The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came over me; I was overcome by distress and sorrow. 3 b The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. 2 Because he has turned his ear to me, But most Bible students think that Psalm 116 is just one psalm, all by the same *psalmist. The Court of Women (open to Israelite women). He might have been in danger of death (v. 3), but his comments about the “cords of death” could be a metaphor for some other sort of peril. A vow is a solemn promise to God, often made as part of a bargain where the petitioner promises a specific action in return for a blessing from God. But the context of this verse suggests something else––something less self-serving. 4 Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Psalm 116 Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary. The word hannun means gracious or merciful. for Yahweh has dealt bountifully with you. therefore I will call on him as long as I live. “You have freed me from my chains” (v. 16b). The word saddiq means just or righteous. Psalms 116:2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. Jehovah is gracious and just; our God is merciful. Doing good is sacrifice, with which God is well pleased; and this must accompany giving thanks to his name. In addition to these audio and video commentaries, you can review the available text commentaries. (1-9) His desire to be thankful. That began to change in the two or three centuries before Jesus. 3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon […] Yahweh counts saints as precious, because they are members of his family––loved ones. Deliverance from death is obviously significant, but deliverance from tears and fall is equally significant. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. Pride stands in the way of listening to wise counsel. and my feet from falling. The psalmist believed in Yahweh, and that gave him confidence to face his adversities. Psalms 116:2. 3  (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2016), Tate, Marvin E., Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 51-100 (Dallas: Word Books, 1990), Waltner, James H., Believers Church Bible Commentary: Psalms (Scottdale, Pennsylvania: Herald Press, 2006), Baker, Warren (ed. Commentary, Psalm 116:1-9, James K. Mead, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2018. By redemption. “Yahweh preserves the simple” (Hebrew: peti) (v. 6a). The Hebrew word yah is an abbreviated form of Yahweh (the name of God, often translated “the Lord.”)  It is found twice in Exodus (15:2; 17:16), once in Isaiah (38:11), and a number of times in the Psalms. Such are true saints of God, in whose lives and deaths he will be glorified. Psa 116 . But oddly enough, after acknowledging his servitude, the psalmist also acknowledges his God-given freedom. The psalmist says that, because Yahweh turned his ear to him––made a special effort to hear him––the psalmist will continue to call on Yahweh for as long as the psalmist lives. Psalm 116 . I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. The offering had to be eaten the same day. He understands that he has received much from Yahweh, but has nothing equivalent to give in return. 19 in the courts of Yahweh’s house, What does he have that Yahweh needs? Audio Commentary: Psalm 116 Psalm 116 1 I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. “Then I called on the name of Yahweh” (v. 4a). Since Yahweh has saved his life, the psalmist pledges to walk before Yahweh “in the land of the living”––while the psalmist is alive. and my cries for mercy. Psalm 116:1–9. Login or Create an Account. Posted on Jan 18, 2006 by Beyond Today Editor Estimated reading time: 10 minutes. People who are riding high are seldom good candidates for repentance. 1 I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. It means identifying oneself with the Lord in such a way that one’s own identity is tied together with the Lord’s identity. So the psalmist is describing his anguish at the thought of his impending death. 3 The cords of death surrounded me, Matthew Henry :: Commentary on Psalms 116 ← Back to Matthew Henry's Bio & Resources . The writer celebrates the deliverance from extreme perils by which he was favored, and pledges grateful and pious public acknowledgments. “Praise (Hebrew: hallel) Yah!” (Hebrew: yah) (v. 19b). (10-19). “I will walk before Yahweh in the land of the living” (v. 9). This is a psalm of individual thanksgiving. Some die young, and others die old. The phrase, “the son of your handmaid,” emphasizes both the psalmist’s double and his perpetual servitude. 16 Yahweh, truly I am your servant. Is not the affliction amply repaid by the joy of returning strength and the sense of newness of life and power. The people of that time and place thought of names as more than labels. Matthew Henry’s Bible Commentary (concise), Matthew Henry Bible Commentary (complete), California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. He prayed and Yahweh heard, so the psalmist will continue to pray in the hope and expectation that the God who heard once will hear him again. I didn’t know that I should swim parallel to the shore to get out of the rip tide. 116:11b). Our best is unworthy of his acceptance; yet we ought to devote ourselves and all we have to his service. 4:13, but the MT is uncertain. Having experienced bountiful blessings at Yahweh’s hands, the psalmist can retreat to a safe place––a place where he not have to fear the enemy’s assaults––a place where he will no longer feel beleaguered. from the words "and abundant in goodness and truth" onwards. Psalm 116:1. The psalmist is calling on the name of Yahweh as a way of honoring Yahweh for the blessing of salvation that Yahweh has bestowed on him. The proud person is likely to feel “self-made”––and thus feels no obligation to God or man. “I found trouble and sorrow” (v. 3c). This psalm reveals the heart of a passionate man, so we can imagine him pleading passionately for God’s mercy. “and my cries for mercy” (Hebrew: tahanun) (v. 1b). yes, in the presence of all his people. "It seems fitting that a service in which Psalm 116 is the sermon text would create the time and space for worshipers to offer testimony to answered prayer and to intercede for those who are still waiting for … Lord, I was born in thy house; I am the son of thine handmaid, and therefore thine. The word ‘aman means to have the confidence that comes from depending on a reliable resource, such as a loving parent––or Yahweh. In these verses, the psalmist paints a picture of desperation. ), Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2000), Mounce, William D., (ed. Because thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine … The Court of Priests (restricted to priests). 3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. With a UCG.org account you will be able to save items to read and study later! Psalms 116:1 I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. yes, in the presence of all his people. While the psalmist believed in Yahweh, he determined that he couldn’t believe in men. The word sama means hear or listen––but in this context it obviously means more. I am your servant, the son of your handmaid. Unlike Psalm 118, however, Psalm 116 contains no elements of a communal hymn. 5. It means the grave or death (Genesis 37:35; 42:38, etc.). (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006-2009), VanGemeren, Willem A. The psalmist may be considering decisions that led him to his woebegone status. Let those who labour and are heavy laden come to him, that they may find rest to their souls; and if at all drawn from their rest, let them haste to return, remembering how bountifully the Lord has dealt with them. He may have in mind ropes or nets that he has used to ensnare game. Yet there may be true faith where there are workings of unbelief; but then faith will prevail; and being humbled for our distrust of God's word, we shall experience his faithfulness to it. I will take the cup of salvation; I will offer the drink-offerings appointed by the law, in token of thankfulness to God, and rejoice in God's goodness to me. Ps. ), The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, 5 vol. But God sent a man who had trained as a lifeguard to swim to me and pull me to shore. When the psalmist prays for Yahweh to deliver his soul, he is really asking for Yahweh to save his life. “I was brought low, and (Yahweh) saved me” (v. 6b). The Israelites thought of the person holistically, and would never have divided the person into body and soul, as the Greeks were later to do. Sign In | Sign Up × Vowing service to God in thanks for His deliverance . 116:10 can be seen in 2 Cor. If so, the context of this Psalm is not sickness but treachery (cf. But he is not only a servant, but the son of a servant––Yahweh’s handmaid. The cup of consolation; I will receive the benefits God bestows upon me, as from his hand, and taste his love in them, as the portion not only of mine inheritance in the other world, but of my cup in this. Psalms 116, Coffman Commentaries on the Bible, One of over 110 Bible commentaries freely available, this commentary, by the leading authority in the Church of Christ, presents a verse level look at the Bible. 14b (Downers Grove, Illinois:  Inter-Varsity Press, 1973), Limburg, James, Westminster Bible Companion: Psalms (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2000, Mays, James Luther, Interpretation: Psalms (Louisville: John Knox, 1994), McCann, J. Clinton, Jr., The New Interpreter’s Bible: The Book of Psalms, Vol. “Because he has turned his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live” (v. 2). I found trouble and sorrow. To call upon the name of the Lord, then, means something more than appealing for relief from a crisis. 14 I will pay my vows to Yahweh, The thanksgiving offering required the sacrifice of an animal as well as an offering of unleavened cakes and wafers mixed with oil” (Leviticus 7:12). The old Greek Bible does this. In his song of praise, he recalls the many troubles and sorrows he has already encountered and how gracious and compassionate the Lord has been to him – the Lord heard his cry for help and the Lord rescued him from death and despair. Verse 6b makes this certain. The psalmist says, “I was brought low, and (Yahweh) saved me.”. 5 Yahweh is Gracious and righteous. Jehovah guards the simple; I was brought low, and he saved me. For me, it was getting caught in a rip tide that carried me so far from shore that boats passing between me and the shore didn’t see me. Psalms 116 Commentary, One of over 110 Bible commentaries freely available, this one volume concise commentary provides a condensed look at nearly every verse in the Bible The bonds thou hast loosed shall tie me faster unto thee. Some saints die as martyrs, and others die in bed. 8 For you have delivered my soul from death, The Court of the Gentiles (open to Gentiles). my voice and my pleas for mercy. Assuming that האמנתּי and אמרתּי in Psalm 116:11 stand on the same line in point of time, it seems that it must be interpreted I had faith, for I spake (was obliged to speak); but אדבר, separated from האמנתי by כי, is opposed to the colouring relating to the contemporaneous past. Pastor Mike Schreib (2017-06-25)Bible Baptist Church International, CAhttp://www.bbcinternational.org Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. That’s what the psalmist is determined to do. The psalmist doesn’t spell out the nature of the peril except that it was extreme. Hasiyd means kind, merciful, or pious––i.e., those whose lives manifest their deep faith in Yahweh––those who have determined to allow Yahweh and Yahweh’s law to shape their lives. Praise Yah! The psalmist believed in Yahweh even in the midst of great afflictions. “Yes, our God is merciful”  (Hebrew: raham) (v. 5b). We do not know when the *psalmist wrote Psalm 116. Yahweh not only heard the psalmist’s plea for mercy, but also did something to save him. It is a great mercy to be kept from being swallowed up with over-much sorrow. “The cords of death surrounded me” (v. 3a). “Yahweh, truly I am your servant. Psalms 113 and 114 are read before the meal; Psalm 115-118 are read at its conclusion, while drinking the fourth cup of celebratory wine. This is Psalm 116: "I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Or he might have known a fisherman who fell out of his boat and became entrapped in his own net. The psalmist’s question is rhetorical. A cup is a vessel from which one drinks. I will receive the cup of affliction; that cup, that bitter cup, which is sanctified to the saints, so that to them it is a cup of salvation; it is a means of spiritual health. The Deliverance-Experience (Psalms 116:1-9) 2. 2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. 6. Let us all speak of God as we have found him; and have we ever found him otherwise than just and good? It is a great mercy to be children of godly parents. (General Editor), New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis, 5 vol., (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), All Rights Reserved | © 1997-2020 Richard Niell Donovan. The psalmist paints vivid pictures in this verse. “I will take the cup of salvation” (v. 13a). The Court of Israelites (open to ritually pure Israelite men). But there is one thing that the psalmist can do. 10 I believed, therefore I said, 7. 4 (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996), Ross, Allen P., A Commentary on the Psalms, 90-150, Vol. The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. Ps 116:1-19. What can the pardoned sinner, or what can those who have been delivered from trouble or distress, render to the Lord for his benefits? As such, even if his father should gain freedom, as the son of a handmaid, the psalmist would remain a servant (Exodus 21:4). Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. John Calvin comments on today’s passage that the distress of the psalmist “was removed from him, because he felt that God was indeed propitious towards him.” Knowing that the Lord has good things for His people and is eager to hear us is an encouragement for us to call out to Him, and His deliverance gives us further reason to love and worship Him. 17 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving, The "rest" of Ps. I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. I Love the LORD - I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. 116 I y love the L ord, because he has z heard. Psalms 116:4 Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. This is one of those passages in Psalms where the writer has enjoyed deliverance from peril by the hand of Jehovah. , ‘ all men are liars ' ” ( v. 3 ). ” paints a of... 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