Vows Gladly Made for Deliverance from Death

Psalms 116:1-19 

1 I love the LORD, because He has heard
My voice and my supplications.
2 Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.

3 The pains of death surrounded me,
And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me;
I found trouble and sorrow.

4 Then I called upon the name of the LORD:
"O LORD, I implore You, deliver my soul!"

5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
Yes, our God is merciful.
6 The LORD preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.

7 Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For You have delivered my soul from death,
My eyes from tears,
And my feet from falling.

9 I will walk before the LORD
In the land of the living.

10 I believed, therefore I spoke,
"I am greatly afflicted."
11 I said in my haste,
"All men are liars."

12 What shall I render to the LORD
For all His benefits toward me?
13 I will take up the cup of salvation,
And call upon the name of the LORD.

14 I will pay my vows to the LORD
Now 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 loosed my bonds.

17 I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And will call upon the name of the LORD.
18 I will pay my vows to the LORD
Now in the presence of all His people,
19 In the courts of the LORD's house,
In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.

Praise the LORD!

Our intimate love for the LORD is magnified by His hearing us and our prayers, as well as for who He is, of course.  Knowing that He has chosen to hear and deliver me as He did for the psalmist, this makes me bring my vocal supplications to Him as a lifelong discipline of prayer, part of my commitment to this morning devotional as long as I have breath.  When the imminent death and accountability to His just wrath was revealed to my opened eyes, in the midst of that conviction of sorrow and troubles, I cried out to Him in God-given faith to trust His word and work, and He saved me, delivering my soul from eternal death!  In His grace and righteousness, He showed mercy in that unearned grace to humble me to look up,and trust.  He now preserves me forever, and I make it my aim to pray continually and consistently because He chooses to hear my cries and answer according to His word and will for His glory and honor and praise.  In Christ I now rest in His rest (Hebrews 4:2-3, 9-10), finding the assurance and peace sought by the psalmist long ago.  He wipes away every tear of sorrow and suffering in the end, and keeps me from falling (Jude 1:24) down and away. Like the psalmist here, I also believe God’s word (verse 10) and so speak it as Paul gave the example in 2 Corinthians 4:13-15 for God’s glory.  Those who speak these words of life and truth are not liars; it is hasty of us to think all are untrue as seen here.  We need discernment and God’s Spirit to cut straight the truths of the scriptures.  Having taken up the cup of salvation and calling on His name (Acts 4:12), I will pay what I have vowed, to be a living sacrifice in service to my Lord Jesus Christ.  This is no mere vow of temple dedication, but of this living temple where God live in me to be served in worship.  I am the consecrated thing now offered to Him, precious because He called me out after loosing the bonds of sin and death held upon me by the sin I was born in.  Therefore, I also will freely and willing offer love gifts of sacrifice to Him, for my life is no longer my own (Galatians 2:20).  These are my vows made for deliverance from death as I call on Him in the presence of the courts of the congregation and to the world outside.  These are lessons anticipated by the psalmist which find fullness in Christ my Messiah.  Praise Him!