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
116:3 The ropes of death tightened around me, 5
the snares 6 of Sheol confronted me.
I was confronted 7 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 8 the untrained; 9
I was in serious trouble 10 and he delivered me.
116:7 Rest once more, my soul, 11
for the Lord has vindicated you. 12
116:8 Yes, 13 Lord, 14 you rescued my life from death,
and kept my feet from stumbling.
116:9 I will serve 15 the Lord
in the land 16 of the living.
116:10 I had faith when I said,
“I am severely oppressed.”
116:11 I rashly declared, 17
“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, 18
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. 19
1 sn 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.
2 tn Heb “I love because the
3 tn Heb “because he turned his ear to me.”
4 tn Heb “and in my days I will cry out.”
5 tn Heb “surrounded me.”
6 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.
7 tn The translation assumes the prefixed verbal form is a preterite. The psalmist recalls the crisis from which the Lord delivered him.
8 tn Heb “guards.” The active participle indicates this is a characteristic of the
9 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.
10 tn Heb “I was low.”
11 tn Heb “return, my soul, to your place of rest.”
12 tn The Hebrew idiom גָּמַל עַל (gamal ’al) means “to repay,” here in a positive sense (cf. Ps 13:5).
13 tn Or “for.”
14 tn “
15 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.
16 tn Heb “lands, regions.”
17 tn Heb “I said in my haste.”
18 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
19 tn Heb “precious in the eyes of the