1 I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.
2 Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The cords of death entangled me,
the anguish of the grave came over me;
I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“Lord, save me!”
12 What shall I return to the Lord
for all his goodness to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord.
14 I will fulfill 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 faithful servants.
16 Truly I am your servant, Lord;
I serve you just as my mother did;
you have freed me from my chains.
17 I will sacrifice a thank offering to you
and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will fulfill 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, Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord. (Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19)
Many people come to follow Jesus after an encounter with Him. Sometimes it happens at a conference like Summer Conference or Winter Conference. Sometimes, it happens as the result of answered prayers, our own or someone else’s for us. Sometimes it happens when we are least expecting it or not expecting it at all. Any way that it happens, it is often a life changing experience. That seemed to have been the case for the Psalmist. The Psalmist says in v.1, “I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.” It would seem that during one of the Psalmist’s darkest points in his life, he prayed out to the Lord and the Lord answered him. V.3 and v.4 says, “The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came over me; I was overcome by distress and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord; ‘Lord, save me!’" In one of the Psalmist’s darkest hours, when he was overcome with distress and sorrow, he cried out the Lord. And the Lord answered him. And it is that moment that the Psalmist turns to as the moment that made his faith real. He says in v.2, “Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.” The Psalmist learned from that experience that God is faithful, and that God can be trusted. He learned from that experience that he can call out to the Lord and he is confident that the Lord will hear him.
This is a reminder to us, that in our moments of weakness, when the world around us may look like it’s caving in around us, when circumstances have us wondering where God is and if God really loves us and how a God who loves us could allow such things to happen to us, that sometimes we need to go back to that moment in our lives when we encountered Christ. Some times when we have trouble hearing Jesus or feel like God is far from us, and we wonder where God is, we can turn back to those moments when we encountered Jesus and be confident that the God who met us in those moments has not left us even though our circumstances may be difficult.
But the Psalmist does not just teach us to look back in our faith in moments of weakness. The Psalmist also teaches us to look ahead in order to grow our faith. He says in v.12, “What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me?” He knows that there is nothing that he can do that would exceed or even match what God has already done for him. But he also knows that maturity in faith is not just expecting God to give to him without him giving anything back to the Lord, so he asks, “What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me?”
The Psalmist declares what he will do. He will do what God has instructed him to do. God instructed the Israelites to offering their sacrifices to Him, and the Psalmist declares that is one of the things that he will do. V.17, “I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the Lord.” He will obey the Lord and follow God’s commands.
The Psalmist also says that he will keep his word to the Lord. V.14 and v.18, “I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people.” He declares to keep his oaths to the Lord and the people will be his witnesses, not once, but twice in 5 verses. The Psalmist understood the importance of keeping his oath to the Lord.
And then he also ends in the most appropriate way, by praising the Lord in v.19. For all that the Lord has done for him and for all that he has promised to do because of God’s graciousness to him, he ends in the most appropriate way, by praising the Lord.
Now is as a good a time as any to put into practice the lessons we learn from the Psalmist. In the midst of these uncertain times, if you are struggling in your faith, trying to make sense of everything that is going on in the world today, look back, either to the time when you came to faith in the Lord, or to another time when you experienced the Lord and find comfort in knowing that the Lord who reached out to you then is not going to leave you or desert you now.
If you are firm in your faith but want to mature even more and you have time on your hands because of the pandemic, learn from the second half of the Psalm. Practice obeying God’s commands, including learning from His word so that you may know His commands more clearly. Practice keeping your vows to the Lord, especially the one where you proclaimed Him as Lord and Saviour, by spending time in His word and in prayer, especially in the presence of His people, by being present, virtual as it may be, with your brothers and sisters in Christ. And most importantly, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord for who He is and what He has done. Praise the Lord for continued presence in your life and praise Him because He alone is worthy of our praise.