Today's Psalm is 116 the theme is praise for being saved from certain death. I am fortunate enough that I have never been close to death. My daughter in law is pregnant with twins, and its been a rough pregnancy. The babies are at almost 30 weeks gestation, and we are now hopeful that if the twins arrive now they will have a good chance of survival. Many people are praying for these babies. My daughter in law was in the hospital overnight a week ago, and Praise God the babies are still in the womb and doing well :-).
We can personalize this psalm - replace a near death experience with other life changing events causing much grief. These could be a job loss, divorce, serious illness, for example.
Verses 1 and 2 "I love the Lord for he heard my voice" - There have been times in my life when I have cried out to God and I have heard a still small voice give counsel to something I know I never would have thought of on my own, so I KNOW that the Lord was speaking to me. Verse 2 ends with "I will call on him as long as I live" and that is my prayer that I will always call upon God until my dying breath.
Verses 3-6 "The cords of death entangled me" There are times in all our lives that we are at the depths of dispare with circumstances in life. For me it has been divorce and job loss. I call up on the Lord for help. And when I look back I can see his compassion and verse 6 "when I was in great need, he saved me."
Verse 7 sounds so comforting doesn't it? "Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you." We can make this verse more personal and say the Lord has been good to me.
Verses 8-11 The psalmist is thankful that the Lord saved him from death.
Verses 12-14 The psalmist asks how he can repay the Lord for all he has done. And he answers in verse 14 stating he will renew his vows to the Lord.
Verses 15 -16 God is with us from conception to death, always by our side, he never abandons us.I truly believe God grieves with us when a loved one dies. He has compassion for us as we go through this difficult time as we mourn loved ones when they die. And as believers we have the hope that we will see them again one day in heaven.
Verses 17-19 The psalmist gives praise to God, and he renews his vows in the presence of others.
Praise the Lord!
Father God, The psalmist today reminds us that God is always with us even when we are near death or other catastrophic circumstance. We can call out to him anytime and he will be by our side. And then we can joyfully praise him and tell others the good things the Lord has done for us! I thank you for the psalmist words today as he recounted a near death experience, all his feelings and emotions, and then praising God for all he has done. This is an easy psalm we can personalize when we don't know what to pray. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
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