-one cares about us, then we won’t cry out. After all, what’s the point in calling for help if there’s no one to hear us. But because the psalmist trusted in the Lord, he cried out to him about his suffering.

And he also believed that the Lord was trustworthy, whereas all men are liars. That’s in verse 11. He’s saying that people are unreliable. He can’t count on human help. People might have said that they’ll help him , but they only let him down. But the Lord is not a liar. He’s trustworthy. He’s faithful. You can count on him.

Verses 12 to 19

We come now to the final part of the psalm in verses 12 to 19 where he says he will offer grateful praise to the Lord in the assembly of God’s people.

He asks himself in verse 12 how he can repay the Lord for all his goodness. God’s salvation is free, of course. God graciously and freely saves his people. We don’t have to pay for it. And so, the psalmist means how can he show his gratitude to the Lord? How can he thank him? And one way to show his gratitude is by lifting up the cup of salvation and calling on the name of the Lord. That’s in verse 13. Old Testament believers could offer a range of sacrifices to God and one of them was a drink offering. And so, the psalmist will present a drink offering to the Lord. And at the same time he will call out to him in praise and worship.

In this way he will fulfil his vow to the Lord. That’s in verse 14. When God’s Old Testament people were in trouble or in need, they might vow to offer a sacrifice to the Lord if he saves them. And so, they psalmist is saying that he will fulfil his vow to the Lord by lifting up the cup of salvation as a drink offering to the Lord in the presence of God’s people. In this way, he will bear witness publicly to what the Lord has done for him. He will declare God’s praises to the people so that they too will trust in the Lord.

In verse 15 he says that the death of the Lord’s people is precious in God’s sight. So, God is not indifferent to our death. Our lives are precious to him. And that’s why the Lord is willing to save us from death.

And in verse 16 the psalmist affirms his loyalty to the Lord who has saved him. He says that he is God’s servant and the son of his maidservant. In Exodus 21:4 it says that if a servant’s master gives him a wife and she bears him a child, the woman and the child belong to the master and not to the servant. And while the servant can be set free, his wife and child may not. They are servants of the master for life. That’s perhaps the idea behind verse 16. Since the psalmist is the son of God’s maidservant, then he’s God’s servant for life. He’s willing to serve the Lord always.

And he’s willing to do so, because look: the Lord has freed him from his chains. Because God has rescued him from the chains of death, he’s willing to serve the Lord. So, we display our gratitude to God for his kindness to us, not only by worshipping him, but by serving him. We express our gratitude by praising him and by obeying him.

And once again, he says he will offer a thank-offering to the Lord and he will call on him in worship. In this way, he will fulfil his vow in public and declare to the whole assembly of God’s people in Jerusalem that the Lord is trustworthy and good.

And the psalm ends with ‘Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!’ Praise the Lord who is gracious and righteous and full of compassion and who protects the simple-hearted and who rescues his people from death.

Conclusion

The psalmist praises God for rescuing him from death. There’s no indication in the psalm whether he was in danger because of an illness or because of enemies. However, the reason for the danger does not matter. What matters is that the Lord was willing to hear his cry and to save him. And whenever we’re in trouble, we should cry to the Lord for help. He has helped us in the past and he will help us again, because our God is unchangeably gracious and righteous and full of compassion.

And our proper response to his kindness to us is to praise him and to obey him. We’re to worship him and we’re to walk in his ways all the days of our life.

But the psalm also points forward to the resurrection, doesn’t it? At the resurrection, God will save us from death by raising our dead bodies from the grave and by re-uniting them with our souls so that we will live with him in body and soul for ever and for ever. And for ever and for ever we will worship him in the great assembly, joining our voices with all of the redeemed to give thanks to God for saving us from everlasting death and for giving us everlasting life in his presence.

And we know that God will raise us from the dead, because he has already raised Christ our Saviour from the dead. The cords of death entangled him. The anguish of the grave came upon him. He was overcome by trouble and sorrow when he hung and died on the cross. But his Heavenly Father heard his voice and his cry for mercy. And his Father saved him from death and the grave and exalted him to the highest place to live for ever as one of us.

And just as Christ was raised from the dead, so all who believe in his name will be raised. Though we deserve to die, because the wages of sin is death, nevertheless Christ has paid for our sins with his life. And so, we will be raised like him to live for ever.