Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications.
Verse 2Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
Verse 3The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish.
Verse 4Then I called on the name of the Lord: "O Lord, I pray, save my life!"
Verse 12What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me?
Verse 13I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord,
Verse 14I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
Verse 15Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.
Verse 16O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my bonds.
Verse 17I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord.
Verse 18I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people,
Verse 19in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!
Devotion
The Psalm needs to be read in its entirety: verses 1-4 express thanksgiving for God’s deliverance from some mortal danger; verses 5-7 express thanksgiving for God’s mercy; verses 8-11 express the steadfastness of the psalmist’s faith in the midst of mortal danger; verses 12-19 express the sacrificial response of the psalmist for God’s deliverance.
The psalm begins with a confession of faith that God has heard the voice of the psalmist. God’s ear has heard the cry, "O Lord, I pray, save my life!” From the deepest depths of death and Sheol, God has come to lay hold to the one who cries in anguish for deliverance.
The psalm concludes with a response of thanksgiving. Offerings and vows are appropriate human responses to God for loosing the bonds of death. God’s responsive love is for all who are in any danger; all people are precious in God’s sight. For all that God is and does, the psalmist concludes: "Praise the Lord!"
Prayer
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation! O my soul, praise him, for he is your health and salvation! Let the amen sound from his people again. Gladly forever adore him! (v.1 & v.4, LBW# 543, "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation") Amen.