Tag: Psalm 116

Faith in God

Isaiah 36-37

Psalm 116

Revelation 18

-Devotion by Tom Siderius (MI)

Isaiah 37:1-7(NLT)When King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes and put on burlap and went into the Temple of the LORD. 2 And he sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the court secretary, and the leading priests, all dressed in burlap, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They told him, “This is what King Hezekiah says: Today is a day of trouble, insults, and disgrace. It is like when a child is ready to be born, but the mother has no strength to deliver the baby. 4 But perhaps the LORD your God has heard the Assyrian chief of staff, sent by the king to defy the living God, and will punish him for his words. Oh, pray for those of us who are left!”
5 After King Hezekiah’s officials delivered the king’s message to Isaiah, 6 the prophet replied, “Say to your master, ‘This is what the LORD says: Do not be disturbed by this blasphemous speech against me from the Assyrian king’s messengers. 7 Listen! I myself will move against him, and the king will receive a message that he is needed at home. So he will return to his land, where I will have him killed with a sword.’”

Psalms 116:6-8(NLT) The LORD protects those of childlike faith;
I was facing death, and he saved me.
7 Let my soul be at rest again,
for the LORD has been good to me.
8 He has saved me from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling.

Our subject today is that of our faith.  We use the word “faith” very freely here in the United States, in the churches here, but I do not know that we always realize the full measure of what the word means. We tell each other to have faith or greet each other with the word faithful but often it is very shallow in its meaning.  We need to examine what Hezekiah does in the face of an overwhelming army and disaster from Sennacherib the king of Assyria.

Where does Hezekiah turn?  And what does he petition God for in his message to Isaiah?

The word “faith” in Hebrew in the Old Testament comes from the Hebrew word “emunah” which gives us two other words of “faithfulness” and the word “Amen” which means “full agreement”.  The word faith in the Hebrew gives a meaning of action and movement in our lives.  We do not only have faith in God, but we should live out our faith in God.

Habakkuk 2:4(NKJV) Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.

We cannot separate our intellectual understanding of the Words of God from action about them in our lives.  We may agree with what the Word says in our minds, but this is just a mental assent intellectually that the Word is true.  When we truly believe the Words of God then we will live out our lives in accordance with what they say, we will live by our faith.

 You do not merely think that you have faith,  you should walk it, breathe it, make it your own. This is our relational trust in the truth of what God says to us in all of life.  We show what we believe by what we do in our lives.  Do you put your full trust in our God?  Or do we secretly in our hearts not fully believe His Words?

Look at our father Abraham in Genesis where God tells him to go to a new land where God will bless him and give him land and descendants.  Did he live out his life with full agreement of what God told him to do?  The central theme of Abraham is that we are saved by our faith, and not our meager works of righteousness.

Galatians 3:6-7(NLT)  In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” 7 The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.

Our salvation in Christ comes from putting our full trust of our lives in the truth that God saves us because He wanted to do it.  God is our Savior in the sense that He is the author of salvation for us.  Jesus Christ is the agent of salvation for us because he is how God did the saving of us.

Our faith must stand in this truth, that God so loved us that He sent Jesus to be the payment for you and for me. We have no works of righteousness that we can do to save us.  We should be morally good, and strive for virtue in our lives, but this is a response to the saving grace we have received, not a means of gaining eternal life. What a wonderful truth for us to see. 

Do we rejoice in our hearts over the love and grace that God has given each of us?  Where are our joy and rejoicing? 

We should get so excited by God’s love and relationship with us that we will live out the grace that he has called us to. We also are proud to call Jesus Christ our brother and Savior, ready to tell any man or woman about what God has done for all of us.

1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

The evil kingdom of this world lies to us and tells us that we are helpless, hopeless, broken, and worthless.  The kingdom of God within us tells us that we are loved, cared for, restored to life, and valuable children of the God who created the heavens and the earth. All that happens to us in life must be seen through the reality of this conflict between the two kingdoms. Do not be deceived by the Adversary and his lies.

2 Peter 1:2-4(NKJV) Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

We have exceedingly great and precious promises through Christ who brings us to God.  We need to give our hearts fully to God who called us and saved us for His own purposes. 

What has God called you to do?  What are the works of righteousness that God has prepared for you to do?

Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

The good works of our lives that we do for God are the ones that He has prepared for us to do.  This is acting out our lives with the full agreement that Jesus is our guide, showing us the way to go and lighting the path for our lives.  We need to trust that God has us by the hand guiding our thoughts and our lives towards Him because He loves us. 

This trust does not easily grow because we want to be the ones in charge of our own lives and hearts.  We want to be the god of our lives and have control of everything.  But we need to ask how well does that work out? 

Are you a success by your own efforts, or do you need the Father to show the way to walk?

John 20:30-31 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

We have confidence in our God because we have the history of His faithfulness to His own promises to read about and understand.  When we see God being faithful, it gives us the confidence to let Him guide our thoughts and lives, and not to take back our hearts from Him.

Romans 15:4-6(NKJV) For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. 5 Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, 6 that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When we see that God is able and willing to do all that He has promised in the past, then we will have confidence, meaning, hope and salvation in this world and the promise of life in His kingdom to come.

Reflection Questions above in bold TExt

Prayer:

Father God, we love You and praise You from our hearts.  We are so thankful for all You have done to save us and bring us to You, Father. We thank you for the bread of our need this day, and the promise of our future life in Your kingdom.  Help us to change our hearts and give us the steadfastness of Your love to keep us firm in our lives.  We pray this in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ.  

SGL.2026.CalendarDownload

He Will Save You

*Isaiah 34-35

*Psalm 116

Revelation 17

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)

            Isaiah 35: “2 They will see the glory of Yahweh, The majesty of our God.

3Strengthen limp hands, and give courage to the knees of the stumbling.  4Say to those with an anxious heart,“Be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.” Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. 6Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy.”  LSB.

            So yes, your God is coming with vengeance, and the recompense of God will come, but He will save you.  Be strong, and fear not.

            Listen, Isaiah talks a lot about the blind seeing again, and it just gets me every time.  If you know me or have read a few specific devotions I’ve written in the past, you’ll know that my dad is blind.  It’s a terrible affliction, and I hate it.  At the same time, without the act of  my father going blind, I would still probably be lost; just another dumb sheep who had wandered off heading for the edge of the cliff, that stupid prodigal son who never had the sense to realize he was sleeping in pig crap.  So while I hate the fact that my father has the affliction of blindness, I love the fact that our merciful God used that affliction to redirect me, and to save my soul.  Dad has said much the same thing to me.  So, whenever I come across a verse in the Bible that talks about restoring the sight of the blind, it makes me tear up a little. 

            I recently had an interview with Sean Finnegan on his podcast website “Restitutio.org” about a lot of that stuff, and if you are interested in the details you can give it a listen.  If you do, note that I would probably have named it a little differently, and the episode number is #666 which is a little disturbing but I think that the content of the interview was good, and may be beneficial to some folks out there who are, like I was, being foolish.  Look it up, it was released Aug 20, 2026.* 

            Back to Isaiah 35: “8And a roadway will be there, a highway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not pass by on it, But it will be for him who walks in that way, And ignorant fools will not wander on it. 9No lion will be there, Nor will any vicious beast go up on it; These will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there, 10And the ransomed of Yahweh will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, With everlasting gladness upon their heads. They will attain delight and gladness, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.” (LSB)

            So there will be a way called the Highway of Holiness and it will be for him who walks in that way (holiness).  Even though there may be vicious beasts around you, none of them will be allowed on this path.  The unclean, the vicious, the ignorant fools probably won’t even be able to find it, much less walk on it.  The redeemed though, the ransomed of Yahweh will return along it.  That’s me, I’ve been ransomed, and that ransom wasn’t cheap.  It’s a deeply emotional thought for me that when I was unclean and a fool and seeking only my own desires that I may have been standing right beside this path and was never able to see it, because this is the way to God and life.

            Psalms 116 says: “1 I love Yahweh, because He hears My voice and my supplications.  2Because He has inclined His ear to me, So I shall call upon Him in all my days. 3The cords of death encompassed me And the distresses of Sheol found me; I found distress and sorrow. 4Then I called upon the name of Yahweh: “O Yahweh, I beseech You, provide my soul escape! 5Gracious is Yahweh, and righteous; And our God is compassionate. 6Yahweh keeps the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. 7Return to your rest, O my soul, For Yahweh has dealt bountifully with you. 8For You have rescued my soul from death, My eyes from tears, My feet from stumbling. 9I shall walk before Yahweh In the land of the living.”  LSB. 

            This is a part of my story too, because I literally died, and came back.  In 2/14/2022, for about 5 and 1/2 minutes, I was dead on the table from a 100% blockage in the widowmaker (left anterior descending artery): happy valentine’s day!  If you ever read Job 33:14-30, that’s a pretty good breakdown of “my story”, I also detailed it a little bit during the interview mentioned above.  God saved me though, and then redeemed me.

            Ps 116 continues: “12What shall I give to Yahweh in return For all His bountiful dealings with me? 13I shall lift up the cup of salvation And call upon the name of Yahweh. 14I shall pay my vows to Yahweh, Oh may it be in the presence of all His people. 15Precious in the sight of Yahweh Is the death of His holy ones. 16 O Yahweh, surely I am Your slave, I am Your slave, the son of Your maidservant, You have loosed my bonds. 17To You I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, And call upon the name of Yahweh. 18I shall pay my vows to Yahweh, Oh may it be in the presence of all His people, 19In the courts of the house of Yahweh, In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.  Praise Yah!” LSB.

            That question in v12 is probably the best question any of us could ever ask, and leads to salvation.  The answer is probably best answered in v16.  The cost of a soul is high.  When Peter’s life is redeemed in Acts 12, the cost of his salvation was the lives of 16 soldiers.  When I initially escaped the environment that was going to kill me in my youth, it cost the life of at least 1 other man.  I am certain, even this many years later, that the sole reason that I lived and others did not is because even in the depths of my depravity, I feared the name of God.  Whether you are aware of it or not: God paid a very high price for each of us.  We are not bought cheaply, but at a cost higher than we could ever repay: the blood of His only begotten son.

            I have noticed that sometimes folks who haven’t gone through as much terrible stuff as I have don’t appreciate the little things that God has done for us.  Offering up His son in exchange for us was a big thing though, just think about it for a moment.  We can never repay such a high price, but if God is willing, we can spend a lifetime trying to His glory.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  1. Is there a verse, or group of verses, that speaks to you personally and deeply?
  2. How can we better remember with awe the terrible price that was paid for us?
  3. What are the best ways in which we can honor that price, and He who paid it?

PRAYER

Father God, Thank you.  You saved me, and I wasn’t worth the cost.  You are gracious beyond my understanding, and I am Your servant forever.  Thank you.  In Jesus name, Amen.

*Sean Finnegan Restitutio interview with Jeremy Martin on Aug 20, 2026

SGL.2026.CalendarDownload

I Love the LORD Because…

Old Testament: Judges 19 & 20

Poetry: Psalm 116

New Testament: Luke 16

As was discussed in two previous days’ devotions, Psalm 116 is another of the Hallel (literally, “Praise”) Psalms that are particularly associated with joyous events for Jews. They are prominent in the liturgies of the primary seasonal festivals such as Passover, and Psalm 116 is additionally part of the “Egyptian Hallel” subset of Hallel psalms. Psalm 116 does not make specific reference to Egypt, Passover, or the Exodus of Israel, but it is very straightforward to adapt its structure into a prayer of praise for the salvation of the nation of Israel. By connecting the psalm to that event, it is easily transformed into a pedagogical device that teaches the listener to acknowledge God for His grace toward Israel.

The Psalm is most naturally structured into three parts, but let us draw out the first two verses as an introductory dialogue (ellipsis of psalm text in bold):

I love the LORD. Why? Because He hears my voice, my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me. How should I respond? …. I shall call upon Him as long as I live.

The psalmist has provided a simple justification for the reader, all of us, to reverence and petition God: Because He hears me; the implication is that God answers those petitions. And because He hears me I should not fail to call on Him again and again.

Beginning in verse three, the psalmist builds upon the introductory dialogue to stretch and flesh out what could be the reason for calling on God and a more specific supplication: Cords of death wrap around me; the terror of the grave has come upon me; I found distress and sorrow. It is easy to see how this text was associated with Passover and the exodus: these words could be those of enslaved Israel, looking for deliverance from Egypt. Now look at verse four: Then I called upon the name of the LORD… “Save my life!” Taken in association with the enslavement in Egypt, these are the collective words of Israel, longing for deliverance, longing for God to “Hear my voice and incline His ear to me” (v 1). Verse four ends the first part of the psalm. 

The second part of the psalm does not begin with a description of the salvation desired by the writer (later usage: the nation of Israel), but instead utilizes another introductory statement: Gracious is the LORD .. our God is compassionate … the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. (vv 5-7). Only in verses 8-11 is the desired salvation described. The psalmist acknowledges God for who He is before getting to specifics about what He has done. Cast as part of the Hallel, we have Israel 1) acknowledging God as LORD and 2) thanking God for salvation from Egypt. To see a record of a similar acknowledgment, take a look at Exodus 15, a poem or song of adoration sung by Moses and the Israelites after passing through the sea.

Finally, beginning in verse 12, the psalmist builds out eight verses to answer the question What shall I render to the Lord? It is the question that must be asked after reflecting and acknowledging what He has done. And the answer, given in the text, is a catalog of options for worship and reverence toward God.

When the psalm is sectioned as outlined here, one can see how it was adapted for the celebration of Passover. It provides context (terrible circumstances, like Egypt) and a call for salvation, it identifies the LORD God as the agent of deliverance, and then provides options for adoration of God. Imagine sitting around a table, each member of a family saying or offering (perhaps competitively?) an option for active reverence: “I shall lift up the cup of salvation” (the mealtime allusion is especially apt in relation to Passover), “I shall pay my vows to the LORD” and “I’ll pay my vows in the presence of all His people.” The point is that the reverence, acknowledgment, and worship derive directly from the active role that God takes (took!) in deliverance from the circumstances of verse three.

Psalm 116 is a wonderful outline of one context for the why and what of thankfulness toward God: I may be in terrible circumstances, but the God that is gracious and compassionate can and will rescue me. In response, I bow to Him in reverence and worship, declaring my thankfulness to Him in the presence of others.

-Dan Siderius

Postscript

The Psalms, as poetry, always carry some underlying structure, though perhaps lost in the translation from Hebrew to English. One of the features of many psalms that I appreciate is doublet structure, in the form of question-and-answer. For example, Psalm 116:1:

Question: I love the LORD

Answer: Because He hears my voice

These doublets can be used to impart rhythm to the reading of certain psalms. One way to take advantage of the inherent rhythm is to speak the psalms antiphonally, where one person reads the first part of the doublet and a second person reads the response. Another option is to incorporate movement, by walking through the first half of the doublet, pausing, and then resuming with the second half. It can greatly liven the Psalms!
If you are interested in reading the Psalms whose translation purposefully retained rhythmic and melodic elements, I encourage you to use the Coverdale Psalter (e.g., Psalm 116: https://psalter.liturgical-calendar.com/en-emodeng/Coverdale/116) or its newer revision, the New Coverdale Psalter (available for viewing online: https://bcp2019.anglicanchurch.net/index.php/downloads-pdf/).

Reflection Questions

  1. How would you finish the sentence/poem/song which begins, “I love the LORD because…”? Think on it, write it down, share it with the LORD. Who else could benefit from hearing your testimony of why you love the LORD?
  2. What are some options for how you can respond to the LORD? Write them down as well. Some responses, perhaps some we do most often, are not very good responses – if your list includes any poor responses you can cross them out now. Put a star next to a response you will work on today.
sgl23bibleplanDownload