“I love you Lord because You heard my prayer, and answer my request, and inclined Yourself to me. Therefore, I will pray to You always. The threat of death scared me, the prospect of hell was real. I went through agony and sorrow. Then I prayed for Your deliverance. You were gracious to me, and Your mercy saved me. You protected me in the hour of my need. I will rest in You Lord because You have saved my soul, taken way my fears and kept my feet from falling. I will walk before You my Lord in integrity, I will testify of Your goodness, I repent because I believed in You. Now what can I give to You my Lord. I will drink Your cup of salvation. I will call on Your name, I will pay my vows before others. Lord, I will keep my promises to You, I will tell all the people of Your faithfulness” (Psalm 116:1-14).
A. GRATITUDE FOR DELIVERANCE
Gratitude is the least remembered of all virtues,
but is the acid test of character.
1. Author: many Bible teachers think Hezekiah wrote this Psalm (as well as 120, 121, 123, 125, 128, 129, 130, 132, 134).
2. Why Hezekiah was grateful?
a. Assyria surrounded Jerusalem but Hezekiah prayed (Isaiah 37:14-20). The death angel killed 185,000.
b. God told Hezekiah he would die, but when he prayed, God gave him an additional 15 years (Isaiah 38:1-22).
3. Psalm 116 describes how earnestly Hezekiah prayed. “I beseech thee, deliver my soul” (v. 4). “Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed” (Isaiah 38:2).
4. Psalm 116 describes Hezekiah’s desperation. “I was brought low” (v. 6). “Listen to me O Lord, and hear! Open your eyes, O Lord and see!
5. A Messianic Psalm. Many think this is a prediction of the sufferings, death, and triumph of Messiah. “The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell got hold of me, and I found trouble and sorrow” (v. 3).
6. The “cup of salvation” in verse 13 was the 3rd cup in the Passover at the Last Supper. “I will take the cup of salvation” (v. 13).
C. ANALYSIS OF GRATITUDE
1. Love is an attitude of gratitude. “I will love the Lord because ... He has heard my prayer so I will call upon Him as long as I live, i.e., every day of my life” (vv. 1-2).
2. Three conditions of the Psalmist (vv. 3-4).
a. Grief. “The sorrows of death.”
b. Guilt. “The pains of Hell got hold upon me.”
c. Pain. “I found trouble and sorrow.”
3. Many will not pray until problems come. “Then I called upon the name of the Lord” (v. 4).
4. Gratitude because the Lord has done two things.
a. The exact opposite of the expected. “Gracious is the Lord” (v. 5).
b. Loving. “Our God is merciful” (v. 5).
5. Hezekiah’s two conditions.
a. Ignorant. “The Lord preserveth the simple” (v. 6).
b. Wiped out. “I was brought low” (v. 6).
6. God’s threefold deliverance.
a. Salvation. “My soul from death” (v. 8).
b. Took away fear. “Mine eyes from tears” (v. 8).
c. Changed circumstances. “My feet from falling” (v. 8).
7. Hezekiah’s response:
a. Promise. “I will walk before the Lord” (v. 9).
b. Repent. “I said in my haste, all men are liars” (v. 11).
Your worship is not received
Until repentance is achieved
c. Fulfill your promise. “I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all His people” (v. 14).
d. Acceptance of human limitation. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints” (v. 15).
e. Public thanksgiving. “I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving” (v. 17). We do not offer an animal sacrifice, but we put our life on the altar. “I beg you by the mercies of God that you give your life to God as a sacrifice to God” (Romans 12:1, ELT).
f. Regular worship at the appropriate place. God’s house is always the place where you worship Him. “In the courts of the Lord’s house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!” (v. 19).
Lord, I thank You for saving me from sin, and thank You for saving me from physical death, even those times when death was close, and I did not know it; You saved me. Amen.
If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now? Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart:
Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to welcome you to the family of God and rejoice with you.
Dr. Towns’ email is eltowns@liberty.edu.
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