I Love Yahweh – Psalm 116

This psalm is often used at funerals, particularly verse 15, “Precious in the sight of Yahweh is the death of his saints.”  In the psalmist’s case, Yahweh preserved him from death.  But even if not, every death matters to God.  The psalmist wants to give God His due, which he will do by making an offering, a sacrifice, at which he will invite many guests to feast and hear him give testimony.  Why do you love God?

I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.  Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.  The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish.  Then I called on the name of the LORD:  “O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!”

Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; our God is merciful.  The LORD preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.  Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.

For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling; I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.

I believed, even when I spoke:  “I am greatly afflicted”; I said in my alarm, “All mankind are liars.”

What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me?  I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD, I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.  O LORD, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.  You have loosed my bonds.  I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD.  I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the LORD, in your midst, O Jerusalem.  Praise the LORD!  (Psalm 116 ESV)

We love God for what He has done for us.  That is not the only reason we love Him but that is what is celebrated here.  The psalmist was saved from death.  So now in every situation of trouble, including times of tears or stumbling, God’s deliverance teaches our souls to rest and not be anxious.  We see the failure of humans in contrast to God’s faithfulness, and we render the appropriate praise in public worship.