Psalms 116:1-19

Psalms 116

DESCRIPTIVE TITLE

Individual Thanks for Deliverance from Peril of Death.

ANALYSIS

Stanza I., Psalms 116:1-4, With Profession of Love the Psalmist Describes his Peril and Prayer. Stanza II., Psalms 116:5-9, In Glowing Terms describes Jehovah's Answer. Stanza III., Psalms 116:10-14, Reviewing his Trial, he Desires to Return Public Thanks. Stanza IV., Psalms 116:15-19, The Costliness of Death Intensifies his Desire for Publicity in Thanksgiving.

(P.R.I.) Praise ye Yah.

1

I love

For Jehovah heareth my voice my supplications;

2

For he hath inclined his ear unto me,

and throughout my days will I call.[559]

[559] Or: invoke.

3

There encompassed me the meshes of death,

and the straits of hades overtook me;
distress and sorrow I found:

4

And with the name of Jehovah I called,[560]

[560] Or: invoked.

Ah now! Jehovah! oh rescue my soul!

5

Gracious[561] is Jehovah and righteous,

[561] Exodus 34:6.

and our God is compassionate; [561]

6

Preserver of the simple-minded is Jehovah:

I was brought low and to me he brought salvation.

7

Turn in O my soul to thine abiding rest,[562]

[562] Ml. restsprob. pl. of intensification.

for Jehovah hath dealt bountifully with thee

8

For he hath rescued my soul from death,

mine eyes from tears,

my foot from thrusts:[563]

[563] Cp. Psalms 56:13.

9

I will walk to and fro[564] before Jehovah,

[564] The Hithpa, -'ethhalek denotes a free and sprightly walking alongDel.

in the broad land[565] of the living.

[565] Ml. lands.

10

I have kept my faith so I will speak:

I was humbled greatly,

11

I said in mine alarm:

All mankind are a delusion![566]

[566] Cp. Isaiah 58:6.

12

How can I repay Jehovah

all his benefits upon me?

13

The cup of deliverances[567] will I lift,

[567] Or: a great salvation (pl. intensive).

and with the name of Jehovah will I call;

14

My vows to Jehovah will I pay,

may it be before all his people!

15

Costly in the eyes of Jehovah

is death to his men of kindness:

16

Ah now! Jehovah for I am thy servant,

I am thy servant the son of thy handmaid,
thou hast loosened my bonds.

17

To thee will I sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving,

and with the name of Jehovah will I call.

18

My vows to Jehovah will I pay,

may it be before all his people!

19

In the courts of the house of Jehovah,

in the midst of thee O Jerusalem!

(Nm.)[568]

[568] See Psalms 117 (beginning).

PARAPHRASE

Psalms 116

I love the Lord because He hears my prayers and answers them.
2 Because He bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I breathe!
3 Death stared me in the faceI was frightened and sad.
4 Then I cried, Lord, save me!
5 How kind He is! How good He is! So merciful, this God of ours!
6 The Lord protects the simple and the childlike: I was facing death and then He saved me.
7 Now I can relax. For the Lord has done this wonderful miracle for me.
8 He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
9 I shall live! Yes, in His presencehere on earth!
10, 11 In my discouragement I thought, They are lying when they say I will recover.[569]

[569] Literally, the cup of salvation i.e., the thank-offering of wine for saving me.

12 But now what can I offer Jehovah for all He has done for me?
13 I will bring Him an offering of wine[570] and praise His name.

[570] Literally, I said in my alarm, all men are liars.

14 I will publicly bring Him the sacrifice I vowed I would.
15 His loved ones are very precious to Him and He does not lightly let them die.[571]

[571] Literally, Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. See context for validity of the paraphrase.

16 O Lord, You have freed me from my bonds and I will serve you forever.
17 I will worship You and offer You a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
18, 19 Here in the courts of the Temple in Jerusalem, before all the people, I will pay everything I vowed to the Lord, Praise the Lord.

EXPOSITION

The personal note running through this psalm is so clearly that of an individual as distinguished from the people (Psalms 116:14; Psalms 116:18), and so vividly recalls the known experiences of King Hezekiah, that we may fairly be excused from going any further in quest of the probable author. The modernisation of the original language to suit a later time (to which critics call attention), is so well within the editorial freedoms known to have been taken by the ancient Sopherim, as not to raise an argument in favour of a later origin. Starting from the presumption that Hezekiah wrote this psalm, we soon meet with indications confirming this conclusion; and those indications afford help to the more complete understanding of this deeply experimental composition.

The opening line has greatly puzzled critics by reason of its abruptness. May not that abruptness,probably amounting to a broken construction,be best accounted for as a manifestation of overwhelming affection? I love, says the writer, and then as good as saysHow MUCH I love, let the following song reveal. The circumstance that he presently uses language closely akin to that which stands at the opening of Psalms 18, to which we have already seen cause to think Hezekiah prefixed a line expressive of tender affection, makes us the more persuaded that this psalm is his.

Then, too, there is a line further on (Psalms 116:11) which, even as conceived in bitter disappointment, seemsas usually translatedto contribute very little to general edification. It is quite true that either Hezekiah, or any other tried saint, might by repeated betrayals have been tempted to conclude that All men are false. But if we put this to the test, by asking whether it is likely that Hezekiah, either as prince or king, had ever been so utterly bankrupt of trusty friends as this utterance of despair seems to imply,we are compelled to admit it to be very unlikely indeed. So, apprehending some error in translation, we hail from the pen of Aglen, in Ellicott's Commentary, the suggestion of quite a different turn to the passage: In an ecstasy of despair, I said, The whole race of mankind is a delusion.-' And againOnce in distrust I thought that God did not care for man, and that the whole of humanity was a failure. Well, take this hint, and transplant it into the circumstances of Hezekiah; and then say, whether it does not savour of a very possible temptation. Childless, facing death, the Davidic heirship and covenant in peril of extinction and dishonour; and if the promise to David fail, where will be that to Abraham; what will become of the promise to the Race? Is not the whole race of mankind a delusion? Diseased thought, illogical, gratuitous? Yes! butas a temptation, to be afterwards recalled with shame, and only to be divulged when faith has consciously revived,is it not possible, with a verisimilitude which remarkably well fits the extraordinary circumstances?

Once more: there are those singular linesCostly in the eyes of Jehovah Is death to his men of kindness (Psalms 116:15). A glimmer of their meaning has dawned on several commentators; but how that meaning is intensified when the lines are put into a Hezekian setting! It is no light thing, says Perowne, in the sight of God that his servants should perish. With clearer apprehension, Delitzsch observes: The death of His saints is not cheap to God; He does not lightly suffer matters to come to such a pass; He does not suffer His own to be torn from Him by death. True, in no case, can it be said that his saints are torn from him by death, since their spirits return to him, and remain in his safe-keeping; nevertheless, they are certainly torn from his kingdom here on earth; and the point is that he rightly estimates the sacrifice. It is a costly process to let them die as they do: their service is lost, their praises are hushed, their complete personalities are in abeyance until the Resurrection. To forget this would be to unlearn and practically contradict the close of the psalm (115) we so lately studied; and it would be prematurely, yea and violently, to cut ourselves adrift from the keen and clear perception possessed by Hezekiah himself, as seen in Isaiah 38:18-19, that it is the especial function of THE LIVINGnot of the deadto praise Jehovah. Reverting to the costliness of death in the eyes of Jehovah,two reflections appeal to us forcibly: How incalculable is the price which Jehovah is paying by permitting so many generations of his saintly ones to diemust it not be with a view to some commensurate end? And, again, if Jehovah counts costly the death of his ordinary, imperfect men of kindness; how costly does he reckon the death of Him who was the perfect reflection of this love and who He raised from the dead?

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.

This is a very personal psalm, Who wrote it?

2.

How has the apparent abruptness of the opening of the psalm been explained?

3.

Rotherham seems to think verse eleven expresses a thought not compatible with the experience of Hezekiah (or anyone else). What is the thought? Do you agree?

4.

There seems to be much indication of a lack (or at best fluctuating) of faith in the psalms, Why so? We either believe or we do not believe. Discuss.

5.

Psalms 116:15 offers a good proof-text for the death of some faithful, fruitful servant of the Lord. The death of His saints is not cheap to God. Discuss this beautiful thought. Read Isaiah 38:18-19.