Psalm 116 has been classified as an individual hymn of thanksgiving. The psalmist has experienced divine deliverance from a severe trial, and he wants everyone to know about it.
We see the severity of the trial in verse 3:
"The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish."
This psalm is similar to the prayer of Jonah when he was in the belly of the fish in Jonah 2. Both Jonah and the psalmist promise to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving after their rescue (Psalm 116:17-18; Jonah 2:9).
Psalm 116:3 also points forward to the experience of Jesus. Peter uses similar language in Acts 2:24, referring to the "pangs of death." Remember that Psalm 116 was part of the Egyptian Hallel (Psalms 113-118) that is traditionally sung at a Passover Seder, so it could have been sung at the Last Supper.
The psalmist expressed faith in verse 10: "I believed, even when I spoke: 'I am greatly afflicted.' " In 2 Cor 4:13, Paul referred to this example of faith in the face of affliction as one to be emulated.
Verse 15 is often quoted: "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." Here "precious" may be interpreted as "costly." Commentator James Mays explains, "The death of the faithful is costly or grievous to the Lord, because when they die their praise is silenced and their witness in the land of the living is lost to God."
In a sermon on Seder 69 at Church of the Messiah on August 21, 2021, Kyle Kettering urged us to call out to God as the psalmist did, and to fulfill our God-given callings as Bezalel did.
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