READ PSALM 116
Psalm 116:1-4
I love the LORD, because he has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
Then I called on the name of the LORD:
“O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!”
16-19
O LORD, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.
You have loosed my bonds.
I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the LORD.
I will pay my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people,
in the courts of the house of the LORD,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the LORD!
What a wonderful Psalm, showing us the interaction between the writer and God.
The author is grateful because the LORD has heard his voice. The Lord has responded to his call. There is no doubt that the writer was going through a hard time. He suffered distress and anguish, but his difficulties brought him closer to God. God sends us difficulties to bring us closer to Him. Our reactions display what is in our heart; they make evident what we believe about God. We should be grateful for the times when our hearts are exposed and we have an opportunity to come closer to God. The psalmist has experienced the loving response of God and now he is responding to that love by stating that he will call and rely on God for as long as he lives.
1 John 4:16-19
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.
We have had the privilege of knowing God’s love. Without God revealing Himself to us, we would have no ability to know Him or love Him. Without God’s love, we would also have no ability to love anyone the way God wants us to love.
Psalm 116:5-9
Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
The LORD preserves the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
Return, O my soul, to your rest;
for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling;
I will walk before the LORD
in the land of the living.
The psalmist goes on to remind us that the God he called upon is righteous and merciful. The LORD did not respond to a wise and mighty person, but to a simple man who had been brought to a low position.
False religions require man to merit the attention of their gods; man has to rise up to meet the standards of the man-made gods. The God of the Bible loves to rescue those who recognize their inabilities and their needs.
We are blessed when God brings us to a state of complete dependence upon Him. God is the one Who delivers us from eternal death, Who dries our tears, and keeps us from falling. So often our circumstances cause us to lose perspective of what God is doing in our lives. As I look back in my life, I can see many heartaches and sins that I could have avoided, if I had taken the time to recognize the work of God and had found consolation in Him.
The psalmist states that he continued to believe, even during the afflictions.
Psalm 116:10-11
I believed, even when I spoke:
“I am greatly afflicted”;
I said in my alarm,
“All mankind are liars.”
Every time we go through difficulties and hardships, there is a temptation to listen the world. The writer chose to listen to God and to reject every dissonant voice of men.
We are often faced with the choice of listening to the world or listening to the Word of God. Our reaction needs to be one of total consecration.
Psalm 116:12-14
What shall I render to the LORD
for all his benefits to me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD,
I will pay my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people.
The psalmist was resolute in his decision. He was going to consecrate his life to the God Whom he had called upon. His consecration was visible to all men. The only response possible was complete consecration and obedience.
When we are going through difficult times, is our dependence on God visible to those around us? Are we peacefully dependent upon the God of our salvation?
The writer had probably been saved from physical death, but he does not forget that there is a wonderful privilege in being in the presence of God.
Psalm 116:15
Precious in the sight of the LORD
is the death of his saints.
The apostle Paul knew this very clearly.
Philippians 1:21
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Our reactions, our goals, our attitudes, our sins so often show that we do not live in light of eternity. We are so attracted by and rooted in the things of this world. We should be ecstatic that the God of the universe finds pleasure in having us, His children, in His presence.
The writer ends the psalm reminding us that he has called upon the LORD Who has listened. He has trusted the character of his Savior and found great consolation. And he now lives a consecrated life to Him.
May this be the way we go through our difficulties: putting our lives in the hands of God, trusting His character, finding consolation in His care, knowing that He longs to have us with Him, but knowing that while we are on earth, we are to live in total consecration and dependence upon Him.
The psalm ends with: “Praise the Lord”! May we praise Him at all times.
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