I Love The Lord Series

Bethany was with her best friend, Alana, and Alana’s brother and father. They immediately helped get Bethany back to shore and rushed her to the hospital.

By the time Bethany arrived at the hospital, she had lost over 60% of her blood and was in hypovolemic shock.

As it turned out, Bethany’s Dad was scheduled to have knee surgery that same morning. Bethany took her Dad’s place in the operating theatre with the same doctor who was expected to do her Dad’s knee surgery.

There is no doubt that Bethany was in danger of dying.

She could say with the psalmist, “The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish” (v. 3).

Bethany prayed to the Lord. He heard her prayer.

The Lord saved Bethany from death.

She made a dramatic recovery.

Just 26 days after she lost her arm to the shark attack, Bethany returned to the water.

Less than two months later, Bethany entered her first significant surfing competition.

Bethany could also say with the psalmist, “For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling” (v. 8).

When the Lord does that for the believer, what should a believer do?

II. What the Believer Does (116:12-19)

Second, let’s look at what the believer does.

The psalmist asks in verse 12, “What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me?”

The psalmist was on the verge of death. He faced death in the face.

He cried out to the Lord in prayer.

The Lord heard his prayer and answered him by saving him from certain death.

So, it is understandable that the psalmist would want to know what he could give to the Lord for all the Lord’s benefits to him.

Perhaps you have faced death. You had a severe illness. You experienced a brutal attack. You suffered a terrible accident.

You cried out to the Lord in prayer.

The Lord heard your prayer and answered you by saving you from certain death.

How can you repay the Lord for his goodness to you?

You know that the Lord needs nothing.

Paul asked this rhetorical question of the Lord in Romans 11:35, “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”

The Lord needs nothing, “For from him and through him and to him are all things” (v. 36).

Nevertheless, knowing that the Lord needs nothing from anyone, the psalmist suggests two ways a believer can respond to the Lord for all his benefits.

A. The Believer Praises the Lord for Saving Him (116:13, 16-17)

First, the believer praises the Lord for saving him.

The psalmist says in verse 13, “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.”

This statement may refer to a drink offering in Numbers 15:10, which states, “And you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.”

However, the statement may more likely be a metaphor contrasting with the more common “cup” of God’s wrath that we studied in Psalm 75:8.

The psalmist is affirming that the Lord saved him physically from certain death. And so he confirms that and calls on God’s name in praise and gratitude.