Psalms 116

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Psalm 116 is a thanksgiving for rescue from death. It opens with love: I love the LORD, because he heard my cry. The ropes of death had wrapped around the psalmist; he called on the name of the LORD and was saved. He tells his soul to return to its rest, since God has delivered his life from death, his eyes from tears, and his feet from stumbling. Then he asks how he can repay such goodness and answers with three actions: lift the cup of salvation, call on the LORD's name, and pay his vows publicly. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints; the psalm ends in the temple courts with a thank offering.

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Psalm 116 begins with a sentence that is rare in the Psalter: I love the LORD. Most psalms praise, trust, plead, or lament; this one starts with love, and then gives the reason. He heard me. He bent his ear toward me when the ropes of death were tightening and the grave had me by the throat, and I called out one short prayer, LORD, save my life, and he did. The psalmist speaks to himself as if to a frightened child: go back to your rest, my soul, the LORD has been good to you. He has pulled your life out of death, your eyes out of tears, your feet out of the ditch. Then comes the question that gives the psalm its second half: what can I give back to the LORD for all his goodness to me? The answer is not money or sacrifice in the usual sense. I will lift the cup of salvation and call on his name. I will keep the promises I made in the crisis, and I will keep them in front of everyone. I will bring a thank offering to his house. In between comes the line that is read at gravesides everywhere: precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful ones, which means their deaths cost him something, and he does not spend them lightly. This psalm was sung at Passover, and the Gospels say Jesus and his disciples sang a hymn after the Last Supper before walking to Gethsemane. If it was this one, then the cup of salvation was lifted that night by the one who was about to drink it.

مقاطع رئيسية

Matthew 26:26-30 2 Corinthians 4:13

Historical and literary context

The psalm belongs to the Egyptian Hallel, Psalms 113 to 118, sung at Passover; the "hymn" Jesus and the disciples sang after the Last Supper was almost certainly from this group, so "I will lift the cup of salvation" was likely on his lips the night before his death. The cup and the thank offering, the todah of Leviticus 7, were part of the ritual by which a rescued person fulfilled vows in the temple with a meal shared before God. "The son of Your maidservant" means a servant born in the household, bound by birth rather than purchase. The Greek Septuagint divides the psalm into two, at verse 9, and Paul quotes its rendering of verse 10, "I believed, therefore I spoke," in 2 Corinthians 4.

How the chapter unfolds

Verses 1 and 2 declare love and the resolve to call on God for life. Verses 3 and 4 describe the crisis, death's ropes and Sheol's anguish, and the cry. Verses 5 to 9 describe the rescue and the rest that follows, walking before the LORD in the land of the living. Verses 10 and 11 recall faith under affliction and the panicked judgment that all men are liars. Verses 12 to 14 ask how to repay and answer: the cup, the name, the vows before the people. Verses 15 to 19 speak of the preciousness of the saints' deaths, the servant whose bonds are broken, the thank offering, and the vows paid in the courts of the temple in Jerusalem.

Why this chapter matters

Verse 15, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints," is read at more funerals than almost any other verse; verses 12 and 13, "How can I repay the LORD? I will lift the cup of salvation," have been prayed at the Eucharist since the early church, which heard in them the cup Christ lifted. "Return to your rest, O my soul" is a favorite line of the anxious. The psalm is the Bible's clearest template for gratitude: name the trouble, name the rescue, ask what you owe, and pay it in public. Its place in the Passover liturgy ties personal deliverance to the nation's exodus.

Interpretive tension to watch

"Precious" in verse 15 means costly, not delightful; the verse says that God does not let his people die cheaply, and it is often quoted as if it said that death itself is a good thing. Verse 10 differs between the Hebrew, "I believed, therefore I said, I am greatly afflicted," and the Greek that Paul quotes, and the two shape the verse differently. The psalm speaks of rescue from death without saying what the danger was, illness, enemies, or despair, which is why so many have been able to make it their own. And the outburst that all men are liars, spoken "in my alarm," is left standing as an honest memory rather than corrected.

أسئلة لهذا الفصل

The psalm begins "I love the LORD, for He has heard my voice." What has God heard from you that you have not yet thanked him for?
Verse 12 asks how to repay God and answers with a cup, a name, and a promise kept in public. Why are these the right currency?
Jesus likely sang this psalm on the night he was betrayed. What does "I will lift the cup of salvation" mean in his mouth?

Study with context

Use this as a chapter guide, then press deeper into the text itself. The goal is to slow down observation, notice structure, and ask better questions before jumping to conclusions.

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1 여호와께서 내 음성과 내 간구를 들으시므로 내가 저를 사랑하는도다 2 그 귀를 내게 기울이셨으므로 내가 평생에 기도하리로다 ! 3 사망의 줄이 나를 두르고 음부의 고통이 내게 미치므로 내가 환난과 슬픔을 만났을 때에 4 내가 여호와의 이름으로 기도하기를 여호와여, 주께 구하오니 내 영혼을 건지소서 하였도다 5 여호와는 은혜로우시며 의로우시며 우리 하나님은 자비하시도다 6 여호와께서는 어리석은 자를 보존하시나니 내가 낮게 될 때에 나를 구원하셨도다 7 내 영혼아 ! 네 평안함에 돌아갈지어다 여호와께서 너를 후대하심이로다 8 주께서 내 영혼을 사망에서, 내 눈을 눈물에서, 내 발을 넘어짐에서 건지셨나이다 9 내가 생존 세계에서 여호와 앞에 행하리로다 10 내가 믿는고로 말하리라 내가 큰 곤란을 당하였도다 11 내가 경겁 중에 이르기를 모든 사람은 거짓말장이라 하였도다 12 여호와께서 내게 주신 모든 은혜를 무엇으로 보답할꼬 13 내가 구원의 잔을 들고 여호와의 이름을 부르며 14 여호와의 모든 백성 앞에서 나의 서원을 여호와께 갚으리로다 15 성도의 죽는 것을 여호와께서 귀중히 보시는도다 16 여호와여, 나는 진실로 주의 종이요 주의 여종의 아들 곧 주의 종이라 주께서 나의 결박을 푸셨나이다 17 내가 주께 감사제를 드리고 여호와의 이름을 부르리이다 18 내가 여호와의 모든 백성 앞에서 나의 서원을 여호와께 갚을지라 19 예루살렘아, 네 가운데서, 여호와의 전 정에서 내가 갚으리로다 할렐루야 !