Day 176. Psalms 116-118

Psalm 116
We never feel God's grace so vividly and acutely as when we wake up after a serious illness and find ourselves better. Recovery is the theme of this psalm—number 116. The psalmist knew himself to be dying—"The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me," he says. "I suffered distress and anguish" (3). But in the midst of his terminal illness, helpless and desperate, the LORD "delivered [his] soul"—his self, his being—"from death, [his] eyes from tears, [his] feet from stumbling" (8). He is cured not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually. (To be "cured" and to be "saved" are the same word in scripture—to be one is to be the other.) And what should he do in response to his salvation? "I will lift up a cup of salvation," he says. Probably this means that he will host a supper—see Leviticus 7:11-18—in thanksgiving for his recovery, and make a toast in testimony to his healing and
in celebration for his return to the worshipping community of the temple. While it is beautiful poetry line 15 may be confusing to the reader—"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful ones" should probably be translated more like this: "The LORD is deeply grieved when his faithful people die." That conveys the sense better, particularly in this psalm about death and healing. God does not want those who love him to die. They do, of course, because they are mortal. But the LORD does all that our flesh allows to keep us alive, and he rejoices with us when we recover. God's life is bound up with the lives of his saints—ours, that is.
Psalm 117
This little hymn—number 117—distills the good news of the whole Book of Psalms. God is faithful to his promises and responsive to our human needs. All the world, and not just the community of temple worshippers, is called upon to "extol" the LORD for his goodness and steadfast love—that he makes promises and keeps them.
Psalm 118
What exactly the dire circumstances were from which the psalmist is delivered we are not told. All the voice of the psalm tells us is that he called to the LORD in his distress and the LORD answered him by setting him "in a broad place" (118:5). He was in a tight one before, but now he has breathing room. He is set free from his fear so that he can lead a new life. He asks the question all of us need to ask ourselves—"What can mortals do to me?" (6). My mother used to quote this verse all the time; it is the essence of the gospel outlook. Mortals do try to hurt us, but ultimately they can do nothing, because our relationship God has put us beyond any real hurt. (This is for Christians our resurrection faith. The worst thing of all happened to Jesus on the Cross, but God raised him up.) When we repose our trust in God, we overcome the world.) As the psalmist says, people are unreliable—especially politicians-- but God can be trusted—"It
is better to take refuge in the LORD than to put any trust in mortals. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to put confidence in princes" (8-9), he tells us. He was surrounded by "all nations"; they were like swarming "bees," He was pushed so hard that he almost fell, but the LORD came through and became his "salvation"—the source of his healing and help. The center of this wonderful psalm—again this is one of my very favorite psalms—is verses 15-18. I especially love those outbursts of joy in verses 17 and 23. "I shall not die but live, and recount the deeds of the LORD," sums up the exultant feeling of all who were sick or in danger and then find themselves safe and well. "This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes" (23)--this is what Elizabeth I is supposed to have cried out when she found out that her half-sister Mary was dead and that she was queen. She threw her hat into the air and shouted these
words from psalm 118. This verse distills all the joy of those wonderful moments when we suddenly realize that life is more than we had ever thought it could be—when we drop a pebble into the well and never hear the splash. And the reason that life exceeds our expectations is God. He lays his claim to us, and so we are able to lay claim to him—"You are my God," the psalmist says. He realizes that he and the LORD have a relationship that goes beyond that of the creator and the creature. There is love between them, and love always brings with it the joy of eternity. "Love never ends," as St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians, and the psalmist likewise affirms that God's "steadfast love" for his people or for each of his faithful ones "endures forever" (29).
(In fact, there are so many wonderful verses in this psalm that would be hard to list them all. It really is a wonderful psalm.)