The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 116:1-2
An introduction, in which the writer declares his love to God, and his resolution to call on him continually, on ac count of his having been delivered from an imminent peril. read more
An introduction, in which the writer declares his love to God, and his resolution to call on him continually, on ac count of his having been delivered from an imminent peril. read more
God the Deliverer. I. CELEBRATES A GREAT DELIVERANCE . ( Psalms 116:3-8 .) 1. From threatened death . ( Psalms 116:3 .) 2. From the pains of the unseen world or of death . ( Psalms 116:3 .) 3. His whole nature is troubled and sorrowful . ( Psalms 116:3 .) II. THE MEANS OR INSTRUMENTS OF HIS DELIVERANCE . 1. Prayer . ( Psalms 116:1-4 .) 2. The goodness and mercy of Go d. ( Psalms 116:5 , Psalms 116:6 .) III. THE ... read more
Danger and deliverance. It is probable that the danger to which the psalmist was exposed was due to a very serious illness, threatening to end in death. It is certain that this is the most common danger we have to confront now. We look, therefore, at— I. A RECURRING EVIL IN OUR MORTAL LIFE — SICKNESS . With so complicated a structure as the human frame, and so intricate a system as that which has to be kept in working order, if we are to be in perfect health, it is no... read more
Because he hath inclined his ear unto me (compare the expression of Hezekiah in Isaiah 37:17 , " Incline thine ear , O Lord , and hear"). Therefore will I call upon him as long as I live ; literally, in my days— another expression attributed to Hezekiah in the history ( Isaiah 39:8 ). Lifelong gratitude and praise are promised by Hezekiah to God in Isaiah 38:20 . read more
The sorrows of death compassed me ; literally, the cords of death (comp. Psalms 18:4 , where the same expression is used). Death is pictured as seizing his victim and binding him with cords. And the pains of hell gat hold upon me ; or, "the straits of hell" (comp. Psalms 118:5 ; Lamentations 1:3 ). Death and hell (shell) are closely connected together in the prayer of Hezekiah ( Isaiah 38:10 , Isaiah 38:18 ). I found trouble and sorrow; or, "anguish and woe" (comp. Isaiah... read more
Depression attending sickness. There is a most subtle connection between the body and the mind. This was recognized by the psalmist, when he found such comfort in saying of God, "He knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust." It is embodied in the familiar idea of the healthy man— Mens sana in corpore sano . The mind can only work through the body as its agent, and is as dependent on its condition as the workman on the state of his tools. The influence of body on mind is fully... read more
The experience of a deeply distressed soul. The psalm is the utterance of the glad gratitude of some devout Israelite on his deliverance from mortal sickness. But it is capable of many applications. In the temple service it was used as a psalm of thanksgiving for God's deliverance of Israel from their exile. Many have seen in it the setting forth of the sufferings of our Lord, and have applied the psalm generally to him. Others, again, take it, as do we, as describing, in vivid, impressive... read more
The psalmist describes his trouble ( Psalms 116:3 ), his prayer for deliverance ( Psalms 116:4 ), and his actual deliverance ( Psalms 116:5-9 ). read more
The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 116:1
The various bases on which love rests. A tradition associates this psalm with the serious sickness of Hezekiah. It may not be a trustworthy tradition. The Aramaisms of the language suggest that it belongs to the time of the restored exiles. It is a psalm of one who passed through a similar sickness to that of Hezekiah; and we are justified in illustrating the psalm from the experiences of the good king. The writer was evidently a man who had been brought through a sickness which had... read more