From Vexation to Praise—Psalm 116

Almost every evening in our after-dinner moments, I read a chapter from the Book to my family. In those minutes of quiet, perspective is gained against the kaleidoscope of our days. Psalm 116 has captured our thoughts. Hence, with some determination, it is my struggle here to confide the soul with its informing word strewn before me.

The Psalmist, name unknown, loves the Lord,

“because He hears my voice and my supplications.”

His name, unknown to us, is known and heard in heaven. Our writer loves the Lord for this stated reason. It seems small to me, this love granted for favors procured. Our theology teaches us to love God for who He is not for what He does for us. The psalmist, relievingly, has no such airs. It is a straightforward transaction. A sinner, then, lays hold a truth from which professional Christians recoil.

The cords of death encompassed me, and the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found distress and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I beseech Thee, save my life!”

These words do not describe a man caught unexpectedly by an enemy. It is not a soldier ambushed. This finding of trouble plods. The distress and sorrow did not find him but he found them. Fright is sudden. Distress accumulates over time. That is its nature. I am reminded of Jonah.

A righteous man, certain of his destiny, is not come-upon by the terrors of Sheol. It is the man encompassed by the cords of death, who feels himself strangled by them, who asks if his life ought to be ended. He is the one upon whom the terrors of Sheol come. Concerning his gasping deep-sea prayer Jonah relates how the sea weeds wrapped around his head and how he sank to the roots of the mountains. His salt-water plunge remember, was not caused by his being washed overboard. Rather, lots were taken and Jonah ended up telling the crew to throw him into the wildly frothing sea. It was about as close to a suicide attempt as a man could make without using his own hands. Jonah knew he was disobeying God. He likely did not know God would save him from his distress and set him back on His providential course. In a prayer reminiscent of our Psalm Jonah remembers,

I called out of my distress to the Lord, and He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; Thou didst hear my voice…While I was fainting away, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer came to Thee, into Thy holy temple.

This is what it is to beseech God. The Psalmist was not merely asking. Neither was Jonah. Asking, requesting (let your requests be made known to God), these do not describe the prayer borne out of distress. Distress births beseeching prayer. There remains a hidden knowledge in the soul grasping at the garments of the Lord as He passes by. It aches for the bread of life more surely than it fears the bitter realities circumscribing the distress of existence. We beseech God when our lives are being dismembered,

O Lord, I beseech Thee, save my life.

The Lord preserves the simple.

I know this to be true because I have quoted verse six. The complexities of life rage against this truth. We, those in distress, are replaying our lives in endless scenes. What if we had chosen a different course in life? If we had married differently could we have avoided ruin? Ought we to have attended another school? Invested more wisely? Moved to a larger city? Moved to a smaller city? Worked harder at our business? Shall I increase the length of this list? Is there an end to the questions? Did we live too simply? Maybe this Scripture should make us ask, If God preserves the simple, then will He preserve me? Have I become so inured to simplicity that I cannot imagine just trusting the Lord to work all things together for good? Do I believe if I had acted with endless energy God’s sovereignty in disposing my life would have been defeated? I am not a fatalist. Yet, verse six concludes,

I was brought low, and He saved me.

That is supremely simple.

Thou hast rescued my soul from death. My soul, the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. You have rescued my feet from stumbling and my eyes from tears. Return to your rest.

These are as fragments of bread that ought not be lost. These are my twelve baskets filled. My doubts in God’s goodness struggle to prevail. The faith kept becomes to us a witness against our unbelief. God rescued that man’s feet from stumbling, but will He rescue my feet from stumbling? That is what I want to know. I do not want to believe too much of God and so I believe too little. I do not want balance. I desire truth. In time, God gives wisdom to those who ask. This He promises.

At the end, I shall pay my vows to the Lord, I shall pay my vows.

The writer repeats his commitment.

To Thee I will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones;

this from the pen of the Psalmist for whom the terrors of Sheol came. One man is brought to terror but another is found precious in His sight. It is an enigma and a reality. One man trusts God as the roots of the mountains rise to meet him. Another will never pay his vows before the Lord of the simple.

Thou hast loosed my bonds. To Thee I will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Praise the Lord (vs.19).  

For Christian Culture,

Don Schanzenbach 11-2-13