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How can I repay the LORD？
Psalm 116
Andy Nagahara
Like many of the songs in the Psalms, it seems that at the core of this song is the experience of the psalmist’s own near death, such as a serious illness, for example.
But at the same time, when it came to be sung publicly in temple services, it was sung to recall the tribulations in Egypt, which were the common affliction of the people, and the tribulations under occupation by neighboring nations in later times.
In some denominations of the modern church, it is even sung to thank God for the safe delivery of the baby.
This morning, I would like to think about “life” from this psalm. What this means is to think about “death” at the same time. First, we will read up to verse 11
A. True life offered through Jesus’ death (1-11)
I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the LORD: “O LORD, save me!” (1-4)
The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The LORD protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me.Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you. For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the LORD in the land of the living. I believed; therefore I said, “I am greatly afflicted.” And in my dismay I said, “All men are liars.” (5-11)
1. Our understanding of life and death are just the tip of the iceberg
The psalmist endured a great crisis of impending death, calling on the name of the Lord and grieving and praying, “O LORD, save me!. And he thanked the Lord that he was rescued from it. Through this event, the psalmist was convinced that the Lord is the one who is just and full of grace, the one who is merciful, the one who protects the immature, and the one who saves him even when He is weak. He then said with joy and thanksgiving, “You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.” (8,9)
But if life refers to being alive on this earth, no one can avoid the fact that this joy will come to an end.
How can we think of people ending their earthly lives in the midst of war, in tragic accidents, and after a painful struggle against disease?
The clue is in verse 7. The psalmist calls out to his soul, “Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.” The psalmist tells us that our true essence is not in our bodies but in our souls.
If the soul is not where it should be, we cannot be satisfied, even if we seem to be healthy and living a normal life. Our souls are never fully satisfied by acquiring status, amassing wealth, or getting married.
The life that God the Creator has given us is one that does not end with living in this world.
In this sense, it is called “eternal life,” but eternity is not infinite time.It is better to think of it as being in God’s realm and beyond our senses, time and space.This realm is called the “Kingdom of God,” and it is where the soul has its place.
The fact that life means more than the maintenance of the body means, on the other hand, that death is also more serious than the destruction of the body. The life God has given us is not something we can enjoy only while we retain life on this earth for a few decades. Life and death are not only about the body, but about our whole being.
2. The horror of eternal death and the wonder of eternal life that exceeds our imagination
The Book of Job is the story of a man who faced and wrestled with eternal death, which is more terrible than the loss of life, and was able to put his soul where it belongs.
Although Job had lost his property, his children, his health, and his wife had told him to “curse God and die” because of his suffering and loneliness, he did not forget the following: in chapter 19, verses 25-27.
I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes–I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
Because your souls are with the Lord, your emotions may be shaken, but like Job, you will not lose hope even if everything is gone except that the Lord is with you. Whatever we lose, it will never change the fact that we are part of this body of Christ. Being part of it means that the need always is given by God, through other parts of his body which are his people.
But if you did not know of the existence of this “Redeemer,” if you were not connected to his body, who would meet your needs when you were struck down and weakened? Two Sundays ago, we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus. The fact that Jesus rose from the dead is the ultimate hope we can trust in our lives. The Lord Jesus, God who lived as a person, rose from the dead three days after His death on the cross, and His disciples bore witness to His resurrection, which has been passed on as the core of the Christian faith.
And that this has been passed on uninterruptedly for 2000 years means that while we have seen many people die, some of them unacceptable and unreasonable, its value as a reliable sign of hope has not been lost. Let me introduce you to verses 7-9 of book of Isaiah chapter 25, which the Apostle Paul quotes in his first letter to the Corinthians 15:54,55.
On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken. In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”
Our hope should be placed in our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us this life. The second half of the song is about what we should keep in mind in order to keep walking without leaving him. Let’s read it.
B. How can I repay the LORD for all his goodness to me? (12-19)
12 How can I repay the LORD for all his goodness to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.
14 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
16 O LORD, truly I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant ; you have freed me from my chains.
17 I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the LORD.
18 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the LORD– in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD.
Returning a gift is a behavior based on gratitude. But God is not a small person like some governments who complain, “We gave you aid and you didn’t say thank you!” He does not give us blessings because He wants something in return. He just want us to be connected. It is not for his own satisfaction. Because being separated from God is itself “death of the soul” and brings us misery. It is therefore our voluntary desire to say, “How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?”
Though the psalmist encourages us to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, we do not need to roast the meat of the sacrifice here to fill it with good aroma.
As you will see here, what we need to do is to make heartfelt worship the center of our way of life. This is the very thing we learned last week in Romans chapter 12. Remember?
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.
While the worship we gather here on Sundays to offer is important as a starting point for the weekly walk of the lives of the people who worship, it is meaningless if we do not live in worship every day. It is about living as a holy living sacrifice pleasing to God, listening to Jesus and walking with Him. And it is to make this joy known to those who do not know Jesus and are stuck under the weight of death.
(Prayer) Dear God, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts that you have delivered us from eternal death into life. Our bodies are weak and our hearts are easily discouraged, but please sustain us. Lead that soul not to leave you, but to place its hope in you daily and to walk following you. Please heal those who feel physical pain, meet the needs of those in financial hardship, and give Your comfort to those whose hearts are burdened. And use us for it. We thank you for the grace of being kept alive by the eternal life you have given us, and we pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Summary
We worry about life and fear death, but our ideas about our physical life and death are but a small part of the true essence of life and death. Jesus’ death and his resurrection gives us the whole picture of the road from death to life.
For Discussion
1. What is true life?
2. What does it mean for us to “sacrifice a thank offering”?