Psalm 116:1-9 Commentary

One of the benefits of the fact that psalms are not tied to any obvious specific set of circumstances is that they can be applied to a wide variety of experiences whether or not those exactly match whatever any given psalmist was talking about.  In the case of Psalm 116, one could surmise this was written following a time of acute illness that could have resulted in the death of the poet.  But of course it could have also been any number of things including an accident, an attack by an enemy resulting in grave injuries, or perhaps something else.

In any event, the psalmist had suspected he might have died but cried out to God and was delivered from whatever the circumstance was.  That, of course, is celebrated as a grand and gracious thing.  It allows the psalmist to continue living, to continue in service and praise to the God whom he credits with his deliverance.

Yet just a half-dozen verses beyond where the Revised Common Lectionary halts this reading, we read in verse 15 “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.”  So apparently not every faithful servant who cries for the kind of healing or deliverance this psalmist talks about gets the healing or deliverance that most of Psalm 116 celebrates.  And that, of course, only stands to reason.  No one, however faithful to God, lives forever on this planet.  And despite how many psalms couch pleas for deliverance in the idea that since the dead cannot praise God, God should keep us alive so we can stay in the choir that sings to God, here Psalm 116:15 acknowledges that death does eventually come but it is not the end.

God continues to have favored regard for even those faithful folks who die eventually.  The Old Testament does not generally convey what we get more fully in the New Testament; viz., the idea that when we die we go to be with the Lord.  In fact, the Old Testament view of post-mortem existence is fuzzy at best and a bit dim at worst.  Sheol appears to be the destination for all people after they die and it is not typically presented as being pleasant.  It is also not depicted as being a place of torment but rather seems to be perhaps some neutral holding cell for those awaiting final deliverance or final judgment.

Again, however, the picture is not crystal clear if we restrict our gaze to only the Old Testament or to the psalms that broach the subject of where people go after they die.  But although it is technically beyond the scope of this lection, Psalm 116:15 counts as a kind of early preview or hint that God stays with us even in death and beyond.

But returning to the nine verses that are this week’s Year B Psalm selection, it is also a fine thing when God intervenes and heals us, restores us to health, dries our tears and puts our feet back into good avenues in the land of the living.  All of that is worthy of the upbeat celebratory tone in which Psalm 116 appears to have been composed.

Of course, as we often note here on the Center for Excellence in Preaching website, preaching on something like Psalm 116 necessarily has to happen with our bearing a few things in mind.  Principally what we remember as part of our pastoral care in preaching is that at any given moment in the life of any congregation, some will be in a situation where they can joyfully relate to Psalm 116’s celebration of healing and others will be in a season when they are asking God why God did as a matter of fact not hearken to their cries for the healing of a loved one.  Celebrating in our preaching answered prayers must always be done with the awareness that for some listening to the sermon, the happy sentiments in Psalm 116 will be like fingernails on a blackboard—it may make their skin crawl.

Perhaps that is why it might be a good idea to either read and preach on this entire psalm or at the very least to bring in verse 15.  Holding in tension the gladness over healing/deliverance with the knowledge that those things do not always come and people do eventually die may provide the balance we need to let the whole congregation lean into the sermon and not only those whose prayers have recently been answered a la the prayers of the psalmist.

But for all of us in Christ’s Church, Psalm 116 can serve as a reminder that God truly is with us across all the circumstances of our lives.  Death is surely the last enemy as Scripture clearly teaches.  But if this psalmist could be sure that the death of the saints is precious to God centuries before the revelation of Jesus and his conquering of death as that last enemy, then surely on the other side of Easter we can live with that firm assurance even more robustly.

Having recently lost my father to death, I know this is not always easy.  Someone recently said in my presence “Death does not have the last word.”  I agree with that utterly.  Still, the first thing that came out of my mouth after this other person said that was, “It does not have the last word but for now yet, it has a really loud voice.”  True enough as well.  And as preachers, we remember this when preaching on something like Psalm 116.  It is right, proper, and only fitting to give God thanks when prayers appear to have been answered as we had hoped.  But it is also only kind, pastoral, and also fitting to stand with those who cannot quite throw themselves into Psalm 116’s celebration.

Taken together, this psalm’s nineteen verses remind us that in all things, God is with us and he is full of kind compassion whatever our lot.  And that is worth celebrating indeed.

Illustration Idea

In an audio sermon available here on the CEP website, Lewis B. Smedes first talks about a cancer doctor he knew who always seemed to be a crusty, tough person.  So Smedes asked a mutual friend why he was this way and the person said that in his line of medicine, he had to be tough since 90% of his patients die.  Smedes rejoined, “I think he’s off by 10%.”  Indeed.  He then (this all begins around the 10-minute mark of the sermon) talked about how hope can break your heart and tells the story of how he and his wife finally had a child after years of trying and how Smedes told his wife “You see, never give up hoping!!”  But two days later the child died. Hope is risky.  The psalmist in Psalm 116 had hope, saw that hope realized, but in the longest possible run will come to that moment—as we all do in terms of earthly hopes—when hope has to end.  But Psalm 116 also points to a grander, broader hope that transcends unanswered prayers and even death itself.  Hope is dangerous.  But in the long run hope in God is the finest of things.

Note: the CEP website also has commentaries from previous years for Psalm 19:

2018: Leonard Vander Zee: https://cepreaching.org/commentary/2018-09-10/psalm-19-3/

2015: Doug Bratt: https://cepreaching.org/commentary/2015-09-07/psalm-19-7/