A Thanksgiving Testimony, Psalm 116

Introduction: When I was growing up, I remember several times when our church would have testimonial services. It never failed, that at least one person, & usually it was several people, who would stand up and start their testimony with the words- I just want to say I love the Lord…

When I was a child, I didn’t get that. Why did they always start with “I just want to say I love the Lord...” That was never all they said. There were always more words that followed, & sometimes a lot of words. I didn’t get it then, but I do now. Sometimes all you can say is, “I love the Lord.” And sometimes saying “I love the Lord” just isn’t enough, you have to also say why. In Psalm 116, the psalmist does both.

He both says, “I love the Lord,” and explains why. Psalm 116, Ilove the Lord, because He has heard My voice and my supplications. 2 Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live. 3 The pains of death surrounded me, And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow. 4 Then I called upon the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I implore You, deliver my soul!” 5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; Yes, our God is merciful. 6 The Lordpreserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. 7 Return to your rest, O my soul, For the Lordhas dealt bountifully with you. 8 For You have delivered my soul from death, My eyes from tears, And my feet from falling. 9 I will walk before the Lord In the land of the living. 10 I believed, therefore I spoke, “I am greatly afflicted.” 11 I said in my haste, “All men are liars.” 12What shall I render to the Lord For all His benefits toward me? 13 I will take up the cup of salvation, And call upon the name of the Lord. 14 I will pay my vows to the Lord Now in the presence of all His people. 15 Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His saints. 16O Lord, truly I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant; You have loosed my bonds. 17I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, And will call upon the name of the Lord. 18 I will pay my vows to the Lord Now in the presence of all His people, 19 In the courts of the Lord’s house, In the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord! Psalm 116 is a thanksgiving psalm, & in it, the psalmist gives his testimony of thanksgiving.

The Psalm very simply breaks into two sections, vss. 1-11, why we give thanks, & vss. 12-19, howwe give thanks. Let’s start with why:

1. WHY WE GIVE THANKS, Vss. 1-11. (3 Big Reasons)

Vss. 1-4, the first reason we give thanks is because God HEARS Us. The word supplications (vs. 1) mean pleading, it describes a humble request for help or mercy from someone in authority. That someone is the LORD (YHWH), the psalmist calls Him by name- Yahweh hears our prayers.

Inclined- to bend down, turn one’s ear towards a speaker. The mental image I have is bending down listening to a child, i.e., getting on their level. Have you noticed that if you pay attention to a child when they talk to you, they will keep talking? The psalmist noticed the same thing about God. Because God listened, the psalmist kept calling out to Him, for his whole life. Here’s why:

Vs. 3, the pains of death surrounded (encompassed) him and the pangs of Sheol laid hold of him.Pains- rope, cord, snare; he was bound up by death, which can describe the state of dying, a deadly disease, an epidemic, or plague. Sheol- the place of the dead, the underworld; laid hold of- lit., found. The word describes an accidental meeting, he was doing his thing, & death found him.

Vs. 4, at the point of death, he called upon the Name of the LORD to save his life. Acts 4:12, there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. The LORD heard him.

Vss. 5-7, the 2nd reason we give thanks is because God HELPS Us. God is gracious, righteous, and merciful. Grace means that He is disposed to bestow favors or blessings. Righteousness means that He is just and fair, always acting in accord with what is right and just. Mercy means He is compassionate. Out of these 3 attributes God acts on behalf of sinners.

He PRESERVES the Simple- He keeps, guards the person who is young and naive, & how grateful we are for that.

He SAVES the Sinner (6)- yehoshi, the root is the same word from which the name YeShua comes. To be brought low- to be needy, to lack what is needed, & we cannot save ourselves.

JFB- The relief which he asked is the result not of his merit, but of God’s known pity and tenderness, which is acknowledged in assuring himself (his “soul,”) of rest and peace. Bountifully= completely. God has taken care of all of it, matters of life & death. He helps us.

Vss. 8-11, the 3rd reason we give thanks is that God HOLDS Us. He hears us, helps us, & holds us. All these calamities for which the psalmist cried out to God for are represented by death, tears, & falling (vs. 8).Each of these expressions portray disastrous experiences from which there would be no escape, if not for God!

In vs. 9, to walk before God… Walk-represents behavior, way of life, which is before the face of, or in the presence of the Lord, i.e., to walk in God’s ways in His presence and in front of other people. Psalm 56:13, For You have delivered my soul from death. Have You not kept my feet from falling, That I may walk before God In the light of the living?

Vss. 10-11 are a bit hard to understand, but what he may be doing is reasserting that he was in really bad shape (greatly afflicted), his life was a mess, he was very distressed. That all men are liars may be his way of saying that in his situation, no person could help him, everyone else would fail him, except God had hold of him.

These are the three big reasons why we give thanks: God hears us, God helps us, and God holds us. Now how do we give thanks?

2. HOW we Give Thanks. Vss. 12-19. (3 ways we can)

Vs. 12, asks the question- What shall I render to the Lord For all His benefits toward me? Render (12)-appears 1,065x in the Hebrew Bible, only a handful of times is it translated render. Shoob- root turn back, return. In this sense it means to give back. The reason he asks “how do I repay God” is because of what God has so graciously given, His Benefits.

Benefits (Goodness, NIV);related to bountifully in vs. 7, return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. He received salvation & deliverance & rest. Augustine wrote- "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."

How do we repay God for what we have so graciously received from Him? Three ways to give Him thanks:

1st, We LIFT UP the Name of the LORD. vs. 13, I will take up the cup of salvation. Cup of Salvation- help, acts of salvation; probably refers to a drink offering, which was part of the thank offering.

Numbers 15:4-5, then he who presents his offering to the Lord shall bring a grain offering of one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of oil; 5 and one-fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering you shall prepare with the burnt offering or the sacrifice, for each lamb.

Take up- lift up, e.g., cheers to the Lord for His help. John 12:32, And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself. He said that about His death, we lift Him up for the life He has given to us. One of the ways we do this is through the Lord’s Supper.

2nd, We PLEDGE ourselves to Him. vs. 14 & 18 repeat the same promise, I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of His people. Pay- to complete, to give. Vow-a solemn pledge to do something or to behave in a certain manner. Matthew Henry- “Vows are debts that must be paid, for it is better not to vow than to vow and not to pay.”

Between vss. 14-18, what are the vows to be paid? The psalmist says in vs. 15, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. But He doesn’t call himself that, no, in vs. 16, he says “I am your servant, the son of your maidservant...” Matthew Henry notes- there are 2 ways to become servants, 1st by birth, to be born into a household as a servant. 2nd, by redemption, whoever procures the release of a captive takes him as his servant.

The pledge of our freedom is to serve our new Master. Romans 6:22, But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.

3rd, We PUBLICLY Give Him Thanks.Notice that the vows (14, 18) to be paid are to be public, in the presence of all His people. Vs. 19 tells us where- in the courts of the Lord’s House, in the midst of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem was the center of worship in ancient Israel; the Temple was the Lord’s House. This was church, y’all. This was the OT version of the church, a place of prayer and praise. You remember how this psalm started with a prayer- I love the Lord because He heard me.  Now at the end, we have praise- Praise the Lord, lit. hallu-Yah, i.e., Hallelujah.

Vs. 17 calls this outburst of prayer and praise the sacrifice of thanksgiving.

Of course, a sacrifice refers to the killing of an animal as an act of worship or atonement.It could be a reference to the thank-offering, associated with the drink offering we mentioned earlier. Thanksgiving- communal sacrifice, or a song of thanksgiving or praise.

No where in the NT is it said that Christians are to make animal sacrifices. Christ is our sacrifice and our High Priest. Hebrews 10:12, But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. Hebrews 13:15, Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

Christ is our sacrifice, so we give thanks to His name. It’s not a bull we need to bring but our prayers. It’s not a lamb we need to give but our praise. It’s not an animal we need to kill but our silence. We need to sacrifice our silence in a testimony of thanksgiving.

Here is your chance to say- I love the Lord because He has heard my prayers, I will praise the Lord in the presence of His people.

I have a Thanksgiving Testimony, & it actually involves this psalm. On February 1, 1998, I preached my very first sermon from Psalm 116. I was the youth director at Grace Baptist Church in Russellville, AR, in my junior year at Central Baptist College, engaged to the sweetest, loveliest, & most supportive young woman, & we were married 5 months later.

I just want to say that I love the Lord because He loved me & gave Himself for me. I’m so thankful that He saved me from my sins and counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. I’m so very grateful for my wife, who is a gift to me & for the family we have been given together. I’m thankful that God gave me to this church to be your pastor, & I’m thankful for you.

Our invitation today is an opportunity for you to give “a thanksgiving testimony.” Who wants to say, I love the Lord because...?