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Psalm 116

Thanksgiving for Recovery from Illness

I love the L ord, because he has heard

my voice and my supplications.

Because he inclined his ear to me,

therefore I will call on him as long as I live.

The snares of death encompassed me;

the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;

I suffered distress and anguish.

Then I called on the name of the L ord:

“O L ord, I pray, save my life!”

Gracious is the L ord, and righteous;

our God is merciful.

The L ord protects the simple;

when I was brought low, he saved me.

Return, O my soul, to your rest,

for the L ord has dealt bountifully with you.

For you have delivered my soul from death,

my eyes from tears,

my feet from stumbling.

I walk before the L ord

in the land of the living.

I kept my faith, even when I said,

“I am greatly afflicted”;

I said in my consternation,

“Everyone is a liar.”

What shall I return to the L ord

for all his bounty to me?

I will lift up the cup of salvation

and call on the name of the L ord,

I will pay my vows to the L ord

in the presence of all his people.

Precious in the sight of the L ord

is the death of his faithful ones.

O L ord, I am your servant;

I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.

You have loosed my bonds.

I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice

and call on the name of the L ord.

I will pay my vows to the L ord

in the presence of all his people,

in the courts of the house of the L ord,

in your midst, O Jerusalem.

Praise the L ord!

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

16 Come, O Jehovah! because I am thy servant. As, in the former verse, he gloried that in him God had given an example of the paternal regard which he has for the faithful, so here he applies, in an especial manner, to himself the general doctrine, by declaring that his fetters had been broken, in consequence of his being included among the number of God’s servants. He employs the term fetters, as if one, with hands and feet bound, were dragged by the executioner. In assigning, as the reason of his deliverance, that he was God’s servant, he by no means vaunts of his services, but rather refers to God’s unconditional election; for we cannot make ourselves his servants, that being an honor conferred upon us solely by his adoption. Hence David affirms, that he was not God’s servant merely, but the son of his handmaid. “From the womb of my mother, even before I was born, was this honor conferred upon me.” He therefore presents himself as a common example to all who shall dedicate themselves to the service of God, and place themselves under his protection, that they may be under no apprehension for their safety while they have him for their defense.

17. I will sacrifice the sacrifices of praise to thee. He once more repeats what he had said about gratitude, and that publicly; for we must manifest our piety, not only by our secret affection before God, but also by an open profession in the sight of men. David, along with the people, observed the rites of the law, knowing that these, at that time, were not unmeaning services; but while he did this, he had a particular reference to the purpose for which they were appointed, and offered principally the sacrifices of praise and the calves of his lips. He speaks of the courts of God’s house, because at that time there was but one altar from which it was unlawful to depart, and it was the will of God that the holy assemblies should be held there, that the faithful might mutually stimulate one another to the cultivation of godliness.