USB ~ Psalms 116

Thanksgiving to God Who Saves from Death

1 I love the LORD, who listened to my voice in supplication,

2 Who turned an ear to me on the day I called.

3 I was caught by the cords of death;† a the snares of Sheol had seized me; I felt agony and dread.

4 Then I called on the name of the LORD, “O LORD, save my life!”

5 Gracious is the LORD and righteous; yes, our God is merciful. b

6 The LORD protects the simple; I was helpless, but he saved me.

7 Return, my soul, to your rest; the LORD has been very good to you. c

8 For my soul has been freed from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. d

9 I 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

11 I said in my alarm, “All men are liars!” g

12 How can I repay the LORD for all the great good done for me?

13 I will raise 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 † Dear in the eyes of the LORD is the death of his devoted. h

16 LORD, I am your servant, your servant, the child of your maidservant; i you have loosed my bonds.

17 I will offer a sacrifice of praise and call on the name of the LORD. j

18 I will pay my vows to the LORDk in the presence of all his people,

19 In 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.

Footnotes

†. 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.

116:3 Ps 18:5; Jon 2:3.
116:5 Ex 34:6.
116:7 Ps 13:6.
116:8 Ps 56:14; Is 25:8; Rev 21:4.
116:9 Ps 27:13; 56:14; Is 38:11.
116:10 2 Cor 4:13.
116:11 Ps 12:2.
116:15 Ps 72:14; Is 43:4.
116:16 Ps 86:16; 143:12; Wis 9:5.
116:17 Lv 7:12ff.
116:18 Jon 2:10.