Dallas Baptist University

Psalm 116 Interpretation

By
Meghan Murray

THEO 5313.N1 Applied Hermeneutics

Dr. Norman Blackaby
Date Due: March 6, 2016

Date Submitted: March 6, 2016

Table of Contents

PAGE
Outline............

Exegetical Notes For Context..

Historical-Cultural Context.

Literary Context

Exegetical Notes For Content..

Life Application

Bibliography..

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Outline

Main Truth
Psalm 116 is a song of thanksgiving to God, praising Him for His salvation and offering a
sacrifice of thanksgiving before Him for all that He has done and is doing for His children.

Outline
In order to develop this passage outline, references to the Interpretation: A Biblical
Commentary for Teaching and Preaching and Holman Old Testament Commentaries, aided the
personal reflection and understanding of this text.

1. Declaration of Love and Praise to the Lord (1-7)

a. Declaring love to the Lord for hearing prayer (1-2)
b. Called out to the Lord in times of distress (3-4)
c. The Lord is good (5-7)
2. The Lord Rescues His Children from Despair (8-13)
a. The Lord saved him from death (8-9)
b. Only the Lord is capable of salvation (10-11)
c. How can we repay the Lord for the good that He does? (12)
d. Take up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord (13)
3. The Sacrifice of Thanksgiving (14-19)
a.
b.
c.
d.

Fulfilling the vows to the Lord in front of His people (14)

God is glorified in death and in life (15)
I am a servant of the Lord (16)
The sacrifice of thanksgiving (17-19)

Exegetical Notes For Context

Historical/Cultural Context
1. Authorship:
The name of the psalmist who wrote this particular poem is unknown; however, this
individual composed it for use by an individual in a serve of thanksgiving (Mays 371).
It was written by the psalmist in response to Gods salvation from a life-threatening
situation (Lawson 219). While the author is unknown, some scholars suppose that the
singer could have been a king representing the people of Israel while others believe that
it is possible that an officiant sang the song on behalf of the community (Clifford).
2. Audience:
The psalmist is addressing God, praising Him for His goodness and offering up a
sacrifice of thanksgiving. Based on verse 7, when he calls on his own soul to return to
[its] rest, the psalmist also writes in remembrance for himself. Throughout the entire
poem, he remembers how he has been at deaths door But he now knows that God so
loved him that he would never let him go (Knight, 202). Finally, the psalmist appears
also to be addressing a congregation of some sort. He is making his vows both before
God and before an assembly (Terrien, 778).
3. The World:
Although some biblical scholars believe that the psalmist could possibly have been a
king, the citation of older psalms and the influence of Aramaic points to the postexilic
period, a time when Israel did not have a king (Clifford).
4. Time Period:
The psalmist takes a moment in this poem to address Jerusalem rather than God. By
addressing the holy city and temple, this writing points to a date apparently close to the
reconstruction of Zion at the end of the sixth century (Terrien, 778).
5. Major Event:
There is no particular event with which this psalm is associated; however, it became the
fourth of the six Hallel Psalms sung at important Jewish festivals including Passover
(Clifford). It serves as a reminder not only for the particular psalmist, but also for the
people of Israel of their deliverance from Egypt. It also should be noted that Psalm 116
came to be used in the celebration of eucharist (Mays 371). The death and resurrection
of Jesus Christ turned Passover into eucharist, and Psalm 116 was reread as a
thanksgiving for the promise of life given in Jesus salvation from death (Mays 371).

Literary Context
1. Genre:
Psalms is a book of poetry and songs. This particular psalm is a song of thanksgiving
(Mays 368).
2. Thesis:
Psalm 116:1 I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.
(ESV).
3. Theme:
The book of psalms is filled with the writings of different authors there are different
themes throughout all 150 chapters. The word psalm comes from the Greek word
meaning a song or chant accompanied by a stringed instrument (Terrien 10). For the
Jews, the title of this book was Tehillim, praises, a term related to Hallelujah (Terrien
10). In fact, the Dead Sea Scrolls often refer to these writings as The Book of Praises
(Terrien 10). Not all of the psalms are focused on praise, as many are filled with laments,
cries, and prayers, but the theme of this particular psalm is one of thanksgiving and
praise. For a large portion of the poem, the psalmist offers praise to God for answering
his prayers (Mays 368). The point that the writer was trying to get across was how God
heard him and delivered him from death, leading him to vow always to thank and serve
God (Lawson 220).
4. Flow of Thought:
The following outline was aided by the Holman Old Testament Commentary (Lawson
220-221) and Interpretation: A Biblical Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Mays
368-372).
a. Opening/Thesis: The psalmist opens the song by declaring his love for the Lord
for saving his live in times of trouble (116:1-4).
b. Praise: God deserves praise because of who He is and what He does for His
children. (116:5-6).
c. Instruction: The psalmist calls on himself and others to return to the Lord because
of everything that He has done (116:7-9)
d. Argument: The psalmist provides reasons as to why God deserves the highest
praises and sacrifice (116:10-14)
i. Only God is capable of providing salvation.
ii. Mankind is unreliable.
iii. It is impossible to repay God for all that He has done.
iv. Since it is impossible to repay God, the psalmist promises to call on God
and fulfill his vows to God before the assembly.
e. Praise: God cares for his children and is glorified both in life and in death
(116:15)
f. Closing: The psalmist closes by repeating his promise from verse 14 and vowing
to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God (116:16-19)

5. Preceding Passage:
This psalm is the fourth and final in the sequence of psalms, The Egyptian Hallel, that
were read during the course of the Passover meal (Mays 371). Psalm 115 particularly
concerns itself with the issue of faith (Mays 366). It addresses idolism and the
uniqueness of God versus the made-up gods that other nations pursue (Mays 366-367).
The psalm ends by declaring praise to God as master of the universe and of the living. In
verse 17, the writer of this psalm states that the dead do not praise the Lord (ESV), an
idea that is echoed in Psalm 116 when the psalmist recalls Gods salvation from death
and states that he will walk before the Lord in the land of the living (ESV). The
Septuagint transposes the conclusion of Psalm 115 to the beginning of this psalm:
Praise the Lord (Longman & Garland 845)
6. Following Passage:
Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible and it is dedicated to praising the Lord.
Psalm 116 ends in praise and Psalm 117 begins in praise. This psalm, however, includes
all of the nations in its praise for the Lord. The purpose of this psalm is to remind
believers that the praise of God is complete only when they intend to praise in concert
with all people (Mays 373). While Psalm 116 ended in inviting the people of Israel to
praise the Lord, in this psalm, the nations of the world are invited to praise the God of
Israel (Terrien 779).

Exegetical Notes For Content

Psalm 116:1-7 | The Psalmist Declares His Love to the Lord
We know that when we call on the Lord, He will answer. When we call out to God for God, we
can trust Him because of his goodness and faithfulness which he has always shown to His
children.
V1, The psalmist opens the poem by declaring his love for the Lord. This declaration, as an
introductory theme, defines the whole song as a declaration of love (Mays 370). It is made clear
that this expression is brought on by Gods answer to prayer. The psalmists love for God is the
result of Gods love for him. This idea can be found also in 1 John 4:19 (Longman & Garland
844).
V1, 4-7, 9, 12-19, In this poem, the word Lord is found 15 times, indicating the psalmists
focus on God (Clifford).
V3, This verse introduces death as a theme. This is one of the words used in all three parts of
the psalm (Mays 369). Rather than identifying the specific illness or situation which threatened
his life, the psalmist chose to characterize it instead (Mays 369). To the psalmist, death was
able to [invade] the realm of the living and entangles life (Mays 369-370). Amidst serious
trouble, one becomes aware of their own mortality (Mays 370). Death and Sheol are also
presented as conditions that are completely separate from God. For the writer of this song, life
became a living hell before he called on the Lord (Longman & Garland 845).
V3, In this verse, death and the grave are personified as hunters lying in wait with cords to
entangle the godly (Longman & Garland 845). Rather than a physical death, the writer possible
was afflicted by troubles that brought intense sadness and exposed his weaknesses.
V3, In the book of Acts, Peter makes an allusion to this phrase: freeing him from the agony of
death (Longman & Garland 845-846). These meanings bring light to the fact that death has
the power to entrap, bind, and keep its victims enchained (Longman & Garland 846).
V4, The name of the Lord is important in this text. Gods name alone is capable of providing
all of humanities needs. We can call on His name, knowing that when we do, He hears us and
will deliver us (Longman & Garland 846). The psalmist mentions calling on the name of the
Lord first in verse 4, then in verses 13 and 17. The psalmist is thankful that the Lord hears and
expresses this love for Him (Mays 371).
V5, The Hebrew word for gracious is channuwn, which meant to bend down, to stoop in
kindness to an inferior, to have favor, to have mercy (Lawson 220). The Hebrew word for
righteous is tsadiyq, meaning just, lawful, honest, right (Lawson 220).
V5-6a, The psalmist affirms that fact that only God can save Him because of who He is. By
recognizing his graciousness, righteousness, and compassion, he confirms the character of God
and states the reasoning for his thankfulness: the Lord is reliable and faithful (Longman &
Garland 846). By affirming the attributes of God, the psalmist also encourages his listeners to
call on the Lord in their various distresses (Longman & Garland 846).
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V6, The Hebrew word protects or guards is shamar, which means to hedge about as with
thorns, to guard, to protect, such as a shepherd guarding a flock (Lawson 220).
V7, This verse highlights the fact that we can find rest in God. God provides a love that offers
rest for the beloved (Mays 371). It is also possible that this verse is probably a rhetorical
statement of an intention to visit the temple as the sphere where Gods presence provides relief
and security (Mays 369)
Psalm 116:8-13 | The Lord Rescues His Children from Despair
Even in weakness to the point of death, God is able to and is gracious to save His children. Gods
strength is the only power capable of offering true salvation, thus it is God alone that we should
call on and trust to help us in our times of need.
V9, The psalmist not only declares his love for God in speech, but also plans to do so in action as
well by walk[ing] before the Lord in the land of the living (ESV). His love for God pushes him
to live in the presence of God constantly (Mays 371). The psalmist understood that God saved
his life for a reason, so he should walk in such a way as to honor that gift (Lawson 221).
V11, This verse may indicate that the psalmist was subject to false accusations by ungodly
men and affirms the fact that all men offer only a false hope for deliverance (Lawson 221).
V12, Because of Gods faithfulness, the psalmist wonders out loud how he could possibly repay
the Lord for all that Hes done. However, no answer is provided for the question because there
is no way to pay or repay the Lord (Longman & Garland 848).
V13, This is the second time that the psalmist has called on the name of the Lord in this
passage; however, this time is not to ask for deliverance but to thank the Lord and praise his
holy name for his fidelity to his promises (Longman & Garland 848).
Psalm 116:14-19 | The Sacrifice of Thanksgiving
We offer thanksgiving to the Lord when we live our lives for Him. We are to fulfill any vows
made to him and be faithful to Him, just as He has been and always will be faithful to us.
V14, Vows were commonly made in the Old Testament by saints and leaders. The fact that the
psalmist plans to perform his vows in the presence of all his people wasnt to make a spectacle
of himself but to encourage the godly (Longman & Garland 848).
V14, 18 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people (ESV) is stated twice
in this chapter. It can be assumed that thank offering the psalmist plans to present to God was a
fulfillment of the vows made amid the distress (Longman & Garland 848). The psalmist
recognizes that if he is truly going to express his love for God, then he must fulfill what he has
promised to Him, whatever that may be (Mays 371).
V16 The psalmist calls himself a servant of the Lord and promises to serve Him for what He has
done. Once again, the writer shows love to God beyond words. He demonstrates love for God
through service to Him (Mays 371).

V14b, 18b, 19, These verses are references to Gods people (14b, 18b), the house of the Lord
(19a), and Jerusalem (19b). Based upon these particular verses, it can infer a liturgical
celebration in the Temple (Clifford).
V15, God takes the life and death of his people very seriously. Though his people are permitted
to experience adversity, He does not take the matter lightly because He loves them (Longman &
Garland 848).
V15-16, The psalmist reads these verses as a public confession and encouragement (Longman
& Garland 849).
V17, As the psalmist makes clear throughout his song, thanksgiving is expressed in two ways. It
is expressed through both words and actions. George A. F. Knight states that these two cannot
be separatedin fact there is only one word in Hebrew to cover the two! (203).
V17-19, The psalmist repeats his promise to fulfill the vows he has made to the Lord. (Lawson
221)
Life Application
This psalm is a song of remembrance as well as a call to action. The psalmist recalls all
that God had done for him in his time of need and, while he was unable to fully repay God, he
made a point to promise before an assembly to keep his vows made to the Lord. Psalm 116 was
important for the celebration of Passover, and was later used to celebrate Communion (Mays
372). While these two celebrations hold great importance and are not to be overlooked, this
particular psalm can also apply to everyday occurrences in life as well.
One important aspect of this psalm is the fact that the psalmist called on the name of the
Lord on more than one occasion. The first time he called on God (v. 4) was to cry out for
salvation from torment. The next two times that he called on God (vv. 13, 17) were in response to
the goodness and faithfulness that God had shown him in that experience. This points to the fact
that we can (and should) always call out to God, regardless of our circumstances. Whether we
are in need or abundance, the Lords name should be called on. Only He is capable of providing
for our every need and it is because of Him that we have everything that we do have. God is
worthy of all praise and it is He that we should go to for prayer and thanksgiving.
Another important concept to grasp in this passage is obedience. According to Richard J.
Clifford, obedience means wholehearted commitment, listening to the other, and a union of
hearts and minds. Twice in this passage, the psalmist declares I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people (ESV). Not only does the psalmist promise to complete his
vows before God, but he also promises to act in obedience in front of His assembly. This is not
done to brag about his own righteousness, but to call others to join with him in this journey. This
psalm holds importance to the people of Israel (and to believers today) because it represents the
thoughts and feelings of every person who has experienced salvation from the Lord. It serves as
a reminder of all that God has done and calls us to turn to him in obedience as a Church. One
way in which this could be lived out today is through fasting. While it is most certainly not the
only way in which one can demonstrate obedience and thanksgiving to the Lord, it is a biblical
7

practice that is still applicable today. According to David W.T. Brattston, fasting works to
mortify the flesh, subdue the body, humble it and the soul, and put to death the deeds of the
flesh (239). Fasting is most often associate with food o diet; however, it can also be
incorporated into other things as well. One could fast from social media, comforts, or other
things that can distract us from God. Regardless of what one fasts from, they must do so
willingly with the intention of drawing nearer to God through the process.
Another important aspect of obedience is that in obedience, one is invited to honor the
saving God in a bodily and communal way in rites, songs, and communion (Clifford). Honoring
God is not a decision that one must continually make alone. We are invited to participate in a
community of believers to encourage one another in the faith. The psalmist speaks in the
presence of all [Gods] people (vv. 14 18) and references the temple and Jerusalem (v. 19) in
order to invite them to participate with him in offering a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord.
This idea is echoed in Hebrews when the writer encourages believers to consider how to stir up
one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together but encouraging one
another, and all the more as [they] see the Day drawing near (10:24-25, ESV). Of course this
can refer to going to church and spending time in fellowship with the congregation. However,
more specifically, it can also mean having an individual or a group of people to hold you
accountable. Bible study groups, small groups, and mentors are all great ways to spend time with
people who will hold you accountable. They are people that you can meet with both inside and
outside of church. They are people that you can share your struggles and joys with. While God is
most definitely the first and most important one to call on in all circumstances, it is also
important to have a group of fellow believers who will join you and agree with you in your walk
in obedience towards God.
Finally, as stated earlier, this psalm was used not only for the celebration of Passover, but
also for communion after the death and resurrection of Jesus. This act of obedience can often
lose its significance due to the number of times it is performed in churches; however, it is a way
of remembering our Lord and Savior for all that He has done and is doing for us. The blood of
Jesus Christ washed our sins away. His body is the bread. The gospel of John tells us that Jesus is
the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.
And the bread that [Jesus] will give for the life of the world is [His] flesh (6:51, ESV). Even in
the Old Testament period, this psalmist understood that life only comes from God. Thus when we
participate in communion with our congregation, one thing that could be done is to change the
service in a way in which the message and practice is not lost and ensures the heart of the act
remains intact. For example, some churches will have a few members tell their testimony in front
of the congregation either before or after taking the bread and wine. Its important that the
significance of this act is not lost. The psalmist saw the importance in remembering God and
honoring Him with our lives long before Jesus walked the earth in human flesh, so we must
recognize the importance of doing such today as well as Jesus commanded us.

Bibliography

Brattston, David W. T. Fasting in the Earliest Church. Restoration Quarterly 53.4

(2011): 235-45.
Clifford, Richard J. Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries: Psalms 73-150. Nashville,
TN: Abingdon Press, 2003.
English Standard Version Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011. Print.
Knight, George A. F. Psalms. Vol. 2. The Daily Study Bible Series. Louisville, KY:
Westminster John Knox Press., 1946.
Lawson, Stephen J. Holman Old Testament Commentary: Psalms 76-150. Nashville, TN:
Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2006.
Longman, Tremper & Garland, David E. The Expositors Bible Commentary: Psalms.
Vol. 5. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008.
Mays, James Luther. Psalms. Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and
Preaching. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011.
Terrien, Samuel L. The Psalms: Strophic Structure and Theological Commentary.
Eerdmans Critical Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co, 2003.