Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 116:1-2, 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 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
Have you ever been so overwhelmed by a gift someone gave you that you were simply speechless? Perhaps it was something so lovely or precious that you couldn’t imagine that it would be handed to you. Perhaps it was the answer to a worry you secretly carried within your heart. As we enter the final, holy hours before Christ’s death, we are reminded that God knows our deepest hunger and our most profound longings.
Prayer
What can I say or do, O God, to express my great thanks to you? Help me now to simply be quiet in your presence, grateful for the gift of salvation and life given in Jesus Christ. I pray in His name. Amen.