Psalms 116

I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my begging for help.

1I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.

Note"LORD" in small capitals stands for the personal name of Israel's God, written in Hebrew with four consonants (YHWH). Ancient Jewish readers said "Lord" aloud in its place rather than pronouncing it, and English Bibles have followed that custom ever since. Where the text has the ordinary word for "lord" or "master," translations print "Lord" in normal type.

2Because he bent down to listen to me, I will keep calling on him as long as I live.

2Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.

3The ropes of death wrapped around me, and the anguish of the grave took hold of me. I found trouble and sorrow.

3The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.

Note"The ropes of death": the Hebrew word can mean either cords that bind and drag a person away, or the pains of childbirth, both senses are possible here, and ancient readers may have heard both. The King James "pains of hell" translates a phrase about Sheol, the Hebrew name for the shadowy underworld where all the dead were thought to go. It is not a place of punishment; it simply means death and the realm of the dead, which is why modern translations often render it "the grave."

4Then I called on the name of the LORD: "LORD, I beg you, save my life!"

4Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.

Note"Save my life" translates a Hebrew word (nephesh) that the King James renders "soul." It does not mean a spirit inside the body as distinct from it; it means the whole living person, a life, a self, a throat that breathes. When the psalm says "deliver my soul," it means "rescue me, keep me alive."

5The LORD is kind and does what is right. Yes, our God is full of mercy.

5Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.

6The LORD watches over those who are simple and trusting. I was brought very low, and he helped me.

6The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.

Note"Simple" here does not mean stupid. The Hebrew word describes someone inexperienced and unguarded, easily taken in, with no power or cleverness to protect themselves. The point is helplessness, not low intelligence.

7Go back to your rest, my soul, because the LORD has been very good to you.

7Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.

NoteThe speaker is talking to himself: "my soul" is a way of saying "myself" (see the note at verse 4). Telling his own soul to go back to its rest is like telling himself to settle down again after a crisis.

8You have saved my life from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling.

8For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

9I will walk in the presence of the LORD in the land of the living.

9I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.

Note"The land of the living" means the world of people still alive, as opposed to the realm of the dead. The speaker is saying he will go on living and worshiping here, rather than having been carried off to the grave.

10I believed, and so I spoke. I was suffering greatly.

10I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:

NoteThis line is compressed and hard to construe in Hebrew; translators divide it differently. It may mean "I kept trusting even when I said, 'I am badly hurt'", or "I trusted, and that is why I spoke out." The ancient Greek translation read it as "I believed, therefore I spoke," which is the wording quoted in the New Testament (2 Corinthians 4:13).

11In my alarm I said, "Everyone is a liar."

11I said in my haste, All men are liars.

12What can I give back to the LORD for all the good he has done for me?

12What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?

13I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.

13I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.

NoteIn Israelite worship a thank-offering at the temple included pouring out wine as a drink offering and sharing a meal. Lifting a cup was part of that public ceremony of thanks. "Cup of salvation" means the cup raised to acknowledge a rescue that has already happened.

14I will do what I promised the LORD, and I will do it in front of all his people.

14I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.

NotePeople in distress commonly made a vow: if God rescued them, they promised to come to the temple, offer a sacrifice, and say publicly what had happened. Paying the vow "in front of all his people" is the fulfillment of that promise, the rescue had to be announced in public, not privately.

15The death of those who are faithful to him is precious in the sight of the LORD.

15Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

NoteThe Hebrew word behind "precious" means costly or highly valued, something not parted with cheaply. Readers have long taken the line two ways: that God treasures his faithful ones even in their dying, or that their lives are too costly in his sight for him to let them die lightly. The Hebrew allows both. "Saints" translates a word meaning those bound to God in loyal love and faithfulness; it carries no sense of official sainthood.

16LORD, I really am your servant. I am your servant, the son of your servant woman. You have untied the ropes that held me.

16O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.

Note"The son of your servant woman" is not a complaint about low birth. A servant born in the household, to a woman already in service there, belonged to that house from birth and had the strongest claim on its master's protection. The speaker is saying he belongs to God completely and by long standing. "You have untied my ropes" is the language of releasing a prisoner or a bound animal.

17I will bring you a sacrifice to thank you, and I will call on the name of the LORD.

17I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.

NoteThe thank-offering (Hebrew todah) was a specific kind of sacrifice, brought after a rescue rather than to ask for one. Most of the animal was eaten in a shared meal with family and friends at the sanctuary, so the thanks was a public celebration as much as a ritual.

18I will do what I promised the LORD, and I will do it in front of all his people,

18I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people,

19in the courtyards of the LORD's house, right in the middle of you, Jerusalem. Praise the LORD!

19In the courts of the LORD’s house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.

NoteThe temple building itself was entered only by priests; ordinary worshipers gathered in the surrounding courtyards, which is where vows were publicly paid. "Praise the LORD" translates the Hebrew hallelu-yah (literally "praise Yah," a short form of the divine name) which came into English untranslated as "hallelujah."