Song of Thanksgiving

Psalms 116:1–14
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Any housewife knows that the best way to remember the things she meant to do and forgot, is to start praying. They will come to her mind, to divert her from prayer. (Quote from Vance Havner). … More

Prayer

We cannot be sure when this psalm was written. Some Bible scholars think it was written by Hezekiah when childless, facing death, and with the Davidic line therefore in peril of extinction. It was a very personal psalm where the writer refers to himself 37 times. Yet it is not sinful in preoccupation with self as he mentions the Lord Jehovah 15 times. He expresses:

1. Gratitude (vv. 1-9).

In his opening statement he states. “I love the Lord” (v. 1). God loves us because love is what He is. It is not what we are but what He is that makes Him love us. With us it is “I love the Lord because He hath heard (v. 2).”

(a) Because of the danger he had experienced (vv. 1-4). “Then called I upon the name of the Lord, I beseech Thee, deliver my soul” (vv. 3-4). He does not explain what this danger was but shares his overflowing gratitude for the faithfulness of God.

(b) Because of the deliverance he had experienced (vv. 5-9). “Gracious is the Lord and righteous; yea our God is merciful, the Lord preserves the simple: I was brought low, and He helped me” (vv. 5-6). This was a word to his Savior.

2. Grief (vv. 10-11).

(a) Because of what he had suffered “I was greatly afflicted” (v. 10). It’s not stated what his affliction was.

(b) Because of what he had said “I said in my haste, ‘All men are liars” (v. 11). Most of us have spoken in haste like that. We say things we shouldn’t say and then wish we could take back our words. Now it grieved the psalmist, and he was sorry.

He states his thoughts about life in the future as it pertains to duty “What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me,” (vv. 12-14)

Application

The writers love for the Lord had grown because he had experienced answers to his prayers. This teaches us how to die gracefully. If I become discouraged, I need to remember that God is near and listening carefully to every prayer. In fact, I just need to remember the many, many prayers that God has answered in my lifetime, Prayer changes things!

Psalms 116:1-14 (English Standard Version)

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