#847 I Love The Lord

I love the Lord, because he has heard

my voice and my pleas for mercy.

2 Because he inclined his ear to me,

therefore I will call on him as long as I live.

3 The snares of death encompassed me;

the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;

I suffered distress and anguish.

4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:

“O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”

5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;

our God is merciful.

6 The Lord preserves the simple;

when I was brought low, he saved me.

7 Return, O my soul, to your rest;

for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

8 For you have delivered my soul from death,

my eyes from tears,

my feet from stumbling;

9 I will walk before the Lord

in the land of the living.

10 I believed, even when I spoke:

“I am greatly afflicted”;

11 I said in my alarm,

“All mankind are liars.”

12 What shall I render to the Lord

for all his benefits to me?

13 I will lift up the cup of salvation

and call on the name of the Lord,

14 I will pay my vows to the Lord

in the presence of all his people.

15 Precious in the sight of the Lord

is the death of his saints.

16 O Lord, I am your servant;

I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.

You have loosed my bonds.

17 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving

and call on the name of the Lord.

18 I will pay my vows to the Lord

in the presence of all his people,

19 in the courts of the house of the Lord,

in your midst, O Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord! Psalm 116 ESV

A Psalm of gratitude for redemption. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.

"This Psalm is a threefold engagement of the Psalmist unto thanksgiving unto God, for his mercy unto him, and in particular for some notable delivery of him from death, both bodily and spiritual. The first engagement is, that he shall out of love have recourse unto God by prayer, Ps 116:1-2; the reasons and motives whereof are set down, because of his former deliverances, Ps 116:3-8, the second engagement is to a holy conversation, Ps 116:9, and the motives and reasons are given in Ps 116:10-13; the third engagement is to continual praise and service, and specially to pay those vows before the church, which he had made in days of sorrow, the reasons whereof are given in Ps 116:14-19." David Dickson

I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy - We love Him because He first loved us. I am not sure who the Psalmist is here, but whoever he is, he would not know of God unless God had made Himself known. It is the first and greatest commandment, "thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all your heart, your soul and mind." It is the writer's testimony, that God has heard his pleas for mercy, whether in sickness, inner turmoil, or from some outside threat, and He has delivered him. 

…9 This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. 10 And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.… 1 John 4: 9-11

Therefore I will call on Him as long as I live - Because He inclined His ear, He heard me, listened to me in this weakened state. I am reminded of Hannah, the mother of the great prophet, Samuel, who put the burden of her heart before the Lord. She was tormented by another woman, and considered a caste below, not blessed, for she had no fruit of her own womb. These trials and condemnations from men are more blessed then their commendations, if they lead us to earnest prayer. That You would hear me, a person who stumbles in prayer, cannot find words fitting, that You would condescend to one of such low estate, so poor in spirit, I will forever run to You. On the premise that You have heard me once, answered me this time, I am now filled with hope that You will answer me again.

The snares of death encompassed me - I have watched death come, and he is not so far from the door of some close to me even now, but this is no tragedy if it causes us to turn our affections toward heaven. The pangs may hurt us here, but they will be swallowed up for those who put their trust in Christ. I am not looking for my best life here, now, and you can keep such a message to yourself, for I want no part in it. God, let me see with the eyes of faith, that everything You have said is true, and that which has not come to past yet, will surely happen as You have decreed it. Let me face death smiling, knowing that for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

The Lord preserves the simple - I have watched many a man speak, who thought much of their degrees, the eloquence of their oration, the splendor of their pulpit, but was left wondering whose words they loved more? There was a man, who I have never heard preach, but whose words leap off the page like a lion, roaring with great force over much distance. This same man said that all the theology and doctrine he would ever need to know, he learned from an old cook at his school as a young man. Lest I find myself too high minded, I use this same man's Treasury of David, to draw me back to the place of my first love. His great passion was Christ, in Him, he saw and found all he ever needed. The Apostle Paul said, he didn't come with excellency of speech, but in the Spirit and with power. He also said, I set aside to know nothing among you, except Christ, Him crucified and risen from the dead. These men were not ashamed of the gospel, to give the whole counsel of God, to preach about sin, the doctrine of men's depravity and so our utter inability to be justified by our own works and perceived righteousness. Don't coat it with sugar, keep all your scribes, your so called sages and gurus, give them an island to themselves, where they can applaud each other for their many words. The man who loves God, who opens the word of God, who boldly proclaims it without apology, savoring every word, to those men I will consider myself in debt. Don't look for the one who says what you want to hear, who says it the prettiest, no, look for the one who is afraid to say what God has not said because he loves Christ. 

…67 So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?” 68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.”… John 6: 67-69

My feet from stumbling - The disciples once asked the Lord to teach them how to pray, and in there is the line, "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." I look back at times I did not act upon the wickedness of my heart, and can only thank God, for it was in me to do otherwise, and for that I must confess. I still sin, so I must still repent.

I am greatly afflicted - Even when I said this, I still believed. Where else can I go, I know God to be true.

All mankind are liars - He seems to have spoken in haste, from misery. I have said much in frustration, far too much, and have held out no hope for those who were, as I saw it then, the bane of my existence.

- Speaking in haste is generally followed by bitter repentance. It is much better to be quiet when our spirit is disturbed and hasty, for it is so much easier to say than to unsay; we may repent of our words, but we cannot so recall them as to undo the mischief they have done. If even David had to eat his own words, when he spoke in a hurry, none of us can trust our tongue without a bridle. C. H. Spurgeon

What shall I render to the Lord - Oh Hannah, how precious was your faith, you remembered your vows. True faith always produces fruit, hence faith without works was not real, it was dead. The Spirit gives life and with that comes the desire to obey.

9 So after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the temple of the LORD. 10 In her bitter distress, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears. 11 And she made a vow, pleading, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall ever come over his head.”… 1 Samuel 1: 9-11

…24 Once she had weaned him, Hannah took the boy with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. Though the boy was still young, she brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. 25 And when they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli. 26“Please, my lord,” said Hannah, “as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD.…

…27 I prayed for this boy, and since the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him, 28 I now dedicate the boy to the LORD. For as long as he lives, he is dedicated to the LORD.” So they worshiped the LORD there. 1 Samuel 1: 24-28

Precious in the sight of Lord is the death of His saints - 

- They shall not die prematurely; they shall be immortal till their work is done; and when their time shall come to die, then their deaths shall be precious. The Lord watches over their dying beds, smooths their pillows, sustains their hearts, and receives their souls. Those who are redeemed with precious blood are so dear to God that even their deaths are precious to him. The deathbeds of saints are very precious to the church, she often learns much from them; they are very precious to all believers, who delight to treasure up the last words of the departed; but they are most of all precious to the Lord Jehovah himself, who views the triumphant deaths of his gracious ones with sacred delight. If we have walked before him in the land of the living, we need not fear to die before him when the hour of our departure is at hand. C. H. Spurgeon