Psalm 116 — Calm, ‘cause God helped — Reading the Psalms

1 I love the LORD, because he hath heard
My voice and my supplications.
2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me,
Therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.
3 The cords of death compassed me,
And the pains of Sheol gat hold upon me
I found trouble and sorrow
4 Then called I upon the name of the LORD;
O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
Yea, our God is merciful.
6 The LORD preserveth the simple:
I was brought low, and he saved me.
7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul;
For the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.
8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death,
Mine eyes from tears,
And my feet from falling.
9 I will walk before the LORD
In the land of the living.
10 I believe, for I will speak:
I was greatly afflicted:
11 I said in my haste,
All men are a lie.
12 What shall I render unto the LORD
For all his benefits toward me?
13 I will take the cup of salvation,
And call upon the name of the LORD.
14 I will pay my vows unto the LORD,
Yea, in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of the LORD
Is the death of his saints.
16 O LORD, truly I am thy servant:
I am thy servant, the son of thine handmaid;
Thou hast loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And will call upon the name of the LORD.
18 I will pay my vows unto the LORD,
Yea, in the presence of all his people;
19 In the courts of the LORD’s house,
In the midst of thee, O Jerusalem.
Praise ye the LORD.

I love this psalm a lot. It has so much to say and I feel inadequate trying to read it. I do feel moved by it, even if I don’t understand everything it says. 

It is a psalm of comfort and trust. It is not written by one in the throes of calamity, but one who, through God’s grace, is on the other side of trouble. Sheol no longer holds the psalm ist in its clutches. The gracious & righteous Lord freed him, lifting the simple and lowly to a place of rest. The psalmist, refecting on his safe condition, works to reassure himself with the words of the psalm.

Comfort comes, then, by knowing how God saved us. Trust in a righteous savior feeds the psalmist’s hope for further safety. While in the plight of dismay we may speak recklessly about the people around us, yet in the lord may we find dependable security & deliverance. Thus, delivered, we are confident as servants of God, offering our praise & adoration in thanks.