Psalm 116
Psalm 116, Paying the Vow of Gratitude
Psalm 116 is part of the Egyptian Hallel, Psalms 113 to 118, the group of psalms connected with Passover and sung in remembrance of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. This means Psalm 116 was likely sung by Jesus and His disciples on the night He was betrayed and arrested, just before Gethsemane and the cross.
Matthew 26:30, “And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.”
Mark 14:26, “And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.”
This makes Psalm 116 especially powerful. It is a song of one rescued from death, one who loves the LORD because He heard prayer, one who was surrounded by the pains of death, one who called upon the name of the LORD, one who was delivered, one who asks what he can render to the LORD, one who takes the cup of salvation, one who pays his vows publicly, and one who declares that precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.
The psalm has meaning in its original setting, likely the testimony of a man delivered from deadly danger. Yet it also has profound messianic meaning when considered on the lips of Christ. Jesus sang of the pains of death, deliverance from death, the cup of salvation, the death of the saints being precious, and vows paid in the courts of the LORD’s house, while He Himself was about to face betrayal, suffering, crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection.
Psalm 116 is therefore a psalm of love, prayer, deliverance, gratitude, testimony, public worship, and vowed service. The rescued life must become a grateful life.
A. A Life Rescued
Psalm 116:1 to Psalm 116:2, Loving the LORD Who Answers Prayer
Psalm 116:1, “I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.”
Psalm 116:2, “Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.”
The psalm begins with a simple and direct confession, “I love the LORD.” This is the language of grateful affection. The psalmist does not begin with ceremony, argument, or distant theology. He begins with love for God. Yet this love is not irrational or blind. He gives a reason, “because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.”
God had heard him in a desperate season. The psalmist cried, and the LORD listened. The God of heaven was not indifferent to the voice of His servant. This is personal. The psalmist does not merely say God hears prayers in general. He says God heard “my voice” and “my supplications.”
Love for God is not wrong because it responds to His benefits. The creature rightly loves the Creator for His goodness, mercy, rescue, provision, and answered prayer. A redeemed man should not pretend that God’s kindness has no effect on his affections. God’s benefits awaken love.
1 John 4:19, “We love him, because he first loved us.”
Verse 2 says, “Because he hath inclined his ear unto me.” This is a tender picture. God stoops down, as it were, to hear the cry of His servant. The LORD does not have to strain to hear, but the language shows His personal attentiveness. He bends toward the prayer of the needy.
The response is lifelong devotion, “therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.” Because the LORD heard him, the psalmist resolves to keep calling upon Him. Answered prayer does not make prayer unnecessary. It strengthens prayer. One deliverance becomes a reason for future trust.
This also shows exclusive allegiance. The psalmist will not turn to idols, false gods, human saviors, or self reliance. He will call upon the LORD as long as he lives.
This is the pattern of living faith. The believer loves the LORD, remembers His answered prayers, and continues to call upon Him through every season of life.
Psalm 18:1, “I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.”
Psalm 18:2, “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my strength, in whom I will trust, my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.”
Psalm 116:1 to 2 teaches that answered prayer should produce grateful love, lifelong dependence, and exclusive trust in the LORD.
Psalm 116:3 to Psalm 116:4, Prayer From One in the Pains of Death
Psalm 116:3, “The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.”
Psalm 116:4, “Then called I upon the name of the LORD, O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.”
The psalmist now describes the crisis from which God delivered him. “The sorrows of death compassed me.” Death is pictured as surrounding him like cords, nets, or enemies. He was not merely uncomfortable. He was enclosed by mortal danger.
“The pains of hell gat hold upon me.” In the KJV, “hell” here translates Sheol, the realm of the dead. The picture is of death reaching out and seizing him. Death and Sheol are portrayed as aggressive forces gripping the living. The psalmist felt as though he was being pulled down toward the grave.
“I found trouble and sorrow.” This is honest language. The believer is not required to deny pain. He does not pretend that deadly affliction is easy. He found distress, anguish, grief, and fear. Faith does not mean the absence of trouble. Faith means crying to the LORD from the midst of trouble.
This verse becomes especially powerful when remembered in connection with Christ. Peter used the language of the “pains of death” when preaching the resurrection of Jesus.
Acts 2:23, “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:”
Acts 2:24, “Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.”
Jesus sang Psalm 116 knowing that He would soon enter the true sorrows of death. He would be bound, condemned, crucified, wrapped in burial linen, and placed in the tomb. Yet death could not hold Him.
Verse 4 gives the response, “Then called I upon the name of the LORD.” Real trouble produced real prayer. The psalmist did not merely call out vaguely. He called upon the name of the LORD, meaning he appealed to God according to His revealed character, covenant faithfulness, mercy, and power.
His prayer was short, direct, and earnest, “O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.” He addresses God directly, “O LORD.” He pleads humbly, “I beseech thee.” He states the need clearly, “deliver my soul.”
This is a model of prayer in crisis. It is not long, ornamental, or self impressive. It is simple and desperate. The man in danger does not need religious performance. He needs deliverance.
Psalm 50:15, “And call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.”
Psalm 116:3 to 4 teaches that when death, sorrow, and trouble surround the believer, he should call directly and earnestly upon the name of the LORD.
Psalm 116:5 to Psalm 116:7, Praising the God Who Preserves Us
Psalm 116:5, “Gracious is the LORD, and righteous, yea, our God is merciful.”
Psalm 116:6, “The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.”
Psalm 116:7, “Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.”
After describing his prayer, the psalmist praises the character of the God who answered. “Gracious is the LORD, and righteous, yea, our God is merciful.” God’s deliverance reveals who He is. He is gracious, meaning He gives favor to the undeserving. He is righteous, meaning He acts justly and faithfully. He is merciful, meaning He is full of compassion toward the needy.
These attributes belong together. God’s mercy does not violate His righteousness. His righteousness does not cancel His grace. In the cross of Christ, grace, righteousness, and mercy meet perfectly. God saves sinners without ceasing to be just because Christ bore the judgment due to sin.
Romans 3:24, “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:”
Romans 3:25, “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;”
Romans 3:26, “To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”
When Jesus sang these words before the cross, He testified that God was gracious, righteous, and merciful even as He prepared to suffer according to the Father’s will. The cross would not contradict God’s mercy. It would reveal it. The cross would not contradict God’s righteousness. It would satisfy it.
Verse 6 says, “The LORD preserveth the simple.” The simple are the plain, humble, sincere, unpretending people who do not rely on cunning, manipulation, or worldly craft. The world may consider them foolish, but the LORD preserves them. God has time for ordinary people. He preserves those who are humble enough to trust Him.
“I was brought low, and he helped me.” The psalmist did not save himself. He was low, weak, humbled, and helpless. God helped him. This is the testimony of grace. The LORD is not only high and mighty, He is attentive to the brought low.
Psalm 138:6, “Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly, but the proud he knoweth afar off.”
Verse 7 turns inward, “Return unto thy rest, O my soul.” The soul had been disturbed by deadly danger. Now, because the LORD had dealt bountifully, the soul could return to rest. This is not rest found in circumstances only. It is rest found in the LORD’s goodness.
“For the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.” God’s dealings were generous. He did not merely spare the psalmist. He dealt richly and kindly with him. The believer’s soul must often be commanded to return to rest because fear, grief, and distress pull it away. The way back to rest is remembering how the LORD has dealt with us.
Psalm 62:5, “My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from him.”
Matthew 11:28, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Psalm 116:5 to 7 teaches that God is gracious, righteous, and merciful, that He preserves the simple, helps the brought low, and restores rest to the soul through His bountiful dealings.
Psalm 116:8 to Psalm 116:11, The Testimony of the One Delivered
Psalm 116:8, “For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.”
Psalm 116:9, “I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.”
Psalm 116:10, “I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:”
Psalm 116:11, “I said in my haste, All men are liars.”
Verse 8 gives a threefold testimony of deliverance, “For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.” God delivered the psalmist from death, sorrow, and collapse. His soul was rescued from death. His eyes were rescued from tears. His feet were rescued from falling.
This is comprehensive mercy. God saved his life, comforted his grief, and stabilized his walk. The deliverance was inward and outward, spiritual and practical.
These words again carry messianic weight when considered on the lips of Jesus. He sang of deliverance from death before He went to the cross. He sang of tears before Gethsemane. He sang of feet kept from falling before carrying the cross. He faced death in faith, knowing that resurrection would follow.
Hebrews 5:7, “Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;”
Verse 9 says, “I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.” Deliverance brings obligation. The psalmist does not say, “Now I will live for myself.” He says he will walk before the LORD. His life will be lived in God’s presence, under God’s eye, and for God’s glory.
To walk before the LORD means to live consciously before Him. Some men live before the eyes of others, ruled by reputation, public opinion, approval, fear, or comparison. The delivered man lives before the LORD.
Genesis 17:1, “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God, walk before me, and be thou perfect.”
“The land of the living” refers to continued life on earth after deliverance from death. In Christ’s case, it points beyond the grave to resurrection life. Jesus would walk again in the land of the living after rising from the dead.
Verse 10 says, “I believed, therefore have I spoken.” Faith speaks. The psalmist did not speak because circumstances were easy. He spoke while greatly afflicted. His faith was hard pressed, but it was still faith.
Paul quotes this verse in 2 Corinthians 4, applying the principle to Christian ministry and resurrection hope.
2 Corinthians 4:13, “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken, we also believe, and therefore speak;”
2 Corinthians 4:14, “Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.”
Faith does not remain silent when it has seen the mercy of God. Faith speaks in affliction because it trusts the God who raises the dead.
Verse 11 says, “I said in my haste, All men are liars.” The psalmist admits that in his distress he spoke too quickly and too broadly. He had been wounded, disappointed, betrayed, or abandoned by men. In haste, he concluded that all men were liars.
There is a sense in which all men are unreliable if trusted too deeply. Some fail because they are deceitful. Others fail because they are weak. Others fail because they lack power to help. But the psalmist recognizes that his statement was hasty. Distress can make a man speak in sweeping bitterness. It is better to be slow to speak when the spirit is troubled.
James 1:19, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:”
Proverbs 29:20, “Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him.”
Jesus was abandoned by His disciples, betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter, mocked by rulers, and rejected by men, yet He did not speak sinfully or hastily. He entrusted Himself to the Father.
1 Peter 2:23, “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:”
Psalm 116:8 to 11 teaches that God delivers from death, tears, and falling, that the delivered man must walk before the LORD, that faith speaks even in affliction, and that the believer must guard against hasty speech in pain.
B. A Life of Gratitude
Psalm 116:12 to Psalm 116:14, Thankfully Receiving and Responding
Psalm 116:12, “What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?”
Psalm 116:13, “I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.”
Psalm 116:14, “I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.”
The psalmist now asks the great question of gratitude, “What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?” He is not trying to pay God back as though grace could be reimbursed. He knows that the benefits of God are too many and too great. Yet gratitude must respond. The delivered heart asks, “What can I give to the LORD who has given so much to me?”
This is the right question. Many people ask why they have trouble. The grateful man asks how he should respond to mercy. He does not ignore his affliction, but he sees the benefits of God more clearly than his complaints.
The question also assumes that God’s benefits are many. They are personal, specific, numerous, and often more detailed than we notice. God’s benefits include life, breath, salvation, answered prayer, deliverance, comfort, provision, protection, forgiveness, fellowship, and hope.
Psalm 103:2, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:”
Verse 13 gives the first answer, “I will take the cup of salvation.” This is profound. The first way to respond to God’s benefits is to receive more from God. The psalmist does not begin by boasting of what he will accomplish for God. He begins by taking what God gives.
The cup of salvation may refer to a cup lifted in thanksgiving during worship, but its meaning reaches beyond that. It represents grateful participation in God’s saving mercy. The rescued man takes the salvation God provides and calls upon the name of the LORD.
This has deep New Covenant significance. On the night Jesus likely sang this psalm, He had instituted the cup of the New Testament in His blood.
Luke 22:19, “And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you, this do in remembrance of me.”
Luke 22:20, “Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.”
Jesus would soon speak of another cup in Gethsemane, the cup of suffering, wrath, and obedience.
Matthew 26:39, “And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
He drank the bitter cup of judgment so that His people might drink the cup of salvation. He received the cup of sorrow from the Father and filled the cup of blessing for His redeemed.
The psalmist adds, “and call upon the name of the LORD.” Receiving salvation leads to renewed prayer and worship. The cup and the call belong together. The redeemed man receives from God and pledges allegiance to God.
Verse 14 says, “I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.” In his distress, the psalmist had likely vowed public thanksgiving if God delivered him. Now he will pay that vow. Gratitude is not to remain private only. It is to be declared among God’s people.
Vows lawfully made are serious. A grateful man should not promise God in crisis and forget in comfort.
Ecclesiastes 5:4, “When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it, for he hath no pleasure in fools, pay that which thou hast vowed.”
Ecclesiastes 5:5, “Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.”
Psalm 116:12 to 14 teaches that gratitude asks how to respond to God’s benefits, receives the cup of salvation, calls upon the name of the LORD, and publicly pays vows before God’s people.
Psalm 116:15 to Psalm 116:17, A Life Gratefully Pledged
Psalm 116:15, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.”
Psalm 116:16, “O LORD, truly I am thy servant, I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.”
Psalm 116:17, “I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.”
Verse 15 is one of the most beloved statements in the Psalms, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” The psalm celebrates deliverance from death, but it also recognizes that death will eventually come to every saint. When that time comes, the death of God’s people is precious in His sight.
“Precious” does not mean death is good in itself. Death is an enemy and the result of sin. But the death of a saint is precious because God values His people. Their passing is not meaningless, unnoticed, random, or cheap. The LORD watches over His people at death’s door. He either delivers them from death for a time or brings them safely through death into His presence.
Psalm 72:14, “He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence, and precious shall their blood be in his sight.”
Psalm 23:4, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
For the believer, death is still an enemy, but it is a defeated enemy. Death removes the remaining barriers between the saint and the presence of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 5:8, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”
Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
The death of martyrs is especially precious to God. Their blood is not forgotten. Their suffering is not wasted. The world may despise them, but God honors them.
When Jesus sang this verse, it carried the greatest possible weight. He was the Holy One of God, the ultimate Saint, the perfectly righteous Servant. His death would be precious beyond all reckoning. His death would not be accidental or meaningless. It would be the appointed sacrifice for sin.
Acts 2:27, “Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”
1 Peter 1:18, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;”
1 Peter 1:19, “But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”
Verse 16 gives the psalmist’s pledge, “O LORD, truly I am thy servant.” Deliverance leads to service. The psalmist does not say, “You have delivered me, so I am free to live for myself.” He says, “I am thy servant.” True freedom is bondage to the LORD.
He repeats it, “I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid.” This expresses humble, inherited devotion. He sees himself as belonging to God. He is the servant of the LORD from the household of one who also served the LORD. There is blessing in godly heritage, though each person must personally belong to the LORD.
“Thou hast loosed my bonds.” The psalmist serves because he has been set free. This is the Christian pattern. Christ looses the bonds of sin and death, and the redeemed gladly become His servants.
Romans 6:17, “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.”
Romans 6:18, “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”
Verse 17 says, “I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving.” Gratitude becomes worship. Thanksgiving is not merely a feeling. It is an offering brought to God. The psalmist will call upon the name of the LORD again. The life that has been rescued becomes a life of repeated prayer, praise, and dependence.
Hebrews 13:15, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”
Psalm 116:15 to 17 teaches that the death of God’s saints is precious to Him, that deliverance creates willing servanthood, that God looses bonds so His people may serve Him, and that thanksgiving is a sacrifice offered to the LORD.
Psalm 116:18 to Psalm 116:19, Vows Gratefully Paid
Psalm 116:18, “I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people,”
Psalm 116:19, “In the courts of the LORD's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.”
The psalmist repeats his vow from verse 14, “I will pay my vows unto the LORD.” The repetition shows seriousness. He will not merely think grateful thoughts. He will perform what he promised. Gratitude must become obedience.
He will do this “now in the presence of all his people.” Public thanksgiving matters. The psalmist had suffered and cried out alone, but joy seeks the company of God’s people. Grief often isolates, but gratitude wants witnesses. The delivered man wants others to hear what the LORD has done.
Verse 19 places this public worship “in the courts of the LORD's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem.” The psalmist imagines himself at the place of worship, before the LORD, surrounded by the covenant community, offering thanksgiving. His personal deliverance becomes public praise.
This is the right pattern. God’s people should testify to God’s faithfulness among the congregation. The church should be a place where the mercies of God are remembered and proclaimed.
Psalm 22:22, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.”
Psalm 22:25, “My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation, I will pay my vows before them that fear him.”
Psalm 116 ends with “Praise ye the LORD,” or “Hallelujah.” The final note is praise. The man who began by saying, “I love the LORD,” ends by calling others to praise the LORD. His deliverance, gratitude, vows, service, and testimony all lead to worship.
When Jesus sang this psalm, He was about to become the sacrifice that would secure eternal deliverance for His people. He would drink the cup of sorrow so His people could take the cup of salvation. He would enter death, yet His death would be precious in the sight of the LORD. He would be raised, and He would walk again in the land of the living. Through Him, the redeemed can sing Psalm 116 as their own song of rescue, gratitude, and vowed devotion.
Psalm 116 teaches that the LORD hears prayer, inclines His ear, delivers from death, preserves the simple, helps the brought low, restores rest to the soul, delivers from tears and falling, calls His people to walk before Him, strengthens faith to speak in affliction, warns against hasty speech, teaches gratitude for all His benefits, gives the cup of salvation, receives vows publicly paid, treasures the death of His saints, looses bonds, and calls His people to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving.
