Seder 69: Psalm 116---Giving Thanks for Deliverance

 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.

Seder 63: Psalm 66---Communal and Individual Praise

 Psalm 66 begins with a call for all the earth to praise God for his power and awe-inspriing deeds.  All will bow before him, whether voluntarily or (as in the case of defeated enemies) "cringing" (vv 1-4).

In particular, God controls the seas, and at the Red Sea and Jordan River, he moved the waters so that his people could pass through on dry land, leading the Israelites to praise him (see Exodus 15).  God "rules by his might forever" (v 7), as the Song of the Sea proclaims in Exodus 15:18.

In verses 8-12 Israel urges other nations to praise God because of what he has done for his people.  God has stayed with them through trials and brought them to "a place of abundance" (v 12).  

The imagery in verse 12 is reminiscent of words of Isaiah.  "We went through fire and through water" reminds us of Isa 43:1-2, where God promises to be with his people through such trials.  "You let men ride over our heads" is similar to Isa 51:22-23, where God promises to punish those who treat his people in this way.

In verses 13-20 an individual praises God for delivering him.  He brings sacrifices to thank God for rescuing him from trouble, sacrifices that he had promised to make when he prayed during his trial.  One is reminded, for example, of Jonah praying from the belly of the great fish (Jonah 2:9). 

At the temple the individual publicly declares what God has done for him.  He says that he had come before God in sincerity, not plotting any kind of sin, and that otherwise God would not have heard his prayer (v 18).  

Verse 18 may have been the source of the statement in John 9:31 by a man whom Jesus had healed:  "We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him."