Psalm 116

We read many psalms which are carefully constructed forms of poetry. Psalm 119, for example, has a unique section for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Other psalms follow chiastic structures where they build up to a climax and then parallel the verses leading up to the climax to bring it back to its starting point. With such works you can imagine the psalmist sitting at his desk, meditating on his prayers and thoughts of God and working hard to find the right words and phrases that communicate the idea in recognizable forms. Good song writers do this today when they construct memorable songs. They aren’t spontaneous outbursts. 

And then there are psalms like this one, which doesn’t have those carefully contructed characteristics or patterns (at least not obvious ones). It does seem to be more of a spontaneous outburst. While the carefully contructed psalms invite us to dig into the layered meanings, spontaneous outbursts invite us to feel whatever it is that triggered the outburst. In this case, it is a deep appreciation and wonder at God’s great deliverance. 

The psalmist is reflecting on answered prayer to a crisis that was so bad, so desperate, that he was feeling the “snares of death” and the failure of others to help him “all men are liars.” He thought he was going to die, in other words. But he didn’t, and he knows why: God heard his prayer. It is such an overwhelming rescue that his only thought is to give himself to the Lord. His heart has been captured. This is why he opens the psalm as he does, “I love the LORD!”

A good example is the story of Les Miserables. It is the story of a man, a convicted man, guilty in the eyes of the law, on the run,  desperate and dangerous. He finds refuge and hospitality in the church. But in his desperation he cannot resist stealing the silverware. Not long after his theft he is discovered with them by the law who takes him back to the church to verify his guilt. But rather than press charges, the priest has compassion on him, explaining to the officer how glad that he was found for he had forgotten to take the silver candlesticks the church was also giving him. It was an act that set his life on an entirely new trajectory. His heart had been captured by grace. Instead of condemnation, which he knew he deserved, he was given life and it overwhelmed him.

Has your heart been captured by God? This psalm is the story of a man whose heart has been captured by the gospel of God; whose affection has been kindled by the gospel. Death and despair had its grip on him, but God gave him life instead and he cannot help but come into the house of God with offerings of thanksgiving. 

From death and despair - through deliverance - to delight.