Psalms 116:3-19

116:3 The ropes of death tightened around me, ¹ 

the snares ²  of Sheol confronted me.

I was confronted ³  with trouble and sorrow.

116:4 I called on the name of the Lord,

“Please Lord, rescue my life!”

116:5 The Lord is merciful and fair;

our God is compassionate.

116:6 The Lord protects ⁴  the untrained; ⁵ 

I was in serious trouble ⁶  and he delivered me.

116:7 Rest once more, my soul, ⁷ 

for the Lord has vindicated you. ⁸ 

116:8 Yes, ⁹  Lord, ¹⁰  you rescued my life from death,

and kept my feet from stumbling.

116:9 I will serve ¹¹  the Lord

in the land ¹²  of the living.

116:10 I had faith when I said,

“I am severely oppressed.”

116:11 I rashly declared, ¹³ 

“All men are liars.”

116:12 How can I repay the Lord

for all his acts of kindness to me?

116:13 I will celebrate my deliverance, ¹⁴ 

and call on the name of the Lord.

116:14 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord

before all his people.

116:15 The Lord values

the lives of his faithful followers. ¹⁵ 

116:16 Yes, Lord! I am indeed your servant;

I am your lowest slave. ¹⁶ 

You saved me from death. ¹⁷ 

116:17 I will present a thank offering to you,

and call on the name of the Lord.

116:18 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord

before all his people,

116:19 in the courts of the Lord’s temple,

in your midst, O Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord!

¹ tn Heb “surrounded me.”

² tn The Hebrew noun מצר (“straits; distress”) occurs only here, Ps 118:5 and Lam 1:3. If retained, it refers to Sheol as a place where one is confined or severely restricted (cf. BDB 865 s.v. מֵצַר, “the straits of Sheol”; NIV “the anguish of the grave”; NRSV “the pangs of Sheol”). However, HALOT 624 s.v. מֵצַר suggests an emendation to מְצָדֵי (mÿtsadey, “snares of”), a rare noun attested in Job 19:6 and Eccl 7:26. This proposal, which is reflected in the translation, produces better parallelism with “ropes” in the preceding line.

³ tn The translation assumes the prefixed verbal form is a preterite. The psalmist recalls the crisis from which the Lord delivered him.

⁴ tn Heb “guards.” The active participle indicates this is a characteristic of the Lord.

⁵ tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly. See Ps 19:7.

⁶ tn Heb “I was low.”

⁷ tn Heb “return, my soul, to your place of rest.”

⁸ tn The Hebrew idiom גָּמַל עַל (gamal ’al) means “to repay,” here in a positive sense (cf. Ps 13:5).

⁹ tn Or “for.”

¹⁰ tn “Lord” is supplied here in the translation for clarification.

¹¹ tn Heb “walk before” (see Ps 56:13). On the meaning of the Hebrew idiom, see the notes at 2 Kgs 20:3/Isa 38:3.

¹² tn Heb “lands, regions.”

¹³ tn Heb “I said in my haste.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “a cup of deliverance I will lift up.” Perhaps this alludes to a drink offering the psalmist will present as he thanks the Lord for his deliverance. See v. 17.

¹⁵ tn Heb “precious in the eyes of the Lord [is] the death of his godly ones.” The point is not that God delights in or finds satisfaction in the death of his followers! The psalmist, who has been delivered from death, affirms that the life-threatening experiences of God’s followers get God’s attention, just as a precious or rare object would attract someone’s eye. See Ps 72:14 for a similar expression of this belief.

¹⁶ tn Heb “I am your servant, the son of your female servant.” The phrase “son of a female servant” (see also Ps 86:16) is used of a son born to a secondary wife or concubine (Exod 23:12). In some cases the child’s father is the master of the house (see Gen 21:10, 13; Judg 9:18). The use of the expression here certainly does not imply that the Lord has such a secondary wife or concubine! It is used metaphorically and idiomatically to emphasize the psalmist’s humility before the Lord and his status as the Lord’s servant.

¹⁷ tn Heb “you have loosed my bonds.” In this context the imagery refers to deliverance from death (see v. 3).