Psalm 116
English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio Bible
1 I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
2 Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”
5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
6 The Lord preserves the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your rest;
for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling;
9 I will walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
10 I believed, even when I spoke,
“I am greatly afflicted”;
11 I said in my alarm,
“All mankind are liars.”
12 What shall I render to the Lord
for all his benefits to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord,
14 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his saints.
16 O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.
You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 116 is thanksgiving the Psalmist (and when we read God’s living word, it is you) responds to divine rescue from mortal danger and from near despair with vows promised to God. Rejoice you will walk with God in the land of the living. A strong reason to rejoice! God is living and active. He hears our prayers with mercy for this life. And we have eternal life in Jesus Christ with Him.
I kept faith, even when I said: even in the days of despair, the Psalmist does not lose all hope! Faith pleases God.
Verse 15 Too costly in the eyes of the LORD: the meaning is death of God's faithful is grievous to God, not that God is pleased with the death. God wept when Lazarus died and He returned Lazarus to the living. God did not rejoice Jesus, His Son, had to die, yet He loved us enough to have atonement for our reconciliation to God. God calls us to holiness; and He has explained His ways are not our ways.
When we look for proof of wind, all we are able to see is the leaves move in the wind. The proof is the effect:
The Holy Spirit carried men along, moving and guiding them as they wrote in their own words what God wanted them to say. Although the Bible was written on perishable material and copied by hand for many centuries, its accuracy is not in doubt, proven by Dead Sea Scrolls and papyrus from 2,000 years. The Bible has survived persecution & criticism to be read with great interest in each generation. The Bible gives witness to the greatness of the Creator. A loving Father concerned for all of his creation. The Church of Jesus Christ has prevailed for 2,000 years against all the doubts, skeptics, haters and will continue until the return of Jesus Christ. This occurs with the love, protection and truth of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
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