HOLY WEEK 2022 - Thursday - Psalm 116

We have all had the experience of calling someone and not getting an answer. It’s likely most of us have had the experience of calling someone in a moment of distress and not being able to get an answer. It is a discouraging and disheartening experience.

Unlike the idols from Psalm 115:4 who “…have ears, but do not hear…”, we have a God who hears our cries, our pleas and our calls!

“I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.” Psalm 116:1,2

I LOVE THE LORD…BECAUSE HE HEARS! BECAUSE HE HEARS…I WILL CALL! What a wonderfully simple and biblical equation!

You may feel darkness is close at hand today. Distress and pain will often be our companions in this life. But our response should remain…GOD HEARS, SO I WILL CALL!

“O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!” Psalm 116:4

As we call to the LORD, we must continually anchor our security in His WAYS and His WORKS:

HIS WAYS (v.4,5): He is gracious. He is righteous. He is merciful.

HIS WORKS (v.6-8): He preserves the simple. He saves us when we are low. He deals bountifully with us. He delivers our soul from death. He delivers our eyes from tears. He delivers our feet from stumbling.

In the face of such wonderful works, there is a necessary response from the people of God. But what is it?

”What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me?” Psalm 116:12

We should “…lift up the cup of salvation…” as our greatest delight and treasure and our only source of hope and righteousness. We should also continue to call on the LORD and fulfill our “vows” as covenant people, as His bride, offering our very lives as a living sacrifice to Him.

Jesus was LIFTED UP on the cross for our salvation, so we LIFT HIM UP in praise. Our soul can rest, even in the restless nights of this life, because of the finished work of Christ. In Him we have been given the most bountiful blessing we could ever receive (v.7). So with His people and in His “courts”, we praise the LORD together!

WE LOVE THE LORD…BECAUSE HE HEARS!

BECAUSE HE HEARS…WE WILL CALL!

BECAUSE HE SAVES…WE WILL PRAISE!