Psalm 116

Love for the Lord for What He has Done

Psalm 116 is a part of the Egyptian Hallel and is a psalm of individual thanksgiving.  David recounts his deliverance by the Lord, and vows to praise Him publicly before all of His people.  The psalmist recounts a time of great distress and danger, which almost drove him to despair - but he made application to God in that distress.  He records his experience of God's goodness to him and answer to his prayer. 

 Have you ever felt that level of despair in your own life, with the heaviness of that recorded by David?  Do you ever think God doesn't hear you?  Remember verse 1:

Don't you love that truth!

We are reminded again in verse 6 of how God loves the humble! The psalmist uses the word "simple" - meaning sincere, upright, and without guile. 

The Lord preserves the simple;

I was brought low, and He saved me.~ Ps. 116:6

Even though he was king and the most powerful man in all of Israel, he recognized his "state" before the Lord and did not think too highly of himself.  May we all learn from David's example!

 A famous, and often-quoted verse in Psalm 116 is verse 15:

My Bible notes that 'precious' refers to costly, indicating that the life of the saint is valuable.  Of course our God would consider a life for whom the blood of His Son was spilt to be quite precious indeed!

Those who are redeemed with precious blood are so dear to God that even their deaths are precious to him.
~ Spurgeon

In verse 11, David admits that he has sinned with his tongue - he spoke in haste.  How many times have we regretted words spoken "off the cuff," before we had taken time to calm our spirits and speak with controlled emotions!  Spurgeon comments:

It is much better to be quiet when our spirit is disturbed and hasty, for it is so much easier to say than to unsay; we may repent of our words, but we cannot so recall them as to undo the mischief they have done. If even David had to eat his own words, when he spoke in a hurry, none of us can trust our tongue without a bridle.

Consider verse 12 in your own life:

What shall I render to the Lord

For all His benefits toward me?

What God wants most from His children is obedience - the outward actions of the trust in our hearts.  Our acts of obedience are visible affirmations that God's word can be trusted  . . . that we can obey in faith that God knows what He is doing.  Have you ever heard that saying:

God said it

I believe it

That settles it!

May we render obedience to the Lord, and like David, offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call upon His name. 

WHAT CAN I LEARN ABOUT GOD THROUGH THIS PSALM:

• God hears my voice and my supplication
• God is gracious, righteous, merciful
• God preserves the simple
• God has dealt bountifully with me
• The death off His saints is precious to God
• The Lord is due my thanksgiving

HOW CAN I PRAISE GOD THROUGH THIS PSALM:

• I praise the Lord that He hears my voice and my supplication; that He inclines His ear to me
• I bless God that He preserves the simple - that I don't have to "impress" Him
• I bless the Lord that He has dealt bountifully with me
• I praise God that death of His children is precious to Him - for they are ushered immediately into His presence
• I praise God that I can call upon His name  . . as long as I live!

PRAYER: - I love this thought expressed by Ruth Harms Calkin - it seems to me like a modern-day expression of something David might have penned during one of these low points in his life:

The End of the Rope

O dear God

I feel as though I am clinging

To a rough, swinging rope.

Beneath me there is only emptiness.

My hands are bruised and bleeding.

There is no possible way

For me to tie a knot

At the end of the rope

And hang on.

O God, please help me.

Frightened child,

Just let go.

I'll catch you.