Psalms 116-117
Yes, two psalms today – but the second, Psalm 117 is only two verses long and fits nicely at the end of Psalm 116. Psalm 117 is not only the shortest psalm, it is also the shortest chapter in the entire Bible.
In today’s Psalm 116 the psalmist is concerned with death, specifically his own. See especially verses 3, 6, 8, and 15 as “death” verses woven into the text. Furthermore the deliverance prayer and the payment of vows (vv. 4, 14, 18) sound something like a “foxhole conversion”, as in “Lord, if you will deliver me from this battle, I will _____________.” (Frankly, I made my own promise to God during Catholic Mass while at our little base camp church my last week in Vietnam. Mine was more confession than deliverance, but that’s another story.) While the psalmist has a “death” focus interspersed in the psalm throughout, most of the remaining verses focus on praise and thanksgiving.
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his godly ones. (v. 15, NASB; the ESV has “saints” instead of “godly ones”) I have often thought of this verse when someone I loved and knew well died. I can even put a face to this verse, a lady from our first ever RTB at St. Andrew’s back in 2009. When she died, I remember thinking how joyful the Lord must have been to receive her. So whenever I happen upon this verse I think of that lady. What a marvelous godly person, a beautiful saint!
One thing that strikes me about Psalm 116 is the act of calling on the Lord. We see this in Ps. 116:2,4,13,17. What sticks out to me here is that calling on the Lord is not just a self-interested request or an act of desperation — it is itself an act of worship. The psalmist asks in Ps. 116:12, “What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me?” In other words, “How can I possibly repay the LORD for everything He has done for me?” And part of his answer is that he will call on the name of the LORD (v. 13). So we “render to the LORD” by asking for more? At first glance that seems a bit upside-down (as do many other things in Scripture). But calling on the Lord declares our dependence on Him — and disavows reliance on self or on any other idols. So take your requests to the Lord, no matter how small or how large, and call on Him, knowing that your calling to Him is your worship of Him!