Psalms

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PSALM 116^*

Thanksgiving to God Who Saves from Death

I

1I love the LORD, who listened

to my voice in supplication,

2Who turned an ear to me

on the day I called.

3I was caught by the cords of death;^*^a

the snares of Sheol had seized me;

I felt agony and dread.

4Then I called on the name of the LORD,

“O LORD, save my life!”

II

5Gracious is the LORD and righteous;

yes, our God is merciful.^b

6The LORD protects the simple;

I was helpless, but he saved me.

7Return, my soul, to your rest;

the LORD has been very good to you.^c

8For my soul has been freed from death,

my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.^d

9I shall walk before the LORD

in the land of the living.^*^e

III

10^*I kept faith, even when I said,

“I am greatly afflicted!”^f

11I said in my alarm,

“All men are liars!”^g

12How can I repay the LORD

for all the great good done for me?

13I will raise the cup of salvation^*

and call on the name of the LORD.

14I will pay my vows to the LORD

in the presence of all his people.

15^*Dear in the eyes of the LORD

is the death of his devoted.^h

16LORD, I am your servant,

your servant, the child of your maidservant;ⁱ

you have loosed my bonds.

17I will offer a sacrifice of praise

and call on the name of the LORD.^j

18I will pay my vows to the LORD^k

in the presence of all his people,

19In the courts of the house of the LORD,

in your midst, O Jerusalem.

Hallelujah!

* [Psalm 116] A thanksgiving in which the psalmist responds to divine rescue from mortal danger (Ps 116:3–4) and from near despair (Ps 116:10–11) with vows and Temple sacrifices (Ps 116:13–14, 17–19). The Greek and Latin versions divide the Psalm into two parts: Ps 116:1–9 and Ps 116:10–19, corresponding to its two major divisions.

* [116:3] The cords of death: death is personified here; it attempts to capture the psalmist with snares and nets, cf. Ps 18:6.

* [116:9] The land of the living: the phrase elsewhere is an epithet of the Jerusalem Temple (cf. Ps 27:13; 52:5; Is 38:11). Hence the psalmist probably refers to being present to God in the Temple.

* [116:10] I kept faith, even when I said: even in the days of despair, the psalmist did not lose all hope.

* [116:13] The cup of salvation: probably the libation of wine poured out in gratitude for rescue, cf. Ex 25:29; Nm 15:5, 7, 10.

* [116:15] Dear in the eyes of the LORD: the meaning is that the death of God’s faithful is grievous to God, not that God is pleased with the death, cf. Ps 72:14. In Wis 3:5–6, God accepts the death of the righteous as a sacrificial burnt offering.

a. [116:3] Ps 18:5; Jon 2:3.

b. [116:5] Ex 34:6.

c. [116:7] Ps 13:6.

d. [116:8] Ps 56:14; Is 25:8; Rev 21:4.

e. [116:9] Ps 27:13; 56:14; Is 38:11.

f. [116:10] 2 Cor 4:13.

g. [116:11] Ps 12:2.

h. [116:15] Ps 72:14; Is 43:4.

i. [116:16] Ps 86:16; 143:12; Wis 9:5.

j. [116:17] Lv 7:12ff.

k. [116:18] Jon 2:10.