Psalm 116: Call Upon the Lord

​Key Verses
1 I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.
 
Meditation
Healthy spirituality practices gratitude, remembering God’s provision and worshipping God for His continued faithfulness.
 
The Hebrew category for today’s psalm of gratitude is “todah,” a verbal and public praise of God for his goodness and declaration of His faithfulness. Specifically, the psalmist proclaims grateful praise (vv. 1-2) because he was saved from death (vv. 3-11), a rescue commemorated through a meal (vv. 12-19). The shape of the Psalm sends us directly to Jesus’s representative work that rescues believers from the power of death and is commemorated through the Lord’s Supper.
 
The deliverance from death confirms God’s covenant care and character. The Lord is gracious, righteous, merciful (v. 5) and good (v. 7). He hears the prayers of His people (vv. 1-2), prizes their lives (v. 15), and protects them through affliction (vv. 4, 6, 8). Grateful praise is evidenced in love for the Lord (v. 1), testimony of the Lord’s faithfulness, and committing to be faithful in response (vv. 14, 18) as the Lord’s servant (v. 16) by walking before the Lord (v. 9) through surrendered trust.  God’s redemptive work always solicits renewal and response.
 
The redemptive trajectory of the psalm moves the worshipper from the grave (v. 3) to the lands of the living (v.9) and ultimately to the presence of God (v. 19). Peter uses this psalm to describe Jesus’ death and resurrection (Acts 2:24, v 3), His deliverance from “the pangs of death” that His people may be rescued from death to inhabit the land of the living.
 
Gratitude will grow when we practice remembering and participate in proclaiming through worshipping God for His provision and continued faithfulness.
 


Today’s Reading
I love the Lord, because he has heard
    my voice and my pleas for mercy.
2 Because he inclined his ear to me,
    therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The snares of death encompassed me;
    the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
    I suffered distress and anguish.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:
    “O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”
5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
    our God is merciful.
6 The Lord preserves the simple;
    when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your rest;
    for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For you have delivered my soul from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling;
9 I will walk before the Lord
    in the land of the living.
10 I believed, even when I spoke:
    “I am greatly afflicted”;
11 I said in my alarm,
    “All mankind are liars.”
 
12 What shall I render to the Lord
    for all his benefits to me?
13 I will lift up 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 Precious in the sight of the Lord
    is the death of his saints.
16 O Lord, I am your servant;
    I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.
    You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
    and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will pay my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the Lord,
    in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you from today’s reading? Why?
 
-Do you practice gratitude and proclaim God’s continued faithfulness through daily worship? Why or why not?
 
- Take a moment to remember and reflect on how God has heard you, given you hope, and helped you in times of trouble. Ask Him to help you commit to whole hearted service and trust, viewing God’s character and His covenant work to vault you into a living a life of worship.
 
Key Verses
1 I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.