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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Psalm 116 Pulpit Commentary</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/psalms/116.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/psalms/116-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">Pulpit Commentary</a> > Psalm 116</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../psalms/115.htm" title="Psalm 115">◄</a> Psalm 116 <a href="../psalms/117.htm" title="Psalm 117">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Pulpit Commentary</div><div class="chap"><div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/116-1.htm">Psalm 116:1</a></div><div class="verse">I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice <i>and</i> my supplications.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 1, 2.</span> - An introduction, in which the writer declares his love to God, and his resolution to call on him continually, on ac count of his having been delivered from an imminent peril. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 1.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">I love the Lord, because he hath heard</span>; literally, <span class="accented">I</span> <span class="accented">love</span>, <span class="accented">because the Lord</span> (<span class="accented">Jehovah</span>) <span class="accented">hath heard</span>. The object of this love is not expressed, but can only be Jehovah. Still, the grammatical construction is unusual, and has caused the suggestion of an emendation. For <span class="hebrew">אהבתי</span> Professor Cheyne would read <span class="hebrew">האמנתי</span> as at the beginning of ver. 10. <span class="cmt_word">My voice and my supplications</span>; literally, <span class="accented">my voice</span>, <span class="accented">my supplications -</span> the latter expression being exegetical of the former. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/116-2.htm">Psalm 116:2</a></div><div class="verse">Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon <i>him</i> as long as I live.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 2.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Because he hath inclined his ear unto me</span> (compare the expression of Hezekiah in <a href="/isaiah/37-17.htm">Isaiah 37:17</a>, "<span class="accented">Incline</span> <span class="accented">thine ear</span>, <span class="accented">O Lord</span>, and hear"). <span class="cmt_word">Therefore will I call upon him</span> <span class="cmt_word">as long as I live</span>; literally, <span class="accented">in my days -</span> another expression attributed to Hezekiah in the history (<a href="/isaiah/39-8.htm">Isaiah 39:8</a>). Lifelong gratitude and praise are promised by Hezekiah to God in <a href="/isaiah/38-20.htm">Isaiah 38:20</a>. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/116-3.htm">Psalm 116:3</a></div><div class="verse">The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 3-9.</span> - The psalmist describes his trouble (ver. 3), his prayer for deliverance (ver. 4), and his actual deliverance (vers. 5-9). <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 3.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">The sorrows of death compassed me</span>; literally, <span class="accented">the cords of death</span> (comp. <a href="/psalms/18-4.htm">Psalm 18:4</a>, where the same expression is used). Death is pictured as seizing his victim and binding him with cords. <span class="cmt_word">And the pains of hell gat hold upon me</span>; or, "the <span class="accented">straits</span> of hell" (comp. <a href="/psalms/118-5.htm">Psalm 118:5</a>; <a href="/lamentations/1-3.htm">Lamentations 1:3</a>). Death and hell (shell) are closely connected together in the prayer of Hezekiah (<a href="/isaiah/38-10.htm">Isaiah 38:10, 18</a>). I found trouble and sorrow; or, "anguish and woe" (comp. <a href="/isaiah/38-12.htm">Isaiah 38:12-17</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/116-4.htm">Psalm 116:4</a></div><div class="verse">Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 4.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Then celled I upon the Name of the Lord</span>. "Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord" (<a href="/isaiah/38-2.htm">Isaiah 38:2</a>). <span class="cmt_word">O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul</span> (compare the words of <a href="/isaiah/38-3.htm">Isaiah 38:3</a>, "Remember now, O <span class="accented">Lord</span>, <span class="accented">I beseech thee"</span>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/116-5.htm">Psalm 116:5</a></div><div class="verse">Gracious <i>is</i> the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God <i>is</i> merciful.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 5.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Gracious is the Lord, and righteous</span>. God's answers to prayer show him to be both "gracious" and "righteous" - gracious, because it is of his mercy that he listens to men; righteous, because, having promised to hear prayer, he is bound to keep his promises. <span class="cmt_word">Yea, our God is merciful</span>; or, "compassionate." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/116-6.htm">Psalm 116:6</a></div><div class="verse">The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 6.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">The Lord preserveth the simple</span>; <span class="accented">i</span>.<span class="accented">e</span>. "the simple-minded" - those who are without guile or artifice (comp. <a href="/psalms/19-7.htm">Psalm 19:7</a>). <span class="cmt_word">I was brought low.</span> The same verb is used here as in <a href="/isaiah/38-14.htm">Isaiah 38:14</a>, where it is translated "fail" ("mine eyes fail"). It expresses extreme weakness, or exhaustion. And he helped me; or, "saved me" (comp. <a href="/isaiah/38-20.htm">Isaiah 38:20</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/116-7.htm">Psalm 116:7</a></div><div class="verse">Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 7.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Return unto thy rest, O my soul.</span> "Return," <span class="accented">i</span>.<span class="accented">e</span>., "to thy state of tranquility, the condition in which thou wast before the imminent danger showed itself." <span class="cmt_word">For the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee</span>. If Hezekiah is the writer, the "bountiful dealing" will be the addition of fifteen years to his life (<a href="/isaiah/38-5.htm">Isaiah 38:5</a>). If a poet just re turned from the Captivity, the return and the reoccupation of the Holy Land will be especially in his thoughts (comp. <a href="/psalms/85-1.htm">Psalm 85:1</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/116-8.htm">Psalm 116:8</a></div><div class="verse">For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, <i>and</i> my feet from falling.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 8.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">For thou hast delivered my soul from death</span>. This verse is exegetical of the last clause of ver. 4. The expressions are taken from <a href="/psalms/56-13.htm">Psalm 56:13</a>, and suit a personal better than a national deliverance. <span class="cmt_word">Mine eyes from tears.</span> Hezekiah, when told that his death was approaching, had "wept sore" (<a href="/isaiah/38-3.htm">Isaiah 38:3</a>). <span class="cmt_word">And my feet from falling</span>; literally, <span class="accented">and my foot from slipping</span> When man is greatly tried, there is always danger lest his foot should slip. Whether the trial befall an individual or a nation, there is the same temptation to rebel and murmur. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/116-9.htm">Psalm 116:9</a></div><div class="verse">I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 9.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living</span>; rather, <span class="accented">lands of the living</span>; <span class="accented">i</span>.<span class="accented">e</span>. my deliverance will enable me to walk at leisure, unhurried and free from care, in the broad regions of earth inhabited by the living. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/116-10.htm">Psalm 116:10</a></div><div class="verse">I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 10, 11.</span> - Parenthetic and obscure. Both the connection and rendering are doubtful. Professor Cheyne translates, "I was confident that I should speak thus;" <span class="accented">i</span>.<span class="accented">e</span>. even while my affliction was going on, I felt confident that relief would come, and that I should one day speak as I have just spoken. I was, however, too sorely afflicted to give utterance to my feeling. Instead of so doing, I vented my unhappiness in abuse of my fellow-men. Thus understood, the words are an <span class="accented">apologia</span>. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 10.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">I believed, therefore have I spoken</span>. So the LXX., <span class="greek">Ἐπίστευσα διὸ</span> <span class="greek">ἐλάλησα</span>. But many other meanings are suggested. See the preceding paragraph. I was greatly afflicted (comp. ver. 3). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/116-11.htm">Psalm 116:11</a></div><div class="verse">I said in my haste, All men <i>are</i> liars.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 11.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">I said in my haste, All men are liars</span>. The connection of the thoughts is not apparent, unless God's faithfulness (vers. 5-8) suggests man's unfaithfulness. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/116-12.htm">Psalm 116:12</a></div><div class="verse">What shall I render unto the LORD <i>for</i> all his benefits toward me?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 12-19.</span> - The psalm closes with a thanksgiving for the deliverance vouchsafed. What return can the psalmist make? First, he will accept the blessing joyfully; next, he will ever continue to call upon God (ver. 13; comp. vers. 4, 17); thirdly, he will pay his vows openly in the temple, in the presence of the whole congregation (vers. 14, 18); fourthly, he will offer continually the sacrifice of thanksgiving (ver. 17) for the benefits vouchsafed him. The enumeration of his pious intentions is itself a song of praise to the Almighty. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 12.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me</span>? Natural piety suggests a return for favors received. What shall this be? the psalmist asks, and then proceeds to give the answer. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/116-13.htm">Psalm 116:13</a></div><div class="verse">I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 13.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">I will take the cup of salvation</span>. It has been usual to explain this of actual participation in the contents of a cup offered at a sacrificial meal, and then passed round to the worshippers. But there is no clear evidence of any such usage, except in connection with the Passover, which cannot here be in question. Hengstenberg there fore proposes to regard the phrase as a mere metaphor, like the "cup of trembling" (<a href="/isaiah/51-17.htm">Isaiah 51:17, 22</a>), and understands the psalmist to mean that he will gladly and thankfully receive God's mercy vouchsafed to him, and thus show his gratitude for it. <span class="cmt_word">And call upon the Name of the Lord</span> (comp. vers. 4 and 17). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/116-14.htm">Psalm 116:14</a></div><div class="verse">I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 14.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people</span> (comp. vers. 18, 19, where the thought is repeated, and lengthened out). We are not told in Isaiah or 2 Kings that Hezekiah made any vows when he lay on his sick bed, but he may probably have done so. He certainly intended, as soon as his cure was complete, to "go up to the house of the Lord" (<a href="/2_kings/20-8.htm">2 Kings 20:8</a>; <a href="/isaiah/38-22.htm">Isaiah 38:22</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/116-15.htm">Psalm 116:15</a></div><div class="verse">Precious in the sight of the LORD <i>is</i> the death of his saints.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 15.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints</span> (comp. <a href="/psalms/72-14.htm">Psalm 72:14</a>). It is not a matter of indifference to God, when and under what circumstances each of his saints dies. Rather, it is a matter of deep concern to him. "In him are the issues of life and death" (<a href="/psalms/68-20.htm">Psalm 68:20</a>), and he appoints to each man the day and attendant circumstances of his demise. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/116-16.htm">Psalm 116:16</a></div><div class="verse">O LORD, truly I <i>am</i> thy servant; I <i>am</i> thy servant, <i>and</i> the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 16.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">O Lord, truly I am thy servant</span>; rather, <span class="accented">even</span> <span class="accented">so</span>, <span class="accented">O Lord</span>, <span class="accented">for I am thy servant</span>. Entitled, therefore, to thy care and consideration. <span class="cmt_word">I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid</span> (comp. <a href="/psalms/86-16.htm">Psalm 86:16</a>). "Thine handmaid" - the Church; or, if the writer is Hezekiah, "thy handmaid, Abiyah, the daughter of Zechariah," who "had under standing in the vision of God" (<a href="/2_chronicles/26-5.htm">2 Chronicles 26:5</a>; <a href="/2_chronicles/29-1.htm">2 Chronicles 29:1</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Thou hast loosed my bonds</span>. The "cords of death" (ver. 3) are probably intended. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/116-17.htm">Psalm 116:17</a></div><div class="verse">I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 17.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving</span>. Scarcely an actual sacrifice. Rather, simple thanksgiving, which, from a sincere heart, is the best sacrifice (see <a href="/psalms/50-14.htm">Psalm 50:14</a> and <a href="/hosea/14-2.htm">Hosea 14:2</a>). <span class="cmt_word">And will call upon the Name of the Lord</span> (comp. vers. 4 and 13). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/116-18.htm">Psalm 116:18</a></div><div class="verse">I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 18.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people</span>. Compare the comment on ver. 14, whereof this is a repetition. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/116-19.htm">Psalm 116:19</a></div><div class="verse">In the courts of the LORD'S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 19.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">In the courts of the Lord's house</span>. Thanksgiving was always most appropriately offered in the temple courts, where close at hand dwelt the mysterious presence of God, and where God had appointed that his worshippers should appear before him. <span class="cmt_word">In the midst of thee, O Jerusalem.</span> This expression and the preceding suit well with Hezekiah's authorship of the psalm, as Dr. Kay well argues. <span class="cmt_word">Praise ye the Lord.</span> The writer calls on all those present (see ver. 18) to join him in singing praise to God (comp. <a href="/psalms/104.htm">Psalm 104, 105, 106, 113, 115, 117</a>.). <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> </div></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. 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