Psalms 116:1-2

Context

Psalm 116¹

116:1 I love the Lord

because he heard my plea for mercy,²

116:2 and listened to me.³

As long as I live, I will call to him when I need help.⁴

Psalms 116:16-18

Context

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

I am your lowest slave.⁵

You saved me from death.⁶

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,

[116:1] ¹sn Psalm 116. The psalmist thanks the Lord for delivering him from a life threatening crisis and promises to tell the entire covenant community what God has done for him.

[116:1] ²tn Heb “I love because the Lord heard my voice, my pleas.” It is possible that “the Lord” originally appeared directly after “I love” and was later accidentally misplaced. The translation assumes the prefixed verbal form is a preterite. The psalmist recalls that God heard his cry for help (note the perfect in v. 2a and the narrative in vv. 3-4).

[116:2] ³tn Heb “because he turned his ear to me.”

[116:2] ⁴tn Heb “and in my days I will cry out.”

[116:16] ⁵tn 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.

[116:16] ⁶tn Heb “you have loosed my bonds.” In this context the imagery refers to deliverance from death (see v. 3).