116:1 I love the Lord because he heard my plea for mercy, 116:2 and listened to me. As long as I live, I will call to him when I need help. 

 

The author is unknown. Psalms 113–118 form the Egyptian Hallel songs. Hallel means “Praise God.” These songs were sung during the Jewish festivals and on holy days. Psalm 113-114 were sung before the meal on Passover. Psalms 115-118 were sung after the meal. Jesus sang these songs on Passover with His disciples.

 

The psalmist loved the Lord. Many believers claim that they love the Lord, but do they really?

 

Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” His commandments are Bible doctrine. One cannot keep Bible doctrine unless they know the Bible doctrines from the entire counsel of the Word of God. Therefore, those who really love the Lord Jesus Christ will master and apply Bible doctrine from the entire counsel of the Word of God at the deepest level.

 

Those with strong Bible doctrine know the Lord Jesus Christ. They know that He listens to their pleas for help. They know that He listens. He is closer than the neighbor next door or relative in the next room. They know that they can call to Him at anytime, because He is living inside of the believer.

 

“We love him, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). When one is born into the world, he does not love God. He hates God. He lives life selfishly, as if there is no God. He rejects God. He is heading to the Lake of Fire. If man is left to his own choice, then he will always choose Satan and the Lake of Fire over God and Heaven.

 

The only way that man can escape eternity in the Lake of Fire is that God must call him into salvation. This is the efficacious call of God. No one can resist this call. Jesus said, “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.” This verse teaches that the Father gives believers to the Son as a gift. Then, Jesus keeps them secure for eternity.

 

Notice that God heard the plea of the psalmist. God listens. Therefore, believers can and should pray audibly (although God is omniscient and knows the thoughts and silent prayers of everyone in history even before they think them). 

 

116:3 The ropes of death tightened around me, the snares of Sheol confronted me. I was confronted with trouble and sorrow. 

 

The psalmist was close to death. When the Lord Jesus Christ sang this song on Passover, He was also close to death.

 

116:4 I called on the name of the Lord, “Please Lord, rescue my life!” 

 

The psalmist called upon the name (or character of Jehovah). Jesus prayed a similar prayer on His last night at the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus did not want to escape from physical death, because He joyfully came to earth to die for the sins of mankind. What He prayed for was His separation from the Trinity. However, He was willing to experience this separation from the Godhead if it was the will of God the Father. Jesus was obedient unto death.

 

116:5 The Lord is merciful and fair; our God is compassionate. 

 

Jehovah is nice and merciful. He enjoys doing nice things for His children. God is fair. He does not need anything, so bribes are ineffective against Him. He is compassionate. He wants to help others who are in need.

 

116:6 The Lord protects the untrained; I was in serious trouble and he delivered me. 

 

The Hebrew word for “untrained” is פְּתָאיִ֣ם (patayim), meaning simple, foolish, and easily deceived. The literal Hebrew reads, “The Lord preserves the simple. I was brought low and He helped.”

 

Man is not as smart as he thinks that he is. If left alone, man will believe that nothing exploded into everything and lifeless dirt became alive. He will reject God, but worship the Antichrist. He will choose the Lake of Fire over an eternity in heaven. He will see the teaching of the cross as foolishness. These men are enslaved by an evil spiritual enemy who they do not think exists. However, they are so deceived, that they cannot recognize their condition. They are in serious trouble, because if God does not intervene, then they will spend their eternity in the Lake of Fire separated from God.

 

God can take foolish men and reverse their thinking. He can deliver the blindness from fools and give them divine wisdom. God can deliver blind fools from a slavery that the total and depraved man does not know exists.

 

116:7 Rest once more, my soul, for the Lord has vindicated you. 

 

Believers have no worries in this life. The Lord has saved them, kept them secure, and has justified them as eternally righteous.

 

116:8 Yes, Lord, you rescued my life from death, and kept my feet from stumbling. 

 

Jehovah not only rescued the psalmist from death, but He kept him from stumbling into a satanic trap. Often, the Pharisees and Sadducees set traps for Jesus, but He was able to discern and avoid them.

 

116:9 I will serve the Lord in the land of the living. 

 

This verse implies a future bodily resurrection. The psalmist will serve God after death.

 

116:10 I had faith when I said, “I am severely oppressed.” 

 

Even though the psalmist was severely oppressed, he still had faith in his deliverance.

 

116:11 I rashly declared, “All men are liars.” 

 

Man is not very honest. He will smile, tell lies, and not feel guilty about it at all.

 

116:12 How can I repay the Lord for all his acts of kindness to me? 

 

The answer is that man cannot repay the Lord for His acts of kindness.

 

116:13 I will celebrate my deliverance, and call on the name of the Lord. 

 

Literally, this verse in Hebrew reads as “I will take the cup of salvation and I will call upon the name of the Lord.” The Hebrew for “cup of salvation” is כֹּוס־יְשׁוּעֹ֥ות (kos-Yeshua), meaning the “cup of Yeshua.” It is very interesting to note that Yeshua (Jesus) was singing this exact Hallel song on the night that he drank the seven Passover cups. This could have been the cup when Jesus said, “You take this cup and drink it. I’ll not take it until I drink it new in the kingdom, because I have a cup to drink tomorrow.” Then in Gethsemane, Jesus prayed that this cup would pass from Him.

 

116:14 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord before all his people.

 

The psalmist will fulfill his vows, just as Jesus will fulfill His vows.

 

116:15 The Lord values the lives of his faithful followers. 

 

The faithful followers are those who master and apply Bible doctrine. The Lord knows when even a sparrow falls to the ground. How much more does He watch over the lives of His followers? His obedient followers are immortal until they accomplish the Master’s task.

 

116:16 Yes, Lord! I am indeed your servant; I am your lowest slave. You saved me from death. 

 

The psalmist was a servant of Jehovah. Jesus was God who humbled Himself and became a man to serve God the Father.

 

116:17 I will present a thank offering to you, and call on the name of the Lord. 

 

The psalmist will present a thank offering to Jehovah. He will call on the name of the Lord. God owns and possesses everything. The only thing that the believer can do for God is to give Him thanksgiving. Believers should thank God for their salvation, their food, their clothing, their shelter, their family, their career, their gifts, their health, their wealth, their geographical location, their breath, their success, the rain, and protection from the enemy who wants to devour them. Too many believers take God for granted. Too many believers do not thank God enough.

 

116:18 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord before all his people, 19 in the courts of the Lord’s temple,in your midst, O Jerusalem. 

Praise the Lord!

 

The psalmist will publicly praise Jehovah at the temple in Jerusalem.